Archive for January 22nd, 2008
Continue Reading January 22nd, 2008
SCANDALOUS celebrity Web site TMZ was the first to post the pictures of Tom Brady’s “boot cast thing” — trademark Deadspin! — and it is everyone in a tizzy. We quite love the idea of John Clayton and Len Pasquarelli digging through TMZ for more Tom Brady injury updates.
Supposedly it’s a high ankle sprain. We’re not sure this necessarily changes the outstanding gambling opportunity of betting on Brady to win the Super Bowl MVP, but it assured one more addition to the storylines you’re already sick of. This one is probably going to outweigh them all; it’s pretty tough to beat the gimpy quarterback carrