Quick Hits

Here are a few odd news items that caught my eye when snooping through the internet and newspapers.....

The Pro Football Hall of Fame announced the list of people who will present this year's class of new inductees.....Dallas Cowboy owner Jerry Jones will present Michael Irvin; former Buffalo Bills head coach Marv Levy will present Thurman Thomas; Hall of Famer and former teammate Mike Munchak will present Bruce Matthews; Detroit Lions owner William Clay Ford will present Charlie Sanders; former Cleveland Browns teammate Bobby Franklin will present Gene Hickerson; and Hall of Famer Larry Wilson will present Roger Wehrli.....

One female sports journalist who does not get a lot of notice is NFL Network's Mary Strong (photo)....Strong provides updates during the NFL Now segment....she is a graduate of Loyola Marymount and played volleyball while in college....she later spent time on the beach volleyball circuit....

Former New York Knick and Georgetown Hoya star Patrick Ewing will be back on the bench this NBA season...Ewing agreed to be an assistant coach on Stan Van Gundy's staff in Orland.....looks like Dwight Howard will be getting great advice from the former center....

This was an interesting baseball nugget in Wednesday's Akron Beacon Journal....in 1966, pitcher Tony Cloninger of the Atlanta Braves became the first National League player to hit two grand slams in a game....he also added a single for a total of nine RBIs in their 17-3 win over San Francisco....

The famous Copacabana in New York City closed this past Sunday....

David Haugh of the Chicago Tribune writes that the Bears front office has ordered two types of NFC Championship rings....

David Haugh

Sean McClelland of The Dayton Daily News reports there are rumors that former Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Bill Cowher will be coaching the Cleveland Browns next season....

Sean McClelland

College Football at its Best - Oklahoma Sooner Football

The Oklahoma Sooners are the third football power that I am featuring in the series "College Football at its Best".....Matt Hofeld of the blog Crimson and Cream took some time to respond to my questions about Sooner football....he is 33-years-old amd attended his first OU football game in 1983 as a kid and has been hooked since....he launched his first sports blog, My Opinion on Sports, in April of 2005 and became a part of SBN in August of 2006 with the launch of the Crimson and Cream Machine.....I want to thank Matt for his time - it is much appreciated....

Crimson and Cream

Q1. First question - Barry Switzer or Bob Stoops?
A. Wow! What a question to start out with. Let me first say how fortunate the University of Oklahoma is to have the heritage of football coaches they do. Not just Barry and Bob but also put Bud Wilkinson as well. As for the question itself, as difficult as it is I would have to go with Switzer at this point with no shame or disgrace what so ever to Bob Stoops who has been nothing but fantastic since arriving in Norman. In his 16 years at Oklahoma Switzer won 3 national championships (1974,1975,1985) and 12 conference championships including consecutively from 1973 – 1980. Switzer also owned Nebraska and Texas. Some will argue that the trouble the team got into under Switzer’s watch would automatically place him under Stoops but I argue that it was a different era in college football and that kind of stuff was going on at campuses across the nation. Sure, we’re not proud of it and it probably was time for a change when Switzer stepped down after the 1988 season but that activity wasn’t exclusive to the Oklahoma campus. While Bob Stoops is certainly on his way by winning 4 conference championships and 1 national title in his first 8 seasons at OU he still has a way to go to catch the King.

Q2. What is the greatest Oklahoma football game that you have seen - whether it be in-person or on television? Explain the game and why it was so great.
A. I really had to think hard about this one because I’ve been to a lot of fun games but that doesn’t necessarily mean the best game. I was at all the slaughter games of the Stoops era, when OU beat Texas 63-14, 65-13, Texas A&M 77-0, and Oklahoma State 52-9. While those games were a lot of fun they really weren’t great games. A great game also doesn’t necessarily mean that the Sooners win. For example, the Fiesta Bowl in January was a great game. In spite of the fact that the Sooners were upset, it was still a fantastic game and by far the greatest of the 06 football season.

I guess I would have to say that for me the greatest game I have ever witnessed was the Orange Bowl following the miracle 2000 season. OU beat Florida State 13-2 to claim their 7th national championship. Despite being undefeated going into the game the Sooners were still underdogs and no one thought that they had a chance to win including the radio broadcast crew for the Sooners. Not only did they win, they dominated Florida State that night. The 1985 Orange Bowl is close as well because it is the first time I actually saw OU win a national championship but the Sooners were so much better than Penn State that year that there really wasn’t any drama and the game wasn’t close.

Q3. Who do you consider Oklahoma's biggest rival - Texas, Oklahoma State or Nebraska?
A. This one is easy. Hands down it’s Texas followed by Nebraska and then Oklahoma State is a distant third. The winner of the OU/Texas game generally goes on to play for the Big 12 Championship, unless Texas just gives it up like they did last season, and in the old days of the Big 8 it was usually OU or Nebraska who won the conference. While the Cowboys are our instate rival they really aren’t a threat for winning the conference and recruits don’t sway between OU and OSU like they do with OU and Texas.

Q4. Since 1970, who are the five greatest players to wear an Oklahoma uniform and why?
A. I don’t want to totally balk at this question but we are running a feature in our countdown to kick-off that will highlight, in our opinion, the ten players who have had the most impact on the Sooner football program since the 1975 national championship. I’ll throw you a bone though. Here are a few of the candidates; Tinker Owens, Lee Roy Selmon (photo left), Joe Washington, Billy Sims (photo, lower right), Tony Casillas, Brian Bosworth, Keith Jackson, Danté Jones, Cedric Jones, Josh Heupel, Rocky Calmus, Roy Williams, Tommie Harris, Mark Clayton, Jason White, Adrian Peterson.

Q5. Make your case why Oklahoma football, as a whole, is the best football program in the country?
A. There aren’t a lot of teams who can boast the winning tradition that Oklahoma has. The Sooners have won seven national championships and forty conference championships. Under Bob Stoops Oklahoma is winning a conference championship every other year and playing for a national championship about once every three years. What kind of kid wouldn’t want to play for a program like that?...

On Monday, the Georgia Bulldogs will be the next football program featured...

Happy Birthday America

GOD BLESS AMERICA

Also, Happy Birthday to The Boss - George Steinbrenner

Joey Chestnut vs. Kobayashi

The American Dream - Joey Chestnut vs. Six-Time Defending Champion - Kobayashi

Takeru Kobayashi set a world record last year at the Nathan's Famous hot dog eating contest, only to see Joey Chestnut shatter his mark by eating 59½ earlier this year. Chestnut will make America proud on the Fourth of July. As Mills Lane would say - Let's Get it Ohnnnn!!!!

Jerry Izenberg Unplugged - Thoughts about Vince Lombardi - Part II

This is the second part of my interview with the legendary sports journalist Jerry Izenberg of the Newark Star-Ledger about his dealings with former Green Bay Packers head coach Vince Lombardi....

He (Lombardi) was a genius in terms of not asking too much (from his players). He had the smallest playbook in football. Forrest Gregg (photo) once told me, "we (Packers) would laugh when he ran our plays. We all but said that we are coming over left tackle - stop us if you can." Forrest Gregg was a wonderful story which tells you more about Lombardi. Gregg had mixed emotions about Lombardi when he first came. The Green Bay locker room was worse than what Forrest had at SMU. He was thinking of retiring because the previous coach had played favorites, and nobody worked. There was a boycott campaign in Green Bay about going to see the Packer games. He (Gregg) was like, "I don’t need this stuff anymore." Then Vince came and he talked to Forrest on the phone and Forrest said, "let me give this guy a try." So he goes out there and the first day Lombardi rips into Paul Hornung and Forrest thinks to himself, "I like this guy, I think I’m going to stick around." Later in that camp Vince is diagraming what would become the Green Bay sweep. So Forrest puts his hand up and says, "Coach I don’t mean to contradict you but you are asking me to pull behind the guard, get all the way around and make an impossible block." Vince looked at him and said, "Well Forrest it might be impossible for you so I will find someone who can." Forrest Gregg ended up making that block for years.

