Five Thousand Two Hundred Eighty Feet

Hiatus

2008-08-14T21:07:00.003-04:00

Sorry for disappearing, everyone. I quit my job a few weeks back in preparation to head to grad school -- a move which incidentally has afforded me less ability to focus on posting here at 5280'.

I'll be moving to Texas this weekend, ready to start my Masters program in Sport Management at UT-Austin. It will be quite the transition becoming a Longhorn, but I'm sure I'll get used to it -- though, now and forever and above all else, Go Blue.

It's been a fascinating week following the Olympics so far, and I hope that all of you have followed whatever you can. I of course have my opinions about so many things: China, Bela Karolyi, Bob Costas, Jeff Blake's victory over Roger Federer, and so much else. Perhaps by sometime late next week I'll be able to put up a good rant or two and get myself back into the swing of things.

Thank you for the patience, and again my apologies for leaving unannounced. Take care!

Ups and downs

2008-07-25T13:57:00.003-04:00

I watched what I could (mostly the first half) of Thursday's Lynx-Fever game. It started off slow, but ended up being an interesting game; hopefully I'll be able to catch the rest on WNBA.com's free webcast service relatively soon. I had several reactions while I watched:

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!

I'm not exactly bashful about how much I love Minnesota's rookie sensation Candice Wiggins. So, imagine my dismay when I watched her, almost immediately upon entering the game for the Lynx in the first quarter, hit the floor hard after getting called for a charge. She was subsequently taken off the court in a wheelchair with a lower back injury and never returned to the game. I'm left here hoping that she'll be alright with a hasty return.

YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!!!

The Lynx managed a gritty 84-80 win in overtime against Indiana. Minnesota has had trouble managing close games throughout the season, much due to their collective inexperience, and it was refreshing for them to buckle down in the clutch and come out with a victory.

NO!

Minnesota had 17 turnover throughout the course of the game, more than their (best in the league) 13-per-game average thus far. On the bright side, most of these came in bunches when the team hit some particularly ugly offensive slumps.

YES!

Again harping on the growing maturity of the team, it was interesting to see that despite several sloppy turnovers, bad shot selections, and the early exit of Wiggins, Minnesota kept it close. The game announcers for FSN Indiana would have had you believe that the Fever were absolutely dominating their opponents through the first half, but the Lynx hung in and kept the game close (usually no more than 5-point deficits). Sometimes you have to just grit your teeth and play through the slop to come out on top, and they did a good job of keeping the energy up.

YES!

The potential of the Lynx's young talent was on display. Particularly promising was the 12-point performance of Lindsey Harding, who has had a tough time coming back from the injury that scuttled the first half of this season.

Let's look at it this way. If I were to take the talent on that roster and assemble them into the traditional 1-2-3-4-5 positions for a starting roster, it would look like this:

PG Lindsey Harding
SG Candice Wiggins
SF Seimone Augustus
PF Nicky Anosike
C Vanessa Hayden-Johnson

I might even consider rotating in F Charde Houston, as she's been performing extremely well off the bench as of late. Those five starters have a combined 6 previous seasons of experience; half of that is represented by Johnson, while two of those players are rookies. Throw in Houston and you've got... 6 years. Despite all this youth, the Lynx are second in the league in scoring with roughly 80 ppg, second in FT%, and best in the league in turnovers. Just imagine once this team truly gels. The only thing stopping them, aside from their inexperience, is a lack of depth behind all of this talent.

80 ppg is second in the league? Women can't score, can they?

You only adopt that viewpoint if A) You have an irrational hatred of women's athletics and write them off without actually watching, or B) You haven't stopped and put this in proper perspective. I'm hoping for the latter, but if you fall under the former and are still reading this article after this long, there's still hope for you.

Remember that the women's game has only 10-minute quarters, as opposed to the 12-minute quarters used by the NBA. Extrapolate Minnesota's 80 ppg, and a 48-minute game would yield 96 points. That would still net them near the bottom of the NBA, yes, but I don't hear too many NBA fans complaining about 96-90 games. (Consider the Mercury's league-leading 89 ppg; this would be roughly 107 ppg with 12-minute quarters, or fifth in the NBA behind only Golden State, Denver, Phoenix, and the Lakers. Not too shabby).

Considering all of this left me curious. Why does the women's game limit itself to 40 minutes of play? It seems to me that it would help the marketability of the WNBA by at least helping to eliminate the perception that women can't score. It's not as if these athletes aren't conditioned well enough for a longer game; there has been some great overtime play throughout the season. I really can't think of an answer to this question. Do any of you have any thoughts regarding the issue? Let me know what you think either way. 10-minute quarters or 12, and why?

Carson Palmer is my new favorite football player

2008-07-23T13:09:00.002-04:00

He totally is.

Makes me wonder how he feels, though, about being stuck in Cincy through 2014.

Detroit ruck city

2008-07-23T06:57:00.005-04:00

I was at the Sparks-Shock game last night for the 84-81 Los Angeles victory.

It started off as a fairly uncompelling contest, actually. Los Angeles came sprinting out of the gates from go. Their play was phenomenal, with a high-tempo half court kind of game with great play in the paint and excellent ball movement everywhere that had me absolutely amazed. Their half-court defense completely shut down the Shock, who had absolutely no ability to select good shots for the entire first half. Deanna Nolan of all people was held to five points in the first half. Maybe they were all taken aback by the fact that a visiting player, Candace Parker, received a greater ovation than anyone during the pre-game announcement of both teams' starting lineups. The Sparks looked unstoppable, and were looking down a 42-21 lead at one point in the second quarter.

Said a friend in attendance with me, "That's a Globetrotters score. They're playing one of the best teams in the league and you can't even tell."

The Sparks let up just a bit late in the second, but carried a 48-34 lead into halftime. For those of you who keep this in the back of your mind while watching a game as I do, you're thinking that they were on pace to win 96-68.

My perspective of the game changed significantly as it progressed. Early on, I was considering writing a simple recap and analysis of the game here. Then, I was going to consider turning this into a scathing critique of Sparks coach Michael Cooper, who, in one of this season's great coaching gaffes, turned a game in which his team should have put up 90 and won by at least 20 and made it a last second fight to the finish. He let his front court get out of position and give up space under the basket. He couldn't seem to figure out that he needed to tell Shannon Bobbitt not to hold on to the ball for the first 16 seconds of each possession. During a downright miserable third quarter, after Parker stopped the LA scoring lull with a great hustle play off a rebound, Cooper decided to immediately give her a break on the bench. Detroit never gained the lead, but shame on Cooper for letting them shave a 21 point lead to 1. If one more shot falls for the Shock, LA loses that game. Don't let your team go into cruise control.

Oh, did I say, "fight to the finish," just a moment ago? With 4.5 seconds left in the game, I gained an entirely new perspective on last night's action. Play had gotten progressively grittier and more physical as the game progressed, and Detroit especially began playing rough. Watching it all develop was like seeing a NHL playoff game where one team knows it's out of contention for the night and decides to try to hurt the members of the other team with a few questionable hits and some minor scuffling.

Except Detroit wasn't out of it in the least. But the team reminded us that it is coached by former bruising Pistons greats Bill Laimbeer and Rick Mahorn as they started giving unnecessarily hard fouls. LA was getting mugged.

That's when it happened. With 4.5 seconds left, Detroit's Plenette Pierson collided with the Sparks' Candace Parker, tempers flared, and the scuffle turned into a brawl on the court (Not a great video of the fight, but all I could come up with quickly). When (literally) push came to shove, at the end of the melee Parker and Delisha Milton-Jones were ejected from the Sparks, as were Detroit's Pierson and Mahorn, and the Shock suffered a casually as Cheryl Ford went down early with a nasty knee sprain and had to be taken off the court on a wheelchair.

Don't interpret my comments about Detroit's play above to mean that I think they were the only party in the wrong. Far from it. It's easy to love Candace Parker, and I admittedly can get caught up thinking that something going wrong must have been someone else's fault. She's a charismatic, phenomenal player who can seem to click at any position, and it's easy to get sucked in. That being said, the one thing I don't like about her is that she's a bit of a hothead. I could pretty much see the fight coming midway into the fourth quarter as she got into brief shoving matches after several plays, and Cooper needed to do a better job of cooling her down. In the collision that set off the brawl, she seemed to do her best to drag Pierson to the floor with her.

But Detroit were heavy instigators here, and I put a lot of blame on the coaching staff. Laimbeer and Mahorn need to realize that this isn't the '80s anymore, and the game has changed. You can't throw elbows, you can't punch a player when things get heated, and you definitely have no business clearing the bench with 4.5 seconds left. You can't have your players tackle their opponents when trying to foul to keep the game going. Give a quick swat at their arms when they've got the ball, head to the line, and continue with the game. Instead, the Shock were out to make their case physically.

Mahorn certainly deserved to be ejected. From my position in the stands, he was facing me, and it seemed to me like he did shove Lisa Leslie down during the fight. That aside, even assuming it was an accidental bump as he was trying to break everything up, he was in the wrong. It's one thing as a coach to step out onto the court to grab your players and try to pull them out of the mix. Your players. That's where the line is drawn. As a coach, you have no business touching the other team's players. That's the place of the LA staff and the refs, and Mahorn knows better.

