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Tuesday night’s All-Star Game had what was billed as the greatest collection of Hall of Famers at one place. Yet, there were several mysterious absences. Where was Carl Yastrzemski? Carlton Fisk? Johnny Bench? Tom Seaver? Nolan Ryan? Heck, where was Joe Morgan? Didn’t he help call the Home Run Derby one night before? And, most of all, where was Stan Musial?
One blog had a thought on what happened to Joe Morgan. Hmm, interesting.
Being a Tampa Bay sports fan these days is a pretty good gig. Not as good as Boston, but not as bad as across Alligator Alley. A little food for thought as the Rays head to the Big Apple, another fine place to be a sports fan. The five best and worst cities to be a sports fan these days.
Five best places to be a fan
1. Boston
They have the defending champs in baseball and basketball. And they should have had the defending champs in football. Even still, that football team has won three Super Bowls this decade and looks poised to win one or two more.
2. Tampa Bay
We have the story in baseball with the miracle Rays. The Bucs are a playoff team. And, for a last-place hockey team, the Lightning sure keeps things interesting. Throw in the Bulls, Gators, the Super Bowl, the ACC football championship, a new bowl game and last season’s college hoops tournaments and we have it pretty good.
3. Los Angeles-Anaheim
No pro football, but the college team (USC) more than makes up for that as perennial national contenders. The Lakers went to the NBA Finals, the Ducks won a Stanley Cup just two seasons ago, and there's an outside chance of a SoCal World Series with the mighty Angels and a Dodgers team that is in a weak division.
4. Detroit
Watch out, here come the Tigers. Sure, you have to sit through Matt Millen's awful Lions, but at least you have a really good basketball team (the Pistons) and hockey's best team during the past 15 years (the Cup-winning Red Wings) to get you through the winter.
5. New York
You have nine teams in the metro area and two of the legendary venues -- Yankee Stadium and Madison Square Garden. The Giants won the Super Bowl, the Rangers are Cup contenders, and the Yankees, Mets and Devils are always in the hunt. The baseball All-Star Game will be there next week, new stadiums are being built for the Yanks and Mets, and the Nets are moving to Brooklyn soon.
Five worst places to be a fan
1. Atlanta
Michael Vick turned the Falcons into a joke. The Braves' run is over with only one world title to show for it. The hockey team stinks. Put it this way, when the highlight of your sports year is the basketball team losing a seven-game series in the first round, then you spend a lot of nights watching cable.
2. Cleveland
Great city. Lots of famous players in history. Exciting NBA player in LeBron James. An up-and-coming football team. A cool baseball stadium. So what's the problem? They haven't needed a victory parade route in 44 years. The last time Cleveland won a pro title in a major sport was when the Browns won in 1964. The Indians haven't won the World Series since 1948.
3. Miami
The Marlins are a nice little story, but you have to sit in a football stadium to watch them. After that, not only are the Miami teams bad -- they're baaaad. The NHL Panthers haven't made the playoffs in eight years and haven't won a playoff game since 1997. Meantime, the Dolphins and Heat combined to go 16-82 in their most recent seasons.
4. Seattle
The football team is just good enough to lose in the playoffs. The baseball team was supposed to be a contender but instead already has fired its manager and GM and owns the worst record in the AL. The best hope was a young basketball team that looks to have a good future. Oh yeah, that future won't be in Seattle. It moved to Oklahoma City last week.
5. Philadelphia
The Philly teams always seem to be sniffing around the playoffs, but they almost never win the big one. The Phillies have won one World Series in more than 100 years and that was 28 years ago. The Eagles have never won a Super Bowl and haven't won an NFL title since JFK was in the White House. The Flyers have won't a Cup since 1975, and the Sixers won the city's most recent championship -- 25 years ago!
New Lightning owners Oren Koules and Len Barrie do realize this is not a fantasy league, right? That they bought a real team and they have to pay real money for real players who really will wear a Lightning uniform? Seems as if someone is available then the owners are interested. I halfway expect them to sign Gordie Howe, Gump Worsley and at least three Sutter brothers today. Not to throw cold water on this whole thing, but you just hope for two things:
1. They have a long-term plan, knowing that all the money they're committing now won't be available to sign possibly even better players next summer when the free-agent pool could be deeper.
2. They aren't overpaying for anybody.
That brings us to Ryan Malone, the biggest splash the Lightning has made, signing the former Penguins forward to a seven-year, $31.5-million contract. Don't get me wrong. What's not to like about Malone? He is a hard worker with a nose for the net, a gritty player who, by all accounts, puts the team ahead of himself and is a standup guy on and off the ice. A guy like that should always be welcome on any team.
No, what makes me a tad anxious is he has put up decent -- not great mind you, but decent -- scoring totals while playing most of his career with, perhaps, the best player in the game in Sidney Crosby and, at times, Evgeni Malkin, probably one of the top five players in the game.
You can't help but wonder how much those two superstars had to do with Malone's numbers. Take last season, Malone scored 27 goals. Crosby and/or Malkin assisted on 15 of them. Malone scored only seven goals that didn't include an assist from Crosby, Malkin or star defenseman Sergei Gonchar. Meantime, Malone had 24 assists and 14 of those scoring plays included goals and/or assists from Crosby and/or Malkin. A lot of those were second assists. Add it all up and 29 of Malone's 51 points were either set up or scored by Crosby or Malkin.
This isn't to dump on Malone. If he plays with, say, Vinny Lecavalier or Steve Stamkos and sees plenty of time on the power play, he could put up his usual 25 or so goals. You just hope that, in the end, the Lightning didn't overspend. And that Malone isn't a product of having played with the right players at the right time.
You might enjoy this old clip of John Tortorella being interviewed on something called Sabres Tonight back in 1992 when he was a Buffalo assistant. I watch this and can't help but thinking of Jim Carr from Slap Shot. "The Chiefs are home against Hyannisport at the War Memorial at eight. Good seats are still available.''
As for Torts, I don't know what's hipper -- that cool 'stache or the Bill Cosby sweater. Enjoy.
The NBA acknowledged a foul should have been called on the final possession of Game 4 in the Western Conference final. With 2.1 seconds left and the Spurs trailing by two, San Antonio's Brent Barry was bumped by Lakers guard Derek Fisher before taking a shot. No foul was called, and Barry missed a shot at the buzzer. Here's the video of the play.
Had the foul been called, Barry would've been awarded two free throws with a chance to tie the score. Instead, the Lakers won and took a commanding 3-1 series lead.
Two things jump out.
One is why is the NBA issuing statements like this? Why publicly embarrass the officials and incite fans by pointing out one call when there are probably dozens of calls and noncalls a game that could go either way. Why single out this one? Yes, it was the end of the game, and, yes, it should've been called. But both teams probably could dig up 10 other calls during the game that went the wrong way.
The other mistake happened before the game even started. The closest official to the Barry-Fisher play was Joey Crawford. You might remember Crawford was suspended at the end of last season after a verbal altercation with Spurs star Tim Duncan, who was ejected from a game by Crawford. Why in the world is Crawford officiating Spurs games this deep into the playoffs?
This is not to suggest that Crawford would have it in for the Spurs. But you know there are fans out there who do believe Crawford might be looking for payback. Why give them the ammunition, especially in the wake of all the bad publicity after official Tim Donaghy admitted to betting on games?
If Crawford has earned the right to officiate playoff games, let him work the Eastern Conference.