Vince was a wonderful guy. He really was a funny guy. I remember one year I was stuck in Green Bay all by myself over Christmas. They had tied with the Baltimore Colts and they had an extra playoff game. So I go out to the compound to see him and he was sitting there with his first computer. And he's screaming at everybody because he didn’t know how to work it. He said, "I stayed up all last night asking questions to the computer." The kind of questions he was asking the computer were unanswerable because there was no software for it. He said, "I have come to the conclusion that the computer has told me anybody whose IQ is higher than 130 will not hit."

I once had an argument with him that we carried on long distance over a book I wrote. It was a book called "Rivals" dealing with rivalries that moved all of America. Now Vince was a Dodger fan being he was Brooklyn. So he called me up and said, "Gee that is a great book you wrote." And I was like, "Thanks but it wasn’t that good. It was a nice book." So Vince is like, "I’m telling you it was a great book!" So now I ask him what the hell have you read (in the book) and he said to me, "Never mind, I read it. It is great!" And that was Vince, he always had to be right.

I’ll tell you though, I liked him so much. You had to like him cause he kind of favored the New York area writers. When we would come out there (to Green Bay) he would ignore everybody else. He was really such a class guy. I’ll tell you something that a lot of people do not know, there was some maneuvering for Vince to come home and coach the Giants. And he really wanted to come. He wanted five percent of the team. And Helen Mara, who was Wellington Mara’s sister-in-law said, "we work so hard so I don’t see why we should give up anything." The Maras had 50 percent of the stock but nothing ever came of it. The Giants were horrible back then. They changed coaches like they changed socks.

Izenberg then talked about covering the famous Ice Bowl game between the Packers and Cowboys. (photo)
I will tell you two anecdotes that had nothing to do with football but will tell you how cold it was. There was no heat in the press box. It was an old wooden press box at Lambeau Field. It was freezing. In those days they had little heaters with motors that would throw heat. So they would start them up, but they had engines. Some genius decided to put one in the press box and after a while I started smelling something. Here is was emitting carbon monoxide. I told them, "shut that damn thing off."

It was the only time in my entire life at a football game that I drank. It was so cold. As the game ends, some kid jumps on the field and has a saw. The goalpost back then were wooden. This enterprising little bastard is going to chop it up and sell pieces of it. So he is out there sawing. I go back to writing my story, shivering, and when I finish I look and the kid is still sawing. He was not able to cut off one piece because it was so frozen.

Before the game Vince was bragging that some guy sold him a bill of goods to put electrical wiring underneath the turf this way it wouldn’t freeze. So you would put the tarp over it and you turn the electricity on and it keeps the field soft so when you take the tarp off the field will not be frozen. Well the only thing it didn’t calculate is how you get the tarp off because the tarp is frozen to the field. It took them like a half an hour to scrape up the tarp.

Vince was a guy who reacted very viscerally. You know when they played down in Dallas in the game where the Packers intercepted in the end zone when Dallas was driving for the winning touchdown. They had some kind of a thing for the halftime show that went on and on and on. And they had floats on the field and were trying to get them off the field. All of a sudden I see this guy come running across the field banging on the side of one of the floats yelling, "get that fucking thing out of here." It was Lombardi.

Lombardi was often worse when they won than when they lost because his head was still in the game. He was still playing the game and he would get very angry. He was easier to interview after a loss. In a game against the Rams, the Packers just won something like 6-3 and he knew they would have to play the Rams again in the playoffs. So he has them all in the locker room and he is tearing everybody a new asshole. He’s like, "you guys don’t deserve to be Packers." You have to remember, it was a very important thing for these players to be Packers for the pride as much as the playoff money was guaranteed. In those days they didn’t make any money. Now, Lombardi is going on and on and on and Willie Davis (photo) is sitting on a wooden folding chair in front of his cubicle. He was leaning back in his chair hoping Lombardi would not see him. So he is leaning back and leaning back. Then Vince yells, "does anybody here want to play Packer football?" And with that, the chair breaks and Willie goes onto the floor and jumps up and Lombardi looks at him and says, "now see, Willie Davis wants to play Packer football. Who else wants to play it?" I asked Willie if he ever told Lombardi the truth about what happened and he said, "are you nuts?"

Before concluding the interview, I asked Izenberg how Lombardi would have been as a coach in today's NFL....
I think he would have been great because he understood the players and the types of players there are. He understood the world he lived in. And I don’t think he would have had a Terrell Owens, but I think he would have understood today’s players.

Once again I would like to thank Mr. Izenberg for his time...it was very much appreciated!!...

Jerry Izenberg Unplugged - Thoughts about Vince Lombardi

On Monday, June 25th I had the honor to interview legendary sports journalist Jerry Izenberg of the Newark Star-Ledger....Izenberg has been reporting for 56 years and is one of only four reporters to cover every Super Bowl (the other three are Jerry Green of The Detroit News, Edwin Pope of the Miami Herald, and David Klein formerly of the Star-Ledger and now a writer for a pro football newsletter).....Izenberg still writes 20-25 columns a year and covers the Super Bowl and Triple Crown races....he has written numerous books including "No Medals for Trying" in which he spent a week with Bill Parcells and the New York Giants....another of his books is "The Greatest Game Ever Played" which detailed the epic game 6 NLCS battle between the Astros and Mets....

At the beginning of the interviewed I asked Izenberg to discuss the most interesting person he interviewed when dealing with the NFL....he said there are so many that it was impossible to just focus on one person....so I decided to ask him about Green Bay Packer head coach Vince Lombardi....for the next 30 minutes Izenberg told enthralling stories about the late great coach...I want to thank him for his time - it is much appreciated...below are his words and thoughts about Lombardi....I give you Jerry Izenberg - Unplugged....

One of the great Lombardi quotes will tell you what has happened in pro football when he said, "is this a game for madmen and have I become one of them". I got to know him when he was a coach with the Giants which is where our friendship began even though I had known of him from St. Cecilia’s in Inglewood and when he coached up at West Point under Red Blaik. In those days we did not have coordinators, we had backfield coaches who really ran the offense and a defensive coach who ran the defense. On a remarkable staff, Vince and Tom Landry held those positions for the Giants.

You have to remember how he was shaped. Vince was shaped by the fact that he was always trying to catch up and then suddenly he was way ahead of everybody else and that posed another set of problems because he wanted to stay there. When I said he was trying to catch up, you got to remember, this guy coached high school football as a mature man. He went back to Fordham as a freshman coach. (His classmate when he was student at Fordham was Wellington Mara.) He had done nothing at Fordham to make you think that he was going to go anywhere else. He was getting very impatient. He noticed that all the assistant coaches on Red Blaik’s staff turned over every two years because they got full-time jobs as head coaches. So he interviewed at West Point and Blaik took him. The first year he jumped on some cadet. I believe he was coaching the freshmen and Blaik called him aside and told him "We don’t do that here. And if you want to get anywhere in this business you better remember that and hang on to your temper." It is hard to believe that he did. Can you imagine what his temper used to be like? So he did temper it a little bit.

