phillyBurbs via NJ.com: "After 10 years of poor attendance and a struggle for attention blocks away from the casinos, the minor league Atlantic City Surf has struck out. The team, which played in the independent Can-Am League, is discontinuing operations, along with another Can-Am team, the Ottawa Voyageurs."
The McDonald’s All American Games are about more than just the Games themselves. It’s truly an experience – it’s about being a good person on and off the court, and succeeding through other avenues like giving back. In addition to McDonald’s All American Game striving to teach its players through its Advisory Council which features the likes of Alonzo Mourning, Dwight Howard and Candace Parker, the Game is played for Charity (Ronald McDonald House Charities), where most other prep games aren’t.
The Games will go down this week down in Miami, Florida. The men's game features the best of the best divided into East and West squads, takes place Wednesday night at 8pm est at the University of Miami. It airs Wednesday night on ESPN2 at 11:30pm EST.
HHR had a chance to catch up with two members of the West squad. David and Travis Wear, twins out of Huntington Beach, California (Mater Dei High School), both of whom are headed to the University of North Carolina.
David was named the Orange County Register’s player of the year and Travis was right there with him on the All-County First Team.
David Wear Height/Weight: 6'10", 220 lbs. Position: F PPG: 16.2 RPG: 7.4 College: Committed to North Carolina
HuggingHaroldReynolds: What has the whole McDonald’s All-American Game experience been like thus far?
David Wear: It’s a great experience. I flew in two days ago and ever since I got here we have been running around. It’s a lot of fun. It’s really hectic hanging out with all these guys, all the media and how busy we are, the practicing, but its a lot of fun, we’re pretty busy.
HHR: What was your reaction to being named to the team?
DW: Every high school player, one of their goals is to make this team. I feel great to have this opportunity to play with some of the best, play on TV in front of everybody, and show what we got.
HHR: You were also named to the team with your brother Travis, that must be a great feeling?
DW: It was a great thing. I didn’t know we were both going to be named. I was hoping one of us would be named. That was one of our goals. When we found out we both made, it we were really excited. Some of our goals growing up were to be at the same college and to make the McDonald’s All-American team, and we have gotten to do both.
HHR: What is the process for even making this team?
DW: You get nominated, I think it is a 100 person group in each region, and then they go through process of cutting it down and narrowing it down to the final team. My coach told me about a week before that we were both selected for the west team, we were very excited. HHR: You played with your brother in high school at Mater Dei in California, now again on this team and in the future in college how are you two different on the court?
DW: I think I’m more comfortable playing in the post, he is more comfortable putting the ball on the ground, shooting the ball, but we can both rebound and run the court so I don’t see too many other differences.
HHR: So when you two match up one on one, who usually wins?
DW: Half the time we don’t finish our games, they end up in a fight (laughs), but I’d say it would be me winning. HHR: You are both headed to the North Carolina, how did that recruitment process work, did you bill yourselves as a package deal?
DW: We basically told everyone that we are going to the same school, we knew we wanted to go to the same school, going to separate schools was never an option. Everyone just recruited us as players they both wanted and North Carolina happened to offer both of us.
HHR: North Carolina is now headed back to the Final Four after this past weekend’s action, you must feel even better about your decision now.
DW: I’m really happy, I’m really comfortable in my decision, and maybe I’ll be in the Final Four next year. HHR: Finally, what do you hope to take away from this whole McDonald’s All-American Game experience?
DW: Just to enjoy my last high school game, meet new people, take it all in, the whole media session, even the game being on TV, I know its an all star game, but its always good fun, I just want to enjoy my last high school game.
Travis Wear Height/Weight:6' 10", 230 lbs. Position: G, F PPG: 15 RPG: 6.4 College: Committed to North Carolina
HuggingHaroldReynolds: What has been like to be named to this team?
Travis Wear: It’s a great honor being able to come out here and play with all the good players in the country. It's a lot of fun to come out here.
HHR: You were both picked for the squad, was that a surprise at all?
TW: I think I knew, if one of us was to get it, that we would both get it. To be out here competing against guys I grew up playing against, it’s really cool.
HHR: Outside of basketball what else have you done on this trip?
TW: We went over to a Ronald McDonald house and played with the kids, and we also went over to the Sea Aquarium and got to swim with the dolphins. Actually, we haven’t really been on the court all that much.
HHR: Do you look at other great brother combos like the Griffin brothers at Oklahoma or the Lopez brothers at Stanford and how they play as you get set to enter college?
TW: No, not really. I watch them to see how they interact on the court. I don’t look it how they play they game, I like looking how they interact on the court (as brothers).
HHR: For someone that doesn’t know your game, how would you describe it?
TW: I am pretty versatile, outside and inside, good court vision, I can pass the ball very well, I can bring the ball up the court, and I just play hard all the time.
HHR: You are both headed to UNC next year, they are headed to another Final Four you have to be pretty excited about your college choice?
