My Day at Redskins Park

In between all the blogging for Yahoo!, I took a trip down to Redskins Training Camp with my buddy Russ, who hooked it up with some all-access passes that enabled us to get inside the ropes and into the Redskins Park building. The building itself was fairly unimpressive, but standing in front of three Super Bowl trophies and four NFC Champion trophies (those are pretty sweet-looking, by the way), all while ten feet away from the spot where Joe Gibbs gave his first and last press conference, was very cool.
Some pictures of the day:



Jason Campbell made a point of coming back to sign autographs for two kids after he had left the line to run out to the field. It was a simple gesture, but one that resonated with me.

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Chris Cooley's beard is coming in nicely. I can't imagine it's too comfortable during two-a-days in the 90-degree heat though.

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I was struck by how big guys on the offensive line (Todd Wade in particular) were. I was equally startled at how not-large Cornelius Griffin is. Don't get me wrong, he's still a large man, but a lot less so than I imagined.

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CP and Chris Cooley had a little hop in their step because they were late to stretching.

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I'd like to say Danny Smith is looking in my direction because I was heckling him for being a terrible special teams coach, but I'm pretty sure it was just coincidental.

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For the first hour of practice, Jim Zorn worked exclusively with the quarterbacks. As this is the only sort of coaching he's ever done, I like it. Now let's just hope that everything else doesn't fall apart while JZ is showing Colt Brennan how to perfect the five-step drop.

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It's the little things that make me happy. Here's a picture of me at the bottom of the stairs that Clinton Portis holds most of his interviews in character. Apparently they've painted the railings off-white since Coach Janky Spanky chatted with the media.

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James Thrash was having trouble managing his pads, helmet, Gatorade bottle and signing pen, so Russ offered to lend a hand. The price...

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If you ask me the question, my immediate answer would be Portis. But if I had some time to answer the "who's your favorite player" question, I might answer 'James Thrash'.

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Andre Carter didn't want to be left out.

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And a Chris/Chris picture to wrap it up.

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It was the other Chris's 31st birthday and his family made him a cake. Two minutes after this picture was taken, Randy Thomas smushed this cake into Samuels' face.

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My second favorite picture of the day. I love Twan's expression and also enjoy the kid with too much power in the background who looks like he's imitating Travis Bickle. My favorite picture of the day is being saved for a future blog post that will commemorate an event that will give me endless joy. Hopefully it will come soon.

An Army Backtrack

If you watched the last round of this year's NFL Draft, you probably remember seeing Army S Caleb Campbell get selected by the Detroit Lions. Campbell was set to become the first Army football player to take advantage of a West Point rule that released graduates from their mandatory five-year duty in order to pursue an athletic career. (Campbell's duty would have been to play football and serve as a recruiter.) That's all gone now, as the Department of Defense issued a new decree that overrides West Point's rule. Campbell will now be pulled from the Lions and will serve out his duty along with the rest of his classmates.
At the Draft, ESPN celebrated Campbell's achievement and invited him on set for an impromptu interview following his selection. Lions coach Rod Marinelli appeared via videoconference to talk about Campbell. It was great television and a nice moment. My sister is a West Point graduate (and also played sports at Army), so Campbell's drafting was especially nice to see.
Whatever you think of the old West Point rule (and I personally thought it was a good one; Campbell could serve the Army in a much broader capacity by representing West Point as an NFL athlete), it's pretty ridiculous to go back on it now. It sounded like a small minority of West Pointers resented the rule (that also applied to other athletes), but on the whole, it was supported by his classmates and fellow Army grads - the only people whose opinion matters.

Royals Fan Roots Against Perfect Game

Some guy on the Tigers had a perfect game going through six, so I flipped on the game and (of course) he immediately proceeded to give up a hit. The game was in Kansas City, and when the Royals player broke up the perfect game, the camera cut to a clapping Royals fan who then high-fived his friend. I took this to mean that said Royals fan was not applauding the performance of the Tigers pitcher (Armando Galarraga), but instead celebrating his team's hit. (It's worth noting that his team, the Royals, were down 7-0 at the time.) This makes no sense to me.
Dude, you're a Royals fan. Your team has finished above .500 twice in the past 16 seasons. You're at an afternoon game in July in the middle of the week and you have the chance to see one of the rarest feats in baseball, but you're rooting against it. For what? So you can say that you attended a routine Royals drubbing as opposed to witnessing something that has happened 17 times in the past 128 years?
It's one thing to support your team through the lean years, it's another to willingly thumb your nose at history. Maybe I'm wrong here, let me know what you think in the comments section.

