And Then There Were Two

The 1972 Miami Dolphins aren’t the greatest team in NFL history.

Before you get upset, noting that no team has gone undefeated in the NFL since Don Shula’s well-oiled machine, I readily admit that they are the NFL’s most memorable team in history. Even if you weren’t around to witness the Dolphins, you know their players: Griese, Czonka, Morris, Buoniconi, & Kuechenberg.

Those players don’t stand above names like Montana, Aikman, and Elway, but they are comparable and their team is more memorable because they were part of an amazing accomplishment that has yet to be matched.

Many teams in recent memory have flirted with going an entire NFL season undefeated in recent years. The 2007 New England Patriots ran off 18 straight wins before falling to Eli Manning and the New York Giants in the Super Bowl.

Both the Saints and Colts have had impressive victories this season. They’ve both won shootouts (Washington this past week for New Orleans, New England in week ten), and had impressive grinder style victories (New Orleans over the Jets 24-10 and Indy over the 49ers 18-14).

Home-field advantage throughout the playoffs is all but clinched for both teams, meaning the only thing left to play for (pride withstanding) will be a shot at undefeated glory.

The New Orleans Saints & Indianapolis Colts, however, simply don’t have the defense to be able to hold up unblemished marks all season. Both teams possess great quarterbacks who lead precise offenses in Brees and Manning, but at some point offenses fail. It’s at that point, where great defenses pick up the slack. The Saints, for all their offensive firepower, give up a ton of points. The Colts defense, on the other hand, has made tremendous strides but has yet to be tested in a do-or-die scenario.

This year will be memorable because of Indianapolis & New Orleans, but ultimately they won’t find themselves on the same sports pedestal as the 1972 Dolphins. The nature of today’s NFL is of parity, and thus not undefeated seasons.

All isn’t lost, Manning or Brees have both had MVP caliber seasons. Chances are that one of the two signal callers will be holding onto the Lombardi trophy and talking about Disney World on a cool night in February. And that’ll be just fine with Don Shula, who will sip on champagne one more year and treasure professional football’s most memorable team.

No One's Perfect

Tiger Woods is human after all.

In a statement released on his website Wednesday, the superstar admitted to “personal sins” and “transgressions” that have left a stain on himself and his family.

Woods also made it known that he feels privacy is something that should be protected, even with celebrity status. “Personal sins should not require press releases and problems within a family shouldn't have to mean public confessions,” said Woods

The statement came after almost six days of tabloid speculation that began with an suspicious early morning single car accident last Friday with Woods at the wheel; cut, bloodied, and without shoes.

I’m not going to get into the TMZ fodder here. The pictures, text messages, and even voicemails are easily accessible to anyone who knows how to use Google. The important part of Woods’ statement is the apology to his wife and two young children, but perhaps the most interesting element is Tiger's unabashed furor toward the lack of privacy today. Woods explained that he feels we all have the "right to some simple, human measure of privacy."

Privacy is an aspect of life to which we should all have access. Tiger Woods has given up most semblance of such privacy over the years, and has made millions along the way. His point strikes a chord with me, and it’s easy to see that when the media is throwing personal communications in the face of one’s family, perhaps celebrity has gone too far in our ever news hungry world. That said, an invasion of privacy didn’t cause Woods’ failures, it simply brought them to light.

Tiger’s life isn’t over. He’ll still win hundreds more golf tournaments, most likely breaking Jack Nicklaus’ record in the process. Tiger has never been a politician or a preacher. Woods has always been a golfer, and what he does in the fairway and on the tee box is what has brought him astounding fame and fortune.

Woods has made terrible mistakes, but it’s not for us to judge him. His wife, his family, and his close friends have to try to accept his apology and move forward.

Tiger’s image may never be the same, but all he can hope for is that his family life will someday be what it was before this week’s media firestorm. Either way, I’ll be watching him on Sundays.

American as Apple Pie

Football or baseball, Joe?

That was the question all Minnesotans asked in the summer of 2001. With this week’s announcement that Mauer was the near unanimous choice (27 out of 28 first-place votes) American League MVP, it’s clear that the sporting gods always wanted Mauer to play the game of DiMaggio & Williams, and not the game of Nitschke & Montana.

As a senior in high school, Mauer was not only an all-world baseball prospect, but also the boy with the golden arm. Mauer was the most sought after quarterback in the country, winning both USA Today & Gatorade National Player of the Year awards.

Mauer seemed destined to follow in the steps of Heisman Trophy winner Chris Weinke, Florida State’s latest stud signal caller. The lure to play for the Minnesota Twins, however, was too great to overcome. The Twins passed on can’t miss pitching prospect Mark Prior, whose injury plagued career may have ended after the 2009 season.

Joe Mauer made the right decision after all. It’s hard to question Mauer’s remarkable talent. He hit an astounding .365, which not only led Major League Baseball in 2009, but also was the highest average ever for a catcher. Mauer’s career clip through five seasons is an impressive .328, including 72 homeruns and 397 runs batted in.

Mauer has made his mark in Minnesota. He’s a hometown boy that has done wonders for his childhood team. If the sporting world didn’t have an idea of Mauer’s star-power before the award, it does now. The question is no longer, football or baseball, but rather Minnesota or the bright lights of New York?

That’s a much more difficult question to answer, but Joe Mauer has some time to figure it out.

The Long Road to Victory

An LPGA golfer who was forced to go through qualifying school this year won a prestigious tournament this past weekend. Normally, that story falls into the bravo category, but merits little attention beyond the present. When that golfer is former teen phenomenon Michelle Wie, however, the story deserves a closer look.

Michelle Wie finally has become the golfer everyone hoped she would.

Seven years ago, Wie used amazing performance (66 in the third round) as an amateur at a women’s major championship to thrust herself into the national spotlight at 13.

The hype machine began to build around Wie shortly there after, and although Wie profited from being labeled the female Tiger Woods from a monetary standpoint, her golf game struggled. She missed cuts in eight of her first twenty professional appearances (2005-2007), which many attributed to the fact that she hadn’t joined a professional circuit and learned how to be a winner.

Throughout the ups and downs, however, Wie did have some bright spots. She placed fifth at the LPGA Championship in the summer of 2006, and followed that up with a third place finish at the 2006 U.S. Women’s Open just three weeks later.

No one has ever denied Wie’s potential.

As a teenager, Wie should’ve been allowed to compete against girls her own age. Instead, at the behest of both Nike & Sony, Wie elected to compete against grown men on the PGA tour, as well as using sponsors exemptions to compete in attractive LPGA tournaments.

Wie simply wasn’t mature enough to compete against professionals of any sort, let along professional men on the world’s premier golf circuit.

Maybe the Wie’s knew something we never did. Maybe they were certain of her success. After seemingly being a cautionary tale of too much too soon, Michelle Wie fulfilled her potential on Sunday. A victory at the Lauren Ochoa Invitational is more than just a first win for Michelle; it’s a game-changer.