The huge disappointment. Maybe the biggest disappointment of all came when other assistant coaches got different (head coaching) jobs. And Lombardi was a candidate for a job at Wake Forest. Now this is the south and we are going back to the late 40s early 50s. And you know that a lot of things are very slow to change. He interviewed and he was quite excited about it because other coaches from that staff (at Army) got jobs and he fully expected that he would get the Wake Forest job. A guy down there in North Carolina called him up and said. "Vince I have to tell you I don’t want you play out a charade. They had several number of people interview and you were one of them but they are not going to give this job to anybody whose name ends in a vowel." Now whether the guy was right or wrong, Vince had believed him, and he did not get the job. It was a tremendous blow to him. And years later it was the reason that he and (Green Bay Packer) Willie Davis were close. This is how that friendship started. Willie came to Vince and asked for the day off from practice which is like asking for instant canonization. You don’t get that from Lombardi. So Lombardi asked him why he wanted the day off. Davis said he had to go to Milwaukee to get a haircut. Vince said, "Mister you get a haircut here like everybody else." Davis told Vince that, "Emlen Tunnell and I do not get haircuts here. They guy won’t cut our hair." So Vince told Davis to come with him after practice. So he goes to the barber, and he has Willie with him, and they step into the barber shop. The barber is like, "hey coach, we gonna have a good team this year, blah, blah, blah. So what do you think, a light trim?" And Lombardi said, "Nah, I don’t think I need anything. Just cut this guy’s hair (referring to Davis)." And of course the guy did. And after that, the black players could get their hair cut in Green Bay. He later told Willie that all came about because his name did end in a vowel and what happened to him with the Wake Forest job. He said, "we had to be just a little bit better everybody else. Me in my time, and you in your time. You just got to deal with it and don’t let anybody take it away from you." That was just one little side of Lombardi. I’ll tell you about another side to Lombardi that people don’t know.

Nelson Toburen played for Green Bay in the early Lombardi years and broke his neck in practice. Lombardi went to see him in the hospital and he said, "what you going to do, you can't give up?" And Toburen had a good attitude and said I think I want to be a lawyer. The story I got was that Vince had called someone at Marquette and got Nelson in on a free ride and never discussed it with anybody.

Vince had that competitive fire in him. He's in the living room on the floor playing marbles with his grandson and Marie (his wife) is looking at him and the kid starts to cry. She asks what's the matter and he said "grandpa is winning all my marbles." So she mumbles very softly, "for Christ-sake let the kid win" and Vince said, "the world is not like that Marie."

I want to give you a background of who he was. His father was an immigrant and Vince became the head of the family because his father was older and not too well. Well Vince's brother Joe Lombardi played guard for Vince at St. Cecilia's and the big game every year was Englewood High against St. Cecilia's - Thanksgiving Day - traditional. Vince had a curfew so he would go around to all the player's houses and they better be in bed at 10:00. So he gets to his mother's house and his brother is mopping the kitchen floor. Vince says, "what are you doing up?" Joe said, "well Mom said that tomorrow is your end of the season party and Mom told me to clean the kitchen floor." Vince said, "well I told you to be in bed." Joe later told me, "here I am mopping his mother's floor for his (Vince's) party and he tells me I am not playing tomorrow." I don't know if he finally let him in the game but he was harder on Joe than anybody else.

So Vince had suffered, but he comes down to the Giants as the backfield coach which means he is the offensive coach. He tells the players he is going to put in a play that was very successful for him in college called the halfback option. All the Giants laughed. They said, "we don't need a college play." They weren't afraid of him yet. Anyway the halfback option turned out to be the play that became famous in New York because Frank Gifford threw the passes.

He was a terrific organizer. He was hard as hell, but they (players) loved him. So Wellington Mara gets a call from Philadelphia saying they want to speak to Vince about the head coaching job. Wellington tells Philadelphia that Vince is not interested. Wellington then goes to Vince and tells him that he just turned down your permission to talk to Philadelphia. Vince was like, "why did you do that?" Wellington told him, "this is not the job for you. I'll tell you win to go. Believe me and I will help you." Three or four years later the Green Bay job opened up and Vince was cool to the idea. He was a Brooklyn guy and to go live in Green Bay, Wisconsin - he could not imagine that. But Wellington told him, "you better take the job. Believe me. The reason you got to take this job is that I know the guy who is the head of all the stockholders. And I told him about your temperament and he is going to let you call every shot." And that is how the Packers were born. In his second year, he got them to play Philly for the championship and they lost. I remember him telling me afterward, "this will never happen to me again."

Tomorrow, part two of Izenberg's thoughts about Lombardi

The Sunday Baker's Dozen

The Sunday Fact - This will be the third time the Major League Baseball All-Star Game will be played in San Francisco. The game was played there in 1961 and 1984. The National League won both of those games.

The Washington Post has a story of how Tiger Woods created the latest PGA Tour event and the person who helped get it going...."As the top-ranked golfer in the world explained how this tournament was the fulfillment of a dream shared with his late father, the man in charge of executing Woods's vision listened from a folding chair in the front row."

Washington Post

New York Daily News reporter Mark Feinsand got a rare interview with Yankees owner George Steinbrenner this week....George Steinbrenner will celebrate his 77th birthday on Wednesday, his 35th as the owner of the Yankees. With an assist from PR guru Howard Rubenstein, the Daily News conducted a Q&A with The Boss this past week, getting a closer look at Steinbrenner's three-plus decades at the helm of the most storied franchise in baseball.

Mark Feinsand - Steinbrenner Interview

New York Daily News reporter Mark Feinsand writes how Yankees catcher Jorge Posada lit into the team after their lackluster effort on Saturday...."I'm not talking about unlucky; luck comes when you go after it," the Yankee catcher said. "And it seems like at times we just go through the motions and today was one of those cases."

Mark Feinsand

ESPN.com's Elizabeth Merrill writes about the behind-the-scenes story of Chris Benoit and his wife.... " . . . describing how rigormortis had set in by the time they found Nancy, whose skin was marbleized as she lay face-down on the floor. He's remembering his walk into Daniel's room -- the 7-year-old boy's body was gone, but posters of his dad still hung on the wall, and two toy wrestling belts sat on a shelf.

Elizabeth Merrill

Seattle Post-Intelligencer reporter Gary Washburn writes about the new era of Sonic basketball....The only certainty about the Sonics as Sunday's free agency period begins is that they are not a finished product. General manager Sam Presti is carefully adjusting his roster to match his goal of having a defensive-minded team that will provide matchup nightmares for opponents.

Gary Washburn

Detroit Free-Press columnist Mitch Albom writes about Detroit Tiger Magglio Ordonez and his quest for the batting title....As of Saturday morning, he was batting .375, which was 11 points ahead of the closest guy in the American League, and 27 points ahead of anyone in the National League.

Mitch Albom

New Orleans Times Picayune reporter Pierce W. Huff writes how even though the New Orleans Saints donated money to fix a city stadium, the reality is that it will not be ready until next summer....But less than two months before the start of the season, the stadium remains largely untouched and will not be used this fall. There is no electricity at the stadium. The grass field is in poor shape, covered in patches of dirt. The locker rooms and bathrooms don't work, and the scoreboard remains mangled.

Pierce W. Huff

Kansas City Star columnist Jason Whitlock writes how the Kansas City Chiefs need to take care of stud running back Larry Johnson....Larry Johnson is a rebel. It's in his DNA — the mind that is always thinking, the comfort with confrontation, the desire to point out hypocrisy and the love of raw honesty.

Jason Whitlock

Cincinnati Enquirer reporter Dustin Dow writes how some former Cincinnati Bengal players did not get any help from the NFL when their career was over....Depending on the severity of their injuries, players may be eligible to receive disability checks when they finish playing. Otherwise, they have to make ends meet until retirement benefits kick in at age 45.

Dustin Dow

Miami Herald reporter Jeff Darlington writes how new Miami Dolphins quarterback Trent Green has had many men influence his career, but the one he misses most is his dad.....Less than a year before that blow, the Dolphins' new leader never got to say goodbye to his father. If only Green's soul -- for those 11 long, quiet minutes -- might have wandered to where his dad had gone while everyone else stayed behind to pray.