It happens practically every baseball game. Runners on base. A pitch in the dirt. The catcher blocks it. And the announcers say, "What a great play by (catcher's name) blocking that ball. That's the type of thing that doesn't show up in the box score, but what a play.''
Enough already. Isn't that the catcher's job? Look, the mailman delivers mail. The butcher cuts meat. Catchers block pitches in the dirt. Do they say that every time a shortstop fields a grounder or a leftfielder catches a fly ball? The catcher is supposed to block the ball, and heck, half the time it's a lucky bounce anyway. Here are five other stock phrases by announcer that drive me batty:
* When a basketball players dives for a loose ball: "Look at that hustle!'' Hey, if I'm paying 50 bucks to sit in the upper deck, a guy better be diving for balls. Isn't this, too, part of his job? In fact, if he doesn't dive for a loose ball, I'm ticked.
* Anytime white players in any sport are described as "scrappy,'' while black players who work just as hard are described as "gifted.''
* "These two teams really don't like one another.'' You mean there are teams out there that do like one another?
* When a hitter hits a blooper to the opposite field: "What a great piece of hitting!'' Why? Because he swung late or otherwise swung the bat like he was supposed to? Know what a "great piece of hitting'' is? Sitting on a fastball and hitting it into the third deck.
* "You won't meet a nicer young man.'' Listen, unless Gandhi comes back to life and joins the Red Sox as a closer or something, let's retire that phrase, shall we?
Rays TV dropped the ball tonight because it took its eyes off the ball. The big story going into tonight's game was Josh Hamilton playing his first game at Tropicana Field. Obviously, when the Rays drafted him in 1999, we all thought Hamilton would be wearing a Rays uniform when he made his Trop debut. Then when he went through his well-chronicled drug problems, it seemed terribly unlikely he would ever play in the majors at all. But he survived, cleaned himself up and arrived in town Monday leading the majors in RBIs. What a story.
The interesting part about tonight was seeing what kind of reaction he was going to get from the Rays fans. In fact, Hamilton even asked in a Marc Topkin story Sunday if he was going to get booed. But as Hamilton was walking from the on-deck circle to the batter's box and his name was being announced, Rays TV was showing a slo-mo replay of Scott Kazmir's delivery while analyst Joe Magrane was talking about Kazmir.
That couldn't have waited? Instead of seeing shots of the crowd, hearing the crowd and seeing Hamilton's reaction, we saw a replay of Kazmir. For the record, Hamilton got a nice ovation. It would've been nice if we had seen it.
First, I'm a hockey guy. I covered the NHL for 15 years and if the choice is between watching a hockey game on television and watching another event live from the first row, I'd probably pick the hockey game. To me, it's the best sport there is, and there's nothing like the passion, drama and intensity of the Stanley Cup playoffs. Except this year. (And, to be honest, last season, too, because I wrote about this same subject.) Quite frankly, the NBA playoffs have been better than the NHL playoffs. Here are five reasons why:
1. The superstars are playing in the NBA
The four best players in the NBA this season, in no particular order, have been Kobe Bryant, Chris Paul, LeBron James and Kevin Garnett. All four are still alive and well in the playoffs. In hockey, Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin of the Penguins are still playing, but the other teams -- the Red Wings, Stars and Flyers -- are built on a team concept. The league's other top stars -- Washington's Alex Ovechkin, the Rangers' Jaromir Jagr, Calgary's Jarome Iginla, New Jersey's Martin Brodeur, the Lightning's Vinny Lecavalier, Ottawa's Daniel Alfredsson -- have been sitting at home or playing golf for quite a while.
2. The NBA has been more competitive
Three of the four conference semifinals in the NBA were tied after four games. The Spurs-Hornets, Lakers-Jazz and Cavs-Celtics were all at 2-2. This after the Celtics were pushed to seven games in the first round, and the Jazz, Pistons and Cavs had to go to six games to win their first-round series. Meantime, in the NHL, the Red Wings are about to sweep the Stars in the Western Conference final after sweeping Colorado in the last round. Over in the East, the Penguins are about to sweep the Flyers and are 11-1 in the postseason. And the Flyers won their last series over Montreal in five games.
3. The defending champs are playing in the NBA
Parity is all the rage, but dynasties still are the best thing to happen to sports. Right now, there is a mini-dynasty in the NBA. The defending-champion Spurs are still kicking and looking for their fifth title in 10 years. The NHL hasn't had back-to-back champions since the 1997-98 Red Wings and six different teams have won the past six Stanley Cups. There won't be a repeat this year either -- the defending-champion Ducks have been eliminated.
4. The NBA has the glamor teams
The Red Wings, in years past, have been a glamor team. But not so much anymore. This team is as talented as any Detroit has had, but outside of Nicklas Lidstrom there are no well-known stars. (Pavel Datsyuk and Henrik Zetterberg are wonderful players, but not marquee names because of their quiet personalities.) There's no Steve Yzerman or Brendan Shanahan or Scotty Bowman. The Pens are sort of a marquee team with Sidney Crosby, but Dallas and Philadelphia are not. The league could've used a few more of the Original Six teams to make a run -- the Rangers or Canadiens or Maple Leafs. The NBA? As I mentioned, the defending champion is still alive, and so is the best team in the NBA beside San Antonio over the past decade: Detroit. But the two marquee teams in the NBA have been, are and always will be the Celtics and Lakers. Not only are both teams alive, but if the seeding holds true, the two would meet in the title series.
5. The NBA plays five-on-five all the time
The penalties being dished out in the NHL playoffs these days are a joke. Every time you flip on an NHL game, someone is headed to the penalty box, often for something that wouldn't even get you in trouble at the office if you did it to a co-worker. What happened to the good old NHL days when you had to earn every shot, every goal, every inch of ice? These are the playoffs, for goodness' sake. The Sharks were eliminated in the fourth overtime of a game because of a ticky-tack penalty. At least in the NBA, you have to earn it. Now, it appears the old saying "No harm, no foul'' applies more to the NBA than NHL. The NHL's slogan these days is "The Cup changes everything.'' When it comes to penalties, it actually hasn't changed a thing from the way the game is called in the regular season.
Shooting from the lip
A look back a weekend of televised sports, including the tragedy at Churchill Downs ...
Worst event of the weekend
How many? Just give me the number so I know. How many more horses have to break down and be euthanized before we abolish all horse racing? A couple of years ago it was Barbaro. On Saturday, it was the filly Eight Belles at the Kentucky Derby. Those are the ones we've seen recently. Think about all the horses we never hear about in little races we never see who break down and must be destroyed.
Enough. These animals are dying unnecessarily and purely for our entertainment and greed. Don't give me the argument that horses like to race. Horses like two things: food and making other horses. Beyond that, we don't know what they like because they don't speak. They are trained (I would use the word "forced'') to race.
Don't give me the argument that there are risks in other sports, such as NASCAR. Drivers make the decision to get into cars. They assume their own risk. Horses make no such decision. They can't decide not to race. And don't tell me it's just an unfortunate "part of the sport'' and that "these things happen now and then.'' As far as I'm concerned, one horse dying is too many. Ask yourself this: If Eight Belles had not run Saturday, would she be alive now?
Horses are dying. It's our fault. And it can be avoided. Why we don't avoid it, I'll never understand.
