Commentary and news about sports and sports teams — and media coverage of them.
San Francisco Chronicle sports columnist Betting Fool liked the movie Miracle:
I saw the movie “Miracle” over the weekend and it immediately jumps into my top sports movies of all time. Great stuff. Also on the Fool’s list are: “Hoosiers,” “Rocky,” “Bull Durham,” “Slapshot” and, of course, “Kansas City Bomber.”
was born on this date in 1889. Hunt was a Texas oil tycoon who, among other things, fathered 14 children with three women, including two that he was married to simultanously. The worst thing about Hunt was his politics; the best his sense of humor. The following story illustrates the latter (quotation from Football Digest).
Lamar Hunt, the son of H.L., was one of the founders of the American Football League and owner of the Dallas Texans (who became the Kansas City Chiefs).
[Lamar] Hunt may not have looked it, but he had a lot of money. His father, the legendary H.L. Hunt, had a fortune estimated at $600 million, which may not seem all that impressive in today’s era of billionaires but made him one of the nation’s richest men at the time.
It was the elder Hunt who came up with the best-remembered quote from the AFL era. After his son reportedly lost $1 million in his first season, H.L. was asked how long Lamar could keep doing that. According to various reports, he said Lamar would go broke in about 150 years if he kept it up.
Duke had to lose a second game, but Stanford and Saint Joseph’s — the undefeated teams — are finally ranked one and two in both NCAA Division I basketball polls.
The Smoking Gun has the two-page Memo to the File — “A public incident with Coach Bob Knight” — plus associated documents. Texas Tech intended, then backed away from a three-day suspension of Knight after the incident.
From CNN.com
PITTSBURGH, Pennsylvania (AP) — A parent body-slammed a high school referee after he ordered the man’s wife out of the gym for allegedly yelling obscenities during a basketball game.
The referee, Ronald Bell, 57, was treated at a hospital for a concussion and released after the attack Friday night.
Peter J. Dukovich, 47, was charged with simple assault, assault on a sports official and disorderly conduct. His wife, RaeLynn, who claimed the ref was making bad calls, was cited for disorderly conduct.
After Bell asked security to escort the woman out of the gym, “her husband came down onto the court, picked up the official, threw him on the ground with his back striking first and then his head hit the floor,” West Deer Township police Chief Jon Lape said.
Officials say the rivalry between suburban Deer Lakes and Hampton high schools prompted administrators to allow only parents and grandparents to attend the game.
“We have parents who are supposed to be role models but instead we have problems occurring with parents fighting,” Lape said.
Dukovich declined to comment Monday.
From the Los Angeles Times, what sports means to a high school with 21 students in grades nine through 12 — 18 of them on the basketball teams. “In a no-stoplight town lacking a movie theater, much less a mall to cruise, sports is the tie that binds.”
the man who brought a midget ((Eddie Gaedel) to bat in the major leagues, was born on this date in 1914.
Read about Gaedel’s time at the plate, told as the first chapter of Veeck’s autobiography, Veeck as in Wreck: “When Eddie went into that crouch, his strike zone was just about visible to the naked eye. I picked up a ruler and measured it for posterity. It was 1-1/2 inches. Marvelous.”
Veeck (it rhymes with wreck) died in 1986. He was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1991.
TMQ seemed to know what he was talking about:
Here from last week’s column is a condensed version of what I called the four keys to the game:
- On offense, New England must surprise Carolina by power-running.
- On defense, New England must resist the urge to go blitz-wacky.
- On offense, Carolina can’t lose its nerve; it must continue trying the home-run passes that have recently livened up its attack.
- On defense, Carolina must get to male-model-esque Tom Brady. Since before Christmas, Brady has done nothing but stand behind perfect protection and listen to the home-crowd cheers. Acquaint him with the ground, and New England might sputter.
Well, on my point one, New England did great — it surprised Carolina by power-running 35 times for 127 yards, including several power-runs from heavy formations on the kind of critical short-yardage downs when the Flying Elvii normally go five-wide pass-wacky.
On my point two, New England resisted the urge to blitz. Two years ago, the Patriots played the Rams in November during the regular season, blitzed 39 times and lost. Later in that season’s Super Bowl the Patriots again played the Rams, blitzed eight times and won. As I wrote last week, “Romeo Crennel may remember this.” He did, calling four blitzes, surely the Pats’ season low.
On my point three, Carolina did not lose heart, trying the home-run throw and hitting it twice for beauty long touchdowns.
But on my point four, Carolina did not acquaint the male-model-esque Tom Brady with the ground. The Panthers never sacked Brady, and knocked him down only occasionally. The Carolina front seven was seriously outplayed by the New England offensive line, including Tuesday Morning Quarterback Super Bowl XXXVIII MVP Tom Ashworth.
Columnist T.J. Simers of the Los Angeles Times takes off on the halftime show.
I remember when Disney used to produce these halftime shows.
CBS cuts away quickly, but not quick enough.
I check with witnesses on the field, who are staring at the scoreboard waiting for the replay. They say Jackson ran from the stage with both arms across her chest, although the placement of the silver star suggests it was part of the game plan….
“There was no indication that any such thing would happen,” the CBS statement said. “That moment did not conform to CBS broadcast standards, and we would like to apologize to anyone who was offended.”
I can’t imagine Fox ever issuing such a statement.
NewMexiKen suggests a return to the halftime show of the first Super Bowl — the University of Arizona Marching Band.
One prediction for Sunday’s game: Adam Vinatieri 15, John Kasay 9
The first players were named to the Baseball Hall of Fame on this date in 1936. The Baseball Writers’ Association of America selected:
Ty Cobb
Babe Ruth
Honus Wagner
Christy Mathewson
and Walter Johnson
From the Morning Briefing in the Los Angeles Times
Bernie Lincicome of the Rocky Mountain News notes that Rose once said: “I am the best ambassador baseball has. My name is synonymous with the game.”
Adds Lincicome: “In the way that Lizzie Borden’s name is connected with hand tools, maybe.”
From the Los Angeles Times, Bitter Ending
The obituary said he died at home. His good neighbors of Leimert Park smiled sadly when they read it.
Yes, of course, that electrical shed next to the dumpster behind the video store was Leon Wagner’s home.
“The more I thought about it, the more it made sense,” said Brian Breye, a local merchant. “Because the streets were his home.”
Leon Wagner was the first great slugger in Angel history, a 1962 All-Star game MVP, an engaging prince to kings Willie Mays and Mickey Mantle.
With his huge smile, loopy swing and funky throwing motion, the man known as “Daddy Wags” once held the Southern California baseball world in his giant palms.
Yet on Jan. 3, at age 69, he died with nothing.
He had no address, no car, little money. His final days were spent wandering the streets in what acquaintances say was a drug-induced haze.
Take time to read about the first Angels hero.
Tony Kornhiser on LeBron, Freddy and Michelle.
And in that vein let me digress to speak of the trio of sports prodigies who stand in front of us: Michelle Wie, Freddy Adu and LeBron James. The three of them may have unprecedented talent. As a sportswriter for nearly 35 years I can only think of a few phenoms I’d put in their class: Tiger Woods, Chris Evert, Wayne Gretzky, Jim Ryun, maybe Dwight Gooden, who was electrifying at 19; if we look worldwide I’d include Pele, Boris Becker, Nadia Comaneci.
Part of the fun of sports is ranking people arbitrarily, so here goes: LeBron James is even better than advertised. Of all the high school kids who’ve come into the league since Kevin Garnett, James is the only one who actually looks to make his teammates better. At 19, James might be one of the NBA’s 10 best players already. But at 19 James isn’t that much younger than Magic Johnson, Michael Jordan and Allen Iverson were when you’d have said the same about them. At 14, Freddy Adu appears to be the Mozart of American soccer (by way of Ghana, of course). But Adu has yet to compete against men. Adu’s big “Wow Factor” came in under-17 competition. For him to do what Michelle Wie did, he’d have to score goals in the World Cup in 2006, when he’s 16.
What Wie did is astonishing, going to the tips and shooting 68 in a PGA tournament against an array of the best golfers in the world. It would be astonishing if a 14-year-old boy had gone to the tips and shot two-under in a PGA tournament. It’s more astonishing that a girl did it. Wie was even-par after two rounds, same as Jim Furyk and Ben Curtis, who last year won a couple of little things I like to call the U.S. Open and British Open. This is like a Little Leaguer getting Nomar and Manny to ground out. Well, no, it’s not like that. I don’t know what it’s like.
Golf is not football, basketball or tennis. It doesn’t reward strength and speed in the same ways. Women can play golf with men, though they usually have to hit longer irons into greens — shots that are harder to stop. But look how impressed folks were when Annika Sorenstam shot 71 in the first round at Colonial last May (she shot 74 in the second round). And Sorenstam is a 33-year-old adult in her golfing prime, with 48 career tournament wins; she’s probably the best woman golfer of all time. Michelle Wie is in ninth grade! I’m not sure we’ve ever seen anything like this. This doesn’t mean Michelle Wie will win the Masters next year, or ever. But it’s not hard to imagine Wie, say at 18, leaping over the LPGA tour and saying, “Howdy, fellas, here I am.”
From the Morning Briefing in the Los Angeles Times
Tickets to the first Super Bowl were priced at $6 and $12. Still, more than 30,000 went unsold.
Tickets to this year’s Super Bowl are priced at $500, and it is a sellout.
From UA superstitions in the Arizona Daily Star:
But when Olson doesn’t feel right, even if the outward appearance is fine, it gets worse. The Wildcats can lose.
On Feb. 16, 2002, the normally well-prepared Olson forgot a critical element in his game-day efforts at USC.
He had the defensive assignments parceled out. The pre-game talk prepared. The offensive sets planned.
But there was no red necktie in his hotel room.
He called associate head coach Jim Rosborough, who thought he had the perfect tie for Olson to borrow: red with navy stripes.
Olson wore it to the game, and Rosborough was relieved. He had no reason to worry.
Arizona lost 94-89.
“He gave it back to me and said, ‘You need to burn this tie,'” Rosborough said.