Suspensions and fines will surely be handed out. While many of the Detroit fans seemed all too electrified hoping for another '04 Pacers-Pistons style brawl, this was a travesty. While the game may not have been great, the ending was shaping up to be very exciting. The Shock erased a 21-point lead to come back with every opportunity to steal the victory in the closing seconds. Instead, however, this took the momentum completely out of the game. Play was stopped for more than ten minutes, and the remaining 4.5 seconds (in which Detroit was then facing a 4-point deficit, though they kept things interesting with a late shot that again kept LA on their toes) went by in a kind of uninspired daze for those in attendance. It was all anticlimactic.

While it does occur to me that this might be the exact sort of thing to find its way to internet video and spark the curiosity of those who previously condemned women's basketball for being "soft" (which is nonsense to begin with), and while it could ignite an intense rivalry from here on out, it's still pretty sickening to think of last night's events as a positive in any light.

Fish out of water

2008-07-21T13:07:00.002-04:00

In a league where mimicry is king, who is Redskins owner Dan Snyder to buck trends?

The New York Giants' three-headed defensive end rotation of Michael Strahan, Justin Tuck and Osi Umenyiora won the G-men the Superbowl back in January, and has since sent the league into a pass-rush frenzy. Their NFC East rival, the Washington Redskins, has seized the opportunity to follow the leader.

Upon the season-ending injury of end Phillip Daniels during 7-on-7 drills recently, the Redskins traded for Pro Bowl end Jason Taylor of the Miami Dolphins. Miami's trade of the former Defensive Player of the Year is perhaps the least surprising bit of news in the NFL since Brett Favre's announcement that he's considering coming out of retirement. The Redskins sent their 2009 second-round pick along with a sixth rounder in 2010 in exchange for Taylor.

So who came out on top in this trade? For once, I'd say that Snyder made a rational decision, balancing both a need for caution and a pressing sense of urgency. The Redskins clearly got the better end of the deal. Moreso, I might say that Taylor came out a winner as well, getting away from a 1-15 team in an offseason boiling over with controversy onto a generally competetive team.

The Redskins ended up with an upgrade at the position (whether the trade talks were in place before or after Daniels' injury), replacing an injured player who only had 2 sacks last year to a 6-time Pro Bowler with 11 sacks to his credit in 2007. With Taylor agreeing to continue the rest of his two-year contract without alteration, he's the perfect way to bolster the Skins' defense, which ranked near the middle of the league in almost every category, in the short term.

What does this trade further highlight? Miami ~~lord emperor~~ vice president of football operations Bill Parcells is becoming less of a brilliant strategist and more of a stubborn mule with each passing season. Parcells has had a wonderful time finding a whipping post with which to assert his dominance upon arriving at any of his new locations. I could understand the release of veteran MLB Zach Thomas. But apparently that wasn't enough for the Tuna, who felt the need to alienate and ultimately drive out the only great player on a downright miserable defense. He may be pushing for youth with the newly acquired future draft picks and Matt Roth and rookie Phillip Merling filling the starting roles at ends in the 4-3, but he surely won't stay with the Dolphins long enough to see the fruits of that labor -- as unlikely as they are to materialize as a positive force.

Miami is plagued with a secondary with little talent and no depth. Take away a Jason Taylor-caliber pass rusher and you're left with a defense standing ready to make even whoever starts for the Jets or Bills look like a superstar. It's painful to even think of what Tom Brady and the Pats will do to that squad. Miami might as well start planning their #1 pick in the 2009 draft now.

Must be dreaming

2008-07-18T12:28:00.003-04:00

As the WNBA is quickly approaching its mid-season Olympic break, it has a lot to be happy about (and thankful for) with regards to the 2008 season so far. The season so far has played itself out to perfection, with strong competition across the league awarding the fans with a schedule full of suspense and great play nearly every day. Here are a few things so far that the W should be thrilled with:

Atlanta has finally started Dreaming.

Excuse the bad play on words, but it seemed appropriate. Atlanta, the league's new expansion team, seems to have gotten its wheels turning in the right direction. You may not immediately decide that given their current 3-19 record, but consider that they're 3-2 in their last five games. Consider also that of those five games, only one of those games (their July 5 win over Chicago) was played at home, and one of those two losses was in visiting the absolutely red hot San Antonio Silver Stars. Furthermore, two of those three victories were against teams entrenched in their respective playoff races (Indiana and Minnesota are currently each the 4th-ranked teams in the standings of the Eastern and Western Conferences, respectively).

Atlanta veteran guard Betty Lennox leads the team with 18.8 ppg.

Of course it's good for Atlanta. And it's good for the Eastern Conference -- the last thing the East wants is a bottom-dweller to underscore its lack of depth relative to the West. Most of all, it's great for the league. And obviously so. If the Dream can become competitive in the next few years and drum up local support in Atlanta, it bodes very well for future prospects of WNBA expansion into more markets. The idea of eventually becoming a 16-team league has most of us W fans salivating.

The Leslie-Parker two-headed dragon isn't running away with the West in hand.

In fact, they're currently in third place in the west behind both San Antonio and Seattle. While a dominant Los Angeles team would be an easy highlight for the league's marketing department, it's actually found itself in a great situation the way events have thus far unfolded.

Candace Parker is still unbelievably marketable. She, albeit expectedly, almost immediately established herself as one of the league's elite players, and has been mentioned in her rookie season as a league MVP candidate. Of course she is also responsible for the dunk heard round the world. The Sparks are certainly not in any poor position in terms of talent, potential or marketability.

What their lack of dominance does provide the league, though, is the affirmation that the WNBA is still an exciting, competetive, team-oriented sport. That is one key aspect of the women's game that is so exciting, and such a contrast to the NBA. Furthermore, on a more short-sighted by hardly less important level, it's providing fans with some great basketball. Knowing that no singularly dominant team is going to roll its competition gives great incentive to check out nearly every game the league has to offer.

Speaking of the West...

It's not LA or Phoenix at the top of the West, but rather Becky Hammon and the Silver Stars.

It's one of the tightest playoff races that I've ever seen. Every single team is in competition for a spot. Four teams -- Minnesota (currently in fourth), Sacramento, Phoenix and Houston -- are all stacked in the standings within a half-game range. The Lynx and Mercury are each also winning at least 40% on the road. The first place Silver Stars only have a 5.5 game lead on the last place Comets. What does it mean? There is no easy win in the West.

The depth of the 2008 draft class hasn't disappointed

Even without the presence of injured second overall pick center Sylvia Fowles, the league's rookies have played great. Consider the draft class of the Minnesota Lynx, made up by Candice Wiggins, Nicky Anosike and Charde Houston (in that order). Wiggins is second on the team in ppg (16.9) and Anosike is third (9.1). Those two are also valuable contributors to the team, being 2nd and 3rd, respectively, in minutes played. Anosike has started every game this season, and while Wiggins hasn't started but one game, her minutes and her play reflect that she may as well have. Houston, being a third-round pick, has been a solid roleplayer for the team, with 16.1 min/game and 7.1 ppg while shooting 46.8% from the field.

Look past the league's big three and look at the contributions of those like Anosike, Shannon Bobbitt, Alexis Hornbuckle, Tamera Young and Tasha Humphrey. While the WNBA may not be able to expect a class this top heavy every year, if the draft can continue to provide this kind of depth, the league has to look forward to great play and potential growth.

Headlines, 7.16.08

2008-07-16T08:37:00.007-04:00

Favre considers reporting to camp

In comments aired from his recent Fox News interview, Packers pseudo-retired QB Brett Favre has stated that he's tempted to report to training camp to, "you know, call their bluff or whatever."

Continuing to bolster his place in the running for the "Media Whore of the Year" award at the upcoming ESPY's, Favre acknowledged that such a move would inevitably turn the team's camp into a "media circus."

Chicago improves backfield...?

The Chicago Bears, a traditional ground-and-pound team in the peculiar situation of having naught but rookie RB Matt Forte in the backfield, strengthened their backfield by signing ex-Loins player Kevin Jones. Jones ran for 24 touchdowns in his four seasons with Detroit, and hopes to improve his productivity for his new team.

Said coach Lovie Smith, "I love Kevin. He's a great addition to our team. His only problem is his knee gets blown more often than Cedrick Benson's car-lock. Our training staff is going to have to work on that."

Rampage on a rampage

Former UFC light heavyweight champion Quinton "Rampage" Jackson was arrested at gunpoint in California on Tuesday. Jackson was apprehended by Costa Mesa police after a pursuit which SI.com's Josh Gross reported, "left debris and damaged cars in its wake."

Costa Mesa police have yet to apprehend the second suspect in the downtown destruction.

Rampage allegedly started the wreckage in Peoria, Illinois, stomping on cars, knocking down buildings, punching helicopters and eating people. Costa Mesa police say that their success in subduing Jackson was due to their ability to trap him in a body of water until he fell unconscious.

Rafa adds asteroid to trophy case

An astronomical observatory in Wimbledon champion Rafael Nadal's home island of Majorca requested that an asteroid be named after him, and the International Astronomical Union was happy to oblige.

In other news, a NASA scientist who wishes to remain anonymous is lobbying to rename the potential supermassive black hole at the center of the M32 galaxy after Andy Roddick, "because they both suck somethin' fierce."

Clippers trade for Denver center Camby

The Los Angeles Clippers traded for Denver center Marcus Camby on Tuesday. In return, the Nuggets received the option to swap 2009 second-round picks with the Clippers, though the move was made primarily to clear salary cap space for Denver.