Although Wie has been an afterthought to many behind the likes of fellow young LPGA stars Morgan Pressel and Paula Cremer, Wie’s victory shows that she has the ability to deliver on the killer instinct that makes professional golfers of any ilk be successful. Success breeds confidence, and now that the Michelle Wie’s skill-set has a confident base, she may live up to the hype after all.

Coming Full Circle

(Disclaimer: I’m an unapologetic Andre Agassi fan. His rise to fame on the professional tennis scene in the mid to late 1980s encapsulates my earliest tennis memories. Not only did I have his signature shoe from Nike, but all the men in my immediate family did as well).

Andre Agassi was never shy around cameras during his years as one of tennis’ brightest stars, and he isn’t shy with the media as a recent retiree. Agassi, whose book Open hits bookstores this week, has stirred the pot by laying all of his cards on the table in the autobiography.

The book starts with Andre’s childhood, he details his relationship with his maniacal father, before delving into his rise as a teen superstar and top five player by age eighteen. Most of the attention coming of out the book’s release has centered on two particular admissions. First, there’s the stunner that Agassi recreationally used crystal meth during the worst year of his professional career in 1997, and then lied to the ATP about it. Secondly, Agassi admits that he tanked matches during his career, notably the 1996 Australian Open semi-final against Michael Chang.

In coming clean in such a public manner, Agassi is risking his good name. Rafael Nadal slammed his admissions, saying that they “damaged the game” of tennis. For anyone else, admitting to drug use and a lack competitive integrity would normally be public relations disasters, but Andre Agassi is as a unique individual that you’ll find in all of sports.

At his peak, it was all about Andre. Image was everything. Over the last decade, however, Agassi went from spoiled celebrity to content professional, parent, and husband. Andre Agassi is one of the few athletes in the modern generation that “gets it.” He’s donated millions of dollars to charity while founding a school in his hometown of Las Vegas that helps underprivileged youth go to college at an astounding 100% rate.

The beauty of Agassi’s confession is that he is doing it for the right reasons. If you think the most visible star of a global sport needs the money or attention that comes with releasing a tell-all, you’re beyond reproach.

Agassi chose to come forward about his life because he feels that showing people that we all have struggles in our day-to-day lives will help individuals take control of their own lives. Andre is all about helping people, and his book is another forum to do just that. Image isn’t everything after all.

Sending a Message

Accountability is a word that’s probably overused, but underrated at the same time. Brandon Spikes, Florida’s All-American linebacker needs to be reminded about not only accountability, but also sportsmanship after Florida’s 41-17 blowout victory over hated rival Georgia on Saturday.

Spikes played a good game against the bulldogs. He had an interception in his first appearance in 2009. He won’t be remembered for his performance as much as his horrendous eye-gouging incident. Television replays clearly showed Spikes as he reached inside the facemask of Georgia running back Washaun Ealey.



Accountability was the first word that came to mind when Urban Meyer announced that he talked with Brandon Spikes and that the eye-gouging incident isn’t something that is consistent with the Florida Gator program. Being accountable ultimately means punishment awaits for those who break the rules.

Coach Meyer had a chance to show his teams, the SEC, and college football fans in general that sportsmanship is a trait of his team. Unfortunately, Meyer chose not to do so when he announced that Spikes would be suspended for the first half of the Vanderbilt game this coming Saturday. Meyer isn’t alone in the blame game, as the SEC agreed with Meyer’s punishment and refused to press for a more stringent penalty.

Should Spikes lose his season? Absolutely not. The crux of the issue has more to do with coach Urban Meyer’s punishment, Spike’s terrible actions not withstanding.


The easy thing to do was to suspend Spikes for half of a game in which he’s not needed. The right thing to do would be to sit him down for the entire game, if for no other reason to send a message.

That message could’ve been a strong one, showing that accountability is important to everyone. Instead, Meyer sent a weak message: win, and all else is forgiven. That’s need the message young men need to hear.


Postscript: Brandon Spikes has heeded the call and suspended himself for the entire game against Vanderbilt. Talk about improving your NFL draft stock.

Big Mac, Bigger Questions

Mark McGwire has come home again. Earlier today, the St. Louis Cardinals announced McGwire will be the team’s hitting coach for the upcoming season. Although McGwire’s ability to teach the science of hitting will be welcome in St Louis, the media circus that will undoubtedly follow him around all season won’t be embraced in quite the same way.

Mark McGwire has always been a man of few words. That demeanor aided him greatly during the great homerun pursuit of Roger Maris in 1998, but also led to his fall from grace when he refused to talk about his alleged steroid use in front of a congressional committee. McGwire told those in attendance that he wasn’t there to “talk about the past.”

Like anything else, you have to take the sour with the sweet. By adding Mark McGwire, the St. Louis Cardinals have immediately upgraded the hitting coach position. He’s a guy that hit 583 homeruns during his fifteen-year career. McGwire also is well-respected in baseball circles for his work with Cardinals hitters Skip Schumacher & Matt Holliday.

As true as that may be, the media storm that will loom over the Cardinals will be as constant as it is large. McGwire left the game abruptly after allegations boiled over in 2001, making only a few public appearances over the last several years. By bringing McGwire in, the Cardinals, at LaRussa’s behest, have invited the media into the team’s clubhouse to ask the former slugger the questions (how, when why, etc.) that he has shown no desire to answer.

Everyone deserves a second chance, and McGwire is no different. He’ll bring a wealth of hitting knowledge, as well as just being there for the younger guys on the club to talk to. The question isn’t whether McGwire can improve the Cardinals’ hitting, that’s a given. The real question is, is the media attention that McGwire will bring worth bringing him in as hitting coach? As long as the results in the batter’s box are positive, it’s an even trade. If, however, the Cardinals hitters struggle out of the gate, it may be too much for an introverted personality like McGwire to handle. Spring training is a long ways off, but for St. Louis Cardinals fans, it might as well be just around the corner.

Music City Mess

Nothing has gone right for the Tennessee Titans in the past eight months. First, they lost all world defensive tackle Albert Haynesworth to free agent wasteland that is the Washington Redskins. Then, the Detroit Lions hired well-respected defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz as their head coach. The buzz in Nashville was that the Titans would be fine.

They couldn’t replace Haynesworth with one body, but they could rotate a few younger studs in to pick up the slack. Chuck Cecil, previously the defensive backs coach, was elevated to the defensive coordinator position, and promised not to tinker too much with the philosophy that gave the Titans a league best 13-3 record in 2008.

Fast forward to 2009. As we sit in week seven, the Washington Redskins (2) and the Detroit Lions (1) have more wins than the winless Titans. The Titans were dominated by Indianapolis, Jacksonville, and perhaps most notorious by New England, who handed them a 59 point beatdown in week six.

Fisher has also attracted some negative attention for his activities at a recent Tony Dungy charity event. Fisher appeared in an Indianapolis Colts Peyton Manning jersey, joking that he “just wanted to feel like a winner.” Although it was obviously a poor choice to don a division rival’s colors in the midst of a losing season, lambasting Fisher over such a decision is an equally poor choice.

The NFL is known for parity, which really means that from one year to the next, you never really know what you’re going to get. Great teams can easily become decent ones, while mediocre teams can fall off the face of the competitive map overnight. The Titans won games last year with great coaching, solid effort from the players, and a turn-back-the-clock type of performance from grizzled quarterback Kerry Collins.

