Seven-time Pro Bowl defensive end Michael Strahan will miss the rest of the season for the New York Giants after aggravating a sprained right foot last weekend against the New Orleans Saints. He was placed on injured reserve Tuesday and could need surgery, the team said.
The Giants (7-8) can almost surely clinch a playoff berth by beating the Redskins (5-10) in the regular-season finale at Washington on Saturday.
New York also placed offensive tackle Luke Petitgout and returner Chad Morton on injured reserve. Morton injured his knee Sunday; Petitgout broke a leg against Chicago on Nov. 12.
Just what the Giants need – more injuries. Even if they do miraculously win at Washington on Saturday, they won’t go far in the playoffs without Strahan and Petitgout. Strahan’s replacement is not much of a downgrade, 1st rd. pick Mathias Kiwanuka; but Petitgout’s replacement is awful, 15-year veteran Bob Whitfield.
That Avery Johnson would mumble just once. He has the best enunciation known to man.
That the NBA would start an assistant coaches league where at halftime three coaches from one team play three coaches from another in half court three-on-three. The Mavericks have enough coaches that they could wear down teams over the course of the year. The winner gets to throttle the Duke assistant coaches. I want to see Chris Collins get dunked on by Jack Sikma.
That the Harlem Globetrotters would be named the official national team to play in all international competitions. And also provide halftime entertainment.
That the NBA would have an age ceiling on referees. It was interesting to note that there was no referees above 50 officiating the Soccer World Cup games this year.
That Devin Harris would no longer be refered to as “The Up and Coming Devon Harris”. The boy has arrived.
That the Dallas media would realize that all the time they spend sniffing Terrell Owens jock could be spent on the only story that will matter come the middle of January – the Mavericks’ quest for a title.
That Mark Cuban would stop his sarcastic approval act when commenting on the actions of the league office. Surprisingly, the Dallas media never comments on this. Do they really believe his mock glowing accolades for Stern and company?
That Shaq will show at least a passing interest in the regular season. This is purely for my selfish fantasy hoop purposes.
That the Clippers dream run of last year wouldn’t be a fluke.
That all true hoop fans would take on the Nash/Dirk hairstyle philosphy of shaving your hair in the offseason and not cutting it again until the season is over.
That Austin Croshere find a contributive role other than bench cheerleader.
That no assistant coach ever has plastic surgery. Tex Winter is like 80 years old but he looks 35 years younger than that.
That the injury bug going around the league does not reach the Mavericks.
That the Mavericks are hoisting a championship trophy in June.
Mickey Spagnola, reflecting on the Cowboys coming out flat at home against the Eagles and throwing away a chance to lock up the divisional title,
Good gosh, it’s beginning to look a lot like 2003.
[...]
So is this it? Is this who the Cowboys are in 2006? A team capable of beating only one team (Indianapolis) – for sure – that will finish with a winning record this season? (Tennessee at 8-7 has a chance.)
Is this who the Cowboys are? A team incapable of winning the big one, seeing that you would have to consider this game, the Saints game and those early-season games with the Eagles and Giants big games?
Bill Parcells said when he arrived, “You are what your record is.” If that’s the case, this is a pretty mediocre team.
10-6 and out in the first round of the playoffs in 2003. 6-10 in 2004. 9-7 in 2005 and missing the playoffs in both campaigns.
Now, 9-6 and 1-2 in the last two games. So, at best, this team is as good as 2003′s and maybe it’s no better than last year’s. And that’s after four years of picking his own groceries. I’d call that failure.
The team has the tools to beat any team in the league but they have not so far been able to string together many good performances. They could still win the NFC East with some help from the Falcons and still control their own destiny, since they’re guaranteed at least a wild card berth. Realistically, though, it’s hard to imagine them beating four good teams in a row to win a championship.
The play calling on offense has been simply awful and, despite spending virtually all their draft picks and free agency money on defense, that unit has been in steady decline. And this is a team with the #1 statistical defense in the league when Parcells got to town.
Four years is more than enough time to turn a team around. John Fox did it in Carolina in two, arguably with less to work with. Sean Payton–Parcells’ offensive coordinator his first three years in Dallas–has done it in one with the Saints. Still, I wouldn’t fire him just yet. It’s just too hard to start over, since new coaches tend to want to build a team around their vision, meaning that many of the draft picks in recent years no longer fit. Still, Parcells has failed to live up to his future Hall of Famer legend.
Joe Theismann on Cowboys receiver Terrell Owens, who continues to complain about not getting the ball thrown his way more often despite leading the league in dropped balls:
[I]f you catch the football, maybe people will throw it to you. Now there’s a novel idea for T.O. to consider. He’s not that good, he shoots his mouth off, he always wants attention, he’s not contributing to the success of the players on the field. That’s the only reason guys tolerated him, because they thought he was a pretty good football player.
