Thank you for saying yes to Theo back in 2003 Thank you for having an opinion and speaking your mind Thank you for embracing the new media Thank you for 53 regular season wins Thank you for transitioning from games to gaming Thank you for continuing to look for a cure Thank you for the bloody sock Thank you for a 6 and 1 post season record Thank you for breaking a 86 year old curse Thank you for 2championships Thank you for being you
After a little better than .500 season - 9 and 7 - and many media types calling for an overhaul of the playoff system that kept the 11 and 5 New England Patriots [and two other 9 and 7 teams] out of the playoffs, it is great to see the Arizona Cardinals making the Super Bowl proving yet again pro sports is about teams winning at the right time, not winning all the time [see last year's super bowl as a recent example]. After 3 weeks and 3 wins, the Cardinals are on their way to their franchises first Super Bowl. The big game now features two teams with good quarterbacks [who both have won this before], tough defences and plenty of story lines. Should make for an excellent game. My apologies go out to all those Eagle [sorry John] and Ravens fans out there. Maybe next year.
Former Boston College football coach Jeff Jagodzinski was hired 2 years ago, without any college head coaching experience, and given a 5 year contract. He was asked by BC athletic director Gene DeFilippo to not interview with any NFL teams and to instead focus on his job at the college. While Jagodzinski has aspirations to be a coach in the NFL, h also has 3 years left on his current contract that he signed in good faith with the college back in 2007. Jagodzinski did not respect the wishes of his employer and visited with the New York Jets to interview for their opening as a head coach. Well yesterday Jagodzinski received news that most people would when they defy their employer - your fired [wonder if DeFilippo used the Trump Cobra in the process??].
This is a sad story for the college who have been trying to continually build their program into a top 20 program but unfortunately Jagodzinski was only concerned for himself. I personally applaud BC for manning up and sending the coach packing. This shows that they are committed to building something and not just being a stepping stone for inexperienced coaches. Maybe Jagodzinski will get that dream job or maybe NFL owners will see a man who is only watching out for himself and has no locality to his employer.
The Arizona Cardinals and the Minnesota Vikings currently have not sold out their home wild-card games for this weekend and if they are left with empty seats, the games will not be broadcast locally. It is well known that the economy is suffering right now, but it is interesting that the greater Pheonix area hasn't ralliedc around their team - since they have not hosted a playoff game since 1947 when they played in Chiacgo and it has been 10 years since they last made the playoffs. One would think the local's would really, really, really want to go to the game. Instead they are coming up short and have gone as far to partner with a local company to try an get the rest of the tickets sold. Leslie's Swimming Pool Supplies, the nation's leading retailer of swimming pool supplies and related products, announced that the company has partnered with the Arizona Cardinals and has stepped up to purchase a large block of tickets to assist the Cardinals in their efforts to sell-out the game.
Customers who purchase $100 or more in pool supplies from a Phoenix-area location will receive two free tickets to the Cardinals-Falcons Wild Card game. Supplies are limited, and this offer is only valid during Leslie's business hours on Friday, January 2 through noon on Saturday, January 3.
I'm guessing Leslie's got a sweet deal on all those tickets if they can afford to give away 2 tickets for free with a $100 purchase. On the plus side, a portion of the tickets will also be donated to the Boys and Girls Club of Metropolitan Phoenix. Let's hope everyone gets what they want for the first weekend of playoff football.
The New England Patriots took care of business over the past month winning their four remaining games - all must win - with a combined score of 133 to 54. Getting to a record of 11-5 this season after going through major [and and it doesn't get more major than losing Tom Brady 7 minutes into the first game of the season] injuries shows how special an organization we have here in New England. Granted the Pats got a soft schedule this year but having only 5 teams with a better record really highlights how good the coaching staff and player personnel are here. And by setting a new record for least number of accepted penalties in a season [57], it shows how focused the players were and how hard they worked to make a run this year. Hey it could have been worse, just look at how bad the Lions were this year.