The Posse Lives

Mr. Irrelevant links to a video today in which Redskins rookie WRs Devin Thomas and Malcolm Kelly are asked if they know who The Posse are. Neither were able to answer that The Posse was the nickname given to Art Monk, Gary Clark and Ricky Sanders during the Redskins heyday in the mid-80s to early-90s. This doesn't bode well, I think. (Of course, their coach doesn't know the Redskins team colors, so it's important to keep things in perspective.)
He also laments the loss of the locally-famous Posse poster showing Monk, Clark and Sanders standing in front of the Capitol Building at night with horses at their side and outlaws tied up on the ground. Luckily, that poster survived my mom's purge when I went to college, and I've hung onto it since then. I've been telling myself for the past five years that I'm going to get it framed. When I was younger, I thought that this poster was pretty much the most awesome thing ever. I think I still do.

Damn, And You Thought I Hated On Vinny Cerrato

Washington Post beat writer Jason La Canfora completely annihilates Vinny Cerrato in a posting today on his Redskins Insider blog. La Canfora apparently isn't pleased that Cerrato lies to the local press, but happily feeds information to the John Clayton's and Peter King's of the world. It's quite a thorough takedown; I suggest reading the whole thing.
I have to say though, as much as I enjoyed reading that post, I can't really sympathize too much with La Canfora on this. Yeah, Cerrato might be a jerk and perhaps could show a little more tact, but it's not really his job to feed The Washington Post stories. Cerrato's job is to draft three pass-catchers with his first three draft picks. What GM would possibly say that they're working on a trade, and then name the specifics? (Mentioning Taylor's name might even be against league tampering rules.)
La Canfora comes across as petty and jealous with this post. I like his work, and I understand why he's frustrated, but he probably should have shown a little more tact himself with this one.

Even A Broken Clock Is Right Two Times A Day

My buddy Rob neatly summed up the hectic day at Redskins Park when he said of our favorite team, "they're better tonight than they were this morning." There's really not much else to say beyond that.
For the first time in more than a decade, the Redskins have a pass rusher. (And no, Bruce Smith doesn't count.) For me, watching Taylor chase after the quarterback this year will be like going to London for the first time and seeing cars drive on other side of the road. It will be a completely new and foreign experience.
Maybe it's because my expectations were so low, but getting Jason Taylor for a 2nd and 6th round pick amounts to a coup for Vinny Cerrato and Dan Snyder. The Dolphins had been looking for a first-rounder earlier in the offseason, to get away with only a second is a good trade-off, mainly because that second-round pick was just going to be wasted anyway. When you think of the trade as Fred Davis for Jason Taylor, it suddenly looks a lot better for Washington.

The Dan Synder/Bill Parcells Trade Negotiation

With the Redskins looking to acquire Jason Taylor in a trade with the Miami Dolphins, the two sides will have to hammer out a trade. I'm imagining this is how the conversation will go between Dolphins VP of Football Operations Bill Parcells and Redskins owner Daniel Snyder (you don't think Danny Boy really lets Vinny handle calls like this, do you?):

Bill Parcells sits in his office, wearing a new set of pants after soiling his previous pair upon realizing that the biggest, most gullible fish in all the sea had stumbled towards his trade bait. Another Dolphins front office member sits in Parcells office, listening to the Tuna think out loud.

Parcells - We might be able to get a small army of draft picks from these hapless rubes. I have to start the negotiation with an outlandish number, so when we go back and forth we'll be able to settle on something that benefits us. But what sort of package should I begin negotiations with?
Dolphins Front Office Member - Their first-round pick this year, plus next year's second. Then we might be able to get two seconds, or maybe even a first and a fourth.
Parcells - (staring off into the distance, completely ignoring what the guy just said) Seven. Seven first round draft picks.

(Parcells picks up phone and dials Dan Synder's direct line. Snyder, who had been waiting for this call, picks up midway through the first ring. Vinny Cerrato sits closely across the desk, leaning forward in his chair.)

Parcells - Daniel, I'm sorry to hear about Daniels. I hear you're interested in Jason Taylor. I'd love to help you, but we're really quite fond of Jason here and I don't know if we're looking to part with him.
Snyder - (clearly taken aback by this news) Um, oh. Well, I saw on ESPN.com that you were mad at him for dancing with stars, so, um, maybe we could work out a deal if you want...?
Parcells - (long pause) I'll have to think about it, Daniel. I'll call you back. (Parcells hangs up.)

(Snyder and Cerrato panic. They had clearly planned on Taylor being available. They are now trying to think of possible alternatives should the Taylor deal fall through. These alternatives include: Luring Michael Strahan out of retirement, luring Deacon Jones out of retirement, switching Fred Davis into a defensive end. After 45 minutes, Parcells calls back. Snyder picks up the phone even quicker this time.)