In unrelated news, the Denver downtown development authority has announced plans to build a 40-foot bronze colossus statue of Cleveland star Lebron James on top of City Hall. Sources close to the situation would not provide further details, referring to the undertaking only as, "a completely ordinary city beautification project."

Moving on

2008-07-14T07:57:00.003-04:00

Someone in Green Bay may hunt me down and re-enact Kathy Bates' role in Misery in order to force me to print a retraction, but I must say that I'm a Ted Thompson fan. The man clearly has steel cajones.

If you've been living under a rock lately, you might not have heard that Brett Favre reportedly requested his unconditional release from the Packers this weekend. Since then, GM Thompson has been largely villified for his insistence that he will neither release the Green Bay icon nor undertake any particular effort to ensure the quarterback a trade. Since then, Packers fans have held a rally at Lambeau to try to convince the Packers' front office to immediately reinstate Favre as the starting quarterback. Dunderhead ESPN contributor Gene Wojciechowski has taken the opportunity to write a ridiculous emotional argument that this whole situation is Thompson's fault.

The continually unfolding events of the Favre controversy have proven to me what I think is something overwhelmingly wrong with men's professional sports; namely, that fans and the media alike allow individual athletes to become more important both on and off the field than the team, even the sport, itself. Yes, such individuals are what give sports their personalities, their star power, and a certain personal appeal. Without a T.O., Adam Jones, Chad Johnson, or Brett Favre, the offseason would be much less eventful, and the media services to which so many of us are addicted like crack would start to look something like the local news reporting about potholes on a slow Wednesday evening.

I digress. Woj is correct in that Thompson's statements about wanting to preserve Favre's legacy and whatnot are bunk, but his logic pretty much ends there. He is so busy trying to garner emotional appeal from his readers in a pro-Favre rant that he forgets that the NFL is a business. Always has been, always will be. If it wasn't, our man Woj here more than likely wouldn't have a job.

The enormous slant is obvious enough in the tagline of the article's opening image: "Brett Favre, left, wants to play again, but Packers GM Ted Thompson won't release him." Furthermore, Woj goes on to spew more rhetoric:

"But Favre has earned his share of diva currency, enough for one Get Out Of Retirement card. He's played hurt. He's played with his heart heavy with grief. And he's played for the moment, not the money. There are bits and pieces of his body all over Lambeau Field."

"Management says the "finality" of Favre's retirement prompted the Packers to "move forward with our football team.'' But how can you move forward if Favre is still on the depth chart? If you don't want him as your starter, which is beyond astounding, then why want him at all?"

"But I'd love to see Favre report to Packers training camp later this month. I'd love to see the beads of sweat form on Thompson's forehead as he realizes he miscalculated the situation. Again."

It's enough that my head is spinning with frustration.

Thompson really isn't calling anyone's bluff. He's done with Favre. He was done with Favre in March when he sobbed his way into retirement, as any good GM should have been. You generally assume that retirement actually means retirement. The fact is that this postseason is not by any means an isolated incident for Favre. For years now he's been playing the "Will I or won't I?" retirement consideration game each postseason, dragging the debate on further and further through the postseason each year (until his surprisingly quick retirement announcement this offseason). That kind of drama affects the draft, free agency, and training camp. It affects every aspect of personnel decisions and coaching philosophy. So I really think that his "diva currency" has been completely spent already.

On a brief aside, I would question the assertion that Favre has "played for the moment, not the money." It's not to say that I'm a jaded observer who doesn't believe that any pros stick around for the love of the game anymore. I truly do believe that Favre loves the game. But to pretend that someone whose salary cap figure has averaged over $10.65 million since 2003* and has 3-years remaining on his contract for $39 million isn't at all interested in money is a bit idealistic. He's not a hero. He's a quarterback. A very good quarterback, yes. An icon in the sporting world, yes. But don't make him out to be something he's not.

Furthermore, I'm not altogether convinced that the Packers will forever be worse off without Favre. Aaron Rodgers has been groomed extensively for three years now to be the eventual replacement for Favre. Note that I did not say "heir apparent" -- Rodgers does have to earn his dues just like anyone else does. Recent history suggests that talented college quarterbacks, given a few years to develop on the bench, have had relatively easier transitions to the pro game than have rookies. Furthermore, read Sal Paolantonio's critique of Favre's hype. I'm not trying to say that Favre isn't talented -- he's a great leader who, with the exception of the '05 and '06 seasons, has had some very solid regular seasons -- but it's looking like his time has passed in terms of getting the Pack through a complete postseason. It's time to look to the future, and upon Favre's alleged retirement, Thompson began to do just that.

Other analysts have suggested that it should be easy enough to bring Favre back as the starter, readjust the offense back to what it was, and tell Rodgers to just be patient for another year. Or two? Or three? Who knows how much longer Favre will continue to play this game? Thompson knows as well as anyone that Rodgers can only be so patient for so long, and to reverse course now would be just the way to drive him away. He's no sure thing, but it's sacrificing years of development effort for a completely indefinite term of service from Favre. Heck, Favre could play for half a season and decide he's had enough if the Pack aren't doing well.

Thompson knows he's on the hook for Favre's salary should he seek reinstatement. He knows he's on the hook for Rodgers's performance should he maintain his convictions. He knows that he's definitely on the hook with the Lambeau faithful. But he's a businessman. I don't see how there is any other choice to make.

* http://content.usatoday.com/sports/football/nfl/salaries/playerdetail.aspx?lname=favre&player=693

Head-scratching strategy

2008-07-10T23:50:00.007-04:00

I managed to catch myself up on some WNBA action today by watching archived web broadcast footage on wnba.com of yesterday's Dream-Lynx matchup, and by watching ESPN2's coverage of the Sparks-Monarchs. That is, I was watching the latter until it got really ugly.

I couldn't help but make a few observations. I was hoping that catching games would clear me up on some questions I had, as I haven't been able to see many lately, but instead they may have left me a bit more puzzled.

1. Why are the Lynx struggling around .500 on the season with the first-round talent that they have? Moreover, how on earth did they blow a double-digit lead late in the second half to give Atlanta their 2nd victory of the season?

Frankly, it was a little painful to watch. I was trying to figure out what exactly it is that's missing with that team. At times, they're firing on all cylinders (like when they start the game with a 14-2 run), and at others they just seem to go completely flat on both sides of the ball.

Backcourt talent certainly isn't the problem. Seimone Augustus proves every game that she's one of the best young players in the game -- I know she's listed as a forward on the team roster, but she's the very definition of a wing; more on that in a moment. She and my beloved Candice Wiggins are each in the league's top-15 in scoring at the time of this post (#7 and #15 with 18.8 and 16.7 ppg, respectively). Minnesota is also looking for second-year point guard Lindsey Harding to get back into a groove after missing much of the season until now due to injury. Noelle Quinn has been serviceable on defense and has been able to make a large number of assists in the many minutes she's been logging as of late.

Unfortunately for the Lynx, the talent isn't overwhelming beyond that. Nicky Anosike is having a solid rookie campaign at center. The rest of the front court, when Minnesota isn't running three guards, is made up of a jumble of minor roleplayers in the likes of Kristen Rasmussen, Latoya Thomas, Nicole Ohlde, Vanessa Hayden-Johnson, Charde Houston, etc. I don't suppose it's anything to write home about. The problem here is that the Lynx don't seem to have any definitive gameplan on establishing an interior presence on either side of the court. That leads me to my next question, which might further serve to answer this one.

1a. What on earth kind of cockamamie strategy is Coach Zierden trying to utilize?

The interesting thing to me about women's basketball is that the sport, out of necessity, takes the traditional men's concept of positions and throws it to the wind. Wings (hybrid SG/SF players), combo guards, and center-forwards abound. Unless you drafted Sylvia Fowles, you're going to have better luck finding a genie's magic lamp to wish for a true center than actually signing one. For these reasons and many others, it takes some real creativity to put together a cohesive gameplan, I'd imagine.

But the Lynx still look like a team desperately trying to find an identity. Seimone Augustus is an absolutely dominant wing, and when she's on her game, Minnesota will always have a chance to win. The rare combination of talents that allow her to drive the lane, make long jumpers, and in general make defensive players look stupid allow her to completely change the dynamic on the court. That being said, she's being asked to do too much. In the game against Atlanta, I swore that I saw her trying to play every position except center at different points during the game. Credit her for her versatility, but that's too much to ask of one player. She needs the support around her to allow her to focus on what she's absolutely best at.

Candice Wiggins can do no wrong in my eyes, but if I'm trying to be as objective as possible, she's not going to fill the bill of a pure point guard in her rookie season. She's a phenomenal combo guard, and can also drive defenses crazy, but she's a rookie nonetheless (albeit June's Rookie of the Month!). The Lynx's occasional confused zone defense leaves me seeing her defending in the paint too often, and she (along with the team in general) needs to be encouraged on occasion to move some more off the ball. But I blame those two things as much on coaching as on any given individual. She's a perimeter player who can be deadly with her agility and ability to turn the corner and drive the basket. Let her play her position.

Come to think of it, the Lynx can't seem to settle on a point guard. Wiggins, Harding and Quinn all put in significant minutes leading the offense, and that's not mentioning the number of times that you'll see Augustus run the play start-to-finish from the top of the key. If Zierden's goal is to confuse his opponents into submission, he's on the right track.

