Shooting from the lip

Looking back at a weekend of televised sports ...

Best event
Just a couple of years ago, it seemed the Indianapolis 500 had lost its mojo, that it was no longer the special event it was back in the glory days of the 1970s. But, welcome back, big fella. The event matters once again and give ABC partial credit for that. The network's coverage Sunday was a blue-ribbon effort. Despite eight cautions that chewed up 69 laps and the early exits of marquee names such as Danica Patrick and Tony Kanaan, the four hours zipped by because of a tightly  paced, well-directed, well-produced and focalized show. Here are some of the highlights:
* Listening to anything said by analyst Eddie Cheever Jr., who was succinct and honest — the two best qualities of any good analyst.
* Eavesdropping on Patrick's radio conversation with her crew, saying, "I can't do anything. I am sooooooo slow. I am damn slow.''
* Interviews with Patrick and Kanaan after their crashes. Patrick, who was spun out in the pit by Ryan Briscoe and unsuccessfully tried talk to him later, angrily said, "Probably best I didn't get down there anyway.’’ Kanaan crashed with Sara Fisher in part because he was given no room to maneuver by teammate Marco Andretti. When told Andretti said he was sorry over the radio, Kanaan said. "He'd better be. That was a very stupid move.''
* ABC followed that story well, telling Andretti exactly what Kanaan said and not letting him get away without asking him about it. Andretti: "Stupid? I don't know about stupid. Last minute, maybe. I had an awesome run on him. Maybe I dive-bombed him too late. I don't know. I'll have to look at the tape. If so, I completely apologize.''
* Then ABC caught up with an emotional Fisher in another riveting interview.
This is the type of stuff race fans eat up. Heck, it's the type of stuff everyone eats up. ABC kept its eye on the ball, so to speak, all day, never missed giving viewers exactly what we were looking for next. With a first-rate broadcasting crew executing the thorough game plan, the result was as good of a sports event coverage as we've seen this year.

Most ordinary coverage
Versus didn't do anything special or different for its Stanley Cup finals broadcast Saturday night. That's not necessarily bad because Versus does a slightly-better-than adequate job of covering the NHL. It's just that it felt like an ordinary game, not the finals. No bells. No whistles. It just didn't feel special, not like the final should. Well, Versus did add one thing — Mark Messier joined the studio show and was solid. In fact, Mess had the line of the night when, after the Red Wings beat the Penguins 4-0, he said, "(The Penguins) have to get emotionally involved.'' He's right. Not only did Versus act as if it was just another game, so did Pittsburgh.

Strongest statement
On Fox's baseball pregame show, analyst Kevin Kennedy said, "Mike (Piazza) is the greatest offensive catcher of all-time.''

I almost jumped into the screen, ready to make an argument for Yogi Berra, but it's hard to disagree. Berra drove in almost 100 more runs (1,430 to 1,335), but Piazza had a higher average (.308 to .285), more homers (427 to 358), a better slugging percentage (.545 to .483) and a better on-base percentage (.377 to .348). Yeah, you have to go with Piazza.

Best courage
Speaking of Fox baseball, I had always been ambivalent about  pregame show host Jeanne Zelasko, but it would be completely unfair to judge her on anything she has done the past year or so because of what she has gone through. Check out this nice update by Larry Stewart of the L.A. Times.

Her father, Stanley, died of a heart attack at age 71 on the day her son started kindergarten in August. In December, she learned she had thyroid cancer. Over the next few months, she underwent surgery and radiation; her sister had a brain aneurysm; her nephew developed a spinal problem that might require risky surgery ; and her California home was threatened by wildfire. The good news is she is cancer-free.

Considering all this, not only do you root for someone like that, but you think back and realize what an amazing job she has done enthusiastically talking about pennant chases and trades and free agents when baseball surely must have been the last thing on her mind.

Best baseball analysts
Two men are setting themselves apart as analysts on national baseball broadcasts — Fox's Mark Grace and TBS’s Ron Darling. Both are more entertaining and less wordy than the two men often credited for being tops in the game right now — Fox’s Tim McCarver and ESPN’s Joe Morgan. Give me Grace and Darling over those two any day.