Worst coverage
NBC seemed either utterly unprepared or went out of its way to downplay the tragedy during the Kentucky Derby. It didn't totally ignore second-place Eight Belles' breakdown, but it went back and forth in an uncomfortable zigzag between the euphoria of the winner, Big Brown, and the sadness of Eight Belles. It's as if the network had a scripted celebration and it was not going to deviate just because something unpleasant happened. And as uncomfortable as it would have been, NBC, which is in the business of covering an event, was obligated to show viewers how the filly broke down. The only shot we saw was a brief replay from the blimp. Either it didn't have another camera on Eight Belles (a bad mistake) or it chose not to show it (a much bigger issue).
It was also uncomfortable to watch the executive from sponsor Yum! Brands and the governor of Kentucky talk about what a "great day'' it was and "what a race''' it was. It's almost as if they were saying, "Don't pay attention to President Lincoln's box, wasn't the play great?''
It was sickening to watch people smiling and celebrating while a horse was euthanized just a few hundred yards away. It's almost as if no one — NBC, the governor, the sponsors and all the people in their fancy hats — was going to let a dead horse ruin his good time.
Worst show
NBC's red-carpet, Hollywood-type Access At the Derby, which was part of the network's Kentucky Derby preview, not only was the worst show of the weekend, it might have been the worst on television all year. Host Billy Bush sounded like he couldn't pick a horse out of a lineup of pigs. "Who are you picking to win?'' he asked again and again of C-list celebrities as if any of us really cared which horse Heidi and Spencer from MTV's The Hills were picking. Seriously, Heidi and Spencer were one of the first interviews. Are you kidding me?
Worst poor sports
Shame on Pittsburgh fans who boo Rangers star Jaromir Jagr. It wasn't Jagr's decision to leave Pittsburgh (the Pens traded him), he played hard during his time in Pittsburgh and won two Cups, and he has had nothing but nice, classy things to say about Pittsburgh and the Penguins since he left. Those who boo him are only showing their ignorance, but this is typical of the way Pittsburghers often treat their former stars. Pittsburghers are famous for living in the past -- you can't walk down the street without tripping over someone in a two-sizes-too-small Jack Lambert jersey -- and become highly insulted anytime anyone dares to have success somewhere else. And save your letters. I'm from Pittsburgh.
Worst ticker
Flashed on ABC's ticker across the bottom of the screen during the Hawks-Celtics Game 7: "Desperate Housewives, All New — Tonight. 9/8c.'' That's true. I'm not making that up.
Best imitation
Everybody thinks he can imitate legendary baseball announcer Harry Caray, but few can really do him well. One who can is the Cubs' Ryan Dempster, who used his Carey imitation to read off the Cubs' lineup during Saturday’s Game of the Week on Fox. "I'm turning that into the Baseball Hall of Fame,'' announcer Joe Buck said. "How good was that?''
Funniest line
During Sunday's Outside the Lines on ESPN, longtime New York Times writer Robert Lipsyte was asked whose story is more tragic: Roger Clemens, Barry Bonds or Mark McGwire? Lipsyte said, "Roger is the most tragic because of his awful taste in music.''
Worst graphic
After the Flyers' victory over the Canadiens on Saturday night, Versus posted a graphic that said the Flyers reached the conference final for the first time since 1997. As Versus signed off, announcer Dave Strader repeated the line. Actually, the Flyers advanced to the Eastern Conference final in 2004, when they lost to the Lightning in seven games.
Longest song
Two minutes and 18 seconds. That's how long it took Nicole Scherzinger of the Pussycat Dolls to sing The Star-Spangled Banner before Saturday night's Oscar De La Hoya-Steve Forbes fight on HBO. "If it's up to us,'' host Jim Lampley said, "she can sing it at every fight.''
If it's up to me, she can sing, but tell her the microphone will be on for exactly 1 minute, 30 seconds and not a second longer.
Worst outcome
With all due respect to the Flyers, who deserved to beat the Canadiens in the second round of the NHL playoffs, it would've been better for hockey if the Habs were still alive. By the way, Canada’s Cup-less streak continues. A Canadian team hasn't won the Cup since Montreal in 1993 and won't this season.
Best improvement
Maybe it took a cue from how ESPN uses Peter Gammons on its baseball broadcasts, but it seems as if Fox is giving "insider'' Ken Rosenthal a little more air time on its Game of the Week broadcasts. And it's a good move. Rosenthal adds some decent information, such as Saturday when he mentioned how the Cubs would love to trade for Baltimore's Brian Roberts to solve their issues in the leadoff spot. Fox needs to keep using him often.
Stay at the Trop? Build a park down by the water? Let's face it, the Rays should just move to Orlando. They've played six games there, won all six. And now are at .500 for the season after the three-game sweep of the Jays. "If we get to the playoffs, we'd love to play here,'' pitcher Andy Sonnanstine said after the game. Speaking of a new stadium, we've been getting a flood of e-mails of late, most like this one from St. Petersburg's Danny Di Nicolantonio:
Instead of playing games in Disney and moving spring training to another galaxy in Jupiter, why not think of ways of getting people who are closer, but claim they don't want to come from Hillsborough and Manatee Counties? Why not just at the Trop and win!? The product on the field was the only reason for attendance, not the stadium. Listen to the fans. When they come to the Trop, as they walk through the rotunda entrance and give a collective sigh of relief. Ahhhhhhh. Just stay inside and and win.
Danny and all the letter-writers make fine points. But look, win or lose, the Rays want a new stadium and they're going to end up with one whether it's down by the water, in Tampa, in Orlando or in, I don't know, Portland or Buffalo. And we all need to get over this whole argument of "It's-Too-Hot-To-Play-Outside.'' The Rays aren't going to schedule 1 o'clock games in August. Ever been to Dallas-Fort Worth in the summer? Same as here, pretty much, and the Rangers play outdoors. Ever been to St. Louis or Kansas City in the middle of a heatwave?
Methinks it's a lousy excuse because it is not unbearable around here at 8 or 9 o'clock -- when the chunk of the game is being played -- even in August. Sure, maybe a few games here and there will be a little toasty, but it's no different than the fans up north who deal with a little cold in early April or late September or the fans in Atlanta or Miami or, really, anywhere dealing with a little heat in the summer. You just have to deal with weather occasionally.
The Trop is fine, but this is the part people need to realize: Even if the Rays win 90 games and average 25,000 a game at the Trop, it isn't going to end their quest for a new stadium. I don't know where the Rays will be playing in 10 years, but I will bet anything it won't be at the Trop. In the meantime, wonder of Stu Sternberg is trying to figure out a way to schedule a few more games in Orlando considering the Rays turn into the 1927 Yankees when they play there.
The New England Patriots want to control the world and any attempts to stop them are futile! So surrender now.
You see, not only were the Patriots so arrogant that they tried to trademark the term "19-0 The Perfect Season'' before they played in the Super Bowl, they're still trying to trademark it after they lost the Super Bowl. In a Boston Herald story, the Patriots aren't giving up the fight. But why do the Patriots have any more right to go after that trademark than any other team? And what's next? Do they want to trademark "First down,'' and "Touchdown'' and "Interception''?
Maybe they should go after a trademark of something they have actually accomplished, such as
"18-1. We Choked When It Mattered Most.''
"18-1. And We Cheated To Get That Record.''
The whole deal of trademarking simple phrases and something as basic as a record seems ridiculous to begin with. I blame Pat Riley, who trademarked the term "Three-Peat'' when his old Showtime Lakers were going for three titles in a row in the late 80s. No more, I say. No more trademarking records and common phrases like "The Perfect Season'' since a bunch of teams throughout sports history have had perfect seasons. Well, I would make one exception. If the Pats want to trademark "18-1,'' that's fine.