Jeff Darlington

Boston Globe reporter Michael Vega writes how NASCAR driver Jeff Gordon is adjusting to age and fatherhood while trying to win a title....A first-time father at 36, Gordon, the driver of the No. 24 DuPont Chevrolet, is a man in full, flecks of gray in his sideburns notwithstanding.

Michael Vega

Tampa Tribune columnist Joe Henderson writes about Tampa Bay Devil Rays outfield Rocco Baldelli and his constant battles with injuries....At the Naimoli Complex, where the Devil Rays send their injured players, there is only the dull repetition of rehabilitation followed by empty hours and a sense of detachment. Baldelli knows the routine far too well by now, having spent significant amounts of time on the disabled list. That's where he is now, for the fourth time since 2004.

Joe Henderson

The Arizona Republic is already previewing the college football season with stories about the Arizona State Sun Devils, Arizona Wildcats and their PAC-10 foes....

Arizona Republic

Nikki Giavasis loosely connected with Chris Benoit

Nikki Giavasis sure gets around....last week I wrote how she had a child with alleged murderer Bobby Cutts, Jr.....and how she had a child also with former Cleveland Cavalier Shawn Kemp.....well now Giavasis is loosely connected to wrestler Chris Benoit.....according to the Hollywood Gossip blog, Giavasis was one of the "hot girls" who took part in Wrestlemania XX in which Benoit won the WWE title.....

Hollywood Gossip

Rating the College Football Preview Magazines

By the end of May, I am thirsting to read a football magazine....to me, Memorial Day is not the unofficial kick-off to summer, but the un-official kick-off to football....the college preview magazines start hitting the stands....in about a month, all the magazines are out on the shelves.....so today I am going to give my ratings of the various college football preview magazines - believe me, I am one of those whackos who buys all of them.....

Lindy's - this is always the first magazine to hit the stands, so I always pick it up...it feels great just to get a college football magazine in my hands....most of the times Lindy's disappoints in their coverage, but this year's edition has improved....there are depth charts of all the teams....they also added the rankings of all the different positions which was nice...there are no cheerleader shots though this year....if Lindy ever decides to move back the publication date, his magazine will get eaten alive by the big boys of Street and Smith and The Sporting News....for $6.99 the magazine serves its purpose....overall I give the magazine a C.....

Athlon Sports - Athlon puts together a quality magazine year-in and year-out....what is nice about Athlon, they sell magazines specific to the various conferences....so if you want to read more about the Mountain West teams, Athlon is the magazine for you....Athlon always includes its 6-8 pages of cheerleader photos with its obligatory shot of the Southern Cal Song Girls.....(boy do I love those Song Girls).....anyway, Athlon is solid for $6.99.....overall I give them a B-.....

The Sporting News - I love TSN previews....they always do a quality job in its analysis and make the magazine reader friendly.....there are never any cheerleader shots though.....but I guess, if you want that, just pick up a Playboy....this year though, their analysis was more fast and to the point instead of detailed....plus they don't give any rundown on the I-AA teams - which blows....it too is $6.99.....overall I give them a B.....

Street and Smith's - I love what they did by going back to the "old school" covers with the players wearing facemask-less helmets....I felt like I was 7-years-old again reading my dad's Street and Smith with Ken McAfee on the cover....Street and Smith gives you a rundown on I-AA, Division II, and Division III teams....everything is easy to read.....the only thing that keeps it from being an A+ is that they focus more on the big named teams....for instance, if you want to read about the UAB Blazers, there is only a half page rundown.....overall, for $6.99 it is the best.....I give it an A....

Phil Steele - this is the freakin bible of previews....you have to pay a few shillings more at $8.95, but it is worth it....Phil gives detailed previews of all I-A teams.....he also provides betting trends and newsworthy articles....the only drawback is that there is so much information he uses a small point size so it is not reader-friendly for some people with bad eyes - but who cares!!....if you have a wife or girlfriend who allows you to buy only 1 college football preview magazine a year, this is the book to buy....I give Phil an A+....

A couple of links to check out - Orlando Sentinel's Sarah Talalay has a blog called "The Business of Sports".....on Thursday, she interviewed Miami Dolphins owner Wayne Huizenga....Huizenga talked about various topics including his new coach Cam Cameron bypassing Brady Quinn in the draft...."I knew on Wednesday [before the draft] he wasn't going to take Brady Quinn. He told me why he wasn't going to take him, but he said, 'if you tell me to take him, I will.' I said, 'No I'd never do that. You guys pick the guys.'"....

Sarah Talalay

Former Ohio State quarterback and Heisman Trophy winner Troy Smith did not back down when NFL commissioner Roger Goodell did not fully answer Smith's question...."The question-answer session at the NFL rookie symposium got a little testy when Troy Smith pressed NFL commissioner Roger Goodell about why Goodell doesn't talk about the league's positives"....

USA Today

Coming Monday - Through the "Izes" of a Legend
Earlier this week I had the pleasure to interview Newark Star Ledger sports columnist Jerry Izenberg...our interview focused on his personal experiences with legendary Green Bay Packers head coach Vince Lombardi...so check back Monday for part one of a two part series...

College Football at its Best - Nebraska Cornhusker Football

Stiles Points features the Nebraska Cornhuskers as its second team in the College Football at its Best Series....writing about the Huskers is 45-year-old Jon Johnston of Corn Nation blog....Jon is known as "Corn Blight" and is a native Nebraskan and University of Nebraska-Lincoln alum ('87)....Jon wrote "I'm at the upper end of demographics in the blogosphere . Age gives me a unique perspective not found in most other sports blogs. I've written in the computer industry for 18 years and have been blogging about the Huskers for three. Corn Nation will turn one year old in August."....make sure you visit Corn Nation

Corn Nation

Q1. Oklahoma used to be the Huskers big rivalry. Now that those two schools don't play every year, who is Nebraska's hated rival? What are your feelings about the rivalry?
Colorado is our biggest rival, although I wish it were still Oklahoma. There was a level of mutual respect with Oklahoma that doesn't exist with Colorado. With regards to my feelings about the rivalry - Colorado has the beautiful Rocky mountains which makes it one of the most beautiful states in the US. Nebraska is geographically uninteresting to most people - the I-80 interstate stretch that people drive through Nebraska is on the Platte River Valley, possibly the flattest and most boring stretches of land in the US. Buffalo fans stand on their mountains looking down on Nebraskans as if the people in Boulder were personally responsible for the creation of all that natural beauty. They see us as boring as the land on which we live and we are continually reminded of such.

Yet when it comes to football, Buffalo fans barely support their team even in winning seasons. Even then, their behavior is boorish as was evident in the 2005 game when two full student sections were ejected from the game for continuing to throw stuff onto the field after being asked several times to stop. So, for us and Colorado, it isn't just about a football game. It's about a way of life. We see ourselves as having a high level of pride, a good work ethic, and an honest streak. Colorado fans? Well, they have the Rockies.

Q2. What is the greatest Nebraska football game that you have seen - whether it be in-person or on television? Explain the game and why it was so great.
Ouch. If I were 20, this would be easy, but I'm not. I'm also not one of those people who makes a list of favorite things - it's too restrictive, but I know the Internet loves lists. There are a lot of different reasons for great games - I suppose most people would pick a blow-out like Nebraska over Florida in the '96 Fiesta Bowl, but the close games are the most memorable. The Texas loss in '98 was one of the best game I ever saw in person because Texas had Ricky Williams, who was one of the greatest college backs ever. It'd look like we'd stop him for three yards, and it would be five. And he'd pound, and drive, and then they'd throw over the top. It was a 20-16 loss for the Huskers, ending a 47 home game winning streak, but it was a great game.