Three things that popped into my head
1. Regardless of what commissioner Gary Bettman said about being locked into dates, he should’ve figured out some way to make sure the Red Wings weren't playing at the same times as the Pistons last Saturday, Monday and Wednesday.
2. If the WNBA's plan is to attract more traditional NBA fans (read: men), why not wait until the NBA playoffs are over to start its season? I realize the games aren't on at the same time, but after watching the intensity of the NBA playoffs, isn't it hard to enjoy regular-season basketball of any kind?
3. Anyone who even thinks of booing Josh Hamilton this week at the Trop is an idiot. In fact, there's something wrong if you don't stand on your feet while applauding.

The Two Cents Stanley Cup preview

The last time a team from Detroit played a team from Pittsburgh for a championship in one of the four major sports leagues was 99 years ago. Honus Wagner's Pittsburgh Pirates defeated Ty Cobb's Detroit Tigers to win the 1909 World Series. Starting Saturday night the two cities meet again for a championship, this time on sheets of ice. And what a rematch. The Detroit Red Wings, one of the NHL's Original Six and probably the best organization in hockey over the past dozen years, take on the Pittsburgh Penguins, just two seasons removed from being one of the worst teams in the NHL. It's a  storied franchise  facing off against a Penguins team with the marquee player , Sidney Crosby. It's the old guys vs. the  kids.

"The hockey gods are smiling so wide we can count their broken teeth,'' said NBC announcer Mike Emrick. Here's a breakdown of the teams, the series and the pick for which team will win it all.

You ain't seen nothin'
The Penguins superstars (and, yes, I mean "superstars'') Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and Marian Hossa have combined for 59 points in 14 games. Throw in Ryan Malone (15 points) and Jordan Staal (four goals in the last series) and you have a team that resembles the run-and-gun Oilers of the 1980s. But here's the rub: the Pens have played against shoddy defenses in Ottawa, the Rangers and Philadelphia. They  haven't seen anything like Detroit's top two defensive pairings. Nicklas Lidstrom and Brian Rafalski likely will be assigned Crosby, while Niklas Kronwell and Brad Stuart will check Malkin. The Pens offense won't run wild.

Best in the game
Lidstrom was just mentioned, but the guy is so good he needs his own category in this preview. He's the best defenseman in the game and has been for the past 10 years. Just having him makes it hard to pick against the Red Wings.

Top heavy
Most of Detroit's scoring comes from three players and one is hurt. Henrik Zetterberg has 11 goals and 10 assists, while Pavel Datsyuk has nine goals and 10 assists. Johan Franzen leads playoff scorers with 12 goals, but has missed five games with a concussion. He's out for at least Game 1. Still, there's no indication that the Pens inexperienced and suspect defense can slow Zetterberg and Datsyuk.

The best defense is a strong offense
Up front, the edge goes to the Penguins. But what about offense from the defense? No contest. True, the Penguins' Sergei Gonchar is one of the slickest offensive-defenseman in the NHL. He has 11 playoff points. But then you have to send out a search party to find out another Penguins blueliner who can score consistently. Meantime, the Red Wings trio of Lindstrom, Rafalski and Kronwall have combined for 32 points. Kronwall leads playoff defenseman with 12 points.

The Rodney Dangerfield Award
The No-Respect Award goes to ... oh, it's a tie. Neither Detroit goalie Chris Osgood nor Pittsburgh netminder Marc-Andre Fleury gets any respect, but they've been the best goalies of the postseason. The 35-year-old Osgood, who was backing up Dominik Hasek at the start of the playoffs, is 10-2 with a playoff-best 1.60 goals-against average. The 23-year-old Fleury  is 12-2 in the playoffs with a 1.70 GAA. Osgood backstopped the Wings to the 1998 Cup, while Fleury is just in his second postseason. So give the edge to experience.

Isn't that special
Both teams have scored 16 power-play goals, but the Pens have scored theirs in 11 fewer chances than Detroit. Meantime, both teams are killing off penalties at  87.3 percent. But the Red Wings have been shorthanded 71 times in the postseason, while the Pens have been more disciplined, being shorthanded only 55 times. If the Red Wings send a parade to the penalty box, Pittsburgh will win the series on the power play.