Furthermore, throw in that Nicky Anosike is playing center. I think it's more because her passing skills are absolutely atrocious, but she seems to me like she could develop more into an effective power forward. Let Vanessa Hayden-Johnson throw her frame around Shaq-esque and allow Anosike to play the post more. I'm not about to claim that I'm smarter than the coach, otherwise I'd have his job, but it's a thought.

In general, I think the Lynx just have a young team that needs more support from the coaching staff, a few more offseasons to acquire some inside talent, and most importantly, some time to develop. Things aren't about to get any easier in the Western Conference anytime soon, but I'll remain optimistic.

2. What is going on with the Sparks as of late?

Again, I fall back on some of Q's analysis at Rethinking Basketball, but I'll throw in my own two cents here.

Coach Cooper needs to quickly shake the Sparks out of their recent funk

As I watched the first half and noted a double-digit discrepancy in turnovers in the Monarchs' favor, it occured to me that the Sparks had to be feeling pretty darn content with a 3-point lead going into the half. What happened after that is beyond me. To call it a meltdown would be insulting to Chernobyl. I recall thinking that the Sparks seem to have the opposite problem that the Lynx have as I detailed above -- namely, they have tremendous interior talent (in Lisa Leslie and Candace Parker) and seem to have grasped on to an identity a bit too quickly.

What I mean by that is that I too often saw LA's offensive strategy reduce itself to "throw the ball to whoever is standing in front of the basket and hope the magic happens." Even with a future Hall of Fame center and one of the most talented rookies to ever enter the women's game, that's not the most effective way to run an offense. The times when I saw their offense working at its best was when they took the opportunity to move the ball in, out and around; maybe it was inevitably on-route to Leslie or Parker in the paint, but it at least had the defense on its heels until then.

All things said, despite having to watch my team lose (though the Shock managed to hold first place in the East with a big win over the Sun on Wednesday, so at least that went my way) it was good to catch the games. A little one-sided and more than a bit disappointing, but good nonetheless. There are some potentially exciting matchups coming up this weekend, so join me in trying to catch at least one.

Introducing: Elena Delle Donne

2008-07-09T13:21:00.006-04:00

I have to confess this before I get to saying anything else. I wasn't going to write this profile until I read an interesting piece on one of my favorite blogs, Rethinking Basketball. I will say what I can about this fantastic player, but I am going to digress and go off on a loosely related tangent.

That being said, for those of you who haven't heard of her, take note of Elena Delle Donne, the 6'4" wing from the Ursuline Academy in Delaware. She is Hoopgurlz's #1 rated recruit for the upcoming 2008 women's college basketball season, lauded by many as the hottest recruit since Candace Parker, and UConn's Geno Auriemma was plenty happy to take her commitment as soon as he could possibly get it. In fact I'm sure he may have wet himself a little knowing that he, and not Pat Summitt, would have Delle Donne on his team.

I'll let this video do much of the talking for me:

I don't think her positional classification as wing, a combination of the shooting guard and small forward positions, could be better applied to anyone since Parker. She has the size to play in the paint, the agility to play off the ball, and the range to drain quick threes seemingly at will. I provided much hype regarding 2009's #1 recruit, Brittney Griner, in a past post. While Griner has unbelievable physical tools, you have to be equally excited about Delle Donne's polish and the completeness of her game. All she needs is experience in the college ranks under the guidance of Auriemma and she'll be well on her way to a successful professional career.

Here's where I take a hard turn left.

The problem, and it has many UConn faithful sweating bullets, is that Delle Donne may not report to Connecticut to play this season. She may not set foot on a basketball court. The star recruit attended summer sessions for two days at Connecticut before abruptly turning around and heading back home.

"I loved the campus, I loved the girls and working with [coach Geno Auriemma]. I'm taking a personal break for different reasons."

She has since further insisted that she and her family are working on her own personal issues, and the public at large does not seem to be privy to any further details. Bad for the national media, nerve-wracking for UConn, but good for Elena.

As far as can be assumed, Elena cracked. She's been under pressure from recruiters since before high school, speculation for years that she could start in the WNBA without even going to college. And please, stop yourself right now before you make a smart remark to yourself about a lack of mental toughness being the problem with the women's game. Lebron handled the same hype and more, true. But he had mentors. Men's high school athletes have been subject to recruiting and scouting, like
this absolute monstrosity, for years. There are other athletes out there to form a support system, beyond their own families, to advise, counsel and mentor these young men. It's just not out there for women. Not until very recently, perhaps as recently as Candace Parker and Maya Moore, has this kind of spotlight been shined on female athletes. You, me, or anyone else can't blame her for wilting under the pressure. I only hope that the young lady is able to straighten herself out and come back to lead a successful career.

This story drew my interest particularly after I read Q's analysis of the WNBA's age requirement. To make it short and sweet, the league's strict policy requires women to be 22 years old, the expected age of a student's college graduation, before she may enter the league. Q does a good job of looking at the argument from many perspectives, and I was particularly struck by the section on gender equity (hint, hint -- give it a read).

On one hand, these young ladies, as the argument goes for male athletes, should have a right to make their own career decisions as they feel are appropriate. I do, however, strongly support the idea that athletes of both genders do have some maturing to do at the collegiate level before they enter the world of professional sports. Idealistically, it's a bit of a head-scratcher as to why the WNBA, a NBA affiliate organization, should have different rules than men. While there is an unbelievable income difference between the two leagues -- your average women's player will make less in a year than most men will make during their summer league stints -- it is nonetheless condescending to believe that there is something fundamentally different about women that implies that they need to finish their degrees or require more time to develop physically and mentally.

For the record, I believe that it is great for these women to serve as role models for young girls by finishing their degrees and being successful at the college ranks. It is great for their careers that they can develop in college, and I do not believe that there is an individual out there -- regardless how big their sneaker contract -- who could not benefit from the experience and knowledge gained through their time at a university. However, this is about equality, and a difference in rules such as this is essentially the same as the NBA directly admitting that they view the WNBA as inferior in every way. I wouldn't be surprised if, with the emergence of talents like Parker, Moore, Griner and Delle Donne, the NBA is soon enough either institutionally forced to reconsider its position, or hit with an EEO lawsuit big enough to make their heads spin.

Headlines, 7.9.08

2008-07-09T10:27:00.004-04:00

Two birds with one stone

Current light heavyweight and super middleweight champion Joe Calzaghe has officially announced that he will ~~maul~~ fight Roy Jones, Jr., for the 175-lb. title on April 19, 2009, in Las Vegas. Calzaghe stated after his victory over former light heavyweight champ Bernard Hopkins that he would most likely fight only once more, and that he wants that fight to be against Jones.

"It would be a great way to end two careers in one night," said Calzaghe.*

Calzaghe hopes the win will send him into retirement with an undefeated 46-0 record, while Jones looks to end his years-in-the-making comeback with a win in a fight that anyone cares about.

* Legal note: I really hope that people reading this understand that I make these quotes up.

Favre texts Packers GM, says "OMG LOL I CANS PLAY?"

In the ongoing Brett Favre retirement saga, recent reports claim that Favre recently texted Packers GM Ted Thompson about a potential return.

When asked about their sources, ESPN News Services neglected to comment on how they made this discovery. Speculation in other media circles has conjectured that ESPN either has an intern sewn to Favre's hip, or that the network was ready with pen and paper blazing as Favre stood on a milk crate screaming through a bullhorn, "ONE MORE SUMMER IN THE HEADLINES, PLEASE!?"

SMU to change uniforms

The SMU football program has announced that it will harken back to a more traditional look with its new uniforms this season.

SMU Director of Athletics Steve Orsini said that the change back to the Mustangs' traditional white helmets and pants represented a harkening back to its winning tradition. Historians have worked long and hard to recall that Orsini is referring to the days when Doak Walker played for the Mustangs.

New coach June Jones has said that he plans to use the new uniforms as an opportunity to blend old tradition with his new school approach. Jones said that his traditionally clad Mustangs will continue a position of irrelevance in a non-BCS conference, and are working hard to make a late change to their 2008 schedule so that they can get trounced by the Georgia Bulldogs.

Utes make case for BCS membership

In more college football news, experts at a Utah football blog are making the case for the Utes to enter the Pac-10 as an eleventh member should the conference decide to expand.

Among the arguments made are the instillment of traditional Mormon values in SoCal** and the desire to play USC annually instead of having to travel east to raise revenue through losses to major programs.

**Moral note: That was inappropriate of me, and I apologize to any Mormon readers or anyone else who may have been offended by my quip. That being said, I just couldn't help myself.

Update: I have been informed, as you can see in the comments, that I'm being a stereotyping fool, and that I completely misrepresented Utah. Good to know. Moving along...

Jagr to leave NHL

NHL star Jaromir Jagr, who played last season for the New York Rangers, has decided to leave the league and instead sign a two-year deal with the Russian club Avangard Omsk.

Jagr has stated his admiration for anyone who can spell their name with so many consonants. Mostly, however, Jagr expressed that he was overwhelmingly happy to finally be able to move back to a country where he can fashionably wear his hair as he wishes.

The devil is in the details

2008-07-07T13:39:00.003-04:00

To further prove that Floyd Mayweather, Jr., has always been about money and fame rather than love of his sport, the recently retired pound-for-pound boxing king felt the need to open his mouth more. The former champ, in a continued effort to find the spotlight as much as possible without standing in a ring, accused HBO announcers of racial bias in their commentary.