The 1982 Nebraska-Oklahoma was another great one in person. Scott Strasburger intercepting a pass with 26 seconds left to seal our 28-24 win. I was on the field for that one when the goal posts came down. Nearly got killed when I fell down underneath them as they were being torn down, but that's a whole huge story in itself.

The '97 Nebraska-Missouri game was incredible - most people remember the 'flea-kicker' play at the end when the ball was kicked up into the air and caught for a touchdown on the last play of regulation. What struck me about that game was the last minute of regulation. Nebraska won that game solely because of the will of quarterback Scott Frost. It's the most gorgeous single minute of Husker football ever. I wasn't there, but a good friend was. He said that when we scored at the end of regulation, a Mizzou fan looked at him and asked "Don't you have some cows to tend to or something?"

Q3. If you had to start an all-time Nebraska football team, who would be your first pick and why?
This one is easy. It's Tommie Frazier (photo). Without hesitation, he is the greatest college quarterback to ever play the game. He finished with a 33-3 record as a four-year starter. He played in three national title games, winning the MVP of two of them. He won back-to-back national titles 1994 and '95 for the Huskers as they beat Miami in the 1995 Orange Bowl 24-17, and then crushed #2-ranked Florida 62-24 in the 1996 Fiesta Bowl. The 75-yard touchdown run he made in the '96 Fiesta Bowl is symbolic of Frazier's career (you can find it on youtube). When you thought you had him stopped, you didn't. He remains the greatest Husker player in school history.

Q4. Since 1970, who are the five greatest players to wear a Nebraska uniform and why?
That's a hard list to compile as there are a lot of great ones in that time frame. I'll go with the following:
Turner Gill - Watching Turner Gill play football was like watching poetry in motion. Whether he was running, throwing or getting hit -, everything he did was with agrace and poise that was magical. Mike Rozier and Irving Fryar were bigger names, but Gill was pure beauty to watch as a player. He spent many years in the Nebraska program and I never, ever heard a bad word said about him.
Dave Rimington - Rimgington (photo) was so good at center they named the award for the best college center for him. He won the Outland Trophy in '81 and '82, and in 1982 also won the Lombardi. All-American in '81, '82 and was named the Big Eight Offensive Player of the Year in 1981 - the only time a lineman was ever given the award.
Tommie Frazier - I've already explained Tommie above.
Johnny Rodgers - Rodgers played on the '70 and '71 Nebraska national title teams - the 1971 team is widely recognized as one of the top teams in college football history. Rodgers won the Heisman Trophy in 1972, and was an All-American in '71 and '72. Rodgers 72-yard punt return in the 1971 Nebraska-Oklahoma Game of the Century is a highlight that every Husker fan knows. Rodgers is known as one of the greatest returners in college football history.
Rich Glover - Glover played on the '70 and '71 national title teams as a defensive lineman. Glover won the Lombardi and Outland in '72, was All-American in '71 and '72. He was the Big Eight defensive player of the year in '72, and in the 'Game of the Century' he made 22 tackles. My favorite story about Glover is that he was playing so well that coach Bob Devaney stormed over to his defense and said "Would one of you SOB's like to give Rich Glover some help?"

Q5. Make your case why Nebraska football, as a whole, is the best football program in the country?
Nebraska's Memorial Stadium has a phrase that fans see when they walk into the stadium - "Through these gates pass the greatest fans in college football". Maybe a cliche, but what is serves as a reminder to Nebraskan fans who they are and sets a high standard of behavior that Huskers fans try to uphold. One tradition is to applaud the opponent, no matter the outcome. I was there in 1982 when Florida State beat us in Lincoln and we gave them a standing ovation.

Success on the field is well-known as Nebraska is one of only four schools to have won 800 games, the other three being Michigan, Texas, and Notre Dame. In terms of an overall program, Nebraska is known for student-athletes' academic success. Nebraska leads the nation in Academic All-Americans (243) over Notre Dame (185), and leads the Big 12 (243) over Texas (96). Nebraska is a leader in student athlete graduation rates. Fan support is better than anywhere in the nation as Nebraska's home sell-out streak started on November 3rd, 1962 and will reach a span of over 45 years this coming season!

There is no place like Nebraska!....

I want to thank Jon for his time - it is much appreciated....Oklahoma will be the next team that will be previewed...

Tossup - Biggio or Thomas? -- Pacman or Tank?

Today Stiles Points takes a different twist....while watching Pardon the Interruption (PTI) last night on ESPN, I decided write down the questions for the Tossup segment and give my take.....Tony Kornheiser and guest host Dan LeBatard took their shot, now it is my turn....

Tossup - Who has the brighter NFL future - Pacman Jones or Tank Johnson?
Pacman is by far the better athlete and had a bigger impact on his team.....but he is in a lot more hot water than Tank.....I don't expect neither knucklehead to change their ways, but at least Johnson is only suspended for eight games and could get a new beginning since being cut by Chicago....

Tossup - What's a bigger milestone - Frank Thomas hitting 500 homers or Craig Biggio (photo) getting 3,000 hits?
I have never been a big fan of Frank Thomas....he was always moody and sullen during his prime....then he switched to designated hitter the last part of his career...plus, Thomas is basically a mercenary who sales his services each year to a new team....if he stayed with the White Sox his whole career, I think more people would be paying attention....but he is up in Toronto - no one cares....Biggio is the dirt-dog type player I love....he came in as a catcher, moved to second base, then to centerfield, and is now back at second base....he is a hard-nosed player who is a definite first ballot Hall of Famer.....Biggio gets the nod here......

Tossup - Who will play better golf this weekend - Michelle Wie or 12-year-old Alexis Thompson?
I never heard of this Thompson kid, so I have to go with Wie.....Wie oozes with talent, but right now she is a head case with two bad wrists....she needs to clear her head and heal properly if she wants to finally win a women's tournament let alone a men's tourney.....

Tossup - What is the bigger boast - New York Knick David Lee saying the Knicks will make the playoffs or Detroit Lion quarterback Jon Kitna (photo) saying the Lions will win 10 games?
They both made big boasts, but realistically there is a better chance of Kitna being correct....an NFL team can turn it around faster than any other team in other sports....a 4-12 NFL team could win 10 games the next season.....plus, the Lions now have Calvin Johnson and a stable of running backs to go along with second year offensive coordinator Mike Martz....the Knicks however, are stuck in a salary cap quagmire under the hot spotlight of New York City.....it is possible the Lions could meet that lofty goal put forth by their quarterback...

New York Post’s Pete Vecsey runs through the top 20 players for Thursday’s NBA Draft....”Instead of mucking up a mock draft, Jim Clibanoff, President of ClibHoops, a scouting service subscribed to by most NBA teams, has provided his insights on the Top 20 prospects. He has watched each of these players multiple times throughout their careers.”...

Pete Vecsey

The Portland Oregonian reports that even the state legislature is giving their opinion about who the Blazers should select in the draft....”It's nice to see 26 members of the "74th Legislative Assembly of the State of Oregon recommend that the Portland Trail Blazers choose Greg Oden of Ohio State University as the # 1 pick in the upcoming National Basketball Association draft." .....

Portland Oregonian

All the talk on the west coast is about the Lakers trying to keep Kobe happy....but the Phoenix Suns may have something up their sleeve.....”The fact that such prized prospects would agree to work out for Phoenix indicates that their agents believe Phoenix is in the mix.”.....

Paul Coro - The Arizona Republic

The Chris Benoit murder-suicide still has people in disbelief....”But away from the limelight, the 40-year-old Fayette County resident was struggling with family issues he couldn’t defeat.”...