Check your schedule
I hate the NHL's goofy schedule and love to rail on it every chance I get. So we thought I  would point out that the Red Wings and Penguins did not meet in the regular season. And, oh, this is the third straight season the Stanley Cup finalists didn't play each other in the regular season. Can somebody please straighten out this nonsense?

Experience vs. youth
Which is better this time of year? Depends on your point of view. The Red Wings have 14 players who are 30 or older including 46-year-old Chris Chelios. The Wings will say experience is what you need to win close games for all the marbles. Meantime, the Penguins' youth is incredible, especially among its core: Crosby is 20, Malkin  21, Fleury  23 and Staal is only 19. The Penguins will say that their youngsters can skate all night long around Detroit's  geezers, especially at the end of the long playoff season. Oh, just for fun, I’ll mention this: Crosby was born when Chelios was about to start his fifth NHL season.

Taking the shortcut
Neither team's road to the final was all that impressive, especially Pittsburgh's. The Penguins swept an Ottawa team that looked like it gave up after the first period of Game 1. The Rangers were decent, but the Flyers were an overachieving bunch with no defense. Meantime, Detroit played a banged-up Nashville team, then a Colorado team that grew old before our eyes. Dusting off the Stars was impressive, even if the Red Wings did have a 3-0 series lead cut to 3-2 before winning Game 6.

When it's all said and done
The chic pick is Pittsburgh because the Penguins have all the marquee names. But don't underestimate how good Zetterberg and Datsyuk are, and the Wings have Lidstrom, who is the best player in this series, with all due respect to Sid the Kid. Pittsburgh's offense is slightly better than Detroit's. Detroit's defense is way better than Pittsburgh's. And the goaltending edge goes to Detroit.

If you had to pick any organization to be right now, you'd probably be the Penguins, whose march to the Stanley Cup final is a year or two ahead of schedule. This team will win Cups — plural. But not this season. TJ's prediction: Red Wings in six.

No octopus for you!

First, the Soup Nazi and now the Octopus Nazi.

You know how the demented good people of Detroit like to throw an octopus on the ice during Red Wings playoff games? Well, Pittsburgh is doing its best to make sure it doesn't happen in the Steel City. Check out this story.

Meantime, Penguins fans should start their own tradition of throwing smelly stuff on the ice. How about a catfish out of the Monongahela River? Or how about a few rusted Iron City Beer cans? Or, here's an idea: maybe Pittsburgh fans should do the right thing and not throw anything on the ice. Hate to break it to you, Detroit, but the whole octopus thing? That was soooo 1998.

Best and worst jobs in sports

Most jobs in sports are pretty good. But some jobs are better than others and some are way worse. So here’s a look at the best and worst jobs in sports.

Five best jobs in sports
Tiger Woods' caddie
Most caddies get about $1,000 a week plus 5 percent of the tournament purse, and even more for a top-10 finish or a victory. Tiger wins too much to pay out that kind of dough, but Forbes magazine once guessed Tiger's caddie, Steve Williams, makes more than $1-million a year. Not a bad gig for carrying around a bag of clubs and saying, "Nice shot, Tiger.''

Team owner, National Football League
There's a salary cap, so you can only spend so much. And the league practically prints money. The TV contacts alone pay the league more than $3.7-billion a year. That's billion with a B. And you get the same money whether you go 0-16 or 16-0.

First-base coach, San Diego Padres
Can you hold batting gloves? Work a stopwatch? Yell "Back!'' when a pitcher throws to first? Great, you're hired. When a guy named Stump Merrill was hired to be the Yankees first-base coach years ago, his wife asked, "What's a first-base coach do besides pat guys on the rear end?'' He said, "Nothing, let's practice!'' Why the Padres? They've had the fewest baserunners this season.

TV color analyst, any sport
I'm not suggesting they don't work hard and do homework and all that jazz. But don't all of us sit at home and yell out stuff at the screen? The only difference is analysts don't swear, don't have potato chip grease on their fingers and they usually have to wear a shirt with buttons. And, oh, yeah, they get paid.

Trainer of boxing contender
You only work a few hours a day, and by "work'' we mean "bark out orders to your fighter during training.'' You get to watch while they’re the ones taking punches in the face. Then you get paid when your guy wins. And if your guy gets knocked out, he doesn't remember what you did or didn't do, so he can't blame you. Then you get paid.