TW: Yeah definitely. The expectations next year will be high. They have a pretty good recruiting class coming in, and hopefully with the guys that are there we could get back to the Final Four.
HHR: Lastly, what do you take away from this whole experience of being a McDonald’s All-American?
TW: It’s an opportunity to see how you do against better competition. Also, it’s not only basketball, but charity work. It is just good to give back to the community, and just a good experience all around.
There is no other way to say what I am feeling right now other than: I miss you.
I don't know what happened to tear us apart. It would be so much easier if we could point to a breaking moment where we did each other wrong so we can amend and heal this long lasting relationship. Sadly, it has been this way for two months now. Each giving the other the cold shoulder, and I am so frustrated that I finally need to say something.
I wish I could say with a genuine heart that "it's not you, it's me." Bluntly speaking though, you have not been supporting me. You have been serving me garbage every Sunday at lunch for the past month. I know you think Kobe is filling, but it puts me to sleep faster than turkey.
However, it troubles me to admit that most of the blame rests mightily around my neck. It is a burden I bear. I don't want to make excuses for the way I have been acting, but these things need to be said.
Work has been suffocating. It is probably the main reason that I have only seen your surface. I cannot not find time to see your inner beauty, get deep into your story.
And then there is family and her. She disrespects you, you can't seem to relate to her, and I am caught in the middle. You were looking good on Sunday, but I had to get out and spend time with the baby. But you knew that family was important to me going in. Without them, I might not have even met you and built this foundation.
Despite our shortcomings, I know we can make this work. We need to make it work or I will walk the streets empty, a man without a nation.
I feel the next few weeks are critical for us. It is always my favorite time of year because you spice things up. I am especially excited for our annual date on the first Saturday of May. I am preparing to make it special.
If I can't do that for you, maybe we need to consider a trial breakup for awhile.
Rest assured, I will not let that happen. I am determined to win you back and give you the commitment you deserve.
Baseball's sweetheart Alyssa Milano, promoting her new book Safe at Home on WFAN's Boomer and Carton this morning, might have inadvertently answered the question as to why she's had so many flings with ball players, noting she's been a big baseball fan her whole life and "believes in that saying 'do what you love.'"
While she admitted the dirt on her relationships only takes up 4 pages out of 243 of the book, host Craig Carton peppered her on the age old question, "Why Carl Pavano?"
"Carl is a great guy."
When pressed that "Alyssa Millano needs to be dating baseball royalty, not Carl Pavano,"Milano admitted to being little more than a "front-running" groupie.
"This was right after he won the World Series. So he was kind of baseball royalty. It was before he came to the Yankees...and became the Carl Pavano you know."
Like in his best sellers The Bad Guys Won and Boys Will Be Boys, Pearlman digs into the persona of a once beloved sports figure and examines Clemens' enigmatic personality and upbringing in relation to his public career.
As the Rocket battles to redefine his legacy in the court of public opinion in light of recent allegations, truth be told, he's spent his career doing that very thing: defining himself as he wants to define himself, truth or reality be damned.
We were fortunate to once again catch up with the author to discuss his latest work and talk about some of those truths, as well as misconceptions.
HuggingHaroldReynolds: I've mentioned this in our last conversation, but you really have a penchant for controversial sports figures and topics, don't you? When can we expect the Uggie Urbina story?
Jeff Pearlman: Actually, I was thinking recently that Urbina would make an excellent magazine profile for somebody.
Truth is, I'm not looking for controversial figures/teams, so much as people who are either mysterious/guarded or just really, really weird/quirky. Clemens isn't weird or quirky, but he spent most of his career creating his own narrative, which makes him very mysterious. I mean, we all knew he's a guy from Texas—not so. He's from Butler Township, Ohio. We all knew he's always been a great athlete—not so. He was a fat, soft-tossing nobody through much of his childhood. His father left when he was 2, his step father died of a heart attack before his eyes when he was 9, his brother/hero battled drug addiction and his sister in law was murdered by drug dealers. He's had, in many ways, a very sad, tragic life. But also a fascinating one.
HHR: As much as a biography, Rocket is a case study on the human psyche and one's warped sense of truth and reality. You portray Rocket as both someone willing to stand up for teammates on the field and want nothing to do with them off of it. Someone ready to fight, yet often breaking down in tears. In a snap shot, what traits should a fan believe best describes the real Roger Clemens?
JP: I'll avoid basic adjectives here and say that, what defines much of Clemens' life, is his unparalleled, unhealthy need to win at all costs. Clemens doesn't lose—ever, anywhere. He doesn't admit wrong, doesn't back down, doesn't retreat. He was that way as a kid, he was that way as a Major Leaguer, he was that way before Congress, giving his ludicrous testimony. People ask if he believes everything he's saying, and I don't know the answer to that. But he clearly believes there's a way to win and a way to lose—and losing isn't an option, whether it be sports or dancing or Congressional hearings.
