A trip to Louisville

Haven’t done a column in a few days because I was attending a conference in Louisville, Kentucky.....very underrated city.....clean city with friendly people....I high recommend it as a nice three-day weekend vacation spot....

While in Louisville I visited the holy ground of horse racing – Churchill Downs.....I took the $8.00 tour and was in total awe of the place.....also dropped some money in the gift shop....

Other interesting sites I saw was the Louisville Slugger Museum, Science Center, and the newly opened Muhammad Ali Center......also went to legendary Freedom Hall and saw the Louisville-DePaul basketball game.....the people down there love their Cardinals....despite an average season, 19,000 people packed the old place to watch Rick Pitino’s team....

Read in the paper that the city of Louisville is working on a plan to construct a new 22,000 seat arena....however the major sticking point is where the arena will be built....some want it on the Riverfront while another faction wants it in the downtown area....

Detroit took it to the Cavs on Sunday.....they play again on Monday night at The Q......Cavs need to win this game....

I bought a 2006 NASCAR preview book.....I’m really trying to learn the sport.....the Auto Club 500 is on right now.....

The Winter Olympic Games in Torino are over.....here are a few thoughts:
- For some reason, down deep, I think Bode Miller purposely lost all five of his events....he’s flat out a drunken jerk.... by the way, guess who got interviewed by Tom Brokaw on the Sunday night news -- yep, Bode....the spotlight is still on him which is what he wants....
- If the U.S. hockey team is going to play like crap and win only 1 stinking game, I say send a team of college all-stars who train together for at least six months.....that performance by the NHL players was pathetic....
- Sasha, Sasha, Sasha.....you had the gold medal on a platter and once again you chose silver....
- Jerk 1a goes to Shani Davis.....
- Despite a poor showing by the so-called "studs" of the U.S. team, the United States did finish second in total medals....
- That’s about all -- see you in four years in Vancouver.....

Finally, I could not conclude this blog without noting the death of Don Knotts.....Knotts, who played the character Mr. Furley on Three’s Company, was a classic comedic actor....the role he will be most remembered for though is the bumbling, but lovable Deputy Barney Fife on The Andy Griffith Show.....Barney Fife made people laugh....unlike today’s actors, Knotts never had to cuss or make any sexual comments in order to get a laugh......there was only one Don Knotts – and he will be missed.....long live Barney Fife.....

Quick Hits

I’m tired of hearing about Roger Clemens and Barry Bonds and if they are going to retire....Clemens is obviously waiting to see how he pitches in the World Baseball Classic this way he could drain some team’s money.....and Bonds keeps waffling about this being his last season.....I just say to both of them, "retire already!!".....

Looks like the New York Knicks are close to trading for Orlando’s Steve Francis.....is this the trade that helps the Knicks upswing or is it just another big name who flops in the Big Apple?....

Whatever happened to Bernard King?......

I think George Bush and his administration made the wrong choice by having a country from the Middle East work on key U.S. ports....

Is it just me or does W. look like he lost a few pounds?....

A few years back it looked like tennis player Martina Hingis was never going to win another major....but after a brief retirement stint, Hingis has come back with a new fire....she will win either the French, Wimbledon, or U.S. Open this year....

Russian figure skater Irina Slutskaya is highly underrated.....she’s been skating for as long as Michelle Kwan and has been very successful but she does not get the recognition from the American media...

Bode Miller better go back to skiing loaded because he has not squat while skiing sober.....

Fact - Ricky Williams is a dumbass......

I bought a NASCAR magazine today because I am hoping to better understand the sport.....

I wonder if Drew Brees’ shoulder injury in the last game of the season is more serious than originally diagnosed.....today the San Diego Chargers are going to let Brees test the free agent market....you just don’t let a good 27-year old quarterback walk unless there is a reason....

Finally, most of the young folks don’t know the name Curt Gowdy....however, as a young boy, I was fortunate enough to hear Gowdy broadcast sporting events in his later years.....the 86-year old Gowdy died on Monday from leukemia.....his legacy in the sports broadcasting business has been cemented for years.....those who never heard him sure missed out.....

NBA All-Star Thoughts

The NBA Hall of Fame released the finalist for this year’s class.....they are: Charles Barkley, Dominique Wilkins, Joe Dumars, Geno Auriemma, Dick Vitale, Adrian Dantley, Ralph Sampson, Dave Gavitt, Gene Keady, Chet Walker, Don Nelson and Van Chancellor.....

Barkley is a lock for induction, as should be Dumars.....the three other people who should get inducted this year are Dantley, Sampson, and Vitale...unlike the Pro Football Hall of Fame, the NBA Hall takes into consideration a person’s college and international experience which is why Sampson should make it....

In the early 1980s while at Virginia, Sampson was the first dominant big man in the college game since Bill Walton....Dantley was an All-American for Notre Dame and an NBA All-Star with Detroit and Utah....