This occurred to me last weekend as I listened to CBS's Jim Nantz whispering over the piped-in chirps of birds and Windham Hill piano music: The Masters golf tournament isn't all it's cracked up to be. It's special, sure. Beautiful course, no doubt. Prestigious to win, of course. But is it really a "tradition unlike any other''? It's just the whole arrogant attitude that the Masters is the only true golf tournament that rubs me the wrong way. Much of the blame for that goes to CBS's coverage, but, over the years, the Masters certainly has played a major role in the propaganda.
So it got me thinking about events or happenings in sports that are overrated, not as special as we are led to believe. The list is longer than 10, but these are the first 10 that come to mind.
Poker on TV
Don't tell me it's not a sport because every time I turn on one of the ESPNs, I'm looking at some guy in a cowboy hat going "all in.'' People must watch it because every network this side of C-SPAN shows it, and I would not be shocked to see Senatorial No-Limit World Series of Poker any day now. I can hear it now, "Arlen Specter is hoping for a diamond or a seven on the river.'' I don’t get it. Playing poker is fun. But watching others play it? It's like watching someone fish or hunt. Where's the appeal? Bunch of guys in dark glasses and really stiff hats promoting a poker Web site who look like they haven't showered in four days staring at cards while playing for money that I can’t win. If Gabe Kaplan can become a star again doing this, there's something inherently wrong with it.
National signing day
Some kid I've never heard of … from some high school I've never heard of … from some town I've never heard of sits at a table and puts on a hat. There ya go. That's signing day. Then some analyst I've never heard of tells me what a coup this is for the school whose hat the kid is now wearing. Then we get accosted with lists from other people we've never heard of telling us which schools had the best day, and we get upset if our school is not on the list and we start Web sites like FireJoePaterno.com because the "old man can't recruit anymore!'' Tell you what, have your national signing day and I'll tell you in four years who had the best recruiting class.
The Olympics
Don't know the athletes and don't care about them. They might be great kids. I'm sure I'll hear about how they get up at 3 in the morning to train before going to their grandmother's funeral and then straight to their treatments for the rare and life-threatening disease they contracted while working in a shelter for abandoned kittens. Still don't care. I have never heard of them and it's impossible to get excited about watching them in a sport that I never watch except for every four years when it's rammed down my throat. The Games do give us special moments — Mary Lou Retton, Mark Spitz, 1980 hockey team — but there aren't enough of them to justify wading through the other 172 hours of coverage. I'll wait for the Cliffs Notes — the Bud Greenspan documentaries.
College bowl season
Only two games matter. The national championship and the bowl with my alma mater. But are there only two bowl games? Nope, there were 30 more than two bowls last season. Cincinnati vs. Southern Miss? Central Michigan vs. Purdue? Fresno State vs. Georgia Tech? Those were actual bowl games last season. I wouldn't be interested in these games on a rainy day in early September and yet these games, theoretically, are supposed to be the among the elite of the season. Rule of thumb: If Detroit and Boise, Idaho, are hosting, the college bowl season is too long.
Major-league baseball All-Star week
It starts with the Home Run Derby. I get it. Big-leaguers can hit home runs off of fat 65 mph fastballs. Seeing a slugger belt a homer in a game is cool. Seeing the same slugger belt like 12 of 14 pitches for homers off the bullpen catcher is like counting sheep. After about six homers in the first round, it starts to get boring no matter how many times Chris Berman yells, "Baack, baack, baack … '' Then comes the game, which is about as close to a real game as an All-Star Game can be, but you're still not going to see a pitcher back up a hitter or a runner take out a shortstop on a double play. So while we're at it, let's throw all the All-Star games, especially football's Pro Bowl — a game that even the players don't want to attend — on the list.
The Kentucky Derby
Weeks of buildup and hours of pregame for a two-minute race, and I bet 99 percent of the country can't name either a horse, owner or jockey and don't have the slightest idea of what’s exactly in a mint julep.
NBA draft
Here's
what kills me. Teams draft players then immediately trade them. In 2007, six players in the first round ended up being traded almost as soon as they were drafted. In 2006, the number was eight, including one guy who was traded twice. In 2005, there were seven players drafted out of high school or from another country. In 2004, that number was 14, including three from Russia and two from Slovenia. So here's what you end up with: My team takes a guy I possibly never have seen play, but wait, that's not my guy because we just traded him for another guy I've possibly never seen play. And, oh, yeah, the first round takes like three hours. No thanks, I'll catch up on opening night.
USC-Notre Dame
Always on
the short list of the best rivalries in sports, but USC-Notre Dame hasn't been "USC-Notre Dame'' in years. The 2005 football game was good with the top-ranked Trojans taking on the No. 9 Irish. But throw out that season and the last time USC and Notre Dame both finished in the top 10 in the AP poll was 1989. The last time they finished in the top six together was 1974. Simply put, this game hasn't decided the national championship in decades, the teams are not in a conference together and it isn’t a backyard brawl. Just because they play every year doesn't make it a great rivalry. Right, Army-Navy?
The Indy 500
When I think of the Indy 500, I think of Frankenberry cereal, Studio 54 and the waa-waa-waa-waa theme song to Sanford and Son. Those were things that were way hip in the 1970s and are irrelevant today. It's not even the best race of the day let alone the best race of year.
Around the Horn
ESPN does a lot of great things on television. This isn't one of them. The roundtable show during which four sports writers — usually men, usually white, usually middle-aged — scream at one another comes off as way too scripted. It doesn't even remotely resemble an actual conversation about sports, not with yelling for the sake of yelling, cornier insults than a Dean Martin roast and the guests spewing off numbers they can't possibly know off the top of their heads. Seriously, you think Woody Paige just happens to know how many quality starts Gil Meche had over the past four seasons? Pardon the Interruption works so well because hosts Tony Kornheiser and Mike Wilbon are themselves and talk like two regular sports guys. Around the Horn fails because the guests don't appear to be themselves and aren't likeable.
The NFL schedule is out. Came out Tuesday. So let's quickly decide how tough each schedule is because ... well, that's the type of thing we do here. Anyway, here's a quick glance at each team's schedule.
Arizona: One of these seasons the Cards are going to be good. This year? Well, maybe not. Not with the Cowboys, Giants and Patriots on the schedule, plus tough road games against Washington and Philadelphia. At least they get the Cowboys and Giants at home.
Atlanta: Not that it matters who they play because the Falcons are a bad bunch. Still, the schedule looks hard. Sort of. Road games at Green Bay, Philly, San Diego and Minnesota. Then again, also should have a chance to win a few with Chiefs, Raiders and Rams on the schedule.
Baltimore: A tough road, with the emphasis on the word "road.'' The Ravens must travel to better-than-you-think Houston, Indianapolis, New York to face the defending-champion Giants and Dallas. And, of course, division rivals Cleveland and Pittsburgh. They close with a difficult patch: Redskins, Steelers (both at home), at Dallas, home against Jacksonville.
Buffalo: If Bills can get through first two weeks (Seattle, at Jacksonville), it settles down. Throw out two division games against New England and the only really tough games are home against San Diego (and that game comes after a bye week) and a trip to Denver on Dec. 21. They close at home against Pats. Yuck!
Carolina: Travel to San Diego in Week 1 -- not exactly the place to get off to a quick start. And the final five (road games at Green Bay, the Giants and New Orleans; home games against the Bucs and Broncos) not exactly the recipe for a fast finish.