This is a bad football player — he’s bad for the game of football, and he’s bad to be a part of the team.
LA Lakers coach Phil Jackson reignited the Lakers-Heat feud by calling Shaquille O’Neal lazy and saying that Dwayne Wade gets away with cheating on his patented spin move.
Jackson, who once upon a time seemed to favor his star center over his star shooting guard, on Sunday called out O’Neal, saying he was “the only person I’ve ever had that hasn’t been a worker.”
Shaq, who is rarely at a loss for words, was asked about Jackson’s comments on Monday following Miami’s 101-85 win over O’Neal’s former team. “How can Benedict Arnold be reliable in what he says?” the Big Aristotle was quoted as saying in Tuesday’s edition of The Los Angeles Times. O’Neal declined to elaborate on his statement and, since he was in street clothes for the game, was not required to give a formal post-game interview.
O’Neal and Bryant had been feuding since O’Neal’s trade to Miami following the 2003-04 season. But last year the two superstars stated publicly that they had reconciled their differences.
Then came Jackson’s comments on Sunday.
“He’s the one guy that didn’t really like to work,” said the coach who boasts nine NBA championship rings. “I know Pat [Riley] got him working here in Miami. We had a hard time getting him to work. All the other players — Michael [Jordan], Scottie [Pippen], Dennis Rodman, all those guys that we had, Horace Grant, they’re all hard-working practice and personal work players.”
Of course, O’Neal was not the only player Jackson prodded. Speaking about Dwyane Wade, Shaq’s new partner in crime and last year’s NBA Finals MVP, Jackson said, “He travels on that spin move. He picks up that pivot foot … everybody knows it. Dwyane Wade can cover so much ground when he makes that move. As you know, he can go 20 feet with that spin move and get to the basket.”
It’s really quite bizarre. Shaq did carry the Lakers to three straight NBA championships under Jackson; one doesn’t do that without putting forth some reasonable amount of effort. Conversely, the Kobe-led Lakers have been abysmal without the big, lazy oaf.
So as the Bowl season is now in full swing, and we are starting week 2 of the Bowl Games, I figured it would be a good time to bring up the debate of the Greatest College Football team of all time. If you think of all of the great teams throughout history I think the 1995 Nebraska Cornhuskers team is at the top (or close to it) on everyone’s list.
Coached by the legendary Tom Osborne this team was loaded on both sides of the ball. Running their traditional triple option nobody was able to stop them, including Florida in the 1995 Fiesta Bowl (National Championship Game). Below is a highlight reel from YouTube, which includes the greatest run ever (by Tommie Frazier when 6 Florida players had him stopped).
I would be interested in hearing your thoughts on the greatest college football team ever.
This got me to wondering, could this move give the Crew the best rotation in the National League? I looked up the Brewers’ expected starters ERA’s in the past three seasons, and here’s what I came up with.
Ben Sheets, 3.13
Chris Capuano, 4.17
Jeff Suppan, 3.95
Dave Bush, 4.18
Claudio Vargas, 5.08 (4.37 ERA in his “away” games, which may be a more accurate representation, as Vargas pitched a lot of innings in the offensive confines of Arizona)
That’s mighty solid from top to bottom, to be sure. In an age where several teams are unashamedly going after Joel Pineiro, who was last remotely effective in 2004, it is unusual for clubs to have five decent options in the rotation.
Other starting staffs of note? I would probably say San Diego would be my choice as the top challenger for this mythical crown. Let’s look at their numbers.
Jake Peavy, 3.13
Clay Hensley, 3.51
Chris Young, 3.93
Greg Maddux, 4.16
Mike Thompson, 5.14
Chan Ho Park, 5.32
I listed both Thompson and Park because I do not know who is expected to be the 5th starter, or even if Park is expected back, though he was offered arbitration. Regardless, since both have similar numbers, it barely matters. I would normally argue that Petco Park may hold down the Padres’ ERA’s a bit, but their splits do not show that.
I would have to give a slight edge to the Padres, though if you use Vargas’ road numbers only, the small advantage could easily shift back to the Brewers. However, it would seem that with the addition of Suppan, the Brewers rotation can now easily be included when you discuss the best in the National League.
During the Miami Dolphin loss to the Jets last night, ESPN’s Monday night football crew talked about the Dolphins QB situation. At one point the subject came up of why Saban is still playing Harrington over Cleo Lemon.
Someone in the booth said it was because Miami invested a 6th round pick in Harrington.