Finally, Vitale is absolutely the good will ambassador for the game of basketball.....yeh, his detractors will say some of his antics are shtick.....however Vitale is truly passionate about basketball and is always promoting the sport.....he deserves to be in the Hall of Fame....

Of the 24 players in today’s NBA All-Star game, only Tim Duncan and Steve Nash completed four years of college....the other players stayed three years or less at college or did not attend college at all....

Is it just me or does it seem like Allen Iverson has been in the league forever.....but in reality, the 76ers All-Star guard is only 30-years old and has been in the NBA for 10 years....

With a third of the season left, my predictions for the NBA championship will be Detroit against Dallas.....

The best story in the league this year is the play of the Los Angeles....the Clippers that is....at the break the Clippers are 30-21 and have a 4½ game edge over their counterparts, the Lakers....

Remember in his Portland days when Rasheed Wallace used to get T’ed up every other game.....

I wonder if Larry Brown is sorry he left the Detroit Pistons to go and coach the New York Knicks....

Whatever happened to former All-Star Game MVP Randy Smith of the Buffalo Braves?.....

Olympic Quick Hits

It’s only February 18th, but the idiot move of the year so far goes to Olympian Lindsey Jacobellis.....with the gold medal in her back pocket, Jacobellis decided to "hot dog it" and ended up falling down.....she finished with the silver medal....

By the way, how many gold medals has Cody.....I mean Bode won yet???.....he has been the most annoying person in this Olympics.....he is all hype.....

My money is on Sasha Cohen of the United States to win the gold medal in women’s figure skating.....

Does anyone really care who wins the gold medal in ice hockey now that the NHL players are involved???....

Will the media and people stop picking on the Olympic games.....the media keeps showing how ratings are down for these games and that people don't care about Winter Olympic sports.....chill out people.....the Olympic games are once every four years.....let these athletes have their two weeks in the spotlight without ripping their sport.....the same people who rip on curling, are probably the same ones who sit down at their local beer garden and are in a dart league...

The babe of these games easily goes to U.S. ice dancer Tanith Belbin.....she will be getting many endorsements after these games....and imagine if she ends up with a gold medal....

What is up with Mike Golic from ESPN radio’s Mike and Mike......Golic said ESPN made a mistake by hiring Tony Kornheiser as a color analyst for Monday Night Football because Kornheiser is not a former player....I have two words for Golic – Howard Cosell....

By the way, whatever happened to the Fabulous Sports Blob.....I mean the Fabulous Sports Babe??.....

The marquee basketball game of the day is Connecticut at West Virginia.....UConn is going into a hornet’s nest and may end up getting pittsnogled.....

Indiana head coach Mike Davis made the right move by resigning at the end of the season.....Davis has been whining about the pressures of being the head coach of the Hoosiers....people have to realize that whenever you accept a job at a big name university who is a traditional sports power in a certain sport, there is going to be pressure to win – and rightfully so.....over the last three seasons, the Hoosiers have not made the NCAA tournament and have lost out on some big time recruits from the state of Indiana.....

Of course, former Indiana star and current Iowa head coach Steve Alford is the favorite to land the Indiana job.....but there has been talk in the newspapers and on the internet that Ohio State head coach Thad Matta may have the inside track.....

Why are some baseball players concerned about playing in the first ever World Baseball Classic....these same players who will be representing their country would still be playing in exhibition games as part of spring training....an injury could easily occur whether they are playing in a spring training game or in the Classic....

Doesn’t Hillary Clinton have something better to do than to stir up the pot concerning Dick Cheney’s accidental shooting of his friend last week?.......there was no conspiracy Hillary!!!....

By the way, did I mention that Tanith Belbin is hot!!!.....

Quick Hits

- Michelle Kwan's dream of a gold medal in figure skating ended today after withdrawing from the Olympics because of an injury.....Kwan will go down as one of America's greatest skaters ever, but she will always be missing that Olympic gold medal from her resume....

- What is up with the Cleveland Cavaliers?.....just when it looked like they were making their move by winning seven straight games, they have lost to the Sixers, Wizards, and Warriors in the last week.....the Cavs will make the playoffs this year, but I could see them getting bounced in the first round....they are still not one of the elite teams.....

- Did you know that Lebron James’ favorite breakfast food is Trix cereal and honey-oat granola....

- The Oakland Raiders have sunk to a new low....who would have thought that Louisville’s Bobby Petrino would turn down Oakland’s offer to coach the team.....that just shows what coaches think about that franchise....

- Despite getting the cold shoulder from a number of coaches, I do think Oakland made a safe choice by selecting Art Shell.....this will be Shell’s second stint as head coach of the Raiders....in his previous tenure Shell had the Raiders in the playoffs almost every year.....

- Does anyone care about today’s Pro Bowl???.....