Chicago: Tough opener (at Indy), but not so bad after that except the usual black-and-blue showdowns with division rivals such as the Packers and Vikings. Bears play three of their final four at home so they can make up some ground late in the season.
Cincinnati: Bengels can't afford slow start because they play the Ravens, Titans, Giants, Browns and Cowboys in the first five games. The second half does them no favors either with games against Jacksonville, Philly and Washington and trips to Pittsburgh, Indy and Cleveland.
Cleveland: Browns open with two home games, but look who they're against -- Dallas and Pittsburgh. Road sked is a killer, including games at Washington, Jacksonville, Tennessee and Philly. They better have a playoff spot wrapped up by the last week because finale is at Pittsburgh, where the Browns usually struggle.
Dallas: Besides playing in a tough nut of a division, the Cowboys have to work extra hard outside the division. They must play at some of the toughest stadiums in football: Cleveland, Green Bay and Pittsburgh.
Detroit: The Lions non-division schedule looks fairly easy. They have to go to Indy, but the toughest game after that is against the Bucs at that's a home game. But Lions fans better hope they don't need the last game. The finale is at Green Bay and Lambeau isn't all that fun in late December.
Denver: Despite games at New England and Cleveland, non-division road trips are very winnable -- at Atlanta, the Jets and Carolina. Toughest non-division games after that are against Bucs and Jags on back-to-back weeks in October, but at least both are at home.
Green Bay: Losing Brett Favre was bad enough. Now the Packers have to fight a tough schedule. Road games at Tampa Bay, Seattle and Tennessee. Tough home games against Dallas and Indianapolis. Not going to be easy to repeat as division champs.
Houston: Three of the Texans' first four on the road and all three are dicey -- Pittsburgh, Tennessee, Jacksonville. They also have to travel to Cleveland in late November and Green Bay in early December. Texans better bring their long-johns.
Indianapolis: The road portion of the non-division schedule is brutal -- games at Minnesota, Green Bay, Pittsburgh, San Diego and Cleveland. At least they get the Patriots at home.
Jacksonville: If Jags can get through first half of season, they'll be fine. They have to go to Indy and Tennessee in the first half, then get to host those teams in the second half. In the first half they also have to go to Denver and host Pittsburgh and Cleveland. Second half is cake compared to the first half, but still no picnic with games against Indy, Green Bay and a season finale at Baltimore.
Kansas City: Geez, this is a last-place schedule with the Jets, Falcons, Panthers and Dolphins. They'll get thumped in Week 1 at New England, but then toughest non-division games are both at home -- Bucs and Saints.
Miami: When you're the Dolphins, EVERY game is tough. But they do get a last-place schedule and the toughest games outside of the two against the Pats are home against San Diego and at Denver.
Minnesota: Look at the glass half-full. The Vikings annual toughest game is at Green Bay and this year, the Vikings go to Lambeau in Week 1 when Aaron Rodgers will be making his first start in the post-Favre era. But look at the glass half-empty, too. Vikes have to come to Florida on back-to-back weeks in November to play Tampa Bay and Jacksonville and close out the season at home against the defending champs.
New England: The Pats won't be challenged until their fifth game (at San Diego) and if they can win that, they might cruise all the way until their eighth game at Indy. The last real hurdle is back-to-back games at home against Pittsburgh and at Seattle on Nov. 30/Dec. 7.
New Orleans: If the Saints plan is to get off to a quick start to put last season behind them, it won't be easy. First three games are home against the Bucs then at Washington and Denver. If Saints can hold up after trip to London to play the Chargers in October, the second half of the season isn't half-bad, especially with games against the Panthers and Chiefs and two against the Falcons.
NY Giants: Relatively easy start for the champs -- home games against the Redskins and Bengals sandwiched around a trip to St. Louis. It gets tougher after that ... trips to Cleveland (on a Monday night) and Pittsburgh. Overall, however, not too tough outside the division.
NY Jets: After opening against Miami, the Jets host New England then travel to San Diego. Eee, that's tough. But the rest of the games are, in theory, winnable ... well, except for the rematch with New England and a trip to Seattle on Dec. 21.
Oakland: Bad team, but at least the schedule will give the Raiders a chance. Toughest non-division road game is at Tampa Bay in season finale. Toughest game all season (Patriots) is at least at home. Raiders could load up mid-season in a five-game stretch that features Jets, Ravens, Falcons, Panthers and Dolphins.
Philadelphia: Eagles get Dallas and Pittsburgh back-to-back in Weeks 2 and 3. And last four games are downright scary if you need a couple of wins to get into the postseason -- at the Giants, home against the Browns, at the Redskins, home against the Cowboys.
Pittsburgh: Not easy, but not ridiculously bad because of where the games will be played. The Steelers do have to go to Jacksonville and New England -- two places they rarely have success. After that, however, their four toughest games (Giants, Colts, Chargers, Cowboys) are at home.
San Francisco: The 49ers get both Super Bowl teams (Pats at home; Giants on the road) and then also have to go to Dallas. But last four games are set up to make a playoff push -- Jets at home, at Miami, at St. Louis, home against the Redskins. Then again, the 49ers might be out of the hunt by then.
Tampa Bay: If you're going to play at Chicago and Denver then you want to play there early in the season, which is what the Bucs will do. Both games in first five weeks. After Oct. 26 game at Dallas, the schedule really lightens up with home games against Minnesota, New Orleans, San Diego and Oakland and road games against Kansas City, Detroit, Carolina and Atlanta. A 6-2 mark in the second half is not out of the question.
Tennessee: Titans need to build up some momentum in the first half because they don't want to have to rely on final four to make the playoffs. Titans wrap up season hosting Cleveland, at Houston, hosting Pittsburgh and then going to Indianapolis. Oh, and before that, they're the team that has to go to Detroit on Thanksgiving Day.
San Diego: Whom did the Chargers tick off in the league office? They have to travel to London to play the Saints on Oct. 26. They get the Pats and Colts at home, but must travel to Pittsburgh and Tampa Bay.
Seattle: Difficult road games at Buffalo (to open the season), in New York to play the Giants and at Tampa Bay and Dallas. Patriots and Packers come to Seattle and that sounds a whole lot better than going to New England and Green Bay in the winter. Still, not the easiest schedule in the world.
St. Louis: First four games (at Philly, home against Giants, at Seattle, home against Bills) looks like a 1-3 start and maybe even 0-4 heading into a much-needed bye week. And, next three after that? At Washington, home against Dallas, at New England. Now we're talking 1-7, maybe 0-8, in the first half. Do I need to even bother with the second half?
Washington: Weird schedule. Three of the first five and three of the final four are road games. But at least the closing stretch (at Baltimore, at Cincy, home against Philly, at San Francisco) isn't too daunting. November could make or break Skins. In that month, they play Pittsburgh, Dallas, Seattle and the Giants. Good news is only the Seattle game is on the road.
Okay, so I could break down each of the Stanley Cup playoff series, and tell you which team has the better goaltending or which power play is good. I can talk about coaching and match-ups and all that junk. But if you're a hockey diehard, you already know that stuff. (Sidney Crosby is really good, Zdeno Chara is really big and Chris Chelios is really old. So there you go.)
No, this playoff preview won't tell you who will win, but which team you should be rooting for. Of course, if you grew up in, say, Philly and think a cheesesteak is the staple of any good breakfast, I don't expect you too root against the Flyers. But if you're sitting down to watch a game and really don't care who wins, here's a little help.