Parcells - OK, Daniel. I've thought about it and, for the right price, I think we can work something out for Jason.
Snyder - (smiles and shoots Cerrato a thumbs up, before realizing Parcells is waiting for him to speak) And what might that price be?
Parcells - (stoically) Seven first round draft picks.
(Snyder's expression quickly changes from that of cocksure glee to utter bafflement. He covers up the phone and whispers to Cerrato, "he wants SEVEN". Cerrato, unable to figure out how to respond to this statement with a "yes", doesn't speak.)
Snyder - Bill, I'll call you back. (Snyder jumps out plate-glass window.)

Maybe Clinton Portis Should Dress Up As a Defensive Lineman This Season

Sixty minutes into his first practice of the season, Redskins DE Philip Daniels injured his ACL and is likely lost for the rest of the year. All I can say is that I'm really glad Vinny Cerrato and Dan Snyder decided to go WR/TE/WR with the team's first three picks in this year's NFL Draft. I mean, who could have ever imagined a scenario where the 'Skins would have needed depth on their d-line?
It should be fun to see how much Snyder overspends to get Jason Taylor though. I'm thinking two second-round picks would sufficiently enrage me. Bill Parcells must be licking his chops.

The Return of Bubb Rubb

The newest commercial for EA Sports College Football '09 features a familiar face (look for him about 12 seconds in):

Ahh, Bubb Rubb, how I've missed you. Fantastic work by EA Sports, even if they did compromise Bubb Rubb's integrity by blurring out the Raiders logo on his hat.
I probably watch the infamous Bubb Rubb video once every few months and it never ceases to amuse me. My favorite part, by far, is when he and Lil' Sis pull out of their garage, dart across a double-yellow line, almost run into a parked car and run through a stop sign, barely avoiding an oncoming vehicle. Also underrated, the first appearance of Lil' Sis, when she appears without mention out of nowhere.

British Open Thoughts

- With almost every golfer awash in logos, it's refreshing to see Greg Norman walking around with a plain, black sweater and a hat with only one mark, that of his Shark brand.

- WAY too many commercial breaks being taken by ABC. It's completely ruining any flow this coverage might have and their frequency means viewers are only following Norman and Harrington. Simon Wakefield is currently +5, one shot off the lead and tied with Norman for second place. They've shown one of his shots since the final group teed off an hour ago.
The camera work has also been atrocious. Yesterday I figured it was because of the wind, but they're missing
Awful job by ABC/ESPN.

- Commercial breaks taken by ABC from 10:31 to 11:31 a.m.:

10:31 - 10:33
10:40 - 10:43
10:53 - 10:55
11:02 - 11:05
11:11 - 11:13
11:23 - 11:26
11:29 - 11:31

That's 18+ minutes of commercials in one hour. ABC took more commercial breaks in one hour (7) than The Masters has minutes of commercials in one hour (4).
These breaks are forcing ABC to show every other group besides Norman/Harrington on tape delay. It's really quite awful. And I can't describe how bad the cameramen have been. They can't follow the ball at all.

I'm Out Of Shark-Related Puns

When the U.S. Open concluded in mid-June, it was understood that we had seen one of the most memorable Major golf tournaments of all-time, and it might be a long time before another Major came close. After Tiger Woods announced he would miss the rest of 2008 following knee surgery, this fact was all but guaranteed. But amazingly, tomorrow's Tiger-less final round of The British Open could be one of the most magical Sundays in golf history. The mere suggestion of that four days ago would have constituted blasphemy in golf circles.
Before Thursday, Greg Norman hadn't played in a Major since the 2005 British Open. He made the cut, the last time he did so on the PGA Tour. Since then he's only played a handful of times on the regular tour, missing the cut every time out. For him to be leading The British Open at age 53 with that sort of rust is nothing short of remarkable. Really, this is simply stunning. (Equally as stunning is that all talk of Norman's past collapses has been muted today. It's great that Norman is now happier than he's ever been, but I don't think that means he's going to be able to deal with pressure, something he's never done well.)
Norman's legacy is at stake tomorrow. It's tough to think of anyone who's ever had so much riding on one round of golf. (You could argue that Phil Mickelson did the first time he won The Masters, but the question with Mickelson was not if, but when. This is Norman's final shot.) If he wins, his past collapses will be a largely forgotten, buried at the end of his career obit following tales of this historic win. If he loses, the final round losses continue to be the lead story. Tomorrow, Greg Norman isn't just playing for his third British Open title, he's playing for his place in history.

The Post In Which I Stick Up For Michelle Wie

Not being a big fan of Michelle Wie, I was amused to see that she had been disqualified from this weekend's LPGA tournament after signing an incorrect scorecard. Surprisingly though, I now feel a little sympathy for the teenage "phenom" after reading this excerpt about the DQ oon ESPN.com:

Sue Witters, the LPGA's director of tournament competitions, disqualified Wie in a small office in an LPGA trailer at the golf course after asking her what had happened.
"She was like a little kid after you tell them there's no Santa Claus," Witters said.