- Just when it looked like the Michigan basketball team was going to be a contender for the Big Ten title, the Maize and Blue came up with three straight clunkers.....last Saturday they got smoked by 30 points to Iowa.....then on Thursday night, Ohio State stuck 12 3-pointers in the first half on their way to another win in Ann Arbor.....then the low point of the season came yesterday when Michigan got beat by 15 points to lowly Purdue....Tommy Amaker’s days in Ann Arbor may be numbered....

- The days are definetly numbered for Indiana's Mike Davis.....

- All I know, Duke’s J.J. Redick has to be on the U.S. Olympic team.....like him or not, this kid could flat out shoot the three ball, which is needed in the Olympics....

- Whatever happened to Cherokee Parks?.....

- It is very possible that both Kentucky and Louisville may not make the Big Dance this year.....both teams are struggling.....

- Right now my Final Four teams are: West Virginia, Duke, Texas, and U.Conn.....Ohio State could be a sleeper....

- Why did Mike Piazza sign with San Diego?....it looks like he is going to try and prove that he can still catch....

- Finally, will the Cleveland Browns fans stop whining about the officiating in the Super Bowl....all week I have heard Browns fans saying the officials gave the Steelers the Super Bowl.....hmmmm, funny the Browns fans are saying that being that their beloved Ohio State Buckeyes won the national title in 2002 over Miami (Fla.) because of an official throwing a flag for pass interference on a fourth down play.....

A time and place for everything

Monday’s funeral for Coretta Scott King was supposed to be a celebration of her life....instead former president Jimmy Carter and the Rev. Joseph Lowery turned this celebration into a bully pulpit to push their political views mainly aimed at the current Bush administration.....

First off, I defend Carter and Lowery’s right to state their views....however, this was not the time nor place to do that.....

President Bush did not do enough in the hours after Hurricane Katrina struck.....the people who were left behind in need were African-Americans.....and that was wrong.....

But these barbs that were clearly directed at the president who was sitting just yards away were inappropriate by Carter and Lowery.....in fact, Carter even brought up the war in Iraq....why did he bring up the war during the services for Coretta Scott King???.....I think that was tasteless and disrespectful toward Mrs. King.....

On Wednesday’s NBC’s Nightly News, former Atlanta mayor, Andrew Young, who is African-American, even stated it was inappropriate for Carter and Lowery to go off on their political rants during the occassion.....

Yes, the Bush presidency has not been effective and the country is not well off....but I thought it was funny that Carter would be the one taking shots at Bush being that the Carter presidency has to rank as one of the worst over the last 100 years.....so if anyone should know about an ineffective presidency, it would be Jimmy Carter.....

In a side note, why did Sen. Hillary Clinton stand with her husband when he spoke???.....obviously she wanted to get her mug on television and the best way to do that was to make sure she was next to her husband....Sen. Thunder Thighs did speak at the service but why didn't she speak by herself to show her independence that she was her own person...I didn't see Laura Bush standing with W.....even old man Bush and Peanut Man spoke by themselves without their loving wife next to them....I guess her mug wouldn't have gotten on television if she didn't stand next to Bill.....and we all know that Hill loves those cameras....

The baby needs his diaper changed!!!

Waaaaaa......waaaaaa.....hurry, the baby needs his diaper changed......

It’s time for Seattle coach Mike Holmgren to stop blaming the officials for the Seahawks loss in the Super Bowl on Sunday, and begin looking in the mirror and at his team....

At a rally in Seattle, Holmgren continued to whine and cry about the officiating by stating that he didn’t know the Seahawks had to play the Steelers and the men in stripes (referring to a referee).....one fan held up a sign that said Referees 21 Seahawks 10....

Was the Super Bowl officiating the best? – no.....but the entire officiating in the playoffs were not on par.....look at the debacle in Indianapolis involving Troy Polamalu’s interception....

The reason Seattle lost this game is because the Steelers made the big plays when they had to and the Seahawks did not....case closed!!!.....

Holmgren should be the one to take the blame for the Seahawks loss.....his mismanagement of the clock right before halftime was baffling.....then Holmgren did it once again in the last minute of the game....that mismanagement was not the fault of the referees, it was the fault of the coach....

Let’s be honest, the Steelers were not on their A game on Sunday....at times, they may have been on their C minus game.....but despite not clicking on all cylinders, the Steelers still led at the half 7-3.....and won the game 21-10.....

Also, Holmgren must have forgot that his tight end Jeramy Stevens dropped three passes including one on the two yard line.....that was not the fault of the referees.....and his kicker Josh Brown missed two field goals also.....and that too was not the fault of the referees....

So I think it is time for Mike Holmgren to shut his pie hole and realize that his players did not perform up to par and he as a coach did not perform up to par......

Finally, will someone please go change Holmgren’s diaper, I think he wet it again.....

Waaaaaa......Waaaaaaaaaaaa......

Champions Once Again

A "Super" wish for 3 friends

You know you are getting old when some of your friends don’t even remember the last time the Steelers won the Super Bowl.....three of my friends (the 3 Js), are huge Steeler fans....the last time the city of Pittsburgh celebrated a Super Bowl title, these guys were still wearing diapers....(not to say that one of them still doesn’t wear a diaper every now and then – but that is another story)....