The Tennessee Titans are still a good team with a great coach. The current test for Coach Fisher and his players is to show their meddle now, before the fans can question the team’s heart, and not just its performance. Titans owner Bud Adams has publicly questioned the coaching staff after a horrendous start, and that’s his right.

The time for the Titans to rally together for themselves, for their top-tier head coach, and for their football crazy fanbase is now. If that rally falls short, Fisher may lose his job, but does anyone think Fisher would last more than 24 hours on the free agent market? Me neither.

The Truth Will in Fact Set You Free, Maybe?

The NCAA did something this week that it has been known to do: drop the ball. Student athletes are subject to rules in order to maintain their amateur status, which is logical. Oklahoma State wide receiver Dez Bryant has been declared ineligible not for doing anything that jeopardized his status, but rather, because he was less than truthful when cornered by an NCAA investigative team.

Bryant’s situation stems from a mid-summer interaction with Deion Sanders outside of Dallas, Texas. Bryant worked out with Sanders at an athletic facility, and then went to Sanders’ home in the evening for dinner. Although Sanders was known as a flashy guy during his playing days, his mentoring efforts for young athletes have been praised by individuals across the spectrum of sports.

When meeting with Marcus M. Wilson, the NCAA’s assistant director of agent, gambling and amateurism activities Bryant acknowledged meeting Sanders, but said he didn’t work out, also adding that while he went to Sanders’ residence, he didn’t eat.

At the risk of stating the obvious, I’ll say it: the truth is important. Being honest and forthright is one of the fundamental characteristics in all good people. Everyone makes mistakes, however, and Bryant’s only mistake was panicking. He should have been honest about his interaction with former NFL star Deion Sanders, having a home-cooked meal isn’t the least bit illegal. Dez Bryant is a can’t miss prospect, he’s got size, speed, and a knack for making the big catch. If the NCAA follows through with a season-long suspension, none of those things will matter and Bryant will lose millions of dollars. Ask any young person, and an honest one will tell you they’ve panicked in the face of adversity and told a lie or two. If there was a time for the NCAA to have a heart, it’s now.

Just Win, Baby.

Few times in history has a regular-season football game had so much hype. If not for a certain quarterback from Mississippi, the Packers and Vikings would’ve squared off as part of just another divisional showdown. Brett Favre faced his former teammates on Monday Night Football, and the result was all too familiar, with Favre leading his team to victory.

Much of the drama surrounding regular season football matchups is of a generic and mundane flavor. Did Peyton Manning really view the Colts game with the Dolphins last Monday night as a showdown against the “wildcat” offense? Do the Steelers really consider themselves to be rivals with the laughable Browns? The answer to both of these questions, is no.

The fourth installment of MNF had real drama that was obviously hyped up to the max. Not only did you have an icon facing his former team for the first time, you also had a real sense of lingering resentment between the franchise quarterback and the team he called his own for fifteen years. Favre admitted after the game that before kickoff he was as nervous as he had ever been for any game. The concept of nerves for a three-time MVP and Super Bowl champion tells you all you need to know about what the game meant to those involved.

Favre didn’t have a Drew Brees type performance, but he had an efficient one. Favre completed 24 of 31 passes for 271 yards (to 7 different receivers). Favre added to his impressive tally with 3 touchdowns and no interceptions. He did it without a strong performance from all-world running back Adrian Peterson, who had just 55 yards on 12 carries, including a fumble that was ripped from his arms and returned for a touchdown.

The why, how, or what didn’t matter nearly as much as the result: a win for Brett Favre and the Minnesota Vikings.

Fans will always remember the first time Favre lined up against the men in the yellow and green jerseys. Favre will remember the game for one thing: the victory.

The Vikings may not win the Super Bowl this season, but as we’ve all been privy to the last two weeks, anything is possible with number 4 at the helm.

Two for the Road

There are two obvious headlines to take from this past weekend in golf. Tiger Woods did just enough to win the ten million dollar FedEx Cup, while Phil Mickelson found his form of years past to win the Tour Championship at East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta, Georgia.

If anyone on the PGA Tour could pass on ten million bucks, it’s Tiger. Money isn’t what motivates Tiger,competition is. The FedEx Cup was designed to bring a playoff-type atmosphere to crown the best player in golf. It has succeeded on two levels. First, most golf fans this weekend knew that Tiger Woods, Steve Stricker, Kenny Perry, and Jim Fyryk (amongst others) all had a chance to win the big money prize. After all, fans actually have somewhat of an understanding of what is going on is important. Secondly, the system worked.

The conclusion of the FedEX Cup was a statement of fact more so than any sort of buzzworthy headline. Although Woods failed to win a major in 2009, he was dominant in stretches with six wins and fourteen top tens in seventeen starts. If anyone outside of Woods had won the title, I wouldn’t be the only one who viewed the title holder as a mere pawn on Tiger’s board.

Phil Mickelson’s victory at the Tour Championship is rightfully the dominant headline of the weekend in sports. It’s more impressive than anything that happened on the gridiron or the asphalt when you stop to consider what Lefty has been through this year. Not only was his wife, Amy, diagnosed with breast cancer, but his mother Mary also came down with the disease. As a result, Mickleson took two months off the tour schedule in 2009, and struggled with consistency upon his return in August.

The 2009 golf season has come to a close. Tiger didn’t win a major. Instead, three first-time winners made names for themselves ( Lukas Glover, Stewart Cink, & Y.E. Yang). Argentinian Angel Cabrera showed he’s not a one-hit wonder. The fact that Phil Mickleson was able to overtake Tiger Woods from four shots down to win by three strokes on a pressure-packed season finale Sunday provided the perfect close to an interesting year in golf.

The Tour Championship could be a look back on the way things were, but also a preview the way things will be. Golf is more interesting to all parties involved when Tiger has a legitimate rival, and Phil has shown in the past that he’s not afraid to tangle with sport’s most successful and intimidating athlete. Here’s to Phil & Tiger: Thanks for making 2010 something to which we can all look forward.

Is Talk Actually Cheap?

Rivalries in college football have always featured some form of trash-talking. Most of the time, however, such talk goes on between opposing players, not opposing coaches. Most rivalries aren’t Tennessee and Florida, whose coaches, Urban Meyer & Lane Kiffin have taken the rivalry to a new level in the past eight months, at least from a media perspective.

It all started on December 1, 2008, when the new Tennessee coach told reporters he was looking forward to “singing Rocky Top all night long after we beat Florida.” Obviously, Kiffin’s comments were in jest. He couldn’t have actually thought he inherited a group of players capable of knocking off the best team in the nation.

It didn’t stop there, however, as just 4 weeks later, Kiffin told Tennessee boosters about a recruit the Vols lured away from Florida. Kiffin explained that he loved the fact that “Urban had to cheat and still didn't get him. ” Once again, Kiffin was simply being Kiffin. He probably knew word was going to get out. That might not have been a bad thing. After all, no press is bad press.