Ouch, that's cold. Besides being completely unprofessional, the quote is disrespectful towards Wie and, frankly, just plain mean. Do you think Witters would have spoken that way about Annika Sorenstam or (insert name of famous woman golfer)? This just sounds like a bitter swipe at Wie from a resentful person.
Now, maybe Wie did act like that. And crying in a scoring office certainly isn't professional. But this Sue Witters character should have kept that to herself and had some discretion instead of popping off at the mouth.
Here's a picture of the aforementioned Witters:

That seems about right. Her LPGA bio informs us that Witters pet peeve is "boxed wine". Ignoring the fact that LPGA bios ask about pet peeves, I'm not quite sure how a mass-produced beverage can be someone's pet peeve. People drinking boxed wine - that's a pet peeve. But the mere fact that the wine is boxed makes not a pet peeve. In the interest of full disclosure, I should mention that my pet peeve is mullet-headed ex-female golfers who inappropriately belittle people publicly.

UPDATE: All that sympathy for Michelle Wie? That's gone after reading this headline on SI.com Wie DQ'd on the brink of first LPGA win.
That headline makes it seem like Wie was about to win her first Tournament, no? A reader who didn't know better might assume Wie had a commanding lead in this tournament or was DQ'd while leading on the 16th hole of the final round.
Nope, Wie was in a tie for second place, one shot back of someone you've never heard of. The only thing she was on the verge of was playing tomorrow. Assuming victory, especially for someone who's never won, is preposterous.

UPDATE x2: A commenter notes that Witters and the LPGA allowed Wie to play her entire Saturday round, despite knowing that she was already disqualified. That makes this whole thing even worse. So now I'm back to semi-sympathetic towards Wie. Of course she was upset, she was disqualified before shooting a 67, not after.

UPDATE x3: The ESPN.com and AP story now quotes Witters as saying, "I felt like I was telling somebody that there was no Santa Claus," which is not nearly as bad. I think it was the use of 'little kid' in the first quote that really bothered me.
I'm not sure which quote was actually said by Witters. I assume it's the second, although I'm not sure how a mention of a 'little kid' gets added to a quote in the first place.

Why Mr. Favre Isn't (Or Is) Coming To Washington

A graph of Six Flags stock prices from 11/22/05 (the day Dan Snyder bought the company) until today.

When Daniel Snyder bought Six Flags in Novemeber of 2005, the company's stock was trading at 7.64. Today, after doubling in price following a mid-week swoon, the stock closed today's trading at 0.87. Yes, that's 87 cents. You have enough change in your left pant pocket right now to buy a share of Six Flags stock. I'm no math major, but by eyeballing it, I think a drop from 7.64 to .87 is an 88.66% decrease in total value from when Snyder bought the company to today. (And by eyeballing it, I meant that I went to a website that calculated percentage increase/decrease.) That's what people in the business call "not too swell". Applying that to sports, if the Redskins lost 88% of their attendance for home games they'd only be outdrawing the Nats by, like, 500 fans or something.
I mention this because earlier today I was debating whether or not the Redskins were stupid enough to go after Brett Favre. A friend said I was naive to think they weren't considering it. I countered with a semi-defense of Snyder that basically says: Snyder is football stupid, but not real-life stupid. He'll go out and draft 75 receivers, even though he has Santana Moss and Antwaan Randle-El; he'll ignore non-skill positions, despite their proven importance in games; and he thinks that the more coaches that are on a staff, the staff will improve by an exponential representation of said coaches.
However, Dan Snyder isn't actually stupid. He's just football stupid. And only an actually stupid person would try to get Brett Favre. Since Favre won't help sell tickets, will stifle Jason Campbell's progress, could divide a locker room, would be a turnover machine on a team that needs to stress ball control and - hello - isn't exactly the prototypical quarterback to run the west coast offense, there's no reason anyone within the organization could possibly think this would be a good idea.
You know I'm a frequent Snyder-basher, but even during the heady days in 2000 when he was bringing in Bruce Smith, Marc Carrier and Deion Sanders, at least there was some logic behind it. Yes, they were on the downslope of their careers, but at least they filled needs. Favre fills no need. This is why the Redskins won't get him.
But then I look at the Six Flags earnings sheets and think that I might have to reconsider. (Thanks to my dad for pointing out the Six Flags stock plummeting.)

I Still Prefer Michael Keaton Though

The Dark Knight was pretty great - a little long, but very pleasurable (that's what she said). The Katie Holmes replacement was a massive disappointment, as it looks like her face is melted butter, but everyone else in the film was excellent. All that praise for Heath Ledger was well-deserved. As is this sleep I'm about to get.