Like I have written before, Bill Cowher deserves to win this game.....and it would be nice to see a class-act like Jerome Bettis leave with a Super Bowl ring.....but on a personal note, these three buddies of mine also deserve to see their Steelers win the Super Bowl....

Over the last two weeks I have seen many Browns fans oozing with jealousy and trying to take any cheap shot they can at the Steelers.....The Vindicator’s Joe Scalzo acted like a first-grader when he predicted the Seahawks to win by the score of 637 gazillion to 0.....(grow up already!!!).....and of course The Plain Dealer took their cheap shots at the city of Pittsburgh which I thought was strange being that Cleveland has been rated one of the worst cities in the nation and a city who’s river caught on fire many years ago....Yeh, the Browns fans have been very sore losers.....even if Pittsbugh loses today, the Browns fans should still keep their traps shut....remember, the Steelers waxed the Browns twice this year including a 41-0 drubbing at Steelers Field....errrr, I mean Cleveland Browns Stadium....

So yes it would be nice to see the Steelers win because these three friends are class individuals.....they love their Steelers but they are not obnoxious or arrogant....they love their Iron City Beer and Black and Gold....they may often sleep with their Terrible Towel....they have come so close to glory only to be disappointed by losing to the Chargers and Patriots....and having Bill Romanowski talk trash at Three Rivers.....who can forget the 15-1 record only to fall short....and the name Larry Brown still haunts them....they made it through Neil and Kordell....and how can we forget Tommy Gun....there was Barry and Bam....and thank God there is now Bettis....and where is Yancey??.....and to them Myron Cope is a God.....

Hopefully around 10:30 p.m. today, they can crack open an Iron City and have a toast to their team -- Double Yoi!!! -- the World Champions!!!!

Super Bowl Memory - Dallas' misfortune

The Steelers third Super Bowl victory may have been their most fortunate....Super Bowl XIII, pitted the first ever re-match of a prior Super Bowl game....

In Super Bowl X, the Steelers beat the Dallas Cowboys 21-17 in Miami....three years later the two foes would meet again in the same place - the Miami Orange Bowl....

Prior to the game, Dallas linebacker Hollywood Henderson berated Steeler quarterback Terry Bradshaw by saying that Bradshaw was so dumb that he could not spell "cat" if you spotted him the "c" and "a".....Henderson’s rants only added fuel to the game’s fire....

After a dead even first quarter (7-7), Dallas jumped to a 14-7 lead early in quarter two when Henderson sacked Bradshaw and Larry Hegman stripped the ball from Bradshaw and ran 37-yards for a touchdown.....that lead last only 1:43 as Bradshaw struck back with a 75-yard pass to John Stallworth to tie the game.....

The Cowboys were marching deep into Steeler territory late in the half when Mel Blount killed the Dallas rally with an interception of Roger Staubach....with less than two minutes left, Bradshaw led the Steelers to a 21-14 halftime lead in just six plays....

Most of the third quarter was a series of punts....however, late in the quarter Dallas began marching toward a game tying touchdown.....with the ball third and three at the Steeler nine-yard line, Staubach hit a wide open Jackie Smith in the middle of the endzone, only to see Smith drop a guaranteed touchdown....Smith managed to get behind the Pittsburgh defense, but this future Hall of Famer who was acquired late in the year from the St. Louis Cardinals quickly became a goat....but the Cowboys misfortune was just beginning....

With the scoreboard showing a narrow Steeler lead at 21-17, Pittsburgh knew they had to score more points....with a drive going, Bradshaw threw a pass deep toward Lynn Swann, however, his legs got tied up with Dallas cornerback Benny Barnes.....at the very least it was incidental contact....but more than likely the official would say the ball was not catchable.....inexplicably, a flag was thrown – and it was called pass interference on Barnes....that would be the second bad break for the Cowboys, but not the last on this drive....

Four plays later, the Steelers had a third and nine at the Dallas 22 when Franco Harris galloped right through the middle of the Dallas defense for a touchdown.....but replays showed that Harris would have been stopped short of the first down as Cowboy safety Charlie Waters had a clear beat on Harris....however, the umpire got in Waters way which allowed Harris a clean alley toward the endzone....this was the third bad break....

The fourth bad break came on the ensuing kick-off when Roy Gerala slipped on his kick-off attempt and booted it right to Dallas’ Randy White....however, White was playing with a cast on his one hand and was unable to handle the kick....with the ball loose on the ground, the Steelers recovered....

And once again, Bradshaw wasted no time as he hit Swann in the back of the endzone on a sliding 18-yard touchdown to make it 35-17....

Any lesser team would have caved in, but behind the arm and spirit of Staubach, the Cowboys scored twice to make it 35-31 with 22 seconds left.....however the Steelers recovered the onside kick to seal the victory....