EASTERN CONFERENCE
Montreal vs. Boston
There are few places on earth where something means as much to a town as hockey means to the people of Montreal. It's like football in Western Pennsylvania or basketball in Indiana. It's everything. So cheer for the Habs. They really do have the best, most passionate fans in the league and there's no place more electric in the NHL than the Molson Centre in the postseason. They have the coolest uniforms in sports. And the league is always way more fun and interesting when the Canadiens are good. Besides, the Bruins are watching-paint-dry boring. Plus, aren't we all sick of Boston after the Red Sox and Patriots? Anyway, they have the Celtics to cheer for this spring.
Pittsburgh vs. Ottawa
You should like the Penguins because they were once great, sunk to the bottom of the league and rebuilt through the draft and player development instead of just re-loading with free agents. Then again, let's be honest: they were flat-out lucky to end up with Sidney Crosby. But here's the thing: Crosby is a good kid who works hard and deserves to have good things happen to him. Ottawa had its chance. The Sens should be working on Cup No. 2 or 3 by now and instead, they still don't have one. So step aside and let someone who isn't going to waste their chance have a crack at it.
Washington vs. Philadelphia
Both have rags-to-riches stories worth cheering for. The Caps went from last in the conference this season to a No. 3 seed. Philly had a franchise-low 56 points last year and have re-tooled the right way. So who should you root for? Think of this: everytime Washington's Alex Ovechkin plays, there's a chance to see something we've never seen before. So the more times he plays, the more incredible memories we might collect. So root for Washington. Besides, the Flyers are still a little too dirty to like and Derian Hatcher plays like a thug.
New Jersey vs. NY Rangers
Anytime the Devils win, it's bad for the NHL. It only confirms that playing that plodding, boring, neutral-zone trap, try to win every game 2-1 can actually work and then you have 30 teams trying to win that way. Then it's not hockey; it's soccer. Devils goalie Martin Brodeur might be the nicest guy in the league, but he has already won his Cups, so let's get the Devils out of here. And I love Jaromir Jagr, whom I think gets bad rap for being a dog. No way you score almost 1,600 points playing like a dog. It would be great to see Jagr go out on top, and stick to all those no-nothing numbskulls he who say, "Jagr only plays when he wants to play.'' Plus, the better the Rangers do, the better it is for the health of the NHL.
WESTERN CONFERENCE
Detroit vs. Nashville
Nashville should get some kind of trophy for just making the playoffs, considering all the players it lost from last season and all the injuries it had this season. An upset of the Wings would be one of the biggest in league history and it might be worth hoping for just for the historic angle. But then the Preds would get bombed in the next round and then it wouldn't be worth it. It's easy to not like the Red Wings because they're just so good, but their consistency should be admired, not hated. And there's this: Red Wings fans are better (in both quality and quantity) than Predators fans. So, go with the Wings.
San Jose vs. Calgary
Calgary coach Mike Keenan can be a real jerk, but jerks are interesting, no? We like crazy. And you gotta love Calgary's Jarome Iginla, who is as nice off the ice as he is good on the ice. The Sharks have paid their postseason dues, but they've lost too many times in the playoffs to teams they should've beaten. That's annoying. I actually think the Sharks have a chance to win it all if they remove their hands from their throats for a change. But I'm rooting for Calgary.
Minnesota vs. Colorado
True, the Wild is the West's version of the Devils, playing that boring defensive style. But the big difference is the Wild has Marian Gaborik, whom I think could be pound-for-pound the best player in the NHL. Jacques Lemaire is the NHL's best coach and, I speak from experience, a heck of a nice guy. The fans are incredible. Every home game -- including exhibition games -- has been sold out. Sports Illustrated called it the new Hockey Town. Avs fans, meantime, are fair-weathered. Go Wild people.
Dallas vs. Anaheim
This is easy. The Stars have Brad Richards and we all like Brad Richards, right? The Ducks have Chris Pronger and we all hate Chris Pronger, right? Yes, we hate him. And the reason is he is too good of a player to consistently dish out the cheap shots he dishes out. Anaheim won its Cup last season, so time for someone new.
Memphis basketball coach John Calipari seems like a good guy. And he has done enough in his career to qualify as a pretty decent coach. But what in the world was he thinking during the last 10 seconds of regulation in Monday night's national title game loss to Kansas?
With 10.8 seconds left, Memphis Derrick Rose made a free throw to put the Tigers up by three. At that moment, Calipari had two timeouts. He could've (should've) called time out, told his team to foul Kansas and put the Jayhawks at the line with the chance to only move to within one point. Instead, Calipari chose to not call timeout. Memphis didn't foul and Kansas' Mario Chalmers drilled a three-pointer with 2.1 seconds left to tie the game and send it to overtime.
Calipari claimed after the game that Memphis was supposed to foul, but if you look at the replays, no one was trying to foul anyone. It's obvious the Memphis players didn't know they were supposed to foul. This was for the national championship, people. Don't leave anything to chance. Call time out and make sure your players know what they're doing.
And speaking of timeouts, don't you then use one with 2.1 seconds left to come up with a play that might get you a better shot to win than the half-court, no-chance prayer Memphis tried?
Sure, if Memphis makes just one free throw down the stretch instead of going 1-for-its-last-5, it wins. But Calipari dropped the ball in the final 10 seconds. No way Kansas should've shot a three-pointer to tie and Calipari is blame for that.
The Hockey News ranked the NHL's general managers, and the Lightning's Jay Feaster came in at No. 30. That would put him ahead of only ... uh, nobody. That's right, the self-proclaimed bible of hockey calls Feaster the worst GM in the NHL. But I have a problem with this ranking. One of the criticisms is Feaster hasn't stocked the organization with young talent and it's kind of hard to argue that one. But the biggest criticism Feaster got from THN was struggling with the salary cap and loading up the payroll with three forwards -- Vinny Lecavalier, Marty St. Louis and Brad Richards. In fact, THN has regularly taken Feaster behind the woodshed for signing Richards to such a big contract.
Okay, now follow this: THN ranked Dallas co-GMs Brett Hull and Les Jackson in the top 10 specifically because they won trade day by acquiring Richards. Hull and Jackson get credit, THN said, because they stepped up and offered fair market value for Richards.
So, if I'm getting all this right, the Stars get credit for trading good value to get Richards, but Feaster gets no credit for acquiring good value for a player THN thinks shouldn't be in the organization in the first place? I don't understand. (Plus, the list lost all credibility when Toronto interim GM Cliff Fletcher was ranked 21st, for goodness sakes.)
Look, I'm no Feaster apologist, but I find it difficult to rank a GM who has won a Stanley Cup last among GMs, even if it is mostly based on the past year's work. Don't put him your top 10, fine. But last? That's a bit much.
Rose of the day
In the wake of Rays prospect Elliot Johnson bowling over Yankees catcher Francisco Cervelli and causing Yankees manager Joe Girardi to whine about the Rays playing too hard, we are reminded of Pete Rose. Rose probably had the most infamous moment of plowing over a catcher in what was, essentially, an exhibition game. Rose creamed the Indians' Ray Fosse in the 1970 All-Star Game, separating Fosse's right shoulder in the process. Fosse would go on to play nine more seasons in the big leagues, but he was never the same.
So it's no surprise that Charlie Hustle had absolutely no problem with Johnson and plenty of problem with Girardi crying about it. In fact, no one seems to be siding with Girardi except those who live in the 212 area code. Anyway, during an interview with Ron Dibble and Kevin Kennedy on XM Radio's The Show, Rose said:
"There's one way to play the game of baseball and that is to win. If you try to win and you are within the rules, that's the only way to play. People pay money to watch a game and it's the players' responsibility to win the game.