In case you thought those two zingers were enough, they weren’t. In the aftermath of last week’s semi-competitive game between the Vols and the Gators (in which Florida was a 30 point favorite), Meyer told a local television affiliate he felt Tennessee “wasn’t going for the win” by handing the ball off late in the heated contest. Meyer also stated that the flu had played a role in his team’s performance. He spoke of a “panic level of proportion I've never seen before” in regards to the flu concern in his locker roon. Kiffin wouldn’t be outdone, telling reporters that “we'll wait and after we're not excited about a performance, we'll tell you everybody was sick.”

A little talk never hurt anyone, but at the end of the day, results are what people really remember. Urban Meyer drew first blood in the latest chapter of one of the SEC’s most visible rivalries. Lane Kiffin has an entire year to get ready for Florida’s trip to Neyland Stadium in Knoxville next September. The smart thing to do would be to spend the coming year recruiting, scheming, and coaching to even up the playing field with the Gators.

If there’s one thing Coach Kiffin has shown in his brief career as a college football head coach it’s that he likes the spotlight. The spotlight doesn’t mesh as well with a quiet soul as much as it does with someone who likes to stir the pot.

For Tennessee’s sake, the play on the field needs to match the coach’s talk, otherwise Kiffin may have a much shorter leash.

Fans Gone Wild

Some people are simply more forgiving than others. Such a quality shows how truly wonderful some individuals really are.

Leodis McKelvin, the Buffalo Bills cornerback whose kickoff return fumble cost his team a chance at beating the New England Patriots on Monday Night Football is one such person.

As if McKelvin’s battering across local and national media outlets wasn’t enough, he arrived home late Monday evening to find that his front lawn had been vandalized. Some true and blue teenage Buffalo fans voiced their displeasure by taking white paint to the cornerback’s lawn, not only immortalizing the score, but also a symbol that is synonymous with a certain four letter word that rhymes with tuck.

Major life mistakes, car accidents, petty lies, and even some monumental fibs (think Bill Clinton circa 1996) are forgivable. Moronic behavior in the name of sports, however, is anything but forgivable. McKelvin has said publicly that he didn’t take the vandalism to heart, and he just hopes it doesn’t happen to anyone else.

For that reason, McKelvin is a better man than I. Criminal charges need to be brought against the two young offenders, preferably something along the lines of a thousand hours of community service.

Sports have the power to do amazing things. They can bring people of different backgrounds together, take people’s minds off of their problems, and bring smiles to people in dire life situations.

Sports also bring out the worst in people. It’s not like painting someone’s lawn is that awful of an act, it’s not, but it’s another example of people using the context of sports to do something that is otherwise socially reprehensible. People need to understand that the emotional connection they have to sports isn’t an excuse to misbehave.

A message can be sent here, and even if McKelvin doesn’t want to be the send it, someone has to.

An Inauspicious Beginning

Things don’t always go according to plan, just ask Jay Cutler. The much ballyhooed regular-season debut of the new Bears quarterback came and went, without any results to match the hype.

Four interceptions and a quarterback rating of 43.2 put the new Bears gunslinger in cahoots with Henry Burris and Jim Miller more so than Jim McMahon.

It’s always difficult to place blame on one individual in a team sport. In the case of Sunday’s debacle, however, it’s rather easy to place the blame on veteran offensive coordinator Ron Turner. The Bears offensive meltdown at Green Bay has as much to do with Turner as it does with Cutler, second-year running dynamo Matt Forte, or scoring threat Devin Hester.

Turner failed to adjust the offense when it became clear the Packers’ pressure was giving the Bears problems. Matt Forte is in the backfield for that exact reason, and a few running back screens, along with calculated draws, would’ve gone a long way to equalize said pressure. It's Turner's job to put Cutler in a position to be successful, and Sunday's gameplan simply didn't do it.

Jay Cutler isn’t without blame. He was uneasy and unspectacular Sunday night at Lambeau Field. The quarterback, however, can only do so much. The receivers need to finish their routes and communicate properly with Cutler if adjustments need to be made. The team needs to give Forte the ball in creative ways, and also let him pound the rock, which would give Cutler’s play action fake some real bite.

The Bears still have an opportunity to win the NFC North in spite of Brian Urlacher’s season-ending wrist injury, because of their trademark defense. It’s week one, not the playoff run. If the offense doesn’t adjust, it won’t matter. The Bears have all the tools to have a dynamic offense, they just need to put the work in to do so.

Jay Cutler will be the cover boy for the team’s offensive woes, not only because he’s a franchise quarterback, but also due to the nature of his departure from Denver. At the end of the day, however, Ron Turner is the guy who needs to look in the mirror and get it going.

Final Countdown: 72 Hours or Bust

Just because the NFL season kicks off tomorrow doesn’t mean everybody is excited about it. Three teams and their fans have a legitimate reason not to be excited: San Diego, Jacksonville, & Oakland. San Diego withstanding, Jacksonville & Oakland may not be excited to begin with. Both teams are projected to be the worst teams in their respective divisions (AFC South & AFC West), with Oakland additionally known as the worst-run franchise in pro football.

The reason said teams are sweating bullets is due to the NFL’s “blackout rule,” which has been in effect since 1973. To be succinct, the blackout rule states that all games must be sold out 72 hours before kickoff in order to be shown on local television.

The obvious goal of such a rule is to encourage a city to support its team in the stands so that the entire fanbase can watch their team for free every Sunday. For teams with rabid followings (Dallas, Philadelphia, Tennessee, etc.) blackouts have never been an issue. Teams that are formerly expansion teams (Jacksonville), have historically underperformed in recent years (Oakland), or have decrepit stadiums (San Diego) are the ones that have faced blackout scenarios over the last few seasons.

Jacksonville may miss have their entire eight game home schedule on local television. The team is in the smallest media market in the league, and has lost nearly 20,000 season ticket holders from a year ago. San Diego, on the other hand, has struggled to sell tickets to a stadium that was built in 1967 and has yet to be renovated. Oakland, meanwhile, is just plan terrible. Any sports fan (think Bengals, Clippers, etc.) can sympathize with fans refusing to pay for season or single-game tickets to see a team that would have a tough time beating LA’s real pro team, the USC Trojans.

The NFL’s position is understandable: they want teams to do their best to sell tickets, even to the point of threatening to alienate the game from most of its fans in order to achieve sellouts. There are certain times, however, that rules should be relaxed. The economic downturn of the present is one of those times. The NFL gave the city of New Orleans a reprieve after Hurricane Katrina in 2005, and the city has responded by selling out games constantly, even with the city still in recovery mode.

When the average person is struggling to pay their mortgage, it makes absolutely no sense to punish a city by pulling their favorite team off the local airwaves. Professional football in America has become “America’s Pastime” over the last decade. Why risk that title just to make a point? The NFL needs to realize that in order to stay true to their product, they have to stay true to their consumer.

Pushing Past the Limit

Rich Rodriguez has had anything but a seamless transition to head football coach at the University of Michigan over the last eighteen months. First, there was the lawsuit from West Virginia, who felt that he owed them the total value (four million dollars) of his contractual buyout. Then, there were the transfers. Rodriguez has overseen the exodus of some thirty-one players from the Wolverine roster since taking over the program in the winter of 2007. Now, Rodriguez finds himself under immense scrutiny due to allegations of practice and workout limit violations.