Five worst jobs
Public relations director, Cincinnati Bengals
For starters, there's a good chance of a weekly 4 a.m. phone call from a bail bondsman, followed by a hastily-called news conference to explain how another player has been arrested for domestic this or possession of that. And after all that, you have Chad Johnson. Lone perk is you’re on a first-name basis with all the local cops.

Head coach, Golden State Warriors
The Warriors have had nine coaches in the past 13 seasons, making it the most precarious job since Naomi Campbell's personal assistant. And you play in Oakland, which, sorry, isn't exactly San Francisco.

Director of ticket sales, Pittsburgh Pirates
Sure, you can market the swanky new stadium until you realize that it actually isn't all that new anymore. After eight years at PNC Park, Pittsburghers pretty much have seen all the downtown skyline there is to see. Now you have to sell a team that hasn't had a winning record since 1992 and looks like it's not going to have another one until 2092.

Commissioner, National Hockey League
An impossible job. Eighty percent of your teams play in a country where no one cares. The rest of the teams play in a country that invented the sport and likes to remind everyone, especially you, of it. Whatever you do, it's never good enough.

International soccer referee
If you a blow a call in an NBA or NHL game, you might get pelted with expletives from a few fans. Blow a call in some soccer stadium in Europe or South America and there’s a chance you'll get pelted with a few bullets. Here, bad referees live in infamy. There, bad referees can live, so to speak, 6 feet under.

The biggest losers -- great performances in losses

Cleveland Cavaliers star LeBron James poured in 45 points Sunday afternoon, but it wasn't enough as his Cavs lost Game 7 to the Celtics. It was one of the best performances ever in a loss. Over the years, there have been hundreds of great performances ever in a loss, but these are the first 10 that come to mind.

Dominique Wilkins
This performance came up quite a bit Sunday because it was 20 years ago that the Atlanta Hawks star scored 47, including 16 in the fourth quarter, in a Game 7 loss at Boston. In that matchup, the Celtics' Larry Bird had 34, including 20 in the fourth quarter.

Chuck Howley
The Cowboys linebacker was the MVP of Super Bowl V after intercepting two passes and recovering a fumble in a 16-13 loss to the Colts. It was the first time a defensive player won Super Bowl MVP honors and remains the only time a player from a losing team has won the award.

Harvey Haddix
Possibly the greatest pitching performance in major-league history was turned in by the Pirates southpaw, who tossed a perfect game for 12 innings in 1959 against the Milwaukee Braves. Haddix retired 36 consecutive batters, but the game remained scoreless headed to the 13th. An error, a bunt, an intentional walk then a double  resulted in a loss for Haddix and the Pirates.

Isiah Thomas
During the last 94 seconds of regulation in the fifth and deciding playoff game against the Knicks in 1984, the Pistons point guard scored 16 consecutive points on three jumpers, a 3-pointer, a driving three-point play and four free throws to send the game to overtime. And he drew three fouls on defender Rory Sparrow in a mere 30 seconds. Thomas fouled out in OT, and the Knicks won behind 44 points from Bernard King, who was playing with two dislocated fingers and severe dehydration as a result of  the flu.

Johnny Unitas
The numbers weren't that great, but this is remembered as one of the last great moments in the legendary career of Johnny U. In 1972, the Colts quarterback completed 26 of 45 passes for 376 yards and two touchdowns, but it wasn't enough to match the Jets' Joe Namath. What a day Broadway Joe had: 496 yards passing and six touchdowns, including TD passes of 65, 67, 79 and 80 yards in the Jets' 44-34 victory.

John McEnroe
In what might be the greatest tennis match ever, the brash 21-year-old reached the 1980 Wimbledon final against four-time defending champ Bjorn Borg. McEnroe trailed 2-1 in sets when the match went to a fourth-set tiebreaker. The incredibly intense tiebreaker lasted 20 minutes, and McEnroe saved five match points and won 18-16. Bjorg, however, would win the fifth set 8-6.