NewMexiKen hopes Olson has all the essential clothing when he gets to Pauley Pavilion this afternoon.
shot a 2-under 68 Friday and finished 36 holes at even par. Unfortunately she missed the cut — by one stroke — but so did Appleby.
From news reports
Michelle Wie, playing in a PGA Tour event at the age of 14, shot a 2-over 72 Thursday in the opening round of the Sony Open.
On the eve of the tournament, Stuart Appleby said he thought Wie would probably shoot two rounds in the 80s at the Waialae Country Club. Appleby, who won last week’s season-opening Mercedes Championship, bested Wie by a single shot in the opening round.
Sometimes the nature of blogging puts things out of sequence. NewMexiKen suggests you read the item below before reading the rest of the story.
By 1961 according to Richard Ben Cramer, after Monroe’s marriage to Arthur Miller had ended, she and DiMaggio had reconciled—the Kennedys notwithstanding. By 1962 they planned to re-marry. The wedding was set for Wednesday, August 8, 1962. Very private, very hush-hush.
Five days before the wedding date, on Saturday night, August 3, Marilyn died, a presumed suicide. (According to Cramer no coroner’s inquest was held.) Marilyn Monroe’s funeral was August 8, 1962.
NewMexiKen’s readers may all know this but I had to do some research to find out what happened to Marilyn and Joe who, as noted below, were married 50 years ago today.
It seems the catalyst for their divorce stemmed from the famous scene in The Seven Year Itch where Marilyn’s skirt billows to show her bare legs. As Richard Ben Cramer tells it in Joe DiMaggio: The Hero’s Life:
The scene they went to witness would produce one of the most famous screen images in history—Marilyn Monroe, in simple summer white, standing on a subway grating, cooling herself with the wind from a train below. But what sent Joe DiMaggio into a fury was the scene around the scene. Fans were yelling and shoving at police barricades as the train (actually a wind machine manned beneath the street by the special effects crew) blew Marilyn’s skirt around her ears. Each time it blew, the crowd would yell, “Higher!” “More!” Her legs were bare from her high heels to her thin white panties. Photographers were stretched out on the pavement, with their lenses pointed up at his wife’s crotch, the glare of their flashbulbs clearly outlining the shadow of her pubic hair. “What the hell is going on here?” Joe growled. The director, Billy Wilder, would recall “the look of death” on DiMaggio’s face. Joe turned and bulled his way through the crowd—on his way back to the bar—with the delighted Winchell trotting at his heels.
That night, there was a famous fight in Marilyn and Joe’s suite on the eleventh floor of the St. Regis. It was famous because none of the guests on that floor could sleep. And famous because Natasha Lytess was so alarmed by Marilyn’s cries that she went next door to intervene. (Joe answered the door, and told her to get lost.) It was famous because the following morning Marilyn told her hairdresser and wardrobe mistress that she had screamed for them in the night. (“Her husband got very, very mad with her, and he beat her up a little bit,” said the hairdresser, Gladys Whitten. “It was on her shoulders, but we covered it up, you know.”) And famous because Milton Greene’s wife, Amy, came to visit at the suite the following day (to try on Marilyn’s mink), and was appalled to see bruises all over her friend’s back.
And that fight would stay famous—as the end of Joe and Marilyn’s famous marriage.
Years later, Marilyn would tell another hairdresser, Sidney Guilaroff, that she’d warned Joe clearly the first time he beat her up. “Don’t ever do that again. I was abused as a child, and I’m not going to stand for it.” But, as Guilaroff would write in his memoir:
“Nevertheless, after watching her film a sexy scene for Seven Year Itch, Marilyn said, ‘Joe slapped me around the hotel room until I screamed, “That’s it!” You know, Sidney, the first time a man beats you up, it makes you angry. When it happens a second time you have to be crazy to stay. So I left him.’ ”
She would file for divorce in Los Angeles, three weeks later.
The famous marriage lasted 286 days.
were married on this date 50 years ago. That’s Joe DiMaggio and Marilyn Monroe.
TMQ writes:
Many readers, including Mary Ellen A. of Charlotte, N.C. and Aaron L. of Washington, D.C., supposed that since TMQ called Steve Spurrier Dobby the Elf, I must now refer to Joe Gibbs as Professor Dumbledore. For those whose kids do not compel them to follow the Harry Potter saga, Dobby the Elf is a sniveling, wretched creature — and somehow Spurrier seemed to get smaller each week on the sidelines, in another year he might have become an elf — while Dumbledore is an all-knowing good wizard.
Ye gods, ay caramba, Jiminy Cricket was that ever a good weekend of football?! Often the divisionals round is a letdown, as bye teams that have been resting in hot tubs blow out tired visitors. Instead, four consecutive playoff games went down to the final snap. That’s the best four consecutive football games Tuesday Morning Quarterback has ever watched.
Eastern Standard Time teams New England, Philadelphia, Carolina and Indianapolis swept Central Standard Time Tennessee, Green Bay, St. Louis and Kansas City.
NewMexiKen picked three winners (missing Carolina). Lee had two (missing Carolina and Philadelphia).
The Packers should have gone for it on fourth and one late in regulation. No guts, no glory.