The question as far as possible violations are concerned is, was the extra preparation voluntary? Two players, one currently on the roster, and one former player, went on the record to say that although the workouts were under the guise of involuntary in nature, they were voluntary and conducted by the Michigan coaching staff.

It’s probably the right thing to give Rodriguez a pass here. After all, anyone who says the weekly twenty hours of in-season preparation and eight hours of off-season preparation is enough to build a national powerhouse has never been around big-time college football. That said, it’s not as if Rodriguez and his staff were just a bit over the limit, they were almost tripling it.

In an emotional press conference on Monday, Rodriguez proclaimed that the team and its staff “know and follow the rules.” The assertion by many outside the program that such practice standards illustrate just how little regard Rodriguez has for the student portion of the term “student-athlete” seemed to be what hurt the coach most. The fact that the head coach had no qualms about the emotional nature of the press conference speaks to the fact that Rodriguez and his staff do in fact care about the well-being of their football players.

Breaking the rules, no matter what the context, is wrong. Michigan will be punished if they have maliciously violated NCAA rules. The most important thing that can come out of the latest Rodriguez firestorm has nothing to do with rules and everything to do with team unity. If the Wolverines use the media spotlight to bond and do the work necessary to be successful, they’ll be well on their way to forgetting last year’s 3-9 record. If they do the opposite, however, and continue to let infighting bubble to the surface, the Michigan football program may get worse again before it gets better.

To buy into Rich Rodriguez’s system, the team needs to believe in the man. He showed Monday that he believes in the young men on the team, now it’s their turn to return the favor.

Is it the Knight Time?

I’m not sure which line is correct, can you always come home? Or can you never come home again?

Bob Knight, college basketball guru and Indiana legend faces a similar predicament with Saturday’s announcement of his induction into the Indiana University Hall of Fame.

It’s hard to argue with Knight’s success, the man took over a once proud program turned laughing stock in the early 1970s and won three national titles (1976, 1981, and 1987). Indiana became a popular fixture on national television after Knight’s arrival, and that was no coincidence.

He is still renowned in the basketball world as the preeminent teacher of the motion offense. It doesn’t hurt that Knight led the United States to its last gold medal with amateurs (even if one was named Jordan) in 1984. Knight always got the best from his players on the court, and perhaps more so, prepared them for what awaited them off of it.

For all of the positive things Knight brought to Indiana, there were unquestionably some negatives. Knight’s temper, his lack of respect for journalists just trying to do their jobs, and his old school approach haven’t always meshed well with basketball fans.

Indiana University Athletic Director Fred Glass deserves some credit here. He reached out to the Indiana legend, not through an email or a phone call, but through a handwritten note asking him to attend the ceremony. The ceremony is to be held during halftime of the Indiana football game against Wisconsin in November. Knight is scheduled to be inducted along with former player Steve Downing, a former Big Ten Player of the Year in 1973, who played under and developed a close friendship with the General.

Glass made one huge mistake though: he didn’t test the waters before releasing the information to the public, and more importantly the national media. Knight’s dismissal from Indiana in 2000 is still a sensitive topic for the coach. As an analyst at ESPN, he has yet to say the word “Indiana,” even in passing.

Now, if Knight snubs Indiana, he looks like the bitter former coach some think he is, and he probably is just that. A man who has given so much not only to the Indiana University basketball program, but the university as a whole deserves a chance to come back on his own time, at a time when both sides are comfortable. Fred Glass did the right thing in opening a dialogue, but let’s hope his miscalculation doesn’t close it for good.

Indiana and Bob Knight are synonymous, and they always will be. Time may heal all wounds, but it may not quite be that time yet.

Sometimes the Fat Lady Just Won't Sing

So it finally happened today. After months of anticipation, and three weeks after both sides announced the window had closed, Brett Favre signed with the Minnesota Vikings.

Sports columnists around the country will paint Favre either as a hero (white horse, Super Bowl run, the whole bit) or a villain (usurper of Sage Rosenthels and Tavarius Jackson, team chemistry killer, etc.). The common sense truth is that Brett Favre is neither of those things.

Brett Favre is just a guy trying to do what loves to do, while he still can (sorta) do it. Even in advanced football years at age thirty-nine, he found someone willing to pay him for it.

I’m certainly not going to sit here and proclaim the Minnesota Vikings as the favorite in the NFC. Hell, I’d still pick them second in their own division behind the Chicago Bears. What I will do is say that people should just get over it. The man doesn’t know how to do anything else. He’s a quarterback, and he just so happens to be able to make an amazing living doing it.

No, the Vikings won’t make the Super Bowl, but they’ll be in the national media spotlight, sell tons of merchandise, and endear themselves to a football starving public that craves superstars like Farve.

By this time in two months, the Vikings will have had enough media exposure, sell enough tickets, and push enough purple “4" jerseys off the racks to cover the investment made in Farve today. Vikings owner Zygi Wilf knows that Brett Favre is good business, and the good football may just be a bonus, like tasty mints on the pillow in a plush hotel.

On the actual football side of things, Brett Favre makes them a better team, period. Have you watched the Vikings the last two seasons? And outside of highlights on Sportscenter, has anyone actually seen the Vikings complete more than one pass in a row? Didn’t think so.

There are many things you could say about Brett Favre. He may have an axe to grind with the Packers, and he may have trouble not knowing when to let go, but he’s no dummy. No one with any sense leaves money on the table, and especially not twenty-five million dollars.

A Chink in the Armor?

If there was ever a sure thing in sports, it’s Tiger Woods on Sunday. That was until this past weekend’s PGA Championship. We could run through all the numbers: fairways hit, driving distance, or putts per round (Tiger would rather us not), but in this case one simple number stands out: zero. That’s the number of times golf’s most dominant player had relinquished his place atop the leaderboard after the fifty-four holes in a major championship.

South Korean Y.E. Yang, a thirty-eight year old who didn’t even take up the game of golf until age nineteen, played the role of spoiler Sunday at Hazeltine. It would be easy to say that Tiger lost more than Yang won. That simply wasn’t the case.

Anyone watching the same tournament as the rest of us this past weekend saw two men: one that wanted it more than anything else, but simply couldn’t make a putt to save his life (Woods), and one man who seemed content to linger among the pack, hitting amazing approach and chip shots at clutch moments (Yang). Such roles may have been reversed in past years, but Woods’ past record of greatness hung on his shoulders, while Yang simply hung loose.

Tiger’s defeat at Hazeltine isn’t the end of the world. It’s probably not even the end of an era. What it is, however, is the end of the gripping mental lock that Tiger Woods has held on all comers at the majors for over a decade. That said, Tiger is still Tiger, and this doesn't diminish the great year he's had thus far. Woods may not have won a major during 2009, but he’s won five tournaments to date.