"They talk about Kelly Pavlik, a white fighter, like he's the second coming. Or they go crazy over Manny Pacquiao. But I'm a black fighter," Mayweather said. "Is it racial? Absolutely. They praise white fighters, they praise Hispanic fighters, whatever. But black fighters, they never praise.

"I've noticed it for a long time but I couldn't say anything because I had to do business with them. I'll still do business with them, but I'm done holding my tongue."

Forgive me if I can't think of a time that Mayweather was ever holding his tongue in the first place. If he was, I would be shocked to know what was more outrageous than the commentary that's always come out of his mouth in the first place.

Mayweather ignores the fact that for years he, as an African American boxer, was lauded as the king of boxing. The champ. The face of the sport in a time when the heavyweight division has been a mockery. You don't headline the richest fight in boxing history by being swept aside by the media. Yes, Oscar de la Hoya took home a much larger purse than did Mayweather, but attribute that to the Golden Boy's role through his promotion company, Golden Boy Promotions. Any negative promotion of PBF was due to him running his gums and portraying himself in the heel of a major event run by the most marketable fighter to ever step into a ring. De la Hoya certainly didn't make that money fighting Steve Forbes.

With DLH's career finale looming at the end of this year, Mayweather stood in the perfect position to take over that role. It wouldn't have been in the same likeable, Latin Grammy-winning, smiling persona, but he would have been the king. And the passing of the torch couldn't have come any more perfectly than through the proposed rematch with the Golden Boy -- an inevitably one-sided, boring fight, but a marketing dream nonetheless. From there, all he had to do was take a meaningful fight, and I don't mean a WWE cameo against the Big Show. Miguel Cotto, Antonio Margarito. Hell, the boxing world would have given him credit for at least appeasing us with a beatdown of Kermit Cintron or Paul Williams. Prove your dominance and step up to the Junior Middleweight ranks again -- this is where PBF fought DLH, and Mayweather came in 4-lb. short of max weight, stepping in at 150 -- and fight a Sergio Mora, or a Vernon Forrest.

Or, a novel concept, attack the source of your contention directly. Mayweather claims that HBO has favored white fighters like current middleweight champ Kelly Pavlik. PBF has had us believe that he could step up to any weight class and emerge victorious. Prove it. A fight against Pavlik would silence the critics, though I doubt it would silence Mayweather.

However, Mayweather has left boxing without a dominant African American fighter. Look at each division -- Sam Peter won't get his due until he fights Wladimir Klitschko; Joe Calzaghe beat Bernard Hopkins to take over the light heavyweight division; Kelly Pavlik is dominating the middleweight division while Winky Wright continues to talk himself out of fights; and nobody can argue that anyone other than Miguel Cotto and Antonio Margarito are the kings of the welterweight division. Black presence in the sport is at a lull; there's nothing to say that it's anything permanent, it's just the facts of the current situation. Any lack of focus on African Americans in boxing is because of the departure of their most dominant representative, Mayweather.

The history of boxing has been built on the success of African American fighters. Muhammad Ali. Joe Frazier. Joe Louis. Sugar Ray Leonard. Sugar Ray Robinson. Lennox Lewis. Mike Tyson. I could go on for days. Each has affected the sport and changed it with his presence.

Joe Louis was a hero for African Americans and for the nation as a whole in his day. His victory over Max Schmeling was a symbolic victory both for America over Nazi Germany, as well as a triumphant stand for the place of African Americans in sports.

Look at Ali-Frazier. Frazier was the establishment, the hard-working, tough, nose-to-the-grindstone champ that everyone loved. Ali was the young upstart, loudmouthed, über-athletic phenom who many loved to hate. You think boxing doesn't embrace villains? Ali may be regarded by many as the greatest fighter to ever set foot in the squared circle, but he didn't do it all by making friends.

The greatest rivalry

2008-07-02T15:16:00.005-04:00

Ok, really, I mean it this time. Last post before Monday. I'll be on vacation as of tomorrow, for crying out loud.

I just had to post something here because I just had an argument with a Michigan fan from the west side of the state. Due to his proximity to South Bend, he has on many occasions made it clear that the Michigan-Notre Dame rivalry is more important to him than that between Michigan and Ohio State. My intendedly comedic jabs at him that he's wrong quickly escalated into a heated debate of epic proportions, ending in him playing the victim and telling me that I clearly don't care what he has to say.

At the heart of the debate was his contention that Michigan-Notre Dame is, nationally, the #2 rivalry in all of college football (behind Michigan-OSU, of course). Personally, I don't think it even compares to USC-Notre Dame; however, he contends that his proximity means he knows Notre Dame fans better -- never mind that there are the Michigan and USC halves of the equations were left unattended in his argument. I'm not even convinced that the rivalry is a bigger deal than Michigan-Michigan State, but I'll ignore that for the moment. More importantly, I think it is unbelievable to argue that the Michigan-Notre Dame -- while it is an intense rivalry -- is bigger than the likes of Army-Navy, USC-UCLA, Auburn-Alabama, Texas-Oklahoma, Florida-Florida State, etc., etc., etc..........

I would say that I feel like I'm taking crazy pills, but I don't. I'm pretty damn confident that my argument makes more sense. So I open the floor to all of you. Either here in the comments section, or in the poll which I will soon post (or both), please tell me what you think about the above arguments. Who is the nation's biggest rivalry? Where does Michigan-ND rank in the grand scheme of things? Am I taking crazy pills? And let me know why. I can't wait to hear from you.

The Boston Sports Guy

2008-07-02T10:57:00.002-04:00

Ok, so I couldn't stay away for an entire week. I will have to make this my last post until Monday, though, so soak it all in while you still can.

I was reading ESPN's Page 2, and finally got around to reading Bill Simmons's draft diary. Needless to say, I didn't know whether to laugh, cry, or vomit. But through the awkward sense of nausea, I sensed that Bill wasn't telling us the whole truth in his musings. I've tried to parse together what he wrote with what he must have been thinking (in italics, for your convenience!) while writing the column...

Andy Katz breathlessly reports Chicago will definitely take Derrick Rose first.
Little does Katz know that Boston GM Danny Ainge has already used his superior intellect to convince the Bulls and the Heat to both trade their first-round picks to Boston in exchange for Ron Artest. League officials may argue that Ainge can’t trade a player whose rights he doesn’t own, but after he waves his hand and tells them to look elsewhere for their droids, they will cease the protest. Chicago and Miami can argue over who has to keep Artest on their roster.
…
4:31 p.m. PT: Stu introduces David Stern by reminding us it's our 25th straight draft with the Commish.
Blahblahblah, on to pick 30. Rose to Boston. He’ll fall. He has to. It’s Celtics destiny.
…
4:37: Chicago takes Rose first, followed by the requisite super-awkward shot of the Bulls' war room applauding like someone just gave a bad best man's speech. Why don't the people in draft war rooms ever know how to properly celebrate a great pick? They're even worse at celebrating than PGA golfers and their caddies.
It’s like they have something else to do, like work. Isn’t running a NBA front office just like writing my columns? Sit at home with my TV and laptop gazing at the Big Three mural on my wall and occasionally talking to my pet bird, Larry. Get it? Damn, I’m witty.
Waitaminute, did they just take Rose? Hmm… Danny must have some master plan cooked up to acquire him later in the draft for a bag of Cheetos and a “Kiss me, I’m Irish” t-shirt.
…
4:50: Normally, Mayo is disarmingly winsome and charming in interviews, to the point that part of me wants to legally adopt him. (I wish I had thought of this 10 years ago.) Not right now, not when he's coming to the realization he will be spending the next five years shoveling snow in Minnesota. Even Stephen A. can't get a rise out of him. Is it too early to list O.J. as the top free agent of the summer of 2013?
He’ll come to Boston. My pants are starting to fit funny just thinking about it. Or maybe he’ll go to Indiana. Wait. The Celtics never lose out on free agent deals. But would that be blasphemy to say that Larry Bird is fallible? Oh… my head hurts…
…
5:04: Say what you want about the Kevin Love pick, but it did lead to some old ABA and NBA highlights of his Dad, as well as our first Dad interview of the night! Before the draft, I put down $200 on the over of "2.5 Dad Interviews." Two more Dads to go. Come on.
Suckers. I’ll win that bet easy, seeing as I’ll be interviewing my Dad 6 times in the next 45 minutes.
…
5:06: The Sports Gal's take: "Why did they boo him? He's really cute!"
Boston… Boston… Polish sau... oops. Boston… Boston…
…
7:30: You know, David Stern makes me mad sometimes. He screwed the Celtics by making them keep Reggie Lewis on their cap for three years when the poor guy was dead; he nearly screwed them over by not annulling the Gasol trade; and now, he didn't even give us the satisfaction of hearing him say, "With the 30th pick of the 2008 NBA draft, the WORLD CHAMPION Boston Celtics take?" Nope, he just said, "Boston Celtics." I'm done with you, Stern. That's the final straw. I'm throwing my support behind Adam Silver in the November election.
Or Larry Bird. He’d make a great commissioner. After all, he’s done such a fine job in Indiana. But they don’t love him like I do. He needs to rule the NBA. And the world. He can come to the draft dressed in a green and white cape with a crown and a scepter. He’ll kick the Spurs out of the league and let the Patriots take their spot in the playoffs for offseason conditioning. It would be glorious…
Oops. Hmm… just made a mess of myself thinking about that. Need a new pair of shorts. Quick. Find a way to end the column. Something… got it.
Ladies and gentleman, your 2008 world champion Boston Celtics!