David Duval Must Be Teeing Off Later

First round leaderboards in golf Majors : Final round leaderboards in golf Majors

as

Michael Jackson's face circa 1983 : Michael Jackson's "face" circa 2006

In other words, the fact that Rocco Mediate and Greg Norman are atop this year's British Open on Thursday probably will be a mere footnote come Sunday. But it's still pretty cool and proves that we all could use a little more Chris Evert in our lives.

Ish & Big E Are Brothers

Reader Craig D. alerted me to an interesting interview with Wake Forest G Ishmael Smith on wakeforestsports.com:

I heard your sister got married this summer.
She did. Her and Eric [Williams] just got married two weekends ago at Graylyn outside. It was a real nice wedding. I got to meet all of Eric's family. They're real cool, so I've got some family in New York. They have a nice house in Clemmons, so I might go out there and do some golfing since I'm taking a golf class.

First of all, I took that golf class at Wake. It was taught by a man named Dave Stroupe and was an excellent way to earn my last credit in college. Stroupe fixed my golf swing and set me up with a pre-shot routine that I still use today. In short, he's my hero. If I had his address and sent out Christmas cards, I'd definitely send Dave Stroupe one.
But back to Ish Smith's sister and Big E: Craig says he's worried that Big E is back close to the program during this pivotal year. I'm more worried for Ish's sister in this situation. If Big E's marriage skills are anything like his basketball skills, he'll start off strong on the honeymoon, get into foul trouble by the first anniversary and then foul out by the time they're ready to have kids.

The Tiger-Less British

I've been watching coverage of the windswept first-round of the British Open and been struck by one thing: It's oddly relaxing to not have Tiger around. Instead of focusing entirely on him - when he's teeing off, what he needs to shoot on the first day, who he's paired with - TNT is able to spread out the coverage to lesser-known players and stars of old. I've seen more of Greg Norman today than I have in the past five years combined.
I always root for Tiger when he plays because I'm a fan of history and good TV. Tiger always provides both. When he contends, it's an event. When he doesn't, it's always vaguely disappointing. But without Tiger there, this Open Championship doesn't feel like it's any less of a Championship. Athletes get injured, it happens. Tiger's presence is missed, to be sure. Now it's a wide open tournament though. It feels more free.
It's sort of like when you're fantasy football team loses in the playoffs and you're able to watch week 16 games without any player rooting interests. Instead of being angst-ridden while watching a game that means nothing to you, hoping your running back gets goalline carries, you can instead watch that game with no worry. The same phenomenon occurs after you're NCAA Tournament bracket goes up in flames; Davidson/Kansas becomes a lot more enjoyable to watch if you don't have anything riding on it.
Tiger is missed, but perhaps this British Open won't be too bad without him. The last time all the pre-tournament focus in a major wasn't on Tiger was at the British in '99, when Tiger still had just one major to his name and was struggling with his swing. That Open, the Jean van de Velde Open, was only the most memorable of all-time.

THAT'S Rock Bottom

I thought Maryland basketball hit rock bottom when they announced the signing of troubled recruit Tyree Evans. When they released Evans from his scholarship a few weeks later after his rap sheet proved to be longer than expected; well, that was surely the lowest it could get for Gary Williams and company. Wrong again.
For today, ESPN released the schedule for the annual ACC/Big 10 Challenge and Maryland will suffer the indignity of having their matchup with Michigan broadcast on ESPNU, the usual domain of Florida State/Northwestern or Penn State/Clemson. It might not sound like that big a deal, but consider that Maryland is just six years removed from a National Championship and back-to-back Final Four apperances. And now they're having their games relegated to a network that will likely follow this telecast with SEC field hockey highlights.

Monday, Dec. 1
Wisconsin at Virginia Tech, 7:00 ESPN2

Tuesday, Dec. 2
Ohio State at Miami (Fla.), 7:00 ESPN
Iowa at Boston College, 7:00 ESPNU
Clemson at Illinois, 7:30 ESPN2
Duke at Purdue, 9:00 ESPN
Virginia at Minnesota, 9:30 ESPN2

Wednesday, Dec. 3
Indiana at Wake Forest, 7:15 ESPN
Penn State at Georgia Tech, 7:30 ESPN2
Michigan at Maryland, 7:30 ESPNU
North Carolina vs. Michigan State 9:15 ESPN
Florida State at Northwestern, 9:30 ESPN2

(When I wrote that Florida State/Northwestern was a likely ESPNU matchup, I had no idea that they were actually playing this year on ESPN2.)
I'm sure some people will say that Maryland's placement on a channel nobody gets might be designed to get people to clamor for said channel; the thinking being that if you put a semi-marquee team on ESPNU, then maybe people will demand that their cable company add ESPNU to its sports tier. However, the mere fact that Maryland isn't relevant enough to put on ESPN or ESPN2 is a major slap in the face. Six years ago people were questioning whether the Terps could challenge Duke or UNC for ACC supremacy every year. And now - well, we've gone over that.
On the whole, the slate of games looks pretty weak. UNC/MSU is the only compelling game for the masses. I, of course, am beyond-excited for Indiana/Wake Forest, even though Indiana might be suiting up Ollie from Hoosiers in light of all their departures following the Kelvin Sampson era.

