Category: Sports

Eric McErlain thinks Tampa Bay’s gonna win the Super Bowl. Might as well get my pick up to be mocked: it’s gonna be the Raiders. I even think they’ll beat the line.

Why? Because they have the team of destiny patina. They’re pissed off about the playoffs last year, the veterans know they need to get it done now or perhaps never, and the team is tight. Contrast this to the distraction Keyshawn is capable of causing. Check out his ESPN diary and tell me that isn’t someone who thinks he’s bigger than the team. Note that he didn’t mention his quarterback once. I hear Brad Johnson isn’t that bad a player.

That means that it’s up to Tampa Bay’s defense to make up for any problems on the offensive side, and that isn’t gonna be easy. Raiders win it going away.

The America’s Cup challenger has been selected. It’s the Swiss team, Alinghi. In the most important yacht race in the world.

You have no oceans!

The Soci

Shut Out: A Story of Race and Baseball in Boston looks like a fascinating book, judging from this interview. I’d never heard the Jackie Robinson story, but being a serious Celtics fan, the issues surrounding race and Boston sports have interested me for a while. He seems to have at least a little to say about basketball, although his surprise at the color barriers broken by the Celtics makes me wonder about his general research. Tagged for later consideration.

The other night, my TiVo caught a Sportscentury on Bill Russell; a lot of the program was dedicated to the racism he faced. There was a tremendously poignant moment, during the Bob Cousy interview, when Cousy almost broke down in tears; hiding his face in his hands, Cousy said, “I could have done more.”

So while thinking about the NBA expansion into Charlotte, I found myself contemplating NBA contraction, since I firmly believe there are too many NBA teams. The talent pool is too diluted, and while an influx of Euros may counteract this, that influx would be even cooler if there were fewer teams.

So who would I cut? Well, I’ve never been happy about the Canadian teams, but then the Grizz moved to Memphis and got Jerry West and you can’t cut a team out from under Jerry. Toronto can go any day, though.

I think we also have about one too many teams in Florida. They should do a special playoff at the end of this season; winner gets to stay around and take over the contracts of any players they want from the losers. Ideally, this would take place inside a cage.

Washington wants a baseball team. The Wizards should convert over en masse, satisfying Jordan’s dreams and getting rid of a bad basketball team and providing DC with the baseball it yearns for. I bet people would pay to see Kwame Brown pitch. I sure would.

Denver just needs to go away. There’s nothing funny you can say about Denver. Same goes for Golden State. I lived in San Francisco for a bunch of years and you know what? Nobody’s going to get behind ‘em ever because a) they suck and b) they have a sad sorry name. You should never be named after anything but a city. The New England Patriots would be doing OK this year if they’d just get over themselves and become the Boston Patriots. The Revolution would have won the MLS Cup if they did the same thing.

There are a whole bunch of Midwestern teams which limp a lot and never do much. There’s also Indiana and Detroit which have history and class and style, so they’re safe. Milwaukee and Cleveland, though? Gotta go. The Bulls should go too but I’m told Chicago is a major media market or something. Fine, whatever.

OK, let’s see. We’ve gotten rid of seven teams, which puts us at 23. Still too many. OK, I hate to do this, but you know that when Stockton and Malone retire Utah is just gonna be sad forever, living on dreams of past glory, never again to make the playoffs. The ultimate tribute to Stockton and Malone would be to retire the entire team when they’re done. “Guys, you were amazing, and we will never do better than you so we will not even try.” Also, they should get a special NBA Title Award, entitled the “We’re Sorry About Michael Award.”

I further believe that either the Lakers or the Clippers need to go, or they need to rename the Pacific Division to NBA West and make it a totally separate league. Which, come to think of it, would solve a few problems. Anyhow, I say that if the Lakers finish ahead of the Clippers this year then the Lakers should be disbanded and the Clips should get their players, out of mercy. If the Clippers finish ahead of the Lakers, then the Lakers should be disbanded, out of shame. And if the Clippers allow any more good free agents to just walk out the door, that’s a termination offense.

What? I’m a Boston Celtics fan. You expected me to keep the Lakers around?

I can’t tell if this is a sporting event or brutality. Five competitors are going to run 1,000 miles in 1,000 hours, then cap it all off by running the London Marathon, whose organizers came up with the concept. That’s certainly a challenge, and I admire the spirit of those willing to take it up. The competitors are legitimate marathoners, so it’s not a circus sideshow per se.

Actually, come to think of it, the concept itself doesn’t bother me much. There’s something almost meditative about it. And, for that matter, I haven’t ever minded the Tour de France which has similar qualities of strain. I hope not too many people tune in for the same reasons they’d slow down at a car crash, and I wish the runners well.

I’m a big fan of Bill Walton, for a few reasons. First, he was a great basketball player who’s never been bitter about the health problems that kept him from dominating the league. Second, he got the Celtics a title. Third, he’s a free spirit and he says what he thinks.

He wrote a piece about Michael Jordan yesterday, focusing on the sixth man role. It’s exceptional. Walton’s erratic as a commentator, because he gets impatient and his passion can lead him to overcriticize. But this is exceptional, because it’s Walton telling Jordan how he felt in 1985 when he accepted the sixth man role with the Celtics. He never says it, but he’s not talking about Michael Jordan. He’s a proud man talking about what it took to go from Portland’s savoir to Boston’s sixth man. (We’ll skip the unfortunate steps inbetween.)

“As the sixth man, you’re at the mercy of the coach, who might forget about you, and subject to the chances that someone else lets go by. You are plagued by uncertainty and often have to turn a garbled jumble into Mozart. And just when you’ve got it right, you’re back on that bench again — watching, waiting, hoping, dreaming for the coach’s call so that you can have a chance to determine your own fate.”

Bless you, Bill. Celtics fans still remember you, you know, and we still appreciate what you did. Don’t forget that.

I have been appropriately punished for my hubris.

I’m thinking perhaps it was just a matter of getting the Boston Sports Guy out of town. He has nobly sacrificed himself to break all the jinxes. The aforementioned Billy Beane move is close to done.

And how about that Patriots game? Football is the cruellest sport. Each game has such mythic weight. It’s easy to watch the successes, like the Patriots of last year, and forget how brutal losing games can be. This afternoon’s game was a must-win; the Patriots could not expect to make the playoffs if they’d lost. Chicago’s playing for nothing but pride. It would hurt to see the Patriots kicked out of the playoffs by Oakland next week, but it would be so much worse if it’d come at the hands of the feeble Bears.

Almost happened. That’s cruel. Brady went a little further towards creating a legend. That’s glorious. Gotta love football.

The Celtics beat the Lakers, then won their fourth in a row. The Bruins are hot. The Red Sox are about to have a really good GM. Not a bad weekend.

As I mentioned earlier, Billy Beane (Oakland’s GM) really made the case for using sabermetrics to better manage a baseball team. Oakland’s been very reluctant to let anyone else talk to him; as a low budget team, Beane’s their single best asset. Obviously, he’s exactly the kind of manager you’d want running a team that had Bill James as a consultant.

Oakland’s letting Boston talk to Beane. The news just gets better and better. (Thanks to off-wing opinion for the link.)

ESPN reports that the Red Sox are about to hire Bill James as an advisor. This is not exactly a first, but it’s certainly significant that the most famous sabermetrician has signed on with a major league club.

I’d say that Billy Beane’s success with the As opened the door for this — but if James succeeds, that’ll mean the position of sabermetrician will become standard for MLB teams.