The other thing that struck me about Clemens is that everything in his life is viewed through a baseball spectrum. When his mother died, he buried her in a necklace with 21 diamonds—his uniform number. He has four kids, all named with the letter K—for strikeout. When it came to giving gifts to teammates or coaches, it would almost always be an autographed photo of himself. I guess that's the result of being praised, praised, praised nonstop, but it strikes me as very warped.
HHR: Is it fair to say that Clemens' many character flaws are simply a product of his upbringing - losing two fathers, the insatiable rearing of an older brother he idolized, the stigma and perception of being a dumpy underdog - and a struggle for him to prove his ability met his confidence? Nurture over nature?
JP: I would say so. His step father, Woody, wasn't a win-at-all-costs type of guy, but he died when Roger was 9, and his brother Randy took over. Randy was a gifted athlete who went on to play college basketball, but he had a very unhealthy way of viewing sports, and he passed it on to his brother. There was no such thing as failure—it wasn't allowed to exist. So when you see Clemens pitching, and he's throwing at guys' heads, losing his cool, cursing out umpires—that's his brother's gift.
HHR: The steroids issue aside, while people are now critical of Clemens, in a way was his 'baseball-first, nothing-even-close-second' attitude actually reflective of the expectations fans put on their sports heroes?
JP: Of course. We set these guys up by giving them nonstop adulation, unparalleled fame, high salaries, free everything—and in exchange, we want 100% devotion to baseball. Then, when the person can't deal with real-world issues in a competent way, we pounce. Why should athletes know how to, say, pay a phone bill? They've had people slaving over them for years and years and years.
HHR: What, if anything, most surprised you over the course of your research about your subject?
JP: Two things. First, how liked he was. Everyone assumes Clemens was hated because of the position he's now in. But if you go back to Boston, to Toronto, to New York—there were many teammates who embraced the guy and thought he was good people. Not always around, occasionally indifferent ... but not a bad guy. Second would be the sad saga of his brother and his sister-in-law. It's weird that the story never made the papers. When she died, there would be a sentence in Houston Chronicle pieces saying, "She was Roger Clemens' former sister in law ..." but that was it. Nobody ever really put 2 and 2 together. HHR: You cast him in the same light as McGuire, Sosa and Bonds as well as Shoeless Joe Jackson and Pete Rose. Do the latter two really deserve to be a part of that group?
JP: I think so, in that they all disgraced the game, all disgraced themselves. Pete Rose, like Clemens, spent years and years trying to dig out of an impossible hole; tried to convince people he was telling the truth when, factually, he wasn't. Clemens fits right in there.
HHR: You make it very clear that Clemens' Hall of Fame future in serious doubt. For all his transgressions, does Clemens deserve the nod?
JP: No. There's a very clear good-of-the-game clause in Hall voting. Roger was a brilliant pitcher—one of the best ever. But , to me, all the good that he accomplished is wiped out by these last few years; by cheating.
On this coming Monday's Dhani Tackles the Globe, the NFL's Wyld Stalyn gets lit up by a horse in jolly old England. Somewhere in Cincinnati, Who Dey Revolution shakes its collective head.
The NCAA Tournament gets started again tonight and once again on the call at two different locations with be play-by-play announcer Gus Johnson and color commentator Bill Raftery. Raftery (featured in a great NY Times article) will handle Pittsburgh-Xavier and Duke-Villanova while Gus is on Louisville-Arizona and Kansas-Michigan State. The shame of the NCAA tournament is that we never get to hear these two guys together. I think they work great with their current partners. Raftery is with Verne Lundquist of Happy Gilmore fame while Gus, well it doesn't really matter who Gus is with, but he is joined by Len Elmore.
I'm far from alone in having Gus as my favorite college play-by-player or Raftery as my favorite college hoops analyst - but we need to have some games with these guys together. Are we really ready for these two to be together? Maybe not, the energy would be completely off the charts. From Raftery opening the game signaling a team in "man-to-man" defense to Gus closing out a potential close contest with insane calls such as "Brooklyn, Stand Up!" it would be wire to wire entertainment. I really wish this would happen but I fear that it just won't because these two guys are the stars of their teams. People tune in to hear Raftery and likewise for Gus and it might leave some other games lacking. My thought is it is fine to keep these two men apart throughout the tourney but please bring them together for the Final Four. Nothing against Jim Nantz and Clark Kellogg but things would just go up another level if Gus and Bill were on the call.
Since every elite announcing team needs a sideline reporter I think adding in Jay Bilas would be a nice touch. He knows his college hoops and would add a serious guy to this team. You can't have someone all jacked up reporting a broken ankle from the Marquette bench so Jay can cover that angle. Also in the likely event Gus and Bill blow out their microphones on an alley-oop dunk Jay could fill in momentarily from the sidelines.
With this dream team in mind I looked at some other major sports and assembled their great teams. Some of these people have worked together but it would be nice to see it again and on a more regular basis.