Within a nine minute span, the Cowboys watched a Super Bowl win slip through their hands because of four unfortunate plays....

Super Bowl Memory - The Chief finally wins

The Steelers first Super Bowl appearance came in Super Bowl IX at a windy and wet Tulane Stadium in New Orleans against the Minnesota Vikings....

And on this day, the Steel Curtain was tightly closed.....the Pittsburgh defense held the Vikings to 17 yards rushing on 21 attempts for a feeble 0.8 yard average....Vikings quarterback Fran Tarkenton didn’t fare much better through the air as he passed for 102 yards....

On offense, the Steelers attack was simple – run, run, run.....they ran the ball 57 times for 249 yards.....Super Bowl MVP Franco Harris contributed to that total by rushing 34 times for a then Super Bowl record 158 yards.....Terry Bradshaw only had to complete nine passes for 96 yards with one of those passes going for a touchdown....

Despite the Steelers dominance, Minnesota was only down 9-6 with 10 minutes left in the game.....but the only score the Vikings could muster came on special teams when Terry Brown blocked a Bobby Walden punt.....

Throughout the game, whenever the Vikings were in scoring position, they would turn the ball over which would snuff out any momentum....there was no way Minnesota could beat this Steelers defense by committing five turnovers.....

Right before half, Minnesota penetrated to the Steeler 25-yard line only to have a deflected pass get intercepted by Mel Blount....the Vikings collapsed again at the very start of the half when they fumbled the second half kick-off....four plays later Harris scored for the Steelers.....

The best part of the game took place in the locker room when commissioner Pete Rozelle presented The Chief, Art Rooney, Sr., with the Vince Lombardi Trophy....after owning the Steelers for almost 45 years, Rooney was finally a champion.....

Super Bowl Memory - Detroit's first big game

Next Sunday’s Super Bowl game will not be the first in Detroit....in 1982, Super Bowl XVI was played at the Pontiac Silverdome....it was the first time the Super Bowl was played in the northern half of the country....

It was also the first of four Super Bowl titles for San Francisco’s Joe Montana....two weeks earlier Montana’s waved his magic wand for the first time with his unforgettable touchdown pass to Dwight Clark with less than a minute left giving San Francisco the victory over Dallas....

On Super Bowl Sunday, the 49ers took advantage of the Cincinnati Bengals slow start and a great defensive stand en route to a 26-21 win....

Throughout the first half, the Bengals had chances to score, only to watch these opportunities fade away....after the 49ers fumbled the opening kick, Cincinnati moved to the San Fran five-yard line only to have Ken Anderson throw an interception.....at the beginning of the second quarter, the Bengals were driving again, but this time Cris Collinsworth fumbled at the 49er 27-yard line.....at halftime Cincinnati found themselves down 20-0....

In the third quarter the Bengals had another opportunity to cut into the 49ers lead....trailing 20-7, the Bengals had the ball first and goal on the 49ers three-yard line....with their backs to the wall and momentum hanging in the balance, the 49ers defense made the greatest goal line stand in Super Bowl history....

After Pete Johnson picked up two yards on the first play, the Niners held him to no gain on second down.....with third down and goal from the one-yard line, the Bengals opted for a pass play.....but running back Charles Alexander cut off his route short of the end zone and 49ers linebacker Dan Bunz made a spectacular solo tackle holding the Bengals from paydirt....with fourth down looming, the Bengals sent big ole Pete Johnson into the middle of the line once again, only to get stuffed as the 49ers front line penetrated into the backfield and linebacker Jack Reynolds ended the play.....

The Bengals would close to within 26-21 but it was a day of lost opportunities for Cincinnati....

Despite an average game, by his standards, Montana won his first of three Super Bowl MVPs.....and head coach Bill Walsh was annoited a "genius" with his new style of offense....

Super Bowl Memory - Super Bowl V

Before Adam Vinatieri there was Jim O’Brien.....O’Brien may be the most forgotten player in Super Bowl history....but it was his 32-yard field goal with five seconds left that gave the Baltimore Colts a 16-13 victory over the Dallas Cowboys in Super Bowl V....

O’Brien’s clutch kick is overshadowed because Super Bowl V may have been one of the worst played Super Bowls of all time.....Super Bowl V was the first Super Bowl game since the AFL and NFL merged, but it is the Super Bowl that people forgot about despite some other distinctions....

It was the first Super Bowl decided in the last few plays.....and it also produced the first defensive player to be named Super Bowl MVP and the only MVP from the losing team....Chuck Howley had two interceptions in the game, with one of the interceptions coming in the end zone denying Baltimore points.....

The Colts were quarterbacked by Johnny Unitas and Earl Morral who combined for three interceptions.....the Cowboys were led by Craig Morton who threw three picks all by himself and totaled only 127 yards through the air....on the bench sat a young leader named Roger Staubach who, in later years, would atone for the Cowboys ineptness on this day....