Quick updates

2008-07-01T12:55:00.004-04:00

Just some quick links here. I'm going to be out of town, so I'll be taking the rest of this week off. That should leave me refreshed and ready to put the nose to the grindstone that is 5280' once again come Monday. I just want to thank everyone who reads this; this has been a slow start, but it's been a lot of fun.

Go Blue! Michigan finished third in the final 2007-08 Directors' Cup standings. Not at all surprisingly, Stanford won its 14th consecutive cup (North Carolina, in the cup's inaugural 1993-94 season, is the only other school to have ever won the award). UCLA took its sixth 2nd-place finish, and Michigan took its ninth top-5 finish. Arizona State and Texas, respectively, rounded out this year's top-5.

What to Watch, a little recommended viewing. I'd say that you will be tested on this material upon my return, but I may not be able to catch it myself:

-- Catch the rest of the Tigers/Twins series tonight at 8:10pm, and tomorrow at 1:10pm, as the league's two hottest teams race to catch up to the White Sox in the AL Central division. Detroit won last night's contest 5-4 after coming back in the 7th and 8th innings from a 4-1 deficit.

-- Boston's got some great games over the next week. Tonight and tomorrow the Red Saawwwx play the Rays, who beat them last night to maintain their surprising AL East lead. After that series wraps up, Boston flies to New York where the the Yankees will host them in a four-game series.

-- On July 12 on HBO, you can watch Wladimir Klitschko give the pimp-hand to mandatory challenger to his IBF/WBO heavyweight title Tony Thompson, if you so choose. I'm not going to lie to you, there isn't a ton worth watching in the world of boxing until July 26 on HBO PPV, when Miguel Cotto will defend his WBA welterweight title against Antonio Margarito. Unfortunately, it won't be a unification bout, as Margarito was forced to vacate his IBF title when he had the cojones to fight Cotto instead of some chump mandatory challenger. And we're all left scratching our heads.

-- On Thursday, July 3, you should watch the LA Sparks host the Minnesota Lynx (10:30pm). Oh wait, it's not being televised nationally. Go figure. For some reason it's not being broadcast via wnba.com either, to my knowledge.

-- HOWEVAH, you should watch Sunday's matchup in which the Sparks host the Phoenix Mercury (9:30pm, NBA TV, possibly available on webcast?) if you can, if for no other reason than that I said so.

-- There is nothing else going on in sports for the most part, now that Spain won the UEFA Euro 2008. So you should look at your calendar and start counting down, as there are only about 58 days, 3 hours and 17 minutes until the College Football season officially starts. Not that anyone's counting.

Alright guys, thanks. See you Monday.

No-no nonsense and a busted DH

2008-06-30T09:13:00.003-04:00

For those of you who missed it, the Dodgers beat the Angels in interleague play this weekend without getting a hit. Not one.

How did they manage that? Well, you can read the above link or I can give you the quick recap. In the fifth inning of an until-then scoreless game, Matt Kemp came to bat for the Dodgers. He hit a little dinker toward first base that Angels pitcher Jerod Weaver mishandled and failed to get to first base on time. It was ruled an error, not a hit.

Kemp proceeded to steal second on the next at-bat, and when the catcher's throw found itself in centerfield instead of second base, Kemp rounded the corner and took third as well. At that point, with less than two outs, all that was needed was for Blake DeWitt to hit a sac fly to drive Kemp in. The Dodgers maintained the shutout for the 1-0 win.

Well the silver lining for the Angels staff is that they get credit for a no-hitter, right? After all, Major League rules do consider a game a no-hitter for an entire staff despite the starting pitcher not throwing a complete game. Oh wait. No no-no? That's right. As the Dodgers were the home team, in these unusual circumstances they didn't have to bat the bottom of the ninth, and therefore the game couldn't be ruled a no-hitter for the Angels staff. Talk about bad luck.

In other baseball news, Gary Sheffield is back in the lineup for the Detroit Tigers. Fanfare? Anyone?

I can't say I expected (or hoped for) any considering the performance this season by the $13 million designated hitter. He's hitting .219 on the season with an OPS of .698. "But that's not fair!" you might say. "He was injured through much of May and June, and he hit two home runs in his first few games back in the lineup!"

Yes, I'll give him his due respect. This month he's managed to put together an impressive .250 batting average with two dingers.

Forgive me if I'm not exactly wetting myself with excitement, especially considering those numbers are pretty much on-par with third-year infielder Ryan Raburn. Raburn is hitting .267 this month, .250 over his last six games (the same number that Sheffield's played since his return) with two homers to his own credit. He's also batting .224 on the season with an OPS of .719. Oh, he's also making less than $400,000 -- roughly 3% of Sheffield's current salary.

Let's also compare the numbers to a deserving candidate for the full-time DH position, Marcus Thames. His .280 batting average was tempered to a degree by a bad April -- something that we cannot begrudge any one individual Tiger -- in which he only hit .200, and he's batting .286 this month with a 1.128 OPS and he's gone yard nine times (14 this season). (Note: It has occured to me that hits other than HRs are important, but A: this is the American League we're talking about, and B: Sheffield did a fantastic job in his minor league stint of showing us that he doesn't exactly stack up with Ichiro in terms of getting on base without slugging the ball into the stands.)

Now, I can scream until I'm blue in the face, but the Tigers are winning. They just finished sweeping the Rockies and have won six straight series. But I'm of the "If it ain't broke..." mentality. The team was playing great without Sheffield. Younger players have been contributing in big ways. It does occur to me that with Magglio Ordonez on the 15-day DL (joining fielding sensation, if not slightly batting-inept, Brandon Inge) the Tigers need to ensure a strong, experienced presence in the lineup -- but I'm not really buying it too much.

Update: Ironically, not longer after I wrote this post I was perusing a softball blog for which an author wrote an interesting article about why batting states are pretty useless. While it was about softball, the fundamentals and the basic argument still hold. As the author played a hell of a lot more baseball than I ever have and is a softball coach, I will defer to that opinion. That being said, I still maintain that Sheffield is not worth $13M/year.

Introducing: Brittney Griner

2008-06-26T13:20:00.005-04:00

Brittney Griner isn't going to enter the women's college basketball ranks until 2009, but the 6'8" soon-to-be high school senior has been garnering unbelievable amounts of hype since 2007.

It might have something to do with the YouTube video of her effortlessly dunking, over and over. She's somewhat of an internet celebrity now (she even has her own website now), being stopped by many on the street who recognize "that high school girl who can dunk."

See more funny videos at CollegeHumor

Dunking, of course, was more of an acquired skill for the still raw talent -- Griner has only been playing basketball since the 9th grade. The first skill that she displayed and thoroughly enjoyed was shot blocking, and it's certainly none too challenging for the girl with an 86.5" wingspan (for comparison, that's on par with Lennox Lewis). Her father will argue, and doctors have allegedly agreed, that Brittney may still grow to 6'10" or 6'11" by the time she reaches college.

Griner -- the #1 ranked women's high school player by ESPN Hoopgurlz -- has already committed to Baylor, choosing the Bears over Pat Summitt's Tennessee Lady Vols in order to stay close to her home in Houston. While the Baylor team is certainly no bunch of slouches (and while I do thoroughly enjoy watching Summitt dominate the women's game), I think it's great for the talent diversity of the college women's game that she didn't go to a major power like UT, UConn, Rutgers or Duke.

She should prove to be a dominant post player if she can continue to learn the game and refine her skills. Here is a video that displays a little less pure dunking highlights and a little more shot blocking, jump shooting and laying up.

It has occured to me that my last statements appear to be slightly vanilla and lacking in overwhelming enthusiasm regarding the talent. If she is properly coached through college, I think she can be a force to dominate and change both the play of and perception of women's basketball at both the professional and amateur levels. It just might turn a few heads favorably to see a forceful post player who can play above the rim.

That being said, I'm simply trying to keep a level head -- she is still in high school, and she has been playing against talent who probably average at least half a foot less in height than her. There is, of course, no sure thing in the world of sports.

I'm mostly trying to avoid ridiculous hyperbole like that of ESPN's Clay Kallam, who has already anointed her with his article "Griner could be best women's basketball player of all time." No, I didn't make that up. Kallam makes her out to be an absolutely unstoppable basketball machine with fine-tuned perfected skills in all aspects of the game, already comparing her to greats like Lisa Leslie and WNBA rookie superstar Candace Parker. Here is perhaps my favorite excerpt from Kallam's article:

Now, those blocks are her calling cards. She can control a game without scoring because she's not just 6-8; she's a long 6-8. She is also a fine athlete and would undoubtedly be a pretty good player even if she were 5-foot-7. As with her length, athleticism and timing, she is the best shot-blocker the women's game has ever seen. In a recent spring tournament, she would lay in wait in the lane as a 3-point shooter wound up on the perimeter. As the ball was released, she would leap out and intersect the shot long after it had left the shooter's hand.

I have to presume then, that while Griner was blocking the shot with one hand, she stretched her other arm a-la Mr. Fantastic out through a window to grab an infant from a burning building. Griner's not 5'7", and to state that she would "undoubtedly" be good at that height is absurd. I don't mean to insult her, but it's hard to dunk, post up and block shots at that height. I'm 5'9" -- I've got a pretty good idea of that.