Killing Time

Over the next week, I'm going to try and post 3-5 new entries each day. I'll explain why later; but for now, check the site periodically during the day and hopefully there will be something new here to help you procrastinate from whatever it is you're supposed to be doing.

The New Yankee Stadium: 31 Years of Tradition

Excellent column by Thomas Boswell in today's Washington Post on the underlying theme of last night's MLB All-Star Game (a farewell to the Steinbrenner-era). It was surprisingly touching to see an elderly Steinbrenner riding around Yankee Stadium in a chauffeured golf cart, particularly knowing that his legacy will live on in his blowhard son, Hank.
Boswell also touches on a topic that has been largely ignored during all the paeans to Yankee Stadium: That the current Yankee Stadium isn't the Yankee Stadium of Ruth, Gherig, DiMaggio, Berra and Mantle. That stadium was gutted in the '70s, replaced with a pale imitator.

(Also, if you're looking for something to read over the next few days, check out The Post's 12-part series on the murder of Chandra Levy, the intern whose disappearance gripped the nation during the summer of 2001. The stories, by Sari Horwitz, Scott Higham and Sylvia Moreno, combine investigative journalism and excellent storytelling to provide a stirring narrative to a tragic story.)

Billy Packer Out At CBS

Whenever I defend Billy Packer, I'm accused of blindly supporting a Wake Forest guy. But, truth be told, I liked Billy Packer before I went to Wake, before I knew he went to Wake and after both of those things happened and I still forgot about him going there. So, I'm likely in the small minority here, but I'm going to miss Billy Packer during next year's Final Four.
Packer might be a crotchety old man, but he's a crotchety old man who knows college basketball and, more importantly, knows how to talk about college basketball. The 68-year old specialized in noticing the subtleties of the game that pass other announcers by. He discussed switches in defense and substitutions; he noticed changes in style coming out of timeouts and knew when games were slipping away from teams.
Above all, Packer was honest. It's something most sports fans look for in their announcers - always criticizing the fake broadcasters who don't tell it like it is - but when they got in in Packer, they resented him for it. Amazingly, Packer's CBS obit includes his declaration that "the game is over" when Kansas was up 38-12 early in its Final Foul game this year with North Carolina. That every single person watching that game was thinking the same thing is irrelevant. All that matters is that UNC made a run to cut it to four in the second half, before Kansas pulled away to win by 18. (As it turns out, Packer was right, which makes the hubbub all the more absurd. I realize the game wasn't over, but beyond Roy Williams, Tyler Hansbrough and Ty Lawson, did anyone think Packer was wrong at the time? This is completely one of those "in retrospect" things; a statement that wasn't stupid at the time becomes stupid after events make it so. Could Packer have qualified his statement a bit? Yeah. "This game might be over," would have been better. Also, I understand why CBS would conceivably be upset. Packer saying the game is over seems to suggest that people could change the channel, which they never would have done in a 38-12 game without Packer's say so.)
It's not clear, but I'd assume Packer will still call ACC conference games for Raycom, which means those in the Mid-Atlantic will still hear his voice plenty, most noticeably during the first Duke-UNC game when ESPN's Dickie V-centric coverage is blacked out for the Raycom feed. Despite my appreciation of Packer's style, I'm not too upset he's out at CBS. It's better that he goes out now than starts to show signs of slippage like Pat Summerall, Sam Huff (in the Redskins radio booth) and many before him. No, my disappointment is in CBS's replacement for him.
Clark Kellogg is a fantastic studio man for CBS. He and Greg Gumbel have effortlessly made coverage of the first, crazy weekend of the NCAA Tournament a breeze. To break up that pairing in order to put Kellogg on the game's biggest stage is a gamble.
All I remember about Kellogg's color broadcasting is that I don't remember much about it. That might not be a bad thing, maybe he'll grow into his role with Jim Nantz. However, the domino effect of losing Packer, replacing him with a possibly-blasé-sounding Kellogg and replacing Kellogg with a former college player who is about as articulate as a cross between Rick Spielman, Chris Singleton and Orestes Destrades could be a disaster for the network's Tournament coverage.
I'd say "game over" for CBS, but given the circumstances, maybe I'll hold off on that for a bit.