Bobby Richardson
The Yankees second baseman was a monster in the 1960 World Series, batting .367 with a grand slam, two doubles, two triples and 12 RBIs in seven games. But the Yanks lost to the Pirates on Bill Mazeroski's ninth-inning, Game 7 homer. Still, Richardson was named the MVP of the series and remains the only member of the losing team to win the World Series MVP.

Ron Hextall
The 23-year-old Flyers goalie won the 1987 Conn Smythe award, given to the MVP of the playoffs. Hextall played in all of the Flyers' 26 postseason games, winning 15 with two shutouts and a 2.77 goals-against average. But the Flyers lost the final in seven games to the powerful Oilers and Wayne Gretzky. Hextall is one of five players on a losing team to be chosen as playoff MVP, along with Detroit's Roger Crozier (1966), St. Louis' Glenn Hall (1968), Philadelphia's Reggie Leach (1976) and Anaheim's Jean-Sebastien Giguere (2003).

Billy Conn
The tough Pittsburgh boxer met the great Joe Louis on June 18, 1941, for the heavyweight title. Conn fought a masterful fight and led Louis on the scorecard after 12 rounds. But Conn tried to go for a knockout in the 13th round and ended up getting knocked out himself. After the fight, Conn said, "I lost my head and a million bucks.''

Lenny Dykstra
The scrappy Phillies centerfielder batted .348 in the 1993 World Series with four homers, including two in a 15-14 loss in Game 4. The Phillies eventually lost the series in six games, but Dykstra was the best player and probably would’ve been named MVP had the Blue Jays, thanks to Joe Carter’s Game 6 walkoff homer, not won the series.

Shooting from the lip

A look back at the weekend in televised sports ...

Best coverage
Two weeks after NBC glossed over the death of Eight Belles at the Kentucky Derby, the network recovered with an outstanding examination of horse safety during Saturday's Preakness preview. Bob Costas, at his absolute best in such moments, led a thought-provoking roundtable with veterinarian Dr. Larry Bramlage, former jockey Gary Stevens, Eight Belles owner Larry Jones and New York Times columnist Bill Rhoden, a critic of horse racing.

The part that remains troubling is Bramlage said that he found nothing in the post-mortem examination of Eight Belles that suggested she was predisposed to the injuries and that there is no proof anything is wrong with racing 2- and 3-year-olds. Stevens said jockey Gabriel Saez did nothing wrong. Jones said Eight Belles was never given steroids or painkillers in his care. The bottom line is, once again, nothing could have been done to prevent her death, and it's all chalked up to, "Well, that's just what happens sometimes.'' And that's not good enough. It's not good enough for opponents of horse racing and, most of all, it shouldn't be good enough for those who love horse racing.

After the Kentuck Derby and after Barbaro's death, I called for horse racing to be abolished. We all know that is never going to happen. There's too much money in it. But perhaps Eight Belles' death will lead the sport to re-examine itself. It has started and needs to continue studying breeding, racetrack surfaces, the use of painkillers and steroids. Most of all, it has become clear that the sport needs a national governing body. And don't just talk about changes. Don't say you're "looking at it.'' Do something.

The outrage for those of us bothered that horses are dying for the sake of money and sport is that it appears we are the ones leading the charge. Shouldn't it be the lovers of horse racing carrying the torch? Instead of shrugging shoulders, lashing out at those who want something done and saying, "Hey, stuff happens,'' those in the industry must step up to improve conditions for the horses they love. A national governing body would be a good start.

Longest show
While NBC should be praised for dedicating a good chunk of its Preakness preview show to Eight Belles and horse safety, the show was too long. Two hours of preview. That's approximately one minute of preview for every second of the race. That's a little much. The show was so long that it had not one, but two features on Big Brown trainer Rick Dutrow.

Just a few years ago, Dutrow was a lost soul, mixed up in drugs, homeless and responsible for a daughter whose mother was murdered over drugs. "When I was at the stables, it's where I belonged,'' Dutrow said in the piece. "Whenever I'm (away from there), it's when I get myself in trouble.''

But instead of digging into the depths of Dutrow's problems, many questions were left unanswered. What kind of drugs are we talking about? How did he get the money to pay for them? Whom did he turn to for help? How did he go exactly from a homeless drug addict to trainer of the best horse many of us have seen in years? It would've been a fascinating story if NBC had bothered to tell it.