The Cowboys defense stifled the Colts on the ground....Baltimore managed only 69 rushing yards and fumbled the ball five times – losing four of them....

Despite committing seven turnovers, the Colts, who were coached by Don McCafferty, were never out of the game....50 seconds into the second quarter, the Colts tight end John Mackey caught a deflected pass from Unitas and went 75 yards for a touchdown....but even the extra point was blocked on this day....

However, at the start of the final quarter Dallas only held a 13-6 lead.....and in the end Jim O’Brien helped the great Johnny Unitas get his only Super Bowl ring.....

O’Brien, who also subbed as a wide receiver, played only four years in the NFL....in his rookie season of 1970, he made only 19 of 34 field goals.....in 1972, his last with the Colts, he converted on 13 of 31 field goals...and .in 1973, he ended his career with the Detroit Lions....but in those four putrid seasons, O’Brien had one shining moment – even if it is often forgotten.....

Tennis player makes Cypriots proud

My yia yia and papou would be proud....

For those of you who are not Greek, yia yia means grandma and papou means grandpa.....and they both would be proud of what could happen in Saturday’s Australian Open tennis championship.....

They didn’t know a tennis ball from a basketball, but they would have been paying attention to the kid named Marcos Baghdatis....

What makes Baghdatis special to my family is that he is not just Greek....but he is actually a Cypriot – from Cyprus – the birthplace of my father’s family....

Greek athletes usually don’t do well in the worldwide sports scene....and Cypriots hardly ever do well.....the most well known Cypriot athlete is most famous for his blundering attempt at passing the ball in the Super Bowl than for his kicking ability – Garo Yepremian of the Miami Dolphins....

So on Saturday I will sit back and watch the kid from my yia yia’s island take on Roger Federer.....this is like the Columbus Clippers taking on the New York Yankees in baseball.....or Youngstown State playing Ohio State in college football....

More than likely Baghdatis will not prevail against maybe the greatest tennis player of all-time....he is 0-3 lifetime against Federer.....yeh, I know he beat Andy Roddick earlier in the week, but Roddick has been punked by just about anyone of late....

Win or lose, Baghdatis at least he made his native Cypriots proud....Yasou!!!!

The match is Sunday morning at 3:30 a.m. on ESPN2
The following article appeared on ESPN.com
MELBOURNE, Australia -- The village in Cyprus from which 20-year-old Marcos Baghdatis hails is called Paramytha. Loosely translated, it means "fairy tale." It's near the resort city of Limassol, on the southern coast of the island nation, at the edge of the crystal-blue waters of Akrotiri Bay.

When Baghdatis left home at 13 to go train at the Mouratoglou/Brett Tennis Academy near Paris, there was no way of knowing how his story would turn out.

Multitudes of other ambitious young players make similar journeys, and for every one that manages to make a living playing professionally, thousands end up taking court reservations and teaching the finer aspects of the backhand volley to grateful hackers at the Club Meds and tennis resorts of the world.

While Baghdatis enjoyed a large measure of success as a junior player, winning the junior Australian Open title in 2003 and ending the year as the top-ranked junior in the world, his professional career has been slow to take flight.

Until late in 2005 at any rate, when he began working again with coach Guillaume Payre (who incidentally is the stepfather of Baghdatis' girlfriend, Camille Nevieve) and then reached his first tour final in October in Basel, Switzerland, where he lost in four sets to Fernando Gonzalez of Chile.

Now, on the eve of the biggest match of his career, an Australian Open final Sunday evening against top seed Roger Federer, Baghdatis' rise to prominence is being celebrated not as a solo act but as a shared community triumph.

Melbourne has the third-largest Greek community in the world, after Athens and Thessaloniki, and Baghdatis has been cheered on by an armada of chanting, flag-waving supporters, including nine of his uncles and 21 cousins. This has put a strain on his ability to come through with enough tickets for his gang, as players are typically allocated six tickets for each match they play.
"They helped me a lot throughout these two weeks, especially the Greek Army, like you call them," Baghdatis said. "They're fantastic, just amazing. They are [making] the atmosphere, like, amazing."

The Cypriot government has also gotten into the act, deciding after its new-found favorite-son's semifinal victory Thursday night to fly Baghdatis' parents to Melbourne in time to watch their son play in the final and to pick up all their expenses in Australia.

Cypriot President Tassos Papadopoulos saluted Baghdatis after his 3-6, 5-7, 6-3, 6-4, 6-4 victory over fourth-seeded David Nalbandian.

"I warmly congratulate our compatriot for his impressive advance to the Australian Open final," he said in a statement. "His fighting spirit, patience, strength of character with which he competed today provides a shining example for all those young men and women of our country."

Ironically, not a single Greek or Cypriot journalist is among the more than 1,300 accredited media here in Melbourne, though word is a couple of them are scrambling to make it down for Sunday.

Up until now, tennis just hasn't been a big deal in Cyprus, where it is largely viewed as an elitist sport in a nation not renowned for its physical fitness.