It is really unfortunate that the Pats are not in the playoffs because they were really playing some great football this month and now we are relegated to watching teams like the Dolphins, Chargers and Cardinals who will most likely be One and Done next week. Only 9 short months till the 2009 season and the return of Tm Brady!
Back in February, SI's Chris Ballard wrote a story about a post-Wizards era Michael Jordan that some mutual fund CEO named John Rogers Jr. who had beaten Jordan in a game of one-on-one at the legend's high-end "Flight School" camp in Las Vegas. According to Ballard, there were one-handed runners and flip-shots and even Damon Wayans. It was quite the tale. And today we finally have video footage.
Major League Baseball has agreed to push back the start time of a potential World Series Game 6 by eight minutes to allow Democrat Barack Obama to purchase a half-hour of air time on the Fox network. The Obama presidential campaign said back on October 9th that it had bought the 8-8:30 p.m slot on CBS and NBC.
"Fox will accommodate Senator Obama’s desire to communicate with voters in this long-form format," network spokesman Lou D’Ermilio said in a statement. "We are pleased that Major League Baseball has agreed to delay the first pitch of World Series Game 6 for a few minutes in order for Fox to carry his program on October 29. If requested, the network would be willing to make similar time available to Senator McCain’s campaign."
Well it's good to see that MLB and Fox are so accomidating to the political process. I wonder how much money it took to get both groups to agree to the time change? I guess it doesn't matter how late the games run, as long as everyone is making some cash in the process [and eight less minutes of sleep won't hurt all those viewers right?].
On a side note, the World Series has not gone to a sixth game since 2003 so it may be a moot point anyway.
Since when did bowling include a defence? Is this some new type of bowling where the pins can move, block or fight back against the ball? If the fans are not bright enough to understand basic concepts in sports, it should be banned from public broadcast.
The LPGA is adopting a policy that will require its member golfers to speak English or face suspension. All players who have been on the tour for two years could be suspended if they fail to pass an oral evaluation of their English proficiency starting at the end of the 2009 season, while new members will be required to pass the proficiency evaluation immediately. Current LPGA membership includes 121 foreign players from 26 countries, 45 from South Korea. LPGA deputy commissioner Libba Galloway says this new rule "is not meant to be punitive in any way. There are very few players who don't speak English. We don't think suspensions will happen, but if they do, we're not going to say, 'Boom, go home and try again next year.' We'll work with them on identifying areas for improvement." While I can understand the tour's point, I'm not sure requiring the golfer to speak English will in any way make their product more marketable or profitable.
On the other hand maybe the message of English is good for the sponsors has been lost on some people. When asked about the new rule, LPGA State Farm tournament director Kate Peters said "This is an American tour." She continued by saying that it is "important for sponsors to be able to interact with players and have a positive experience." So which is it? I believe the first is overshadowing the second in many peoples mind so let me offer these two facts:
1. The LPGA stands for Ladies Professional Golf Association not LPG of America 2. The 2008 schedule includes a total of 37 stops, 25 in the US and 12 on foreign soil
With 32.4% of the stops outside the US, I am hard pressed to consider the LPGA tour an American tour. I guess if the tour really wants things to be fair, then requiring the golfers to learn Spanish, French, Japanese, Chinese, Mandarin and English would be fine by me. But who says sports is fair.
Last night in Beijing, Michael Phelps won his 3rd gold metal of the 2008 summer Olympics in the 200 meter freestyle. This marked his 9th gold metal [starting with the 6 he won in Athens 4 years ago] and it put him in very elite company. Only 4 Olympians prior to Phelps had won this many gold metals:
Paavo Nurmi - Finland (3 in 1920, 5 in 1924, 1 in 1928) Larissa Latynina - Russia (4 in 1956, 5 in 1962) Mark Spitz - US (2 in 1968, 7 in 1972) Carl Lewis - US (4 in 1984, 2 in 1988, 2 in 1992, 1 in 1996)
Today Mr. Phelps joined an even smaller group of athletes - just him all by himself. Winning both the 200 meter butterfly and 4 x 200 meter freestyle relay, Phelps now has won a record setting 11 gold metals and has a chance for 3 more in these games, which could be a total of 8 gold metals surpassing Mr. Spitz's record for a single Olympics. As for the only other metal record he would not hold, he would have to come back for a 3rd Olympics to pass Latynina's 18 overall metals.