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Chris Benoit Involved in Murder-Suicide - Possible Steroid Use

It is being reported by the Associated Press that professional wrestler Chris Benoit was involved in a murder-suicide on Monday....allegedly Benoit strangled his wife, then smothered his seven-year-old son before hanging himself....authorities are investigating if steroids were involved in the incident...steroid use can cause an angry outburst called "'roid rage"

ESPN - Chris Benoit

College Football At Its Best - Ohio State Buckeye Football

Today is the first in a series of profiles of traditional college football programs throughout the country....I contacted various bloggers who bleed for their favorite school and asked them if they would participate...so far over 12 bloggers have agreed...I appreciate all the time and effort all the bloggers put into this series...Our first profile is of Ohio State....Sean Sheehan is a 22 year-old graduate at Ohio State University...he has lived and died with Buckeye football for his entire life, and started blogging about Buckeye sports a little over a year ago...his site, AroundTheOval is a top site...

Around The Oval

Q1. First question - real simple - Woody or Tressel? And why?
Woody. Tressel may eventually reach Woody's level, but he's not there yet. In my mind, at least, he's not even that close. Hayes won three national championships; Tressel will have to do at least that much before people start arguing about him vs. Hayes. Just as important to Woody's legacy are his off-field contributions. Outside of the OSU community, people know Hayes mostly for tearing up markers and punching a Clemson player. But OSU fans appreciate him for teaching classes, for visiting hospitalized children every week, and for talking with students. True, Hayes had a temper, and it was endearing in a way (rumor has it that he bought cheap watches just so he could stomp on them in practices to make a point), but underneath that, he was a good person focused on turning good football players into good men. Tressel behaves like a father in a 1950s sitcom: he teaches, he sets a good example, but he's reserved. It's not a bad thing, especially as it seems to have rubbed off on the players and kept them off of police blotters and the front pages of newspapers, but it's not real exciting. Hayes was more like a slightly crazy grandfather: he wanted to be a positive influence, but he was going to do it his way and to hell with anyone that didn't like it. That's more entertaining than Tressel's approach, and combined with Woody's results, it's enough to get him the nod easily over Tressel.

Q2. What is the greatest Ohio State football game that you have seen - whether it be in-person or on television? Explain the game and why it was so great.
That’s got to be the 2003 Fiesta Bowl, the national championship game. The 2002 Ohio State team wasn't much for easy wins, instead preferring to test the hearts of Buckeye fans everywhere. The Fiesta Bowl was more of the same. The thing I remember most from the game was how nervous I was for its entirety. The Buckeyes couldn't (or wouldn't) win easy during the season, and they certainly didn't start in the championship game. Some plays stand out: Craig Krenzel's many runs and subsequent pinata-esque beatings, Maurice Clarett chasing down Sean Taylor to take back an intercepted ball, the defensive pass interference (or defensive holding, depending on which picture of the Miami DB grabbing Chris Gamble you're looking at) that kept OSU alive. Mostly, though, I remember feeling nervous for an entire game, then feeling elated as Ken Dorsey's pass hit the ground. The game, like the season as a whole, proved that things were different from the John Cooper years, and that the Buckeyes weren't going to fold in big games (not a word, Florida fans). Plus, winning a national championship was kind of a big deal.

Q3. Why do Ohio State fans hate Michigan? Do you think Ohio State takes the rivalry more serious than Michigan?
There's a bit of the chicken and the egg to this question: are they a bunch of arrogant jerks with a holier-than-thou attitude and the ability to ignore their own faults while eagerly pointing out the faults of others and that's why I hate them, or do I hate them and therefore believe they're a bunch of arrogant jerks? I'm guessing it's more of the latter than I'd like to admit, though both sides have a tendency to apply stereotypes to each other. Wolverines see Buckeyes as a bunch of stupid criminals, while Buckeyes see Wolverines as snobs with an over-inflated sense of their importance. More important to the hatred from the Buckeye side, I think, is John Cooper's abysmal record against that school up north. For thirteen years, otherwise successful season were regularly ruined at the end. The Wolverines nearly ruined my formative sports-watching years, and I've never forgiven them for it.

I think OSU fans take the rivalry more seriously than Michigan fans, but I’d argue that that’s because they take college football in general more seriously. In my experience, the average Michigan fan has the ability to approach the sport of football, and therefore the rivalry, rationally. There are plenty of hardcore Michigan fans out there that have college football ranked (correctly) as the most important thing in life, but I get the feeling from at least some Michigan fans that they understand that football’s just a game, that one game – even a rivalry game – doesn’t matter that much in the great scheme of things. There are OSU fans like that out there, but I think they make up a smaller percentage of our contingent. Ohio State fans, and Ohioans in general, are obsessed with football. It’s very difficult to be a casual Ohio State fan. Either you don’t follow Buckeye football at all, or your year is made or ruined by the outcome of the Michigan game; there’s not much middle ground. Some Michigan fans seem to be able to say things like “well, at least there’s still the Pistons/Red Wings/Tigers,” while the football team is far and away the most important team to Buckeye fans.

Q4. Since 1970, who are the five greatest players to wear an Ohio State uniform and why?
In alphabetical order:
Eddie George – He’s a Heisman winner and the OSU record holder for single season rushing yards and touchdowns. His restaurant here in Columbus is pretty good, too.
Archie Griffin – He’s the only person to win the Heisman twice, which makes him the best college football player ever. And since college football is the greatest thing ever, it stands to reason that Archie Griffin is the greatest person ever.
Orlando Pace – He made the pancake block popular. He didn’t give up a sack in his last two years at Ohio State. He finished fourth in the Heisman voting in 1996. He was drafted first overall. That’s pretty good.
Troy Smith – It’s a little early to know Smith’s place in Buckeye history, but he did win a Heisman trophy, putting him in pretty elite company. More importantly, he is one of only two Ohio State quarterbacks to beat Michigan three times, and he did it with a total of 1,151 yards and nine touchdowns.
Chris Spielman – He’s Ohio State’s career leader in solo tackles and a Lombardy Trophy winner, but most Buckeye fans will remember the way he did everything: with maniacal intensity. The guy never took a play off; he was the ideal combination of talent and effort.

Q5. Make your case why Ohio State football, as a whole, is the best football program in the country?
What sets Ohio State apart from the other programs is consistency. A few schools (like Notre Dame) might have a richer history, and a few schools (like Florida) might be more successful today, but no school in the country can compete with the consistent success the Buckeyes have had. They’ve won at least one conference championship in every decade since the turn of the 20th century, and they’ve been in a national championship race almost as regularly. The Buckeyes have consistently been in the national eye over the past century, and that, coupled with the team’s success under Tressel, makes Ohio State football the best program in the country....

I want to thank Sean for his time and for participating....Nebraska is the next college football program that will be profiled...

Five Good Questions with . . . Rob Ward of NBA Draft Blog

Today’s Five Good Questions is with Rob Ward of NBA Draft Blog.....if you want the latest on the NBA Draft, you have to go check out his site....

NBA Draft Blog

Q1. What is up with all the talk that Kevin Durant's stock has dropped over the last month? What has he done to merit this?
Despite the talk, Durant's stock has not dropped. He has been considered a lock to become the second pick in the upcoming draft since the end of the college season and he still is. However, scouts and GMs have been able to evaluate Durant more thoroughly recently and his flaws have become more obvious. Durant desperately needs to gain upper body strength. He was unable to bench press 185 pounds even one time in recent testing of draft prospects. Basketball skills and bench presses are two different things, but the NBA is far more physical than anything Durant has experienced.