Perhaps most importantly, Tiger’s bridesmaid performance on Sunday doesn’t take away from his fourteen majors. Once upon a time, there was someone who finished in the second spot an amazing nineteen times. Who was that? None other than Jack Nicklaus.

Three Days in the Park

Lollapalooza is too vast to encompass in any column, so let’s hit on two highlights and low-lights from the weekend that was from Grant Park in Chicago, Illinois....



Vampire Weekend

The former Columbia students have come a long way in just over three years. The indie rock band has been the darling of Rolling Stone (who rated the band’s 2008 self-titled debut as the tenth best album of last year), and rode their word-of-mouth popularity to the one of the main stages over the weekend..The boys from the Big Apple will probably become the darlings of Chicago after Sunday’s performance, which included rousing versions of “Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa" and “Oxford Comma.”

The group may only have a small catalog consisting of one release to date, but the crowd at Vampire Weekend had as much energy as any performance all weekend.

The Raveonettes

The simplistic duo from Denmark were easily the most welcome surprise of the weekend. With catchy guitar rifts, steady beats, and vocals seemingly dropped out of the 1950s, the Raveonettes were able to make the Chicago crowd forget about the heat during their set. Songs like “Love in a Trash Can” and “Heartbreak Stroll” showed off not only the band’s talent, but also their ability to get a feel for the crowd and play to it as opposed to rolling through song after song.


The Decemberists

The energy surrounding the band’s Saturday performance was palpable, at least until the show actually started. It goes without saying that a band is allowed to shy away from playing their hits, but not entirely. One of the country’s largest and well-organized music festivals isn’t the time to tinker and get away from the enticing vocals and intent bass lines (i.e. “O Valencia!”) that have characterized the band in recent years. No one is disputing that “The Rake’s Song” and “The Hazards of Love” were neat to see in a live setting, but they didn’t exactly rock the house.


Jane’s Addiction

It’s hard to show fault with a re-united lineup complete with Lolla founder Perry Ferrell and pop cliche Dave Navarro, but they simply looked old during Sunday’s festival closing performance. The two-hour set would’ve been somewhat forgettable if not for a lively version of “Jane Says,” which featured a collaboration with Aerosmith guitarist Joe Perry.

Endless Summer

The boys of summer are about to give way to the gladiators of the gridiron, and I for one, am a bit disappointed. The Hall of Fame game kicks off the NFL preseason on Sunday. Preseason football should be as exciting as lawnmower racing (it appears on ESPN2 from time to time, seriously), but instead is treated as if it were the most-exciting thing since new Coke.

That’s not to say that I don’t love football, quite the opposite actually. There’s just something to be said for that time every year after the NBA Finals and before the start of preseason football where America’s pastime reigns supreme as the sporting nation’s sole obsession.

For all the things that football is: hip, fast-paced, and made for television, baseball is the opposite. Baseball is old-school, rarely played at a blistering pace, and doesn’t easily translate to our dominant broadcast medium.

That said, there’s always been something about baseball that draws true sports fans in, something more raw, intrinsic, and emotional than anything football has to offer: the history of the game.

Sure, football may have history as well, but your everyday football fan would have a hard time comparing (statistically or otherwise) modern-day football studs like Peyton Manning and Ladanian Tolimson to heroes of true yesteryear like Slingin’ Sammy Baugh or Red Grange.

Baseball, on the other hand is easy to compare in a generational context. Cardinal fans of today may not be able to pick Rogers Hornsby out of a lineup, but they surely could give you a bullet point listing of his achievements: .358 batting average (second all-time behind Ty Cobb), two-time Triple Crown winner (1922 and 1926), two-time MVP (1925 and 1929), and an unprecedented World Series title as a player-manager in 1926.

A major part of baseball’s history is its statistical record. Although some categories have been added over the years (saves, quality starts, etc.), baseball’s standard system of statistical measurement means that the sport’s records are followed more closely than those of its gridiron counterpart.

Does anyone really remember pacing around with pulse-pounding nerves while Peyton Manning broke Dan Marino’s two-decade old passing touchdown record in 2004? How about Ladanian’s pursuit of Walter Payton and the rushing touchdown mark in 2007?

If Pujols makes a legitimate run at baseball’s Triple Crown, on the other hand, the attention that the chase will garner in late September will be exponentially more than a comparable football record-breaking pursuit.

People remember baseball’s records, however, because they are nearly sacred. Ted Williams, even to casual fans, is known as “Greatest Hitter who Ever Lived” in large part because he is the last man to hit .400 for an entire season in 1941.

Hank Aaron’s home-run record transcended sports for the thirty years it stood (and in the minds of many purists still stands), so when Barry Bonds began to make assault on Aaron’s mark beginning in the 2000 season, federal investigators seriously looked into possibility of performance enhancing drugs playing a role in such a historic pursuit.

It’d be nearly impossible to deny that professional football in America is the dominant force in sports culture today. Peyton Manning is ten times more visible than say Albert Pujols, and that’s not by accident, football has all the flash, but baseball triumphs in terms of its substance. In an age when substance struggles against the flash that has become our society, baseball is a welcome sight. If only the boys of summer could own the sports stage through the “Fall Classic”, wouldn’t that be something?

A Profile in Non-Leadership

The New York Mets have always played second fiddle to those men in pinstripes, the Yankees. This week, however, the Mets may have stolen the spotlight if only for a day.

Normally, being the big cheese would be a welcome development, but in the case of the attention general manager Omar Minaya has drawn toward the Mets this week, the attention has been anything but welcome.

Monday’s press conference had all the makings of the standard 5 W’s (who, what, when, where, and why), with a little hint of sports cliche on the side. Omar Minaya, now in his fifth year as the top man for the Big Apple’s second franchise, called the media gathering to announce the firing of Vice President of Player Development, Tony Bernazard.

The press interaction won’t be remembered for Bernazard’s firing, however, as much as it will be for Minaya’s unbelievably childish response to questions posed by New York Daily News beat writer Adam Rubin. Rubin was the reporter who exclusively outed Bernazard as a ticking time-bomb who had not only taken his shirt off and threatened to fight two Mets’ prospects, but also unleashed a flurry of profanities at All-Star closer Francisco Rodriguez.

Rubin was following up on his story (for which the press conference had been called), and rather than be cordial, Minaya insinuated that Rubin’s reporting stemmed from the fact that he had “lobbied for a player personnel position” within the Mets organization. Although Rubin sought career advice from owner Jeff Wilpon, he's never sought employment with the team.

There are certain things in life you just don’t do, and one of those things is intentionally embarrassing someone in a professional setting. Minaya did just that and then some. Instead of being the leader that he’s paid $700,000 a year to be, he belittled a man simply trying to do his job.

It would be easy to say that Monday’s debacle is the most embarrassing moment of Minaya’s Mets career, but it’s not. He fired well-respected manager Willie Randolph in the team's hotel after a loss in Los Angeles in 2007, and has presided over teams with a total of zero championships, zero pennants, and a less than impressive .536 winning percentage. A single playoff appearance (2006) may be ok in say Denver or Seattle, but not in the city that never sleeps. Next time Minaya wants to call someone out, wouldn’t it be wise to look in the mirror first?