Packers GM Showing He Can Play Like A Child Too

I told myself I wouldn't write anything about the Brett Favre saga until it gets resolved, but it's tough to avoid, particularly with ESPN turning the "will he or won't he" into this summer's way-too-overplayed storyline. Two things bother me about the coverage. I haven't watched a whole lot, but in the few SportsCenter segments and online articles about this, there are two pretty major details nobody has mentioned:
1) Favre has three years and $39 million left on his contract. This is a pretty big deal for two reasons. First, does anybody really expect Green Bay to pay Favre $13 million to sit on the bench? It's all well and good that the GM and coach are engaged in this current pissing contest; but how can the team eat 1/9th of its cap on a guy sitting on the bench? There's no shot they'll do that.
But let's say they do cut him; what are the cap ramifications for the team then? I'm sure somebody, somewhere has touched on this, but looking around a few of the major sports websites, I've yet to see it.
2) The Packers don't want Favre to be the starting quarterback, deeming Aaron Rodgers a better option than the man who led them to within one drive of the Super Bowl last season. Fine. In Green Bay's eyes, Rodgers > Favre. But if that's the case, then why is the Packers front office worried that Favre will sign with a division rival like Minnesota or Chicago if they grant him his unconditional release? If Favre isn't good enough to start for them, then shouldn't they not care where he ends up?
This shows a massive flaw in the logic of the Packers brass. If they're so concerned where Favre goes, this suggests that he's still good enough to win. I mean, do you really think they'd care all that much if Aaron Rodgers went to Minnesota?

Pinch Me, I'm Dreaming

ESPN: Washington Nationals Jim Bowden under federal investigation in financial scandal involving the signing of Dominican prospects... And for looking like a d'bag for riding a Segway.

Angel Hernandez Is Stupid. Angel Hernandez Is Stupid and Is An Idiot.

Baseball fans could have an endless debate about who's the worst umpire in the Majors. CB Bucknor would doubtlessly get some mentions, as would Laz Diaz and Doug Eddings. Me? I'm an Angel Hernandez guy myself.
He has an insanely inconsistent strike zone, is unnecessarily confrontational and is just plain ol' fun to hate. The juxtaposition of his name and his decided un-angelic manner also amuses me. Whenever I hear that Angel Hernandez is behind the plate, I gird myself up for three hours of angst. If Angel Hernandez were any worse at his job, he'd be a weatherman.
Apparently, I'm not the only person who feels this way. After being called for two balks and subsequently getting ejected by Hernandez last night against the Diamondbacks (in a game I didn't see, so I can't speak to the accuracy of these calls), Nationals pitcher Odalis Perez had this to say about the much-maligned ump:

"He is stupid. He is stupid and is an idiot... It's personal, and I hate that. I don't like that. He's bad. He's awful. He's the worst."

That's the actual quote. I love that Perez initially just commented on Hernandez's stupidity, but then felt compelled to throw in the fact that he's also an idiot. I also love the fact that Perez did use a contraction for "he is". I don't know why, but the fact that he says "he is stupid" as opposed to "he's stupid" makes it about four times funnier for me.
Perez will doubtlessly be fined for his comments, but I'm sure he won't mind all that much. He said what he wanted to say, it's just too bad that he plays on the Nationals, which means that only 9,000 people heard the quote. And, hey, at least he didn't say he wanted to cut Hernandez's nuts off.

If A Team Plays In The Forest And Nobody Is Around To Watch...