He needs to add more muscle to his 200-lb frame, and he won't reach his potential until that happens. Durant's reputation has been built on his scoring ability, but scoring in the NBA is much harder, especially when you are at a physical disadvantage. That was the case with last years #3 draft pick, Adam Morrison. He was a scoring machine in college, but was bullied in his rookie NBA season and struggled physically. The opinion of most scouts is that Durant is a solid prospect with actual superstar potential, but his physical deficiencies are a concern.

Q2. What is the lowdown on Yi Jianlian? I have seen him being predicted to go as high as the third overall pick and as low as the 12th.
International prospects are often afforded the luxury of being evaluated differently than American prospects, especially NCAA prospects. The hype begins for the international player when scouts get excited over grainy video of him dominating inferior competition and continues when they invite him in for a private work-out and get to see him shooting uncontested jump shots in an empty gym. The NCAA player is on display 30-35 times a year against skilled competition. Scouts are able to over-evaluate and become too familiar with a college player's game-time flaws, whereas the international player is too often evaluated with a tape measure.

That being said, Yi Jianlian is an interesting prospect. He is a legitimate 7'0", runs like a deer, and has an impressive mid-range game. A star on the Chinese national team, he has played very good in international tournaments and has even outplayed many NBA players from around the world. In addition, he has been training in Los Angeles for over a year, specifically to be prepared for the NBA. Like too many big men today, he shies away from contact and plays too far from the basket. This is also a concern because if he wants to play on the wing he must improve his 3-point shooting ability. I like this prospect, but he is a bit risky because he hasn't played against American competition on a high level. Nevertheless, I have him going #4 to the Memphis Grizzlies in my mock draft.

Q3. Who are some "sleeper" picks? Which players are "under the radar?"
This draft appears to be very deep, with potential stars at the top, starters in the middle, and contributors throughout the first round. There also appears to be plenty of potential sleepers available. Some have fallen because they have size or athleticism issues, some have come out of school too soon, and some just do not have enough hype at the right time. I prefer sleepers that have been productive in college, or internationally, and are ready to play immediately. There are roughly 450 players in the NBA and only a small number are All-Stars, the rest fill roles. Here are a few sleeper prospects that can contribute now:
Alando Tucker: 6'6, 210, SG/SF, Wisconsin – Few players have been as productive in NCAA play the past few seasons as Tucker has been. He’s mature, strong, and fundamentally sound, but he's a bit small for his preferred Small Forward position in the NBA and that might knock him out of the first round.
Taurean Green: 6'0, 180, PG, Florida - Three of his teammate will go in the lottery, but Green is overlooked because he is so small. The team that drafts him will get the starting point guard from the current two-time NCAA championship team. He has leadership and three-point shooting skills, and is the son of a former player. If he was a few inches taller he'd be a top-ten pick.
Marc Gasol: 7’1, 280, C, Spain – I have Gasol going #20 in my mock, but I seem to be alone in my opinion, as most other scouts do not have him in the first round. The problem for many others is his terribly slow foot speed and lack of athleticism. I am not concerned with that. I like his size (he's huge), strength, and maturity for his age (22). Rarely does a prospect come with this combination of size and solid fundamentals. He’s a different type of player than his brother, the Memphis Grizzlies Pau Gasol, but I think he will be an NBA starter soon.

Q4. There was talk that Jeff Green was having second thoughts about staying in the draft. In the end, he decided to stay and forgo another year at Georgetown. Did he make the right decision? What type of NBA player do you see him as?
All players would be better if they stayed in school as long as possible, but that sometimes hurts their draft status. Green is a lottery prospect already so it wouldn’t matter either way. He is one of the most game-ready prospects in the draft. Talented and unselfish, I see him as a contributor that will help on both sides of the court. He's a reliable scorer, a sound rebounder, and a determined defender. He's probably not a future star, but should be a very good starter for a long time.

Q5. Finally, I have to ask you about Greg Oden. What type of NBA career do you expect from him? Will he be as good as Jabbar and O'Neal? What part of his game is best suited to the NBA?
As good as Jabbar or ONeal? No, that wouldn't be fair to those two legends that have worked so hard for their lofty places in NBA history. We shouldn’t project anyone past his near future. Oden has all the tools to become an excellent player in the NBA, perhaps even the best center in the league soon. I don't, however, believe that he will become a scoring machine. His game is evolving and I would love him to aspire to become fundamentally dominating like Tim Duncan, rather than an overpowering offensive force like Shaquille O’Neal was in his prime. Oden has great character and has an impressive basketball IQ. He can change the game on defense with his superb shot-blocking and rebounding skills and will keep opponents uncomfortable with his improving low-post offense. I project him as a future All-Star that will make the Portland Trailblazers a formidable team almost immediately, but lets not put him in the Hall-of-Fame just yet.

I want to thank Rob for his time....it is much appreciated....

The Sunday Baker's Dozen

The Sunday Fact - The first Japanese-born player to play Major League Baseball was Masanori Murakami who played for the San Francisco Giants in 1964.

The Portland Oregonian's Jason Quick writes how Kevin Durant wowed the Trail Blazer brass with his recent workout.... "Portland General Manager Kevin Pritchard was so impressed with the 6-foot-9 freshman forward from Texas, he said the workout might have been the best he's watched at the Blazers' practice facility in Tualatin."

Jason Quick

Seattle Post-Intelligencer reporter Gary Washburn writes that maybe the Sonics will end up with Greg Oden...."While Greg Oden was wowing the Seattle media with his bright smile, keen sense of humor and engaging personality, the possibility of him becoming a Sonic increased with developments in Portland."

Gary Washburn

The Washington Post's Ivan Carter writes about the importance of a big-time center in the NBA....."The team with the top pick, the Portland Trail Blazers, hasn't publicly stated its intentions, but basketball history suggests that the franchise would be foolish to pass onGreg Oden, who has been compared to a young Ewing."

Ivan Carter

Dallas Morning News reporter Chip Brown writes how former Texas star Kevin Durant will hit it big with endorsements.... "At 18 years old and still too antenna thin to bench press 185 pounds, national player of the year Kevin Durant didn't even have a driver's license until two weeks ago. In the world of product placement, however, those story lines can be developed."

Chip Brown

Terry Hutchens of the Indianapolis Star writes about the funeral of Indiana football coach Terry Hoeppner.... "The silent one came after the service as the more than 80 current players -- wearing their IU jerseys -- lined both sides of a passageway through which Hoeppner's funeral procession drove as the IU Marching Hundred played the Indiana fight song. As Hoeppner's hearse drove past, the players raised their helmets in a salute to their coach, who died Tuesday of complications following an 18-month battle with brain cancer."

Terry Hutchens

Michael Murphy of the Houston Chronicle writes how Houston Cougar basketball player Sam Anderson unselfishly ended his career by donating a kidney to his cousin.... "Sam Anderson never hesitated. Not for a moment. The walk-on forward for the University of Houston knew the decision most likely would end his basketball career, but Anderson knew the man at the other end of the phone — his cousin, Steven Anderson, 46 — was desperate for help, and that's all that mattered."

Michael Murphy

Chicago Sun-Times reporter Joe Cowley writes that Sox pitcher Mark Buehrle may be switching Sox..... "According to a source close to the situation, negotiations between the Sox and Buehrle's camp have been exhausted, with Williams believing he has no choice but to trade the left-hander, who is the face of the ballclub."

Joe Cowley

New York Daily News sports columnist Mike Lupica gives his weekly thoughts on various sports topics.... "For a couple of gripping hours last Sunday afternoon, as Tiger Woods was trying to come back against a career golf plodder named Angel Cabrera, we were once again reminded that Woods is the biggest star in sports."

Mike Lupica

New York Times' John Branch writes about Wimbledon which starts tomorrow... " . . . as Wimbledon begins Monday, the chatter is not so much about whether the top-seeded Federer will win again, but what it really means if he does."