There's Always a Second Act

The NFL season may well have already began. Late Monday afternoon, NFL commissioner Roger Goddell conditionally reinstated convicted felon Michael Vick, who is now eligible to return to the gridiron after a two year absence.

Vick’s return is a point of contention for many individuals, both inside the football community and among the public at large. Michael Vick was a guy that had everything: a starting gig as an NFL quarterback, millions of dollars in endorsements, and a physical skill set that had nowhere to go but up.

Everything changed for Vick on April 27, 2007, when law enforcement officers came to 1915 Moonlight Road in Smithfield, Virginia, looking for Vick’s cousin. It was then that police stumbled into quite possibly the highest-profile criminal case involving a sports figure since one O.J. Simpson in 1994.

Whatever you think the authorities found, it was probably worse. Dog fighting pits were found, along with kill pens and pools. Perhaps most damming, however, were dozens of graves for canines, with authorities uncovering an estimated three dozen during the investigation.

There have been several NFL players (Leonard Little being the most obvious example) that were convicted of much more serious crimes than dog-fighting.

As terrible as Vick’s crimes were, he didn’t kill a human being, or violently assault a single person. His crimes were reprehensible and easily worthy of the public outcry and ridicule that followed. If convicted murderers have been allowed back into the league, it makes no sense to leave Vick to waste without the only thing he has ever been trained to do: play football.

That said, Vick has paid his debt to society. He served some twenty-three months in jail, not in a white-collar cupcake prison, but rather at Leavenworth in Kansas. Vick missed two years of football, lost everything, and worked for an astonishing twelve cents an hour during his jail stint.

Ultimately, sports are about redemption. Second chances come and go, but fans of all sports remember the guys that capitalize on their second opportunity. It’s impossible to deny the horrible nature of Vick’s crimes, but it is quite possible to accept that everyone deserves a chance to re-enter their life once the debt to society has been repaid.

Michael Vick will probably never garner votes for the NFL’s Man of the Year, but that isn’t what his reinstatement is about. Vick’s return to the NFL isn’t even about the glory of the gridiron. No, if and when Michael Vick takes the field on a Sunday this season, he will do so knowing that he’s had his second chance. In most lifetimes, second chances are a singular occurrence.

Tour de Lance

There are a few traditions that characterize summer better than anything else: barbecue, baseball, and Lance Armstrong dominating cycling’s most prestigious race, the Tour de France. Armstrong returns to cycling after a four year retirement, and the world is surely watching.

Many things have been said about Armstrong over the years, and not all of them have been endearing. Critics have espoused that Arrmstrong is arrogant, selfish, and perhaps worst of all, a cheater.

To his credit, Lance has always been proactive in defense of a legacy that includes seven Tour de France titles from 1999 to 2005. The allegations of doping began during Armstrong’s first victory, as French officials took issue with slight abnormalities with his urine. Armstrong was ultimately cleared when the substance was traced to a skin cream, but the nature of the case and its publicity was a sign of an onslaught of doping allegations that would plague Armstrong on his amazing winning streak at the front of the peloton.

There’s no point in going through a laundry list (former teammates, rivals, physical therapists, etc.) of the accusations made against Armstrong. For all the smoke, there is no fire, and he is, after all, the self-proclaimed “most tested athlete in the world.” Armstrong has been tested more than two dozen times in 2009 alone.

More important than any one thing, Armstrong’s diagnosis and subsequent comeback from testicular cancer characterizes him. Individuals are welcome to have their own opinion, and Lance may not be the most charming fellow to have ever interacted with the media. He’s either cheated to become one of the world’s most recognizable athletes or he hasn't. Armstrong’s victory over cancer, however, is not up for debate.

The man beat cancer. It doesn’t get more simple than that. Armstrong has raised the profile of cancer victims around the world, raising an estimated $14.4 million dollars to assist individuals in their fight against cancer.

Rooting for Armstrong isn’t about cheering on an American, but rather, it’s something much more. Lance carries the weight of the world on his shoulders, he’s a beacon for hope, and his public profile has advanced the fight against cancer well-beyond any monetary figure.

Armstrong isn’t everyone’s hero, but maybe he should be. Supporting Lance Armstrong to win the Tour de France is comparable to supporting the human condition. At the end of the day, it just makes sense.

It's Neither Here, Nor There

Roger Federer has always risen to the challenge of tennis’ greatest events, and now finds himself alone at the top of the Mt. Rushmore of the sport. Federer’s victory at Wimbledon puts him one title ahead of Pete Sampras as the all-time grand slam champion.

In order to appreciate Federer’s greatness, it needs to be placed in the most obvious contexts: time, completeness, and consistency.

Federer’s record-breaking title run has only lasted a mere six years. By comparison, Pete Sampras’ fourteen majors were spread over a twelve year period. Last month’s victory at the French Open gave Roger the so-called “Golden Slam,”which puts him in elite company along with Andre Agassi as the only men to win all four majors along with an Olympic gold medal.

Perhaps more impressive than any other feat, the fact that Federer has made an astonishing 21 consecutive grand slam semi-finals.

As great as the story of Federer’s historic achievement is, the man who took Federer to the brink over five sets at the all-England club, Andy Roddick, may be part of an even more impressive narrative.

While we have come to expect great performances from Federer come Sunday at a major, Roddick’s history in grand slam finals has been less than impressive over the last few years. As recognizable as Roddick is to tennis fans, he’s only advanced to one grand slam semi-final in the last three seasons (2007 Australian Open). It’s not that Roddick’s performance had simply declined in grand slams, but across the tournament spectrum. From 2000 until 2005, for example, Roddick won no less than twenty singles titles (including the 2003 US Open). Since 2005, however, Roddick has been the last man standing in seven tournaments.

Roddick’s lack of wins, injuries, and coaching changes turned the rising pro who was the “can’t miss kid” at age nineteen to the “what could have been” solid pro at age twenty-six.

Such circumstances shed that much more light on the greatest performance of Roddick’s career, albeit in a loss, at the Championships at Wimbledon.

Normally, it’d be acceptable to state that the better man clearly won, and that he (Federer) simply had a deeper yearning to be the champion. In the case of Roddick versus Federer, however, it’d be too cliche and simplistic to say that the man who wanted it more won.

Roddick showed guts, plain and simple. Roddick came out against arguably the best tennis player of all-time, had an amazing serve, an impressive return game, and a true desire to win. Roddick may have come up short but history will indeed remember him as the semi-finalist of the 2009 Championships at Wimbledon. Fans across the globe will remember it as the day that the great American hope woke from his slumber.

Undoubtedly, the US Open will be must see tv.

Almost Famous

“We don’t want respect, we want to win.” - Landon Donovan, after losing 3-2 to Brazil in the Confederations Cup final


It would be easy to agree within Landon, America’s superstar forward, and say that the US soccer team is to the point where respect doesn’t matter, only wins matter. In the case of the Confederations Cup final, which the United States lost 3-2 to Brazil yesterday, however, respect does indeed matter.