ESPN's Chris Hansen has a slightly more level-headed approach to the high school phenom in his "Extended Evaluation," pointing out that Griner still has a lot to learn, particularly on the offensive side of the court. She needs to stop settling for contested jump shots and learn to use her physical tools to stop defenders from forcing her away from the basket -- funny, because these points are in direct contradiction to those of Kallam. However, Hansen falls into similar exaggeration -- it's probably something in the water at ESPN headquarters -- in later comparing her defensive skills to "Marcus Camby, Dikembe Mutombo, Hakeem Olajuwon, Bill Russell and Ben Wallace." Mr. Russell's 11 NBA Championship rings would argue that she is still on the low end of the learning curve.

Again, I do fear that I've taken too much of a turn toward breaking down her inadequacies (something I couldn't possibly do accurately given the extremely little footage available to me and my lack of basketball expertise) in an attempt to shine a spotlight on ESPN's lunacy. She looks like a hell of a talent who has put herself in a good situation to become a truly dominant player. I hope that she lives up to her potential and beyond for both her sake and that of women's basketball as a whole.

Headlines, 6.25.08

2008-06-25T08:56:00.006-04:00

Update: Shaq stripped of deputy's badges, left with bad taste in mouth

Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio has stripped Shaquille O'neal of his special deputy's badges, citing inappropriate language and racial conduct in the Phoenix Suns center's recent rap attacking former teammate Kobe Bryant. Video of the freestyle session, released by TMZ, quickly went viral and was the target of much criticism for its crude and derogatory language.

Horse tests positive for performance enhancers, expected to testify in front of Congress

Salute the Count, a horse trained by Rick Dutrow, tested positive for excessive levels of Clenbuterol, a medication which is approved in limited amounts.

Senator Arlin Specter has demanded that Salute the Count appear on Capitol Hill by the end of the week to testify. Questioned on how appropriate it would be to have the animal appear for the investigation, Specter ceded that it would not be the first horse's ass to enter Senate chambers.

Lightning hire Melrose as new head coach

In hockey's worst-kept secret, the Tampa Bay Lightning recently introduced former LA Kings head coach and TV analyst Barry Melrose as its new head coach.

Melrose has said that he believes that the Lightning have the talent to compete with the league's elite teams, but have lacked motivation since their 2004 Stanley Cup championship. To instill team unity, Melrose plans on making mandatory the sporting of mullets. Sleazy goatees, however, will remain optional.

Benson ordered to install ignition-lock breath tester in car

After being charged with drunk driving, Chicago Bears running back Cedric Benson has been ordered to install an ignition-lock breath tester in his car to prevent the vehicle from starting if it detects that Benson has been drinking.

Travis County officials have also suggested that Benson be ordered to install similar devices on his boat, moped, bicycle, skateboard, running shoes and football cleats.

Dishing it off to... Rethinking Basketball

2008-06-24T13:13:00.009-04:00

I do try quite hard to try to come up with new, fresh ideas for discussion here. What I have realized in the past few months is that it is extremely difficult to break into the world of sports commentary and come up with something new.

As far as I can see it, there are essentially three ways of discussing sports:

1) Reporting. With major networks like ESPN, Yahoo! Sports, CBS, etc., it would be rather pointless (and presumptuous) for me to believe that I can get you news faster than any of these. Nor do I have more accurate insight than established blogs like MGoBlog. For these reasons, I tend to default to the following two concepts...

2) Pontificating. Such articles are those, of course, in which I get on my soapbox and blather about what I think, hoping that you are all so generous as to believe that any of it is worth reading and taking into consideration.

3) Traveshamockery. Sometimes I just can't keep a straight face when thinking about certain events in sports. Like when a NASCAR race is on TV. I laugh. Or I cry. It's a nice change of pace to being serious all of the time.

I very much prefer to stick to the latter two, and perhaps through these mediums you might find out something you hadn't yet read or seen by chance.

All of that being said, I do acknowledge that I am still finding my voice, my Muse, in getting a more focused guiding direction for my rantings. Or maybe I don't. If any of you prefer the disjointed attention-deficit that afflicts my thoughts, please let me know. I appreciate the encouragement.

Anyway, while I don't wish to be a switch board to route you to other sites' material, occasionally I will feel compelled to let you know when I see an article, blog entry, or other such material that strikes me as particularly interesting or compelling.

Here is one such article. From Rethinking Basketball, it's a pretty outstanding piece of journalism regarding how the internet can help the WNBA, or any organization, for that matter, better market itself.

It's this kind of writing that I most admire, that which takes something as seemingly innocuous as Candace Parker's first WNBA dunk -- though many of us fans viewed it as a major event -- and peer into a deeper meaning that wouldn't have occured to 99% of us. It's a great read, even if you're not a WNBA fan.

Strange cuisine

2008-06-24T08:26:00.008-04:00

TMZ released a devilishly funny video of Shaquille O'neal getting his freestyle on at a New York City club recently:

For those of you who either can't understand him, or can't watch the video, here are some of the highlights:

"That's like a white boy trying to be more n----- than me."

"That's like Patrick Ewing having more rings than me."

"That's like Kareem saying to himself he's better than me."

"That's the difference between first and last place. Kobe, n-----, tell me how my ass tastes."

"I'm a horse. Kobe ratted me out; that's why I'm getting divorced"

Repeatedly uttering the phrase "You know how I be. Last week Kobe couldn't do without me," Shaq's bumbled lyrics have stirred fresh his long since forgotten feud with the Lakers star. His response?

“I was freestyling. That’s all. It was all done in fun. Nothing serious whatsoever,” O’Neal told ESPN.com Monday. “That is what MC’s do. They freestyle when called upon. I’m totally cool with Kobe. No issue at all.”

Sorry, big man. That's just not how it works. You don't go on a 2:00 freestyle in which you tell the league MVP that he's trash without you and blame him for your divorce and then just say, "No, really, we're cool."

You're not an MC, and nobody's calling on you. Cutting seven albums doesn't make you a big-time rapper (Shaq goes out of his way to compare himself to the Notorious B.I.G.); especially when your "street cred" includes Kazaam! and Shaq-Fu. You just realized that the only reason that your name has been in the headlines in the last few months at all is because you are the entire reason that the Phoenix Suns went from perennial championship contender to NBA laughingstock. You're right, Shaq, you are the difference between first and last place. Just not in a good way.

And as far as being better than Ewing and Kareem goes, you're not even the best big man on your own team, much less better than two Hall of Famers like the above-mentioned. Kareem's got 6 championship rings and 6 MVP awards. Talk to me when you're even close to that kind of hardware.

As if he's not slinging the crap real heavy enough as is, there's that whole line about Kobe breaking up his marriage -- referring to Kobe's comments during his trial that he should "do like Shaq does" and pay women off to keep quiet about extramarital affairs. Here's a thought, Diesel. Maybe Kobe had less to do with your failed marriage than, say, you trying to out-sleeparound Karl Malone. But at least Shaq purports to have had a vasectomy. There you go, big man. You do have a leg up on one Hall of Famer.

But apparently, since everyone's an MC now, I've penned a response from Kobe so that the MVP doesn't have to waste his time on the matter:

1-2-3
I know Shaq's got four rings, I've only got three
But how many of those would he have won without me?
And it also seems he couldn't win the fourth without D
Wade, that sucker's just been riding for free
He's in about the same boat as Robert Horry

Diesel, you know that you're not an MC
And you're certainly not the MVP
You couldn't even win a ring with Steve and Amare
And now your time has passed, but I'm just turning 30

That gives me how many more years to win a ring
While you're left to retire, on the sidelines doin' your thing?
Rapping like a clown, flashing your bling
Ruining another marriage with some stupid fling

So put your head between your knees, Put your sneakers on the shelf
Want to know how your ass tastes? Why don't you try it yourself?

Thank you, folks, I'll be here all night. Try the veal.

Headlines, 6.23.08

2008-06-23T13:30:00.008-04:00

Jones drops "Pacman," explores other possibilities

Adam "Pacman" Jones, the infamous cornerback recently signed by the Dallas Cowboys and reinstated by the NFL, has decided to drop the nickname. Jones, however, denies the allegations that this was a transparent public relations move.

"No, I just thought I needed something fresh," said Jones. "I actually wanted to get a new nickname. There's too many Adam Joneses in the phone book, you know?"

What was his first choice?

"Oh man, I really wanted something off the hook like 'Rainmaker Jones,' but [agent Manny Arora] said he didn't like it. Not sure why, but I guess I'll let my play on the field stand me out from the other Adams."

Guillen gets proactive

Chicago White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen made an authoritative step in his roll as the club's manager early this afternoon.

"Thank you all for coming today. I was at home scratching myself the other day, thinking 'Thank [expletive] I'm not at work,' when I picked up the [expletive] newspaper. So I see that Willie [Randolph], John [McLaren] and John [Gibbons] all got [expletive]-canned," the ever-cordial Guillen began his press conference. "I figure, this [expletive] always finds itself on fire in a paper bag on my [expletive] doorstep sooner or later, so I better [expletive] do something about it."

Guillen proceeded to fire White Sox GM Ken Williams.

"No-good [expletive] had it coming anyway. This is my [expletive] job. My [expletive] team. Jerry [Reinsdorf] and Eddie [Einhorn] better watch their [expletive], too, before I fire their [expletive]."

Williams contested the move, claiming his sovereignty as general manager, but was seen leaving White Sox headquarters with a cardboard box full of desk calendars and office supplies about an hour after the conference concluded.