NBA Play by Play - Marv Albert Color - Bill Walton Sideline - David Aldridge
Marv is hands down the best in the NBA in play-by-play so that is a no brainer. Nothing makes a game even better than hearing Marv say "Yes" or "Oh what a move." Walton has overcome a stutterring problem to be a heck of an analyst although back issues have kept him on the shelf as of late. He is great for calling out players who are loafing and also played the game at an MVP level so he adds credibility. Aldridge is just very knowledgeable about the NBA and comes without the hideous suits or bad humor of Craig Sager.
MLB Play by Play - Bob Murphy Color - Keith Hernandez 3rd Man - Harold Reynolds
This of course has a heavy Mets slant on it as I am a Mets fan. We include Murphy prior to his coughing bouts because he was always good for the Happy Recap and over 162 games every team needs a homer. Keith Hernandez pulls no punches and says whatever he wants which is refreshing. Finally we shout out the Godfather in Harold Reynolds. Does a pretty nice job in providing the playing perspective.
NFL Play by Play - Gus Johnson Color - John Madden Sideline - Kim Kardashian
Well this would be a real treat, as again we bring in Gus who also does football so this is totally feasible. Madden is the legend when it comes to color commentators, he would likely ignore most of what Gus said but Gus would set him up nicely for some of his Maddenisms. Finally we bring in Kardashian who to my knowledge doesn't work in sports but dates Reggie Bush so likely has some idea of what is going on. Also we get to hear Gus flirt with Kim which would also be worth tuning into the Bengals-Chiefs.
NHL Play by Play - Gary Thorne Color - Darren Pang Sideline - Barry Melrose
I don't watch much hockey so I'm going on limited knowledge here. I know Thorne is good at most things he does and has a good voice for hockey. Thorne slightly edges that guy from the Panthers who just quotes movie lines. Pang or Panger which I believe he is known played goalie back in the day, knows the sport, and follows the Canadian rule that you must add a "y" or "ie" to the end of every players name. This applies to Gordie Howe and Bretty Hull. Barry Melrose and his mullet do a nice job on ESPN so he seems like a good choice to round out this team.
WWF Play by Play - Gorrilla Monsoon Color - Bobby "the Brain" Heenan Guest Wrestler - Rowdy Roddy Piper
Gorrilla was a staple for many years as the play by play man for the WWF and he worked very well with Heenan in their love-hate relationship. Monsoon was classic for calling out Heenan's often glaring side agendas such as the progress of Rick Flair in the Royal Rumble 1992 or the success of a certain Mr. Perfect. Heenan meanwhile helped push the "heel" story lines and is also responsible for costing the Ultimate Warrior a match against Ravishing Rick Rude by holding down the Warrior's leg (a move no official happened to witness). Piper lands here solely for his work in Summerslam 91 where he coined the phrase my friends and I still use today as words of encouragement, "Come on VIRGIL!"
While many of these pairings are no longer likely the Gus-Raftery team can be a reality, it is just up to CBS to make the call. Hopefully they come to their senses before this tournament ends and it's too late.
In between some other player being dragged into the spotlight for the use of performance enhancing drugs, comes a nice story about a baseball player. The New York Met's All-Star David Wright, while playing for Team USA at the World Baseball Classic, was very generous to a veteran of the war in Iraq.
As reported in the New York Daily News earlier this week, Wright doled out an all expense paid trip for Sgt. Felix Perez to attend the USA game at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles. Perez is in a wheelchair had attended the USA-Puerto Rico game in Miami. After Wright's game-winning hit he was escorted down to the locker room by a security guard for the postgame celebration. It was there that he met up with Wright and a host of other players. A short time later he was informed by Team USA he was headed to Los Angeles, a real dream come true.
It is just nice to hear something nice about baseball. I have really been on the brink of just forgetting about the sport with all the nonsense that has happened the last couple of years, but things like this definitely restore faith in the idea that MLB isn't filled completely with money hungry, steroid using, hooker banging clowns.
The New Jersey Nets never quite caught the attention of Jersey sports fans the way teams in neighboring New York and Philadelphia have. Who knows what a move to one of the five boroughs will do for a team that currently ranks 5th to last in NBA attendance.
Rep. Bill Pascrell Jr. (D-N.J.), wary of taxpayer anger over the AIG bonuses, wants the New Jersey Nets to reconsider selling naming rights to the British bank Barclays for an NBA arena being built in Brooklyn.
Barclays received $8.5 billion in bailout funds from the Treasury Department, and Pascrell believes the $400 million it cost to have the naming rights for the soon-to-be Brooklyn Nets arena should be used, say, for lending to consumers instead.
This would be a fair argument if not for the fact the Nets could name their arena the "Jayson Williams Shot His Limo Driver Arena" and no one would notice.
Says Politico: "It’s worth noting, of course, that Pascrell represents a lot of New Jersey Nets fans quite unhappy about losing their NBA team to Brooklyn."
No, we are not referring to either of the Sisters Williams.
According to The Advocate, German Sarah Gronert, 22, "was born with both male and female genitalia but underwent surgery to become female both legally and physically."
Now, critics are debating whether or not she should be able to compete in the women's ranks.