I'm not sure there are any words that can describe how impressive Phelps has been so far - 5 events - 5 gold metals - 5 world records. And if he could go 8 for 8, this will be sport domination that will only make sense sometime into the future when we can grasp how dominate he really is.
Back in April, I wrote how open Boston Celtics Co-Owner Wycliffe "Wyc" Grousbeck was to communication that he published his email address in a Globe Magazine article. After the Celtics won the championship, I thought I would test my comments and I dropped Wyc a short email congratulating him, the management, coaches and players on winning # 17. Two days later I got a short reply of thanks, which goes to prove he is a man of his word and until further notice, professional sports owner of the year!
Back on January 27th, I was reading the Sunday Globe and saw an ad in the sports section [which was heavily dedicated to the impending Superbowl and the Patriots] which featured a picture of Kevin Garnet with the tag line We Got Next! The message of the green and black colored advertisement was that after the Patriots win the Superbowl [which was supposed to be the city's 2 straight championship following the Red Sox 2007 World Series win], The Celtics were next to bring the glory back to Boston.
Last night the pride was back on Causeway Street. The new Big 3 delivered not just a win in game 6 but a complete demolition of the much hated Lakers. Looking back on the box score today, the thing that jumps out at me is how much of a team effort last night's game was. Garnet, Pierce, Allen and Rondo combined for 90 points, 24 assists, 28 rebounds, and 14 steals while the bench chipped in the other 41 points. This game gives us the best example of the teams season long philosophy of Ubuntu - an African ideal that each person is open and available to others, affirming of others, does not feel threatened that others are able and good, for he has a proper self-assurance that comes from knowing that he belongs in a greater whole and is diminished when others are humiliated or diminished, when others are tortured or oppressed. Ok that was way over stated but there maybe no better way to describe the word we use to describe the simple word TEAM.
Congratulations to the players, coaches and management for collecting your 17th world championship and showing the world that there really should be ubuntu in every winning team.
Back on April 27, New York State Police stopped starting New England Patriots offensive lineman Nicholas Kaczur for speeding [76 MPH in a 65 MPH zone] on the New York State Thruway in Whitestown, NY. While Kaczur was pulled over, officers noticed a "small amount of controlled substance for which he did not have a prescription" - this substance was later identified as oxycodone.
In cooperation with the DEA, Kaczur made 3 transactions of 100 pills each with a alleged dealer Daniel Ekasala for $3,900. 39 bucks a pill. That's quite a mark-up from the roughly $6 per pill pharmacy cost or even your $40 co-pay for 30 pills.
These recorded deals took place on May 1st, May 6th and May 13th in Foxborough, North Attleborough and Sharon Massachusetts. That means Ekasala didn't find it odd that Kaczur was taking roughly 16 pills a day and that Ekasala deals from all over the the route 95 beltway.
Hopefully Kaczur is getting help for his pain medication issue and Ekasala can help the DEA with the continue flow of prescription medication into the streets.
Last night in Beijing, Michael Phelps won his 3rd gold metal of the 2008 summer Olympics in the 200 meter freestyle. This marked his 9th gold metal [starting with the 6 he won in Athens 4 years ago] and it put him in very elite company. Only 4 Olympians prior to Phelps had won this many gold metals:
Back in April, 
In cooperation with the DEA, Kaczur made 3 transactions of 100 pills each with a alleged dealer Daniel Ekasala for $3,900. 39 bucks a pill. That's quite a mark-up from the roughly $6 per pill pharmacy cost or even your $40 co-pay for 30 pills.