If I were to ask you how many D.C. viewers you think watch MASN's television broadcasts of the Washington Nationals, what would you guess? Go ahead, think about it for a second.
Whatever you came up with, I'm guessing it wasn't 9,000; the reported number of households that have been tuning into Nats games this year, according to The Sports Business Journal. (Dan Steinberg wrote an above-the-fold story about this in today's Washington Post.) Nine thousand. Seriously, that's a little stunning. More people than that voted for a Green Party candidate in Maryland's last Senate election.
Back when the Capitals were making a playoff run, there was a similar story about how they had been averaging around 20,000 households during the early part of their season, but those numbers jumped to over 60,000 during their April playoff push. I was stunned at how low those totals were; the 60,000 number was pleasing enough to the Caps that they put out a press release about it. But 9,000? As Steinberg notes, even D.C. United pulls in more eyes than that.
So what's the problem? Clearly the Nats' terribleness is a major factor. D.C. is not a great sports town and rarely supports a loser (the Redskins excepted). But even great sports cities won't watch a crappy product. Just ask all those people in Boston who ignored the Patriots and abandoned the Celtics until they became interesting.
Another major issue, one that was glossed over in Steinberg's piece, is the channel that the Nationals appear on. For those not in D.C., a quick refresher: Orioles owner Peter Angelos didn't want a team in Washington taking away from his team. So he bitched and moaned, even though he had no legal ground to stand on. Bug Selig, apparently unable to withstand a temper tantrum, capitulated and handed Angelos majority rights to a regional sports network named MASN.
The network is available in Baltimore and D.C. and in many places in the mid-Atlantic, broadcasting Nationals and Orioles games and little else. On the nights when both teams are in action (which is to say, a majority of evenings), one team is shown on MASN while the other is shuttled off to MASN2.
In reality, there is no MASN2. Cable companies broadcast the overflow games on a low-rated channel that already exists. My MASN2 appears on channel 4, which is normally CSPAN2. And there's the problem. Unless you're Spanish or really into civics, there's no reason for any Comcast viewer to be scanning around any channel lower than 20. It's all public access, Spanish-language or government channels. It's tucked away at the bottom of a 400 station guide and is nearly impossible to stumble upon.
You'd think the Nats and Orioles would split who has their games shown on MASN2, but then you'd be forgetting which team owns a 90% stake in the network. I'm not saying that the Nats' ratings would be boffo if they appeared on regular MASN all the time, but it certainly doesn't help to have the games moved around frequently. (And I'm not even getting into the fact that weekend games are shown on another channel altogether.)
Oh, and the Nats and Orioles are the only teams in Major League Baseball not to have all their home games televished in high definition. So that's not helping either.

Stupid Lines: No. 1

In what might become an ongoing feature on this site (but probably won't), I'm going to highlight ridiculous sentences that appear in major publications. The inaugural line comes from Cliff Corcoran of SI.com. His lede sentence to a column on the C.C. Sabathia trade reads:

The Milwaukee Brewers have all but guaranteed themselves their first playoff berth since 1982.

You'll be hard-pressed to find anyone who doesn't like this trade, but to say that a team has "all but guaranteed their first playoff berth" three days removed from Independence Day is exceptionally absurd. The Brewers have the NL's second best record, yes. But they also have scored just 11 runs more than their opponents this year and are a league-best 19-8 in one-run games. In other words, there's a good chance Milwaukee's 49-39 mark is a statistical anomaly that will normalize as the season progresses.
Again, this is a great trade for Milwaukee and puts them in prime contention for a playoff spot. But it assures them of nothing, other than the need to order some more XXXL jerseys.

Great Tennis Is Great

Here's why tennis is a great spectator sport: Just now in today's Wimbledon Final, Roger Federer was up 5-4, on serve, in the deciding fifth set. It was 30-30. Had Federer won the point, he would have had a match point. If Rafael Nadal won, he'd be serving to even the match. The magnitude of that one point was huge, and it's duplicated countless times during a classic match like this. So much hinged on that one point, yet it seemed relatively insignificant at the time.
That's the kind of drama that tennis, and only tennis, can provide. There are myriad reasons why the sport has suffered a drop-off in popularity in the United States (namely the lack of American stars). It's too bad, because matches like today's show how sublime the sport can be.
(As I wrote this, Nadal had two break points to go up 6-5. Federer won both points and we're now at deuce. Had either of those points gone the other way, Nadal would be serving for the match. It's sort of like when you're watching match play golf and the guy who's sitting on the green in 2 loses the hole to the guy who was in the sand in 3. The momentum shifts are wildly unpredictable.)

Update: Nadal stopped Federer's Wimbledon win-streak with a 9-7 win in an unbelievable fifth set. John McEnroe says it's the greatest match he's ever seen; and he should know, he was in a few classics himself.
The only person who looked more stunned about the result than Federer was Nadal. The young Spaniard seems to hold Federer in such high regard, he almost seemed embarrassed to accept the trophy. He spoke kindly of Federer, recognizing that his first Wimbledon title is that much more special because of who he beat.

Something To Consider

It's July 3, and the Tampa Bay Rays have the best record in baseball.

Jigga Man Gets His Costanza On

Jay-Z was at Wimbledon today, watching British hero Andy Murray take on world #2 Rafael Nadal in a quarterfinal match.


Fresh off his fairly-awesome, Oasis-baiting performance at Glastonbury (see video below), Jigga was caught by ESPN cameras chowing down on some french fries (or "chips", I guess), bringing to mind another hungry New Yorker captured on tape eating whilst attending at a Grand Slam event.


Jay-Z wasn't that messy; but that's probably because he didn't want to ruin the Sherlock Holmes smoking jacket he had on. This is not Jay's first foray into the racquet sport; he released a mix-tape track entitled "Tennis" a few years back on a lame Reebok-sponsored CD. And I was pretty sure he once dropped a rhyme about Boris Becker in a song, but I couldn't find anything about it on Google.