Number of the weekend
30. Times the Baseball Tonight crew said the name "DEVIL Rays'' during highlights of Saturday's Rays-Cardinals game. The crew members did it to poke fun at getting an equally fun letter from Rays president Matt Silverman telling them they were fined a $1 for every time they said "Devil.'' The crew promised to donate $30 to the Rays fund.

Strangest story
Did ESPN really do a long feature on women’s roller derby? Shown on Sunday morning's SportsCenter and then again Sunday night, the Outside the Lines-produced segment featured new roller derby stars such as Misfit Maiden, Savage Animal, Miss Print and Honey Homicide. Hey, I'm all for fun and games. I even admit that I used to watch and like studio wrestling as a kid. But here's my beef: the network barely covers the NHL and pretty much ignores mixed-martial arts, and yet it has time to feature a sport that isn't even a sport? What made the story off-kilter is it took roller derby a little too seriously — the tongue wasn't planted firmly enough in the cheek.

Best quote
When the Outside the Lines crew wasn't wasting our time with a silly roller derby piece, they were working on an interesting story about possible political ramifications at the Beijing Olympics. On Sunday's show, NBA star LeBron James made it known that he plans to speak out about China's abysmal human rights record during the Olympics, and that he hoped the American basketball team had a "gameplan on how to attack the situation.''

Some would say politics and sports do not mix, although I'm sure Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Muhammad Ali, Jim Brown and the late Jackie Robinson might disagree with that. Michael Jordan and Tigers Woods have been criticized for not taking a more active role in political and social causes. However, part of what makes this country great is not only the right to speak out, but the right to not speak out.

But those who wish to speak their minds, particularly at the Olympics, should not be discouraged. The most valid point to come out of the discussion on OTL came from Lake Forest College anthropology of sports professor Holly Swyers, who said: "Sports is where we teach values. It makes a potent field for making a political statement. We teach kids from a very young age the idea of a level playing field and playing fair in sports.''

Best use of Congress
Ever since Congress started digging into baseball's steroid mess and Pennsylvania Senator Arlen Specter began looking into the Patriots and Spygate, you hear a lot of comments like this: "Doesn't Congress have enough to worry about without getting involved in sports? How about lowering gas prices? How about figuring out how to get us out of Iraq?''

But New York Daily News columnist Mike Lupica made a valid point on ESPN's Sports Reporters by pointing out that Congress' involvement in sports has been worthwhile.

Lupica: "I always love it when (people say) 'Congress has more important things to worry about than sports.' Now this usually comes from people who have no idea what kinds of hearings Congress is holding when it isn't holding hearings about professional sports. ... For all the times the hearings cross the clown line, the fact is they serve a tremendous purpose, especially in the area of testing.''

Best event coverage
The production crew of ESPN's Sunday Night Baseball turned in an A-plus performance during the Yankees-Mets game, showing several replays of a Carlos Delgado shot that hit the foul pole, but was ruled a foul ball. The video and aftermath even uncovered two other controversies: that the entire foul pole is not painted yellow and that the foul pole at Yankee Stadium might not even be in the right location.

One nit: cameras showed reporters -- I assume they were from the New York papers -- talking to a fan next to the foul pole. ESPN send a camera out to show where the ball hit the foul pole, but why didn't ESPN send out sideline reporter Peter Gammons to talk to the fan as well? Might have made for a fun few moments.

The production also was razor-sharp in other moments: showing how the Yankees executed a rundown and how the third base umpire lined himself up to make sure a runner on third tagged up at the right time on a fly ball. Good stuff.

Hanging 'em up -- athletes and retirement

First it was Annika Sorenstam, the best female golfer on the planet. Then it was Justine Henin, currently ranked No. 1 in women's tennis. Both announced retirements last week. Sorenstam, 37, will retire at the end of the year. Henin, 25, is walking away immediately. They join the list of athletes who walk away while on top. So we look at retirement. Those who left too early. Those who stayed too long. And those who need to walk away.