Says the LGBT site: "some coaches, players, and officials charge that she seems unnaturally strong for a woman and speculate, based on her birth condition, that she may benefit from a higher-than-average distribution of male hormones -- and question whether she should therefore be allowed to compete against women at all."
Everyone speaks of equality, yet differentiating leagues between sexes clearly advocates (pun intended) a distinction between males and females, and implies the notion that that men are simply better athletes than women.
Rick Lemons, the Senior Pastor at Fellowship Church in Forney, TX has written a new book geared at those obscure NASCAR fans who aren't actually Evangelicals.
Is your spiritual engine running on fumes? Do you feel like you’re falling behind in the race of life, or that you’ve hit the wall? Get ready to start your engine once again. In The Race—From Pit Row to Victory Lane, author Rick Lemons offers timely and comprehensive insights that will fuel your relationship with God. Join him as he parallels the Christian life to NASCAR racing.
Just as NASCAR teams work together to improve a car’s performance in Pit Row, God has provided all we need to drive a victorious race. Lemons points out that we have a pit crew—other believers—and a crew chief in God. By making frequent pit stops for God’s Word, Worship, Fellowship, Prayer, Accountability, and Encouragement, we equip ourselves for ultimate performance. He explains how these are like fuel, new tires, a strong battery, receiving instructions from the Crew Chief, listening to your spotter, and receiving a refreshing drink during a NASCAR event.
Lemons also warns of accidents resulting from debris that Satan throws our way; Satan wants to put us on the “dnf” list—did not finish. Lemons forewarns of wreckage that can disqualify us. NASCAR teams understand that having the best car does not guarantee victory on every race day. Forty-three cars begin each race, but not all will finish. By comparing Christian disciplines to NASCAR team strategies, he gives practical, biblical advice that will keep us on track and heading towards Victory Lane.
We already know that the Devil planted dinosaur bones. His involvement with track debris seems the next logical step.
Blogs With Balls is a series of regional social sports blogger and new media gatherings featuring speakers and panelists specifically focused on sports fans, writers, sites, teams, athletes and companies; and their ability to maximize new media outlets for promotion and advancement.
Our first event, Blogs with Balls 1.0, is set to take place on June 13, 2009 in New York City. We’re pleased to announce that pre-sale tickets have officially gone on sale as of today, Friday, March 20.
To get your hands on a Blogs with Balls gold pass for the discounted rate of $49 (plus a very small — under $2 — service fee), simply head over to blogswithballs.eventbrite.com.
There are a limited number of discounted pre-sale tickets, so act fast!
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SCHEDULED TO APPEAR
The current list of confirmed speakers/panelists includes:
* Jim Bankoff, SB Nation * Nat Berman, Uncoached * Adam Best, FanSided.com, Arrowhead Addict * Sarah Braesch, BlogHer, Social Media Consultant * A.J. Daulerio, Deadspin * Jim DeLorenzo, Octagon * Jason Gurney, Co-Founder, BallHype.com * Dan Levy, On the DL Podcast * Jarret Myer, Co-Founder, Uproxx Media * John Ness, NBC Local * Jeff Pearlman, Author, SI.com Columnist * Julia Roy, Undercurrent.com, JuliaRoy.com * Matt Sebek, JoeSportsFan.com * Dan Shanoff, DanShanoff.com * Andrew Simon, WhoDeyRevolution.com * Sarah Spain, Mouthpiece Sports * Ryan Spoon, InGameNow.com * Dan Steinberg, The Washington Post’s D.C. Sports Bog * Richard Ting, R/GA, Flytip * Jimmy Traina, Senior Producer, SI.com * Michael Tunison, KissingSuzyKolber.com * Matt Ufford, WithLeather.com * Pete Vlastelica, CEO, Yardbarker.com * Greg Wyshynski, Editor, Yahoo! Sports’ Puck Daddy
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For more information, be sure to visit blogswithballs.com.
Old DW says Bristol is like flying a bunch of fighter jets inside a packed gymnasium, and I don't believe I've heard a more apt description. Sheer madness! Bristol is the highest banked track in NASCAR, but also one of the shortest. The high banks make the cars go fast. The short tracks means they don't have that much room to go fast. The result means awesome freaking racing.
With the old car, the way to get around was the bump-n-run. Put a bumper on a guy, get him loose, sending him up the track, and dive underneath. Ole Dale Sr. was the expert at it, though some others have gotten pretty good at it too. The catch is competitors aren't too happy when they get bumped, which led to some heated tempers and a few fights. Translation, exciting time for the fans.
The fun starts about 13 seconds in.
The new COT has put a damper on that somewhat. With the new car, there's really 2 grooves of racing at Bristol (high and low), and the configuration of the cars is not nearly as conducive to the bump-n-run, cause of how the bumpers front to back align themselves. Some smarty pants at NASCAR did that for a reason that I'm sure, but enough about the track, what about the racing. Well, if you can take a break from your brackets for a few hours, here's what ole Rusty expects to see.