"You can't tell a player to not bust their chops because it's a spring training game. I don't know why Joe Girardi would get mad, he's a catcher and that's what happens. It was just a freak play; if the player slides normally the catcher could break his wrist too.''
Check it out
Look for Times baseball writer Marc Topkin on ESPNews Wednesday night at 7:30. Topkin will be a part of the network's season preview of the Rays.
Doesn't get it
Twins manager Ron Gardenhire is one of the good guys, but he just doesn't "get it'' when it comes to doing all he can to promote the game. Gardenhire was bent out of shape about Twins radio interviewing catcher Mike Redmond in the dugout during a half-inning of a spring training game.
"Do I like it? No, I don't like it,'' Gardenhire told the St. Paul Pioneer-Press. "I think the game should just be played, (and) you shouldn't be interrupting the game with headsets and all those things.''
Gardenhire admitted to denying requests for access during games and reluctantly agrees to between-inning interviews when the Twins are on Fox's TV national broadcast. Lightnen up, Francis. Asking him a couple of quick questions between innings of a game in July isn't interrupting anything. Acting like a curmudgeon just proves that managers and coaches sometimes take themselves and their jobs a little too seriously.
Does get it
Apparently, Yanks slugger Alex Rodriguez does "get it'' after all. During last year's World Series, when it's pretty much a baseball mandate that no one makes news to take attention away from the Series, A-Rod announced he was opting out of his contract with the Yankees and becoming a free agent. On New York's Mike & the Mad Dog radio show, A-Rod had a chance to throw agent Scott Boras under the bus, but A-Rod took full blame.
"It was one of the classless things I've ever seen in sports,'' A-Rod said. "I'm responsible for that and I'm ashamed of it. I'm glad it's behind me.''
Best ever
ESPN's coverage of Saturday night's North Carolina-Duke game drew 5,612,328 viewers, making it the most-watched men's college basketball game in the network's history. It breaks a mark that was only a couple of weeks old. The high was between then-No. 1 Memphis and then-No. 2 Tennessee, which had 5.281-million viewers on Feb. 23.
Classless act of the day
Remember Ray Ray McElrathbey? He was the young running back from Clemson who took over custody of his 11-year-old brother because his mother had a drug problem and his father had a gambling addiction. Even the normally pig-headed NCAA made an exception to allow McElrathbey to receive aid in the form of a trust fund and daily care provided by coaches' families.
Now comes this: McElrathbey is set to graduate in August (in just three years, by the way), but still has two years of eligibility left. He is considering grad school, but he won't return to Clemson's football team. McElrathbey won't comment, but a teammate told reporters it's because his scholarship is not being renewed. Why? Clemson is over the 85-scholarship limit and coach Tommy Bowden, who would neither confirm nor deny that is the reason, did say, "We're pretty good at running back right now.''
Bowden said he will help McElrathbey transfer if he wants to keep playing, but this story just stinks. Now McElrathbey and his little brother will have to move if McElrathbey wants to continuing playing football and getting an education — move away from friends, from support, from schools, from everything they know after getting their lives back on track. All because Bowden wants his precious scholarship back. The only promising note is Clemson senior tailback James Davis reminded everyone that the whole thing could backfire, especially when it comes to recruiting in McElrathbey’s hometown of Atlanta.
"There's a lot of guys they recruit in Atlanta'' Davis told the Post and Courier of Charleston, S.C. "People are going to ask: 'What happened to Ray Ray?' ''
Three things that popped into my head
1. Oh, no. What's going to happen to the Miami Heat now that star Dwyane Wade is out for the season?
2. Who knows how much he has left in the tank, but it's nice to have Warrick Dunn back in a Bucs uniform.
3. The Rangers are starting to look like a Stanley Cup team.
So now we're down to four teams in the NFL playoffs. Two are not a surprise: the Patriots and Packers. Two are: the Giants and Chargers. And now I've added the Indianapolis Colts to the list of teams I don't like.
Why? They messed up next week. Come on, you can't beat the Chargers? A Chargers team missing key players? At home? After a week off? And so now we're going to have to sit through the Patriots crushing the Chargers next week. Hey, give San Diego credit. It deserved to win, especially after having to beat the referees, too. But the Colts were the only team that had a crack at beating New England. The Chargers won't. No way. No chance. I'm not sure the Colts would have. But at least they believed they could've won. They weren't going to get rattled if they fell behind 7-0 or 10-0 or even 14-0. San Diego is going to have to play a perfect game. And even then, it might not be enough.
Speaking of the Colts, as much as I hate to say it, but once again, a Tony Dungy-coached team loses a playoff game it shouldn't have. Just like two years ago when they lost to the Steelers at home, the Colts lost to a team they simply have to beat. And now think about it. Throw out last year, and Dungy is 3-5 in the playoffs with the Colts. And he was 2-4 with the Bucs. That's 5-9, mostly with teams that should've done better.
Meantime, I got an e-mail a couple of weeks ago because I had ranked Tony Romo sixth among playoff quarterbacks. "Too low'' the e-mail said. You know what? It was too high. Until the guy wins a playoff game, I don't want to hear how he is an elite quarterback. It's like commercial says, "A quarterback is defined by what he does in the playoffs and the Super Bowl.''
In the NFC Championship, the Packers will be favored, but there's something about the Giants, don't you think? Right now, something is telling me to pick the Giants to beat the Packers. Not that it matters because the Patriots could beat an all-star team made up of the Chargers, Giants and Packers.
Pffffffftttttttt!!!!!!! What's that? That's the sound of Lightning GM Jay Feaster doing a spit-take when he heard how much money the Caps are paying Alex Ovechkin over the next 13 years. Uh, that would be $124-million. So answer this: If Ovechkin is going to make $9.54-million a season, exactly how much is Vinny Lecavalier worth?
Ovechkin is an incredible player, no doubt. Probably top five in the league. One day he just might be the best player in the world. But has he won a Cup? Has he ever led the NHL in goals? Is he the favorite, right now, to win the league MVP award? Lecavalier is all of those things. Vinny's contract runs out after next season. When he sits down to talk numbers with the Bolts, you gotta think $9.55-million a year is a starting point.
Thursday was a great day for Ovechkin. It was a great day for Lecavalier. For Feaster and the Lightning? Not so much.
It was supposed to be the blockbuster trade that finally solved the Lightning's goaltending problems after Cup-winning goalie Nikolai Khabibulin left for the free-agent money of Chicago. After a year of the failed John Grahame/Sean Burke experiment, the Lightning pulled the trigger on a huge deal, sending consistent goal-scorer and fan favorite Freddy Modin to Columbus for goalie Marc Denis.
But Denis was never the answer. He went 17-18-2 last season with a 3.19 GAA and lost his No. 1 job to Johan Holmqvist. This year, he was 1-5-0 with a 4.05 GAA and lost his spot on the roster entirely to prospect Karri Ramo. The Lightning waived Denis on Friday and, barring an unlikely chain of events, his Lightning career is over.
The only comfort Lightning fans can take is Modin hasn't exactly worked out in Columbus. He had 22 
goals in 79 games last season and this season, injuries have limited him to only six goal-less games. He hasn't played since Nov. 5 and you have to wonder that at age 33 and 11 hard years in the league if his career will never be the same.