Whomever said it doesn’t know the recent Dolphin history at the QB position. For in reality Miami has more draft picks invested in Cleo Lemon than in Joey Harrington.
In 2004 Miami traded a 2nd round pick to Philadelphia for AJ Feeley. Three years earlier the Eagles had used a 5th round pick to select the QB in the NFL draft.
If anyone wants to see how dismal Feeley’s time in Miami was, click here.
Feely was still on the roster for 2005 in spite of his horrid play. That was till October of that year when Miami traded Feely to San Diego for Cleo Lemon. To get the Chargers to take Feely, Miami gave away a 6th round pick.
I shook my head in amazement over what Miami did when they dumped Feely. Why didn’t the team just keep the bum till the end of 2005 and just release him? Was a QB who hasn’t played a down in the NFL worth a 6th round pick?
In reality Miami has invested both a 2nd and 6th round pick in Lemon compared to just a 6th for Harrington. Throw in the 2nd round pick given away for Culpepper, and do you wonder why Miami is 6-9 right now?
Lemon is ok as a 3rd string backup, that is all. After this season Lemon becomes a free agent. So I have to wonder what Miami plans to give away next in their futile search for a QB.
For some reason my favorite memory on the Orioles 1983 World Championship season was the Orioles victory over the KC Royals (then not quite so hopeless) after being no-hit for 7 innings by Gaylord Perry. When I mentioned this on the Orioles mailing list, I was reminded that I had mis-remembered the wrong staring pitcher for the Orioles. It was not Mike Flanagan, but another lefty, Scott MacGregor.
Also for some reason that’s the game I remember not the more incredible game less than a week later against Toronto in which Tippy Martinez stopped a Toronto rally in the 10th by picking off three straight base runners at first while John Lowenstein played second, Gary Roenicke Third and Lenn Sakata caught. More incredible: Lenn Sakata hit the game winning 3 run home run. (The next night was pretty crazy too.)
Well maybe I didn’t remember things so clearly because that was over 20 years ago. But it turns out the my memory of the Ravens championship season were not all that clear either.
I seemed to remember that the Ravens turned their season around in 2000 against Tennessee in a crazy game. While there were a few lead changes the game wasn’t nearly as crazy as I remember. I thought I remembered a critical Ravens interception, but it appears that there were none. The Ravens did have a late scoring drive that put them into the lead by a point that stood up, but that seems to be the extent of the Ravens’ miracles. (Al Del Greco missing his first point after in seven years was a Titans miracle; a negative though.)
It wasn’t exactly the team’s turnaround but it was the second of six consecutive wins with which the Ravens closed out the regular season to end up 12-4.
I don’t know if there’s going to be a signature game for this season. Though I’d guess a lot of people would consider either the Atlanta or the first Pittsburgh game. The Ravens beat Atlanta 24-10 November 19 sacking Michael Vick 5 times. The next week they shut out Pittsburgh Steelers 31 – 0 and sacked Ben Roethlisberger nine times. Or the turning point might just be after the bye week when Coach Billick fired Jim Fassel.
This year it looks like the most serious challenge to the Ravens getting to the Super Bowl is San Diego. (Indianapolis and New England are looking less intimidating.) Though I’m getting ahead of things a bit, if and when they win the Super Bowl, which game will the fans look at as the turning point?
Dec. 21, 2006 — With each hesitant step, Barbaro, the 2006 Kentucky Derby winner who fractured his leg in the Preakness, is defying the odds.
In video released today, the bandages on his broken right hind leg were gone and he even appeared to be smiling for the camera.
The now-famous horse has a noticeable “hitch in his giddyap,” but appears well on his way to recovery — a recovery that many, including his own dedicated team of doctors, knew was a long shot.
“He was a great patient, not just a good patient,” said surgeon Dean Richardson of the University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine. “I’d say [he] was a great patient.”
Though Barbaro’s health is still at risk and he’s still showing signs of his near-fatal injury, doctors say the famous racehorse may soon be leaving intensive care.
*****
Barbaro’s delicate surgery involved 27 screws and a stainless-steel plate followed by hydrotherapy to reduce pressure on his legs.
His recovery was right on track until the extra weight on his healthy left leg caused a severe hoof disease called laminitis.
When Barbaro was originally injured, I thought the horse would be destroyed in the end. It’s good to hear the horse is recovering but I wouldn’t want to be the one responsible for this horse’s vet bill. Seven months in intensive care! A ten-day hospital stay in 2005 for a pulmonary embolsim, including my being in the ICU for five days, resulted in a total bill just under $50,000. Thank you there is health insurance for humans but is there for horses?