Charlie Charalambous, a columnist for The Cyprus Weekly, wrote: "How a Cypriot got to be ranked among the world's best [tennis players] defies logic on an island where we eat ourselves fitter."

It all makes for heady stuff for an emotional player barely out of his teens, ranked No. 54 coming into the tournament. His fourth-round showing here last year had stood as his best performance at a major.

He had earned just shy of $400,000 as a professional before this tournament began, and is assured of at least $600,000 simply for advancing to Sunday night's final. He'll double that paycheck with a win, potentially tripling his career earnings.
Not a bad day's work.

He's got some history with the previously invincible-looking Federer, extending the Swiss to four sets in the second round of the 2004 U.S. Open and losing to him again in straight sets in the quarterfinals in Doha, Qatar, earlier this month.
But Federer has shown flashes of appearing mortal in Melbourne, ever since he let Germany's Tommy Haas climb back from a two-set deficit to make things interesting for the top seed in the fourth round.

Then Nikolay Davydenko held six set points to take a two-sets-to-one lead on Federer in the quarterfinals, but the six-time major winner beat back the challenge and advanced in four tough sets.

And while Federer has a charming cow named Juliette back home in Switzerland, Baghdatis has an entire country and a proud culture firmly behind him.

It's been Greek Pride week the past few days at Melbourne Park, with the atmosphere in Rod Laver Arena when Baghdatis plays befitting a World Cup soccer contest more than a genteel tennis match.

After his five-set win over seventh-seeded Ivan Ljubicic in the quarterfinals, Baghdatis said, "Everybody [is] in the streets right now [in Cyprus]. Everybody, they're having fun, today stopped working to see my match, or took a television at work. I mean it's just an amazing day for Cyprus, for me, for my family."

There are times when the most dangerous opponent is one who has nothing to lose, who can swing from the heels and aim for the stars. One who's too young to be jaded by the oncoming freight train of fame and notoriety that is many a prominent athlete's eventual destiny.

For a slew of seeded men in Melbourne, that opponent has been Baghdatis. He's mowed down, in short order, No. 17 Radek Stepanek, No. 2 Andy Roddick, No. 7 Ljubicic and No. 4 Nalbandian on his way to the final.

If Baghdatis is to become the most improbable men's Grand Slam winner since unseeded Gustavo Kuerten won the French Open in 1997 (while ranked No. 66), he'll need to continue to ride the wave of emotion, skill and serendipity that has seen him through to the final two. Because this affable Cypriot is not long for scouting his opponents.

Asked whether he had seen any of Federer's matches in Melbourne, Baghdatis answered: "No, no. Don't like watching tennis."

Super Bowl Memory - XI

Super Bowl XI would be ranked low when listing the all-time great Super Bowls....and honestly, rightfully so.....the Oakland Raiders dismantled the Minnesota Vikings 32-14.....interestingly, people don’t realize that this was the last Super Bowl played entirely in daylight....the game was played before 103,438 at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena.....nowadays the Super Bowl has become a prime time event with hours upon hours of pregame hype leading up to the 6:21 p.m. kick-off....back in 1977, it was simply a game.....

This Raider team was one of the greatest teams of all-time as they finished the 1976 season with a 13-1 mark....their only blemish came in week four when the New England Patriots waxed them 48-17 in Foxboro....the Patriots almost got the Raiders twice that year, but Oakland prevailed 24-21 in the playoff game....

After three straight years of losing in the AFC title game, head coach John Madden finally got to the Super Bowl by beating his nemesis, the Pittsburgh Steelers 24-7.....the Steelers were a beat-up team for that game....but the fact is, Oakland was heading to the Super Bowl to play an 11-2-1 Minnesota team....

After a scoreless first quarter, Oakland racked up 16 points in the second quarter and the onslaught began.....the Vikings were held to a paltry 71 yards rushing on the day while the Raiders pounded out 266 yards on the ground.....however, the MVP was Oakland wide receiver Fred Biletnikoff.....

All day long the Raiders defense harassed Vikings quarterback Fran Tarkenton and terrorized his receivers which was best exemplified when the Raiders Jack Tatum put a devastating hit on wide out Sammy White which left White helmet-less and motion-less on the ground for many minutes....

This game also produced some memorable photos, most notably of a dirty riddle, stickum layered Biletnikoff....

Yeh this game was not a classic....but most people forget that the 1976 Raiders were.....

Thank you Mario!!!

It looks like the time has finally come to say good-bye to seeing Mario Lemieux on the ice....one of the greatest, if not the greatest, hockey player of all-time retired today from the Pittsburgh Penguins after a 22-year career....I was in the 11th grade when Super Mario came on the scene.....I am now 37-years old....

In his youth, Lemieux was just as dominant as Wayne Gretzky.....he helped bring back-to-back Stanley Cup titles to the Steel City....and he personally took it upon himself to keep the Penguins afloat when it looked for certain that the team would go bankrupt and end up elsewhere....