I’m not going to sit here and pretend that winning isn’t the ultimate goal every time Bob Bradley sends his men on the field.. It is. Just because the US team fell short of that goal, it doesn’t mean that it came away from the game with no goals met. Sports aren’t an all or nothing proposition.

Before the Yanks can beat the perennial soccer powers (England, Brazil, France, etc.), they have to be able to run up and down the field with them for ninety plus minutes. The runner-up finish in the Confederations Cup is particularly hard to take because for the first forty-five minutes, the US seemed to be clicking on all cylinders. Tim Howard was making save after save, Jay DeMerit and Oguchi Onyewu were in the right defensive spots, and Landon Donovan was slicing through the Brazilian defense with well-timed runs.

The United States took the lead on a Johnathan Spector cross to Clint Dempsey eerily similar the same assist to goal combination from the US win over Egypt days earlier. Circumstances got even better for the US when Charlie Davies and Landon Donovan showed the world their speed with a sweet give- and-go, resulting in a powerful strike from Donovan to give the Yanks a two goal lead headed into the break.

Everything changed with the Luis Fabiano goal less than a minute into the second half. The US went from on the attack to on its heels, from being the hunter to being the hunted, and ultimately from the winner to the loser. From there it was only a matter of time, Brazil smelled blood, tied the game, and then sealed it with Fabiano’s second goal with just over six minutes left.

This isn’t the team for mainstream sports fans and pundits to give up on US soccer.

If anything, Sunday’s loss should be the introduction of an inspiring, growing soccer program to the American public. I realize that soccer will never trump the big three (baseball, basketball, or football) in this country, but it may break into the top five with a solid performance in next year’s World Cup. Everyone loves an underdog, and the US soccer team is the preeminent soccer minnow in a pool of European and South American sharks.

Landon Donovan is right, it is about wins. They will come in time. For now, we need to realize that the American effort on Sunday is a reason to watch for what’s to come, not a reason to ignore US soccer until another mainstream media splash.

An Upset for the Ages

USA 2, Spain 0. (Let's put that score up there again, just for good measure) USA 2, Spain 0.

It’d be nearly impossible to underestimate the importance of today’s victory over the world’s consensus best soccer team. Without even getting into the game itself, think about Spain’s recent soccer history: Spain had won fifteen straight games, hadn’t lost a game in 36 matches (November 2006), and hadn’t allowed a goal in the Confederations Cup before today’s loss to the Americans. Spain’s fifteen match winning streak was an all-time FIFA record.

I’d go as far as to put this victory as the fourth biggest victory in the history of US Soccer, only behind the two dazzling victories over Portugal & Mexico at the 2002 World Cup and the historic 1950 World Cup victory over perennial soccer power England.

In terms of the victory’s effect, however, it may be the biggest in American soccer history. You simply can’t downplay the importance of beating FIFA’s number one ranked squad in a talent-laden international tournament on foreign soil.

Today’s game was a showcase game for coach Bob Bradley’s boys, who surely showed up and then some.

Certainly the United States’ last victory over a number one-ranked team, a 1-0 win over a Brazilian squad at the Gold Cup at the Los Angeles Coliseum was a huge win (albeit in front of less than 13,000 spectators), but it occurred on US soil. The stunning defeat of the Spaniards occurred in South Africa, host of next year’s World Cup, and was watched around the world.

It’s hard to pick out one shining star from the match. Jozy Altidore’s strong turn and powerful strike was impressive, as was Clint Dempsey’s ability to be in the right place at the right time for the all-important second goal. Say what you want about Landon Donovan, but his fitness and effort against the world’s best team was unmatched.





The defensive unit as a whole deserves the most credit for holding onto a one goal lead under stifling pressure from the likes of Fernando Torres and David Villa. Tim Howard, the goalkeeper who is cheered wildly as a top-shelf keeper in the EPL had an amazing game. Center backs Jay DeMerit & Oguchi Onyewu both had forceful games, diving in and out of spots when and where they were most needed. Johnathan Spector showed why he will eventually become the first-choice right back, matching up somewhat well with the speed of the Spanish attack. Even Carlos Bocanegra, the US captain making his first appearance of the tournament after a hamstring injury, was mostly effective.

The American team showed today what this country is all about: heart, effort, and downright grit. They may not be the world’s best team, but for a day, they were even better. And now Bob Bradley gets a prize for all his trouble on Sunday: soccer goliaths Brazil, or host country South Africa in a showdown for the tournament championship. I think we've learned not to count the Yanks out of that one either.

Facial Fur Fever

Summer has arrived, and unless you're a die-hard baseball fan, the sports landscape is vastly different. It may even be downright boring. There is one topic, however, that easily makes any summer sizzle: facial hair. I'm using the 1990s as our starting point on this list, so as much as we all love Joe Namath's fu-manchu, you won't see it here.



Clay Zavada

Clay is included here because he's a modern Rollie Fingers. If some of Rollie's talent rubbed off on Zavada he'd be set.







George Parros

Parros is another member of Team Stache. His facial forerunner harkens back to the days of Lanny Mcdonald (see below)...Good times.







Adam Morrison
I'm not exactly sure who Morrison was trying to impress with his peachfuzz. My best guess is that it was a lucky charm from his AAU days and he was worried it could be a Samson situation if he trimmed it off.








Drew Gooden

Gooden has changed facial hair almost as many times as he's changed teams (six different teams at last count). I’m all for mixing it up, but at what point do you just grab a razor and start over?









Jon Garland

Garland has arguably the most indecisive facial hair out there. His look says "Yeah, I'm sporting this look for my man-card, but I'm not too sure where it's headed."









Kimbo Slice

One word: fear. Any guy that would show himself on national television with such hair growth is downright scary.










Scott Spiezio

Spiezio gets points here for the color coordination, but as far as team spirit goes, aren't there more manly things? Like kittens and bunnies..







Scott Pollard

Over the years Scott Pollard has been well-known among NBA fans for his sense of humor, but braiding your goatee with rubber bands? What’s that thought process like?








Alexi Lalas

With apologies to Rick Sutcliffe, Lalas may have a more legitimate claim to the “Red Baron” moniker. Lalas sported the prototypical soccer player/rock n’ roller look, and it didn’t hurt that he was good at both his sport (US soccer icon) and his music (his band once opened for Hootie & the Blowfish).








Rasheed Wallace

Before Kimbo slice, there was Rasheed Wallace. Rasheed may have been using his gruff for a more practical reason: storage. There was always something hangin' out in the beard.





Ryan Franklin

One major prerequisite to being a closer: gruesome facial hair. Franklin's look can't be for the ladies...it looks like a few newborn chicks could nest in there with ease.






Michael Phelps

Phelps was the story of the year in 2008, winning an amazing eight gold medals at the Bejing Olympics. Coming back stateside brought a new set of problems (and questionable choices caught on camera), but he used comfort facial hair as opposed to a comfort food to cure what ailed him. Now if only disco made a comeback..







Mike Commodore


Commodore is the obligatory NHL playoff beard pick. If you're going to grow the afro, you might as well match it with a killer peice of facial fur right?







Lanny McDonald

He falls out of the timeline requirement, but any discussion of facial hair in sports has to include Lanny to be true to form.