Five who walked away too soon
Jim Brown: Browns running back played only nine seasons and made the Pro Bowl every season. He retired at age 30 to become an actor and social activist.
Sandy Koufax: Dodgers pitcher , retired at 30 because of arm trouble, but in his final two seasons he went 26-8 and 27-9.
Barry Sanders: Lions running back abruptly quit at age 31 despite rushing for 1,491 yards in his final season and being just shy of the NFL's all-time rushing record.
John Elway: Broncos QB was 38 when he retired, but he quit after winning back-to-back Super Bowls and probably had another couple of seasons left in his powerful arm.
Rocky Marciano: The heavyweight champ was 32 years old and a perfect 49-0 with 43 knockouts when he retired from boxing.

Five who stayed too long
Willie Mays: Whenever at athlete hangs on too long, we are reminded of the great Willie Mays falling down in the outfield with the Mets and hitting just .211 in his final season.
O.J. Simpson: His body battered, he sadly played two years at the end of his career near his birthplace in San Francisco and rushed for only 460 yards in his final season.
Joe Namath: Hardly able to stand because of bad knees, Broadway Joe became L.A. Joe and played four forgettable games with the Rams.
Johnny Unitas: The greatest QB in NFL history traded in the classic Colts uniform for the ugly powder blue of the Chargers and played five games with three TDs and seven interceptions.
Dale Murphy: One of the great athletes in Atlanta sports history, a true legend. Final season stats? Batted .143 with no homers and seven RBIs. And, oh, yeah, he was wearing a Colorado Rockies uniform.

Five boxers who should've walked away before they did
Boxers are famous for overstaying their welcome, so they need a separate list. Here are five of many who went from great to tomato cans because they could not walk away.
Muhammad Ali: Perhaps the greatest boxer ever ended his career by losing three of his final four fights, including getting knocked around in his finale by Trevor Berbick.
Roberto Duran: The one-time best pound-for-pound fighter in the world lost four of his final nine fights, including to guys such as Omar Eduardo Gonzalez and William Joppy.
Joe Louis: Forced to fight for money because of IRS issues, his legendary career ended with a loss to Ezzard Charles, then an eighth-round knockout to Rocky Marciano.
Larry Holmes: At one point Holmes was 48-0 and compared to the great Rocky Marciano. He ended his career getting pummeled by Mike Tyson then fighting 24 more times, including his final one in which, at 52 years old and 254 pounds, he beat "Butterbean'' Esch.
Sugar Ray Leonard: He had several retirements and came back each time to have some success. Except the last two times. In 1991 at age 34, he was knocked down twice and lost a lopsided decision to Terry Norris.  In 1997, he was KOed for good by Hector "Macho'' Camacho in the fifth round.

Five who should retire
Michael Strahan: The Giants defensive lineman can still play, but aren't we all sick of hearing about his threats to retire? He has become football's version of Roger Clemens. Just quit and become a broadcaster already, would you?
Floyd Mayweather Jr.: Perhaps the best boxer of his generation, he is 39-0, 31 years old, has all his faculties and has nothing left to prove. Yet he is still looking for another fight against Oscar De La Hoya, a man he already has beaten. Why not walk away now?
Tim Tebow: A national title followed by the Heisman Trophy. His life can't get any better, can it? Quit while you're ahead, kid.
The Williams Sisters: Are you tennis players or fashion designers? Venus and Serena seem to always have one foot in tennis and one foot out. It would be nice to see both feet in the same place, whether that is tennis or fashion.
Bud Selig: Not an athlete, but you get my drift. Time for some fresh blood in baseball's commissioner office.

Five who should not retire
Brett Favre: Forget the last pass, he almost quarterbacked the Packers to the Super Bowl last season.
Jaromir Jagr: Outstanding postseason proved Rangers forward nowhere close to being done.
Joe Paterno: Penn State football coach built legendary program. He can stay as long as he wants.
Bobby Bowden: See: Joe Paterno.
Bob Knight: Arrogant. A bully. A brute. Despite all this, he makes college basketball fun and interesting.

Take me out to the ballgame?

This week, the question came up about why more people are not attending Rays games even though the Rays are in first place and a marquee team (the Yankees) was in town. Here are the results of a Times online poll asking why attendance might be down and a few of your responses.