Isn't it funny that the throw-in player of the trade (Fredrik Norrena, a goalie prospect who went from the Lightning to the Blue Jackets) might turn out to have the most impact after the trade? Since the trade, Norrena has gone 29-31-6 and has become a reliable backup in Columbus.
I Am Legend Moron. I'm talking about Tim Brown.
Someone needs to take Brown's Heisman voting privileges away. Brown, who benefited from the Notre Dame PR machine and a couple of punt returns against a stinky Michigan State team to win the 1987 Heisman Trophy, was quoted as saying he doesn't even have Florida's Tim Tebow on his ballot. To quote Mr. John McEnroe: "You CANNOT be serious!''
Listen, Tim, if you want to make a case for Arkansas' Darren McFadden, I'll listen for a few seconds before rolling my eyes. But to say you don't even have Tebow in your top three? That's just stupid.
Here's the worst part: Brown said muttered something about Tebow's team losing three games. This guy is something. Did he forget that his team lost three games (four if you count the bowl game) when he won the Heisman????? And correct me if I'm wrong, but didn't another Notre Dame guy (Paul Hornung) win a Heisman in a season when his team only won two games? And lost eight?
Besides, I don't remember Tebow being on the field when Auburn, LSU and Georgia were driving the ball down Florida's defense.
I think Tebow is going to win the Heisman on Saturday, but if he loses by a couple of points because Tim Brown didn't have him among his top three, not only should they consider taking away Brown's ballot, but I think we should take away his Heisman.
Seriously, Tim, if you can't treat your toys nicely, we're just going to have to take them away.
Doesn't this Bobby Bowden thing smell a little rotten?
First, he gets a contract extension. But it's not the standard two- or three- or five-year deal. It's one year. Then the Noles wait like eight seconds before saying who the next head coach is going to be: Jimbo Fisher. It's like having a house guest for dinner and saying, "Hey no need to rush off, here's your coat.''
Have you ever heard of such a thing? The last time I did was when Johnny Carson was shoved out of the Tonight Show chair for Jay Leno. And that was a mess. So is this. This is FSU's way of shoving Bowden, the guy who put FSU football on the map, out of the door. That's what a seven-win season and a trip to the Music City Bowl gets you. I personally think Bowden should coach until he's 120 if he wants.
But back to the point: You're telling me that Jimbo Fisher is so good that FSU just had to lock him away right now? Come on, this is Florida State. It's still one of the best jobs in the country. Seriously, other than Florida's Urban Meyer, Jim Tressel at Ohio State, Pete Carroll at USC, Joe Paterno, of course, and maybe Oklahoma's Bob Stoops, there isn't a coach in the country who wouldn't at least listen if FSU called. And that includes NFL coaches.
Yet Jimbo Fisher, who didn't exactly light it up with FSU this season and has never been a head coach at this level, is so hot you can't afford to let him go?
My gut tells me this has little to do with Fisher and a lot to do with Bowden. It's not that FSU really wants Fisher. It no longer wants Bowden. That's what it smells like, anyway.
Over the weekend, the obnoxious Red Sox fans came out in full force to the Trop to watch their team play the Devil Rays. Now it's the obnoxious Yankees fans filling up to the Trop to watch a Rays "home'' game. It shouldn't be this way. It's embarrassing for a home team to have three-fourth of its fans rooting for the visitors.
But don't blame the fans. As disgusting as some members of Red Sox Nation can be and as arrogant as some of those transplanted New Yorkers can be, it's their right to root for whatever team they want to root for. That becomes a right as soon as any fan whips out his wallet or her purse to plop down their hard-earned dough for a ticket. As long as the obscenities at left at home, a fan should be able to cheer or boo anything they want.
Remember years ago when Packers and Bears fans would fill up Tampa Stadium and cheer against the Bucs? Remember in the early days of the Lightning when Red Wings, Flyers and Penguins fans would make up most of the crowd at Expo Hall or the ThunderDome or even the then-Ice Palace? When the Bucs and Lightning got good, all that stopped. As soon as the Devil Rays get good and start filling the stands with their own fans, we'll have to continue putting up with all the Big Papi and Jeter jerseys. After all, cheering for the Red Sox or Yankees is a right that simply can't be denied.
As you know, the day after the All-Star Game is typically the worst sports day of the year. There's no major sport playing. Baseball is off unless you count some minor-league all-star game (and I don't). But it is a day to catch up on a few things sports-wise, so here goes:
The Bronx is Burning
I like John Turturro. Anyone who has been in the Do the Right Thing, Miller's Crossing, The Big Lebowski and O Brother Where Art Thou is all right by me. And I like Oliver Platt even though I can't really think off the top of my head anything he has been in. (Wait, wasn't he in that movie with Julia Roberts where people die for like a couple of minutes and then come back all messed up? Julia Roberts ended up marrying Lyle Lovett after that, so apparently life imitated art. But anyway...) And I liked the 1977 Yankees, which is what the whole thing is about. So how come I was disappointed in the first hour of this series? First, Platt does a decent imitation of George Steinbrenner's voice, but looks nothing like him. And Turturro is a dead ringer for Billy Martin, but is over-the-top Southern accent sounds nothing like Martin. Then there's the whole Son of Sam murders dropped in the middle of the baseball stuff like an anvil. Basically, here's how the first hour went: Billy and George fight. People get shot. Reggie Jackson acts like a jerk. More people get shot. Billy fights with his wife. Billy fights with George. People get shot. Reggie fights with Thurman Munson. People get shot. Billy and George fight. Closing credits. So far the show is 0-for-1.
The Lightning schedule
The Lightning schedule came out Wednesday and apparently they play four teams: Washington, Carolina, Florida and Atlanta. Do they play anyone else? Seems like they play one of those teams ever other game. And yet they don't play the defending champion Ducks. Nice. The season hasn't even started yet and I'm bored with it.
The Yankees are in town
Is it me, or does it seem like more women in flimsy outfits show up at the Trop when the Yankees are in town? Ever notice that? They line up behind the Yankees dugout during batting practice in their halter tops and short skirts and bat their eyes at Derek Jeter. Then they go take their seats in the second level. Ladies, you do realize that Jeter has dated Scarlett Johannson, Jessica Alba, Mariah Carey, a Miss Teen USA and a Miss Universe, right? And he dumped all of them! Somehow I don't think he's going for someone who doesn't have enough pull to get a ticket in the first 10 rows at a Devil Rays game.
Topics to discuss amongst yourselves
Can we please kill the Home Run Derby? And you know the worst part? Like five months from now you're going to home with the flu and you're going to flip on ESPN and they're going to be showing a replay of the damn thing. And yet, I miss those old Home Run Derby re-runs from the 1960s. Go figure.
Bet you can't name right now who Venus Williams beat in the Wimbledon women's finals, who is leading Tour de France, who won the Preakness and who won the Boston Marathon.
Can you honestly ever see Major League Baseball holding the All-Star Game at Tropicana Field?
Looking back at the best and worst from a weekend of televised sports
Best coverage
NBC's Wimbledon coverage, particularly Sunday's men's singles final, was flawless. At first, I was disappointed that Mary Carillo was not working the men's final with John McEnroe because the two work so well together.
But when McEnroe is the lone analyst, he is just as good. In fact, Sunday, he was at his absolute best as he got into a great rhythm to the point that everything that came out of his mouth was worth listening to.
What makes McEnroe so strong is his ability to take what is happening at the moment, give it perspective, then project how it can affect the rest of the match. For example, when the fourth set started, it appeared Roger Federer was well on his way to victory,