Busch boys, Gordon, and a side of Happy. Jeff and Kurt are tied among active drivers with the most career wins at Bristol, only catch is that of those 10 wins, 8 of them came over 5 years ago. So, they've not been winning a lot lately, though they've still managed good finishes. Jeff averages a 10.8 finish with 3 top 5's, and Kurt's got a 15.4 average finishing position with a win, and 2 top 5's. Jeff's been looking solid this year, and Kurt ain't doing half-bad either. I think they may continue their roll this coming weekend.
The younger Kyle won the first ever COT race at Bristol, and has run well there ever since. He's averaging a 12.5 finish with 3 top 5's. But Happy Harvick might be the real happy guy at the end of the day Sunday. While he's only won once at Bristol, the driver of the #29 has racked up 6 top 5's over the last 5 years to lead all active drivers. Not too shabby.
With all the drama that's sure to play out on the track in Bristol and the insanity of March Madness, ole Rusty's gonna be lucky to make it through the weekend. Mark my words, though, if I do, I'll be a stronger man.
JR Prediction
Well, June never really challenged for the win in Atlanta two weeks ago, and I am really starting to sweat the season. No driver this far down in the points standings at this point in the season has ever made the chase. The 88 team needs to figure out something, and they need to do it fast. June needs to calm down in the car and tell his team what he needs. Now, lucky for him, this coming week is one of his best tracks. Over the last 5 years, Junior leads all active drivers in points gained at Bristol. In fact, he's got 50 more points than the next guy on the list, the aforementioned Happy Harvick. Well, he's gotta continue that streak this coming weekend.
Barack Obama and Joe Biden supports eliminating gender discrimination in American schools. For 35 years, Title IX has been a bulwark against sex discrimination against students and employees at all levels of education. Obama and Biden will fight to make sure women have equal opportunities and access from pre-kindergarten through graduate school.
Yet, as the sports-loving nation fawned over the novelty of the President filling out his MEN's NCAA bracket, I can't help but wonder how many aspiring adolescent WNBAers out there felt slighted as they waited to no avail for the leader of the free world and mouthpiece for change to fill out his women's bracket.
For all the accomplishments of a Connecticut Lady Huskies team or milestones of a Pat Summitt or the perseverance of a Vivian Stringer, the message is clear...it's all trivial. Your hard work, your courage and your struggles mean nothing compared to your male counterparts.
And this just after he paraded his wife and formal rival out for photo ops (that's what they are good for - looking pretty) and created a nonsensical commission.
I make no qualms about it. Bullfighting fascinates me.
Last year, I wrote a piece about Hemmingway's The Dangerous Summer, which chronicled the 1959 Spanish Bullfighting season and the rivalry between Antonio Ordóñez and his grand-uncle Luis Miguel DominguÃn.
Today, Ordóñez's grandsons (and Armani models) Francisco Rivera Ordonez (pictured above) and Cayetano Rivera Ordóñez are two of the most popular matadors in the country.
The respect of their peers, however, doesn't seem to match their popularity amongst the public.
Citing his youth and more deserving retired bullfighters, two previous winners of the country's Cultural Ministry Fine Arts distinction, given in the fields of literature, cinema and cuisine, have returned their awards after Francisco received the honor last month. They say giving the prize to Rivera Ordonez "cheapens the deadly duel between man and beast that Spain calls its national pastime."
Despite "killing 1,000 bulls in Spain's topflight arenas over the course of his 14-year career...he is just as much of a fixture on the covers of gossip magazines, having once been wed to a daughter of Spain's most titled aristocrat and now dating a former Miss Spain."
I suppose the same argument could be made once Derek Jeter's Hall of Fame consideration comes into conversation. After all, he'll forever be known as a fine, young, talented, handsome ballplayer. But Jose Canseco's paid his dues.
- select five players from the NCAA Tournament - you get their total points + rebounds + assists - … for the entire tournament - so it’s a mix of player and team skill
The other night I was up at 4 a.m. with a head cold that NyQuil and vodka wasn't able to squash. I caught the replay of Team USA verses the Netherlands. It wasn't terribly boring. It needed help. It needed something that a Randall Simon bat swing to the Team USA mascot (Is there one? Can there be one?) couldn't even fix.
I needed a reason to care. Sure it was fun watching an American team of major leaguers play together but I can see that during an All-Star game or Rock N' Jock challenge. So, I grabbed a pen and pad and started jotting down some ideas to make the WBC a more interesting venture for all involved. I also jotted down my thoughts on the lyrics to Blinded by the Ligh but I passed out before I really got a sound idea going.
Here are three simple ideas to make the WBC a much more interesting concept..
The Winning All-Star team becomes Team USA
This America. Home of democracy. People vote on the All-Stars and they are usually the best players in the league. Why wouldn't they be Team USA? Seems simple. For those All-Stars who aren't American born, they play for their country and Team USA takes next top vote getters to fill roster spots. Let's be honest, the All-Star representative from Pittsburgh could care less if he wins or loses in the All-Star game and about home team advantage in a World Series he might not even get on regular TV in Pittsburgh (don't they all live in mines out there? Reception must be horrendous). But if he is playing for a spot on Team USA. Might be a different story.