Why aren't you going to Rays games?
Stadium location: 31 percent.
Current economic climate: 30 percent.
Too expensive: 18 percent.
Other things to do: 17 percent.
Not buying into recent on-field success: 4 percent.
Total votes: 709

I thought it was interesting that only four percent (29 votes) hasn't bought into the Rays early success so far this season. Anyway, I've received plenty of reader reaction over the past few days, so here's a sampling of those letters:

The answer to the subject question is straightforward; it is not the state of the economy, the location of the stadium, ticket price, or other things to do; it is simply that every game is televised. Why go to the stadium when you can watch the game in the comfort of your home? If the Rays want to increase attendance, black out TV coverage within a 50-mile radius of the stadium. This is not rocket science. Please don't get me wrong. I enjoy watching the Rays on TV and attend five to 10 games a year. And if the Rays weren't on TV I would probably go to twice as many games. If a lot of fans are like me that would double attendance. By the way, I won't like it if you stop televising the Rays games, but I'll get over it.
Paul Chiavacci
St. Petersburg

Perhaps the reason the fans aren't turning out to see the Rays this year is because there are just too many other places for their income has to be spent. Gasoline is rapidly heading toward $4 a gallon, food prices are going through the roof, insurance rates for homes and cars keep increasing, as do our taxes. Then on top of all that, the powers that be decide that this year they will resume paid parking at the stadium then add a price increase for tickets to the prime games and a $2 surcharge on all tickets that are not purchased five hours prior to the start of the game. I think the Rays owners and management need to do some serious rethinking.
Jeanne Humphrey
Largo

You ask why more people don't attend the Rays games? I'll tell you why. I have been to three games this year and I'm not sure I’m going back until the St. Petersburg police learn traffic control. At last Saturday's game it took 30 minutes to go from Tampa to St. Pete and 62 minutes to go from the interstate ramp to the parking lot at the Trop down Martin Luther King Street. There were no police north of Central Avenue. Cars were cutting in line from all directions. The traffic lights were not timed for the increased north/south traffic. So three or four cars got through and we sat there with little or no cross traffic. I have to say that the Tampa police do a much better job at Raymond James Stadium with three or four times the number of vehicles and fans.
John Moroney
Tampa

Special guest Marc Topkin gives us his five best baseball towns

This weekend, the Rays make their first-ever visit to St. Louis, which many claim is the best baseball town in the country. So Two Cents decided to bring a special guest who knows a thing or two about baseball towns. I might be a little biased, but I don't think you're going to find a better baseball writer around than the St. Pete Times' Marc Topkin, who has covered baseball since 1987. So Marc gives us his five best baseball towns. Take it away, Marc:

1. St. Louis: A college football atmosphere around the diamond.
2. Boston: Everyone's into the Sox, though some do it for show.
3. New York: The fans know a lot about the game; just ask them.
4. Baltimore: That's why it's so sad to see what's happening now.
5. Cincinnati: Traditionally among the best; but what's up with that chili?

Pats Spygate start with the Bucs?

Former Patriots video assistant Matt Walsh (that's him in the photo) gives his first television interview Friday night when he appears on HBO's Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel. Walsh, one of the key figures in the Patriots' Spygate scandal, was interviewed by Andrea Kremer and there are startling revelations made about the Patriots-Bucs game in 2000, which the Bucs won 21-16. Here's a portion of what Walsh said to Kremer about that game:

"I had spoken with one of our quarterbacks, uh, that said, he was called into Coach Belichick's office shortly before the Tampa Bay game. In the office was Ernie Adams, Charlie Weis, and Coach Belichick. They closed the door, Charlie said to him, 'You know, we’ve got tape of the Buccaneers' coaches defensive signals. What we're going to do is have you learn this, then we’re going to have you next to Charlie on the sideline, when he's calling in the play to Drew (Bledsoe, the starting quarterback), over the coach to quarterback communication system. Drew's got the, the earpiece in the helmet, and you're going to tell Charlie the defense that's being called, and we’re going to relay the information, or use that in calling the play into Drew.' Um, the quarterback, you know, later told me that within two to three seconds of when (Bucs defensive coordinator) Monte Kiffin sent a play call into (Bucs safety) John Lynch, Drew Bledsoe had it in his helmet.''

Wow! See the entire interview at 8 Friday night on HBO.