As great a player as he was, we will never really know how much more he could have done because of injuries and Hodgkin’s Disease....Lemieux was plagued with an assortment of ailments including a bad back.....but the diagnosis of Hodgkin’s Disease stripped away his best years....and in the end, a heart ailment led to him leaving the game for good....

Unfortunately for Lemieux, he also had to play at the same time as Gretzky’s career was winding down.....and being that Gretzky was the elderstateman, Lemieux had to share the spotlight....

No one knows if the Penguins will be in Pittsburgh in the near future despite having a young and up and coming star in Sidney Crosby......but no matter where the franchise goes or how well Crosby does, Lemieux has left his mark with the city of Pittsburgh and its fans -- and a statue of him should stand in the center of the city....

Over the next couple of weeks leading up to the Super Bowl, I will be reliving some of my favorite Super Bowl games......

Quick Hits

- The oddest, but neatest, shaped stadium in the league has to be in Seattle....

- Since 1969, the Pittsburgh Steelers have had just 2 head coaches while the Cleveland Browns have had 13.....

- With a win today against Carolina, Seattle head coach Mike Holmgren would become the fifth coach to lead different teams to the Super Bowl....the other four were: Bill Parcells, Dan Reeves, Don Shula, and Dick Vermeil....Holmgren took the Packers to the Super Bowl in 1996 and 1997....

- This week the New York Jets hired Eric Mangini as their head coach....Mangini was 34 years, 11 months, and 29 days old.....he is the 15th youngest head coach ever in the NFL.....the youngest head coach ever was Harland Svare who was 31 years, 11 months old when the Los Angeles Rams hired him in 1962.....

- With a win over Denver, quarterback Ben Roethlisberger will be the second youngest starting quarterback to play in the Super Bowl.....Big Ben will be 23 years, 340 days old on the day of the Super Bowl....Dan Marino was the youngest at 23 years, 127 days when he led the Dolphins to the big game in 1984.....

- Denver owns a 3-2 edge over the Steelers when they meet in the playoffs....

- On a quick political note, has-been performer Harry Belafonte lashed out at the Office of Homeland Security during a speech last night....the 78-year-old Belafonte said "We've come to this dark time in which the new Gestapo of Homeland Security lurks here, where citizens are having their rights suspended.".....first off, just by him making that statement shows his ignorance.....if Homeland Security was like the Gestapo, Belafonte’s old ass would have been dragged to some secret prison camp.....I really believe some of these left-wing entertainers make these ridiculous statements just to make the news.....

Conference Title Games

At the beginning of the year who would have thought Denver, Pittsburgh, Seattle, and Carolina would make it to the final four....well, maybe Carolina.....

But think about it, there were grumblings that Denver’s Mike Shanahan and Seattle’s Mike Holmgren may be on the way out as head coaches.....and some thought the Steelers were getting a bit long in the tooth.....but here we are....

Carolina @ Seattle (-3.5) - the Panthers are the NFL’s true road warriors.....two years ago they went into St. Louis and Philly on their way to the Super Bowl.....if they want to make a reservation to another Super Bowl, the Panthers will have gone through New York, Chicago, and Seattle – all on the road....quarterback Jake Delhomme loves playing on the road....and he has that "it" that Peyton Manning lacks, so far, when big games roll around.....

The Panthers got beaten up in the Chicago game....running back DeShawn Foster is out with a broken ankle and stud defensive end Julius Peppers may be limited.....but this team is kind of like the New England Patriots, when someone goes down, they stick in the next guy....

Seattle was not impressive in its win over Washington last week....sure league MVP Shaun Alexander suffered a concussion early in the game, but even before that injury, the Seahawks did not look like the team they were a month ago....and even before his injury, Alexander did not look like a league MVP.....the only reason Seattle advanced is because of Matt Hasselbeck.....

Okay, the Seahawks are undefeated at home this year....but that stat is a bit deceiving....this team should have lost twice at home.....Dallas’ Drew Bledsoe handed them a game by throwing an interception with 10 seconds left that set up the winning kick for Seattle.....the Seahawks then survived Russian roulette against the Giants as Jay Feely missed three make able field goals....this is a tough call, but I am going with Carolina because I think they are a mentally tougher team – Carolina 23-17.....

Pittsburgh @ Denver (-3.5) - the Steelers can be the first ever sixth seeded team (the lowest seed in the playoffs) to make it to the Super Bowl.....both teams are very similar in their style of play – good offensive line, strong defense, non-flashy running backs and wide receivers.....

Yes, I know the Broncos are undefeated at home in AFC title games, but there is always a first time for anything....but here is a stat to counter Denver’s home record -- the road team has won the AFC title four out of the last six years....

Pittsburgh has been at this same spot too many times before only to stall out....and for some reason I think this team is not going to lose....and they don’t want to lose for number 36 – Jerome Bettis – Pittsburgh 24-14