This adds some much needed excitement to the All-Star game, with the winning squad making up Team USA. If you get voted in, and don't want to play, then you can't play in either.
WBC should be played in October with only major league players who aren't in playoffs
One of the big complaints about the WBC is that players are asked to be 'game ready' too soon. It could lead to injury and burns them out before the season starts. Horsecocks. Larry Jones would have hurt himself just as easily in Braves spring training. I will say that a player being away from his team does ruin team chemistry. (Side tangent about team chemistry--bare with me. People will argue that chemistry is a load but it plays a huge part in just how well a team plays during the season. I am not saying everyone on the roster has to love one another but there has to be some degree of "I don't like this selfish prick but he will help this team reach a goal and I'll tolerate him if it means winning." Looking right at you Man-Ram. This all gets ironed out during spring training, when guys are rooming together, shooting pool together, hanging out and thanking christ they don't actually play all their games in Florida and Arizona. Sorry D-Backs and Marlins-your towns blow.)
So, eliminate the bitching of players, managers, owners, trainers, and Vinny from the Bronx calling into sports talk radio and start the WBC after the baseball regular season. The players are already in baseball shape. For those players who are in the playoffs, sorry, you are ineligable to play. Cry me a creek, you are in the playoffs. Suck it up.
WBC winner plays MLB champion to win the real WORLD SERIES
The title of World Series Champion has always been ironic considering the teams are only from the MLB, no other countries are involved, and the games never leave the continental US. Of course, the World Series was invented in the late 1800's when America was an egotistical, world-dominating prick (ah, the good ole' days).
Let's start finding out who the real "World Champions" of baseball. Winner of the MLB Championship versus the winner of the World Baseball Classic. Three game series in a neutral location. Winner take all. If you don't think the MLB champs are going to play their hearts out against a Puerto Rico or Cuban team for example, and that any of these countries wouldn't treat it like a WORLD WAR, then you need to brush up on the Bay of Pigs, Pearl Harbor or at least rent Rocky 4.
By writing this, I am allowing Major League Baseball to take and use any or all of my suggestions. Baseball fans want to care about the WBC but right now it's only televised spring training.
And do the bases always spin like that or was that the coal tar kicking in?
If someone says Bob Kraft owns the league, it'd be fair to assume they were referring to the New England Patriots' dominance over the last decade of the NFL. In actuality, they'd be referring to an upstart overseas in among the least likely of places for American football - the Holy Land.
Photo: Shmuel Weisfield
According to the League's media kit:
The Kraft Family Israel Football League is an amateur full contact American style football program, using modified NCAA rules, and is operated under the auspices of American Football in Israel. The IFL is sponsored by the Kraft Family, owners of the NFL's New England Patriots – one of the most successful sports franchises in the world. The Kraft Family IFL will operate to create the required infrastructure for successful American Football league in Israel and will promote the sport to become a nationwide self sustaining operation. As of such the Kraft Family IFL will put its efforts in activities which will jointly benefit American Football in Israel.
Since it's inception in 2007, the league has successfully endeavored to bring the great game of football to a country whose population has traditionally devoted itself to soccer and basketball. The IFL currently fields 5 full teams, with several more in development. In addition, The IFL is developing a youth program to ensure that the league's future is as bright as its present.
An old friend of ours, Joshua Rubin, is currently the Head Coach of one of the IFL's teams, the Jerusalem Kings, and also happened to fill in as a running back and wherever else on the field he was needed.
We caught up with Josh to help us understand both the current state of the enterprise as well as its prospects for the future.
HuggingHaroldReynolds: First, you're a kid from Jersey. How did you end up in Israel and what have you been doing over there outside of your involvement with the Kings?
Joshua Rubin: Like a lot of kids from Jersey, after college I went to work in the City (Manhattan). It was the 'normal' thing to do; get a job, try to make a lot of money, meet women, etc.
In my quest to make a lot of fast cash, I started day trading. Through Divine Providence, one of the guys in my day trading class had lived in Israel, and through him I started putting on Teffillin which lead me to reconnecting to my Judaism.
I eventually gave up daytrading and I had enough of the whole 9-5 routine. So I packed my bags, flew to Israel and enrolled in Yeshiva (Mayanot Institute for Jewish Studies). I landed on June 17th of last year (2008) and I've been here ever since.
Outside of the Kings I am in Yeshiva all day and night, praying, learning, studying and working on myself - things I "should have been doing" in college. Which is funny, because when I was playing this year, I felt like I was fulfilling a dream to be on a academic scholarship play football.
HHR: How did you become familiar with the IFL and what prompted you to get involved?