John Branch

John Maynard of the Miami Herald writes how Shaq is taking on another challenge - childhood obesity..... "O'Neal's mission: to transform the lives of six obese children -- none of whom can run a mile -- into fit, active kids with a healthful outlook on life."

John Maynard

The Boston Globe begins a seven part series on the life of presidential hopeful Mitt Romney

Boston Globe

On Friday I wrote about Nikki Giavasis and Shawn Kemp and how their name came up when the pregnant woman from Canton, Ohio went missing....on Saturday, authorities found the body of Jessie Marie Davis....the father to her unborn child - Canton police officer Bobby Cuttts Jr. was arrested and charged.....Cutts is also the father to one of Giavasis' children...

Jessie Davis Murder - Akron Beacon Journal

The following is a timeline of the case....

Jessie Davis Murder - Akron Beacon Journal

Five Good Questions with . . . Norm Maves of The Portland Oregonian about Oregon State Baseball

The Championship Series of the College World Series begins today at 7:00 p.m. (EST) on ESPN....the best of three series is a rematch from last year when Oregon State beat North Carolina....last week I previewed the Tar Heels....today, Norm Maves of The (Portland) Oregonian provides the lowdown on the Beavers....I want to thank Norm for taking the time to respond during a very busy week in Omaha....

Q1. Oregon State is going back to the championship series - a year after winning the whole thing. How would you compare this year's team to that of last year's?
You really can't compare this year's team with last year's -- six position starters, two starting pitchers (Dallas Buck and CWS MVP Jonah Nickerson) and the best closer in the school's history (Kevin Gunderson) left after the 2006 season. The players who filled the spots give it a brand-new look. Last year's team had more power from Cole Gillespie, Shea McFeely and, in the CWS, first baseman Bill Rowe, but the offensive production came with bigger numbers from fewer people. This year's team distributes the offense wider, but thinner. It doesn't have a lot of big innings, but picks teams to death one and two runs at a time. That's good enough because one of the three things the 2006 and 2007 teams have in common: good pitching.

Nobody but Casey and pitching coach Dan Spencer knew that the pitchers coming back were pretty talented, too. The addition of freshman Jorge Reyes and the development of left-hander Joe Paterson and some very good coaching has made this a well-rounded, effective staff -- just like last year. The other similarity is in team speed. The last three OSU teams have been very, very fast. They don't always use it to steal bases, but it puts pressure on other defenses to play clean defensive games. The third similarity is defense. This OSU team hasn't made an error since the regionals and led the country for most of the year; last year was just as good.

Q2. What are the strengths of this team? What areas are they weak at?
I mentioned most of the strengths of this team in the previous question, but one unmentioned strength is team chemistry. Shortstop Darwin Barney and catcher Mitch Canham, the two holdover starters from last year, are extraordinary leaders, and the entire team is focused and headed in the same direction. This makes them a much more dangerous team than the sum of the parts. Right now the weaknesses are few, but during the year the Beavers were occasionally hurt by a lack of power and would occasionally get burned by a left-handed pitcher. Arizona State, for instance, limited them to three hits in two consecutive games -- a one-hitter and a two-hitter -- but all that seems to have been cured. They've hit .333 with five home runs and 22 runs in three CWS games, so Oregon State is peaking at the right time.

Q3. What type of coach is Pat Casey? Does he manage "by the book" or is he a "gut-type" of manager?
Pat Casey looks like a by-the-book coach, but he will throw it away now and then. He likes the bunt and the left-right matchup page and uses it effectively, but I've seen him change his starting lineup based on who hits best in pre-game hitting. He will also bench a cold hitter and give up a matchup just to get a hot hitter into the lineup, and occasionally green-light a hot hitter to swing away in an obvious bunt situation. He's also patient: he created a huge offensive weapon in freshman second baseman Joey Wong, a left-handed hitter, by sticking with him when it was apparent he was overmatched against left-handers early in the year. But the experience got Wong, a superior defender, the stick time he needed to solve the problem. He's now hitting .417 in the CWS and .350 in 10 playoff games.

Q4. What Oregon State players should people keep an eye on not only in the championship series, but possibly in the majors?
According to the draft, the players to watch are relief pitcher Eddie Kunz (supplemental to the Mets), catcher Mitch Canham (supplemental to the Padres) and shortstop Darwin Barney (third player, fourth round, Cubs). Kunz is 6-5 and 250, throws in the mid-90s and is a pure power pitcher in the mold of Lee Arthur Smith, Armando Benitez, Goose Gossage (if you're old) or Dick Radatz (if you're REALLY old). Canham is 6-2 and 215, a left-handed power hitter and a terrific athlete behind the plate. He's excellent to second base. Barney is small (5-10, 170) but has extraordinary range and phenomenal baseball instincts. He could also wind up at second base, but he'll have to be a dependable two-hole hitter if he's going to make it. Wong will take over at shortstop the next two years and will probably be drafted as high or higher than Barney in 2009. If Reyes (6-2, 170) continues to develop as a pitcher, he should wind up as a first-round draft choice. Want a longshot? Joe Paterson, left-handed middle reliever, San Francisco Giants. Just a hunch.

Q5. What is up with the team going fishing before the games? Can you explain this a bit?
Fishing? Are you kidding? We're from the Northwest, where just about everybody fishes. Bass, trout, cod and all the salmon you can fit on a hook. Oregon and Washington -- where most of the players come from -- are very outdoorsy places. Just about everybody is a fisherman or hunter, hiker, camper, mountain climber or bicyclist and most are combinations of many of the above. Oregon State is on the Willamette River and 45 miles from the Pacific Ocean, so you can practically cast a baited hook out of your dorm window and catch breakfast. OK, that's an exaggeration, but fishing is a big part of the Northwest tapestry. The fishing thing in Omaha is just one of the many activities the people who run the CWS offer for off-day activities, and yesterday happened to coincide with a victory. These guys know how.

Once again, I want to thank Norm for his time....here are some other previews of the World Series...

ESPN

The Charlotte Observer's David Scott writes how Carolina head coach Mike Fox has adapted his style of coaching now that he is in Division I...

David Scott

The (Portland) Oregonian sports columnist Rachel Bachman writes how the World Series is a hot ticket around Omaha....

Rachel Bachman

Here are two interesting links which appeared on ESPN.com about Rosenblatt Stadium and the World Series going to other venues....

David Albright

Elizabeth Merrill

PROBABLE LINEUPS:
North Carolina Tar Heels
Batter (No.) Pos. AVG HR RBI
1. Reid Fronk (7) LF .319 11 56
2. Tom Fedroff (16) RF .342 5 40
3. Josh Horton (12) SS .335 9 53
4. Tim Federowicz (19) C .339 4 64
5. Dustin Ackley (13) 1B .403 9 72
6. Chad Flack (34) 3B .251 7 46
7. Kyle Seager (10) DH .314 2 30
8. Seth Williams (27) CF .289 9 42
9. Garrett Gore (4) 2B .325 22 7
Pitcher (No.) ERA W-L SV SO
Alex White (6) 4.74 6-6 0 81

Oregon State Beavers
Batter (No.) Pos. AVG HR RBI
1. Chris Hopkins (20) CF .260 22 5
2. Joey Wong (1) 2B .288 0 19
3. Mike Lissman (3) DH .325 10 61
4. Mitch Canham (11) C .321 10 57
5. Darwin Barney (6) SS .301 4 53
6. Jordan Lennerton (37) 1B .313 8 48
7. Scott Santschi (21) RF .280 1 10
8. John Wallace (35) LF .267 1 24
9. Lonnie Lechelt (15) 1B .223 2 11
Pitcher (No.) ERA W-L SV SO
Jorge Reyes (23) 3.00 6-3 0 61