Real Madrid makes move for Ronaldo

Sources for rival Manchester United are reporting that Real Madrid is close to making an offer for global superstar Cristiano Ronaldo. Madrid is allegedly preparing its bid to Manchester for Ronaldo, expected to be the largest transfer since Zinedine Zidane left Juventus for Madrid for £46 million in 2001.

Inside sources say that the bid could be as large as £0.85 bazillion.

In addition to the offer, Madrid has to then work on a contract with Ronaldo. Ronaldo, who continues to insist that it has always been his "dream" to play for the club, has hinted that he may be willing to take less to do so than he would normally expect in a contract offer. Terms currently being discussed are rumored to be £200,000 per week and the first-borns of all players currently on the roster to act as child-servants on and off the pitch.

Worshipping at the altar of Candice and other such WNBA-related matters

2008-06-22T04:14:00.006-04:00

Finally, I was able to catch my first WNBA game, and even better, I was at the game. I got to watch the Detroit Shock host the Minnesota Lynx in a 98-93 overtime victory (before you tell me that that's a low point total for an overtime game, OT is only 5:00 in women's basketball; add that to the 10:00 quarters, and you've still got a point total that I've seen many pro games fail to attain in three more minutes).

Detroit came down from a 7-point deficit late in the fourth to force overtime. Their solid play in the extra minutes, along with Minnesota's foul trouble, helped them hold the lead through OT for the win. A few notes:

-- At first I was a little upset at the whole presentation. There were banners for each player of the team hanging around that displayed cheesy alliteration like "Ford's Fans" and "Latoya's Loyals." It was a little odd, and seemed like a hokey way to inform everyone of who's on the team.

I was also a little unnerved by the "dance team" present at the game. Now, given the scale of the event and the target demographic, I wasn't exactly expecting Locomotion or the Laker Girls, but I wasn't expecting the "Shock Wave." This group was a bunch of children, ages ranging from in my estimation about 8-14, in short shorts and t-shirts dancing around at any and every moment that presented itself.

My biggest problem is that which I have with any youth dance group, namely that the choreography is a bit questionable -- slightly suggestive, that is. A bunch of pre-teens really shouldn't be shaking their chests, I'm sorry.

Other than that, I warmed up to the idea as the game went on and I took all things into consideration. They were having a good time. It's a great way to get kids involved, and essentially these are the market you have to go for to build the league's future support. Also, everyone seemed to be having a good time as they went all out in timeouts during the end-of-regulation Detroit rally.

"DJ Earl" didn't seem like he quite wanted to be there, and was a bit second-rate as far as DJs are concerned. Oh well.

The most startlingly hilarious aspect of the general aesthetic was the game announcer. The Detroit Pistons' Mason he is not. Half of the words of his mouth were inaudible, and much of it was just a bunch of overexciting yelling. "A" for effort. Little else. But it made me laugh.

All in all, it was a much better presentation than I expected.

-- Candice Wiggins' role, or lack thereof, in the offense until the end of regulation was ultimately frustrating. I admit that that may be in part because of my personal fanatic love of Wiggins, but I would like to think that most people would agree with me here.

Minnesota had strange Larry Brown- and Kobe Bryant-esque features to the game that absolutely killed them. I'll try to explain.

In the Brown sense, the Lynx's coach apparently refuses to start Wiggins at the beginning of either half, despite the fact that she is second in minutes played and points scored only to team superstar Seimone Augustus. Furthermore, on multiple occasions it seemed as if the team's scheme tried to unnecessarily dumb down their plays to only allow Wiggins to pass the ball along the perimeter rather than look for her own shots. When she passed the ball, you could guarantee that she wouldn't see it again unless she rebounded it, no matter how wide open the play subsequently left her. I was hoping to see her come up with something along the lines of her then-17.3 ppg average in the night's performance, but the poor strategy combined with the fact that she was being guarded by Shock phenom Deanna Nolan left her with a 13-point game (obtained mostly in the end of regulation and early OT) before fouling out in the extra period.

I say that I was getting some Kobe feelings about the play of the team mostly because of the role of Seimone Augustus in the offense. All four of the other players on the court seem to be forced to look for her at every possible moment. When she touched the ball, she was the least likely to pass it off, and often opted for contested shots rather than getting the dish to a wide-open teammate. Fortunately for the Lynx, Augustus is the kind of elite talent who can afford to do this -- she had a solid 23-point performance-- but it still was frustrating to watch.

-- Outshining everyone, however, was Detroit superstar Deanna Nolan. Nolan put up an absolutely stunning 43-point performance before fouling out near the end of OT, and was a defensive nightmare for Wiggins and the rest of the Lynx.

All things considered, it was a lot of fun. Despite a slow start to the game, it ended up being very exciting. I'm also going to make it to the Palace for the July 22 matchup in which Detroit will host the LA Sparks, in what will be a meeting of two of the best teams in their respective conferences (and the league as a whole).

Once again, my usual sales pitch. It's a good time, and it's quite inexpensive to go. Get out of the house with some friends, and check it out. Or watch on TV if given the chance. You know there's little else going on right now in the way of other sports. Give women's basketball a chance.

U-M AD reports surplus, Bill Martin seen sailing in gilded yacht

2008-06-20T13:58:00.005-04:00

MGoBlue is reporting that the University of Michigan Athletic Department's 2009 budget will fund all U-M sports to the full NCAA scholarship limit, and boasts a surplus of roughly $10 million. This is after operating and capital development costs, mind you. That whole stadium thing, maybe you've heard of it. Furthermore, the athletic department will transfer $1.5 million to the University to fund need-based academic scholarships.

That's just a hell of a luxury to have. Full scholarship funding is great for recruiting, as is the ability to build new facilities.

The surplus is not only due to consistently astounding revenues at events, but in large part to the overwhelmingly generous contributions by all alumni who aren't recently graduated and scrambling to send in dues for their alumni association membership. Not that I know anyone like that.

Thank you boosters. Thank you Bill Martin. Thank you Mary Sue Coleman. Thank you anyone who has anything to do with our fine University. GO BLUE!

Neverletup

2008-06-18T08:09:00.003-04:00

Boston 131, Los Angeles 92.

It hardly needs further explanation. I knew that Boston would close out the championship in their first game back at home. Anyone with a pulse who'd been watching the playoffs should've known that. What nobody realized was the dominant fashion in which the Celtics would do it.

Boston 131, Los Angeles 92. Just in case you thought you misread it the first time.

I guess Doc Rivers must have been making his team watch the NBA Finals commercials with the obnoxious parking attendant as much as us fans were forced to. Never let up.

And they didn't. I'll be honest. When the Lakers went up a few points early and Boston started missing shots, I assumed that this game was going to start the same as the last several. Boston spots LA a 15-20 point lead early, and then the game really starts sometime in the 3rd quarter when the fans get to find out whether someone's heroics would be able to cap off an unbelievable come-from-behind victory. But that wasn't how it went. Boston responded early and with force. It looked like the makings of a great, close game.

But then the Celtics smelled blood. As the second quarter rolled on, so did Boston. I often found myself wondering during these playoffs, "What would it look like if Boston's Big Three could all have a great game at the same time?" We were treated (or cruelly subjected, if you're a Lakers fan) to that last night, and then some. Not only did Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen all turn it on when it mattered most, but so did the rest of the team. Rajon Rondo had more steals (6) than the entire Los Angeles roster (4), and was a terror offensively with 21 points. James Posey, who didn't miss any of his 4 shot attempts, was shooting daggers into the Lakers' hearts -- three big 3-pointers will do that. The entire team was firing on all cylinders, and it was downright scary.

Boston 131, Los Angeles 92. A 39-point margin of victory, the highest ever in a championship clinching game. Never let up.

The call

2008-06-17T14:08:00.007-04:00

Late at night, the front door opens. In he walks, slowly kicking off his cleats. He takes off his favorite Mets cap and hangs it on a hook by the door. Running his right hand across his head, the weary-eyed man doesn't bother to turn on the lights, and makes his way toward his favorite chair.

He glances at the VCR to check the time. 2:45 am.

Might as well fall asleep right here. He'll only get a couple hours of sleep anyway. No rest for the wicked.

Before he has a chance to sit down, he spots a flashing red light out of the corner of his eye. It's just the answering machine.

Don't bother, Willie. Just leave it 'til morning.

He's still up anyway, though, and makes his way over toward the phone. Rubbing the corners of his eyes, he presses the button.

Willie?

He knows that voice. Why didn't he just go straight to bed?

Willie? I thought you'd be home by now. Well anyway, I don't know how to say this, but it's just that... well... we need to talk. I wanted to tell you this in person, but I just can't wait any longer.

I know things haven't been going well at work, Willie. Trust me, I know. And I know it's not all your fault. But maybe you had your priorities mixed up. Pedro, and Moises, and Church, of course they couldn't help. But you almost had to see it coming, didn't you? Carlos isn't there for you, and Billy's been flaking out lately, I understand. But when you're out all the time with them, and they fall through, where does that leave me? Here. On a phone, with no one on the other end.

They were your friends first. You introduced us. And they're not spring chickens anymore; no wonder they're falling through.

I hate to do this to you, Willie. You know I do. It's just that... this isn't working anymore. And I want to make it work. I really do, but don't you think I've given it enough time? Haven't I given it an honest try?

I know. You won two straight. But let's get serious, Willie. Nobody's turning anything around. I can't let you put me through this anymore. We're through, Willie. I'm sorry.

I hope we can still be friends.