JR: When I first got to Israel it was a bit of a shock...I wasn't sure what I was doing here...not to many guys my age drop everything and go to Yeshiva. People to told me about the flag football league in Jerusalem (which has to be one of the most competitive flag leagues in the world). I did search the web for the flag league but found the IFL instead. By Divine Providence I ran into a guy wearing an IFL t-shirt who happened to be the manager of Kraft Field and he put me in touch with the IFL.
When I first inquired, I wasn't sure how long I was going to be in Israel, so I figured I would help out a team by coaching but the league told me all they had was the new Jerusalem team that needed a head coach...so I figured what the heck, and I volunteered.
How has the league been received by the public who, on the sports front, more enjoys soccer and basketball and also given the constant stress and turmoil in the region?
The most popular sports in Israel are Soccer, Basketball, wind surfing and Judeo. There is certainly room for another major team sport in Israel. Most Israelis know about football and are attracted to it, however the IFL doesn't have a big budget for marketing, so right now knowledge of the league is spreading by word of mouth.
Kings home games get about 100+ people right now, which might be the best in the league. There are a lot of Americans who don't know about the IFL yet and a lot more moving here, too. I wouldn't be surprised to have 500-1000 people at our games in 3 to 5 years.
Constant stress and turmoil? In all seriousness it is more dangerous to live in New Jersey then in Israel. I'd bet there have been more people murdered in New Jersey over the last year then there has been people murder in Israel by terrorist attacks or war.
Imagine if the entire world reported about New Jersey but only focused on the criminality that plagues Newark, Camden and the Sopranos, yet ignored all the great things that make Jersey a wonderful place to live? That's basically what you have in regards to peoples perception of Israel.
For example, during the Operation Lead Cast, I felt as safe here as I did in New Jersey/New York when the US invaded Iraq. The war really didn't "touch us." Thank G-d. While we had a few guys that were put on notice that they might get called up for active duty, that was about it. In regards to the IFL, that week we played the Jerusalem Lions and before the game we stood together in front of the crowd a said Pslam 121 for the IDF:
That was one of my favorite experiences of the season.
Most of these guys have been in the army and its not like in America where you need to yell at people to motivate them. That kind of attitude doesn't fly over here. Playing football is the closest most Americans get to fighting war. You're not going to get an Israeli to do something he doesn't want to do; Israeli's see football as fun and if they've taken the time to join the team, you know they are committed. All you have to do is show them what to do and they'll do it or figure out how to do it. I have so much respect, admiration and love for each and every guy on my team.
I would encouraging anyone who is reading this not to hesitate to visit Israel, when you get hear you'll understand why I say that.
HHR: What is the quality of play like? What sort of backgrounds do the players generally have?
JR: Its very competitive. We play 8 on 8 on a 60 yard field (80 if you count to the back of the end zones), so its different game then we are used to playing in the States. The teams are very balanced, with the biggest advantage going to the team who is most disciplined in their game plan.
The Kings have a wide range of talent. We have guys who have played college ball on scholarship, but most guys have never played the game before. I had teach to most of the the guys how to catch a ball, line up in a three point stance, the basics. Where we are now holding compared to the beginning of the season is amazing. All season long, they made up for their lack of experience with enthusiasm and love for the game and each other. They are all now real deal FOOTBALL PLAYERS!
In my opinion, the Kings have been blessed by G-d to the best group of guys to ever make up a football team.
While we did have a rough going this year (1-7), we were the only expansion team and did everything on the fly for most of the season. Heck, we only got our pads a week before our first exhibition game. Eventually we settled down and got things organized by our last game, but that was a little to late. The good news is we've built up a solid core group of guys and we know what we are doing now, so next year should be a much different story in regards to wins and loses.
HHR: Do you see the league as being viable in the future?
JR: Very much so. Right now it will, and should remain as, an amateur league, but the potential the league has is very exciting. I've been at league meetings and they are already thinking 10 years down the road. The IFL is not going to be like the baseball, which had a lot of money thrown into it and folded after one year. I have a lot of confidence in the people running the league.
HHR: Tell us about the League's youth development initiative.
JR: The Kings have a 15, a 16 and an 18 year old but also have a 36, a 38 and a 42 year old. I doubt there is another football team in the world that can claim that!
All the Israeli kids I've talked to, from the grammar school to the high school kids, are all excited about the league. The IFL is planning on developing football for the youth in the future but I don't know how they plan on going about it. Football pads are expense, not every family can afford them and once the kids turn 18, they go to the army for 3 years.
However, I am optimistic, to succeed in Israel you have to think outside the box, most importantly, nothing happens in Israel with out G-d's approval, so if He is for it, it will happen.
HHR: How can football fans in the States keep up with the league? Is there any plan to push any web-based video?
JR: They can go to the IFL website at www.ifl.co.il. As most media, it all going to the web but unfortunately we don't have an live broadcasts over the web. The best someone can also scan youtube for videos.
Here is a link to a play by our QB Joe Martisius vs Tel Aviv earlier in the season - before we got our Jerseys - (I was playing the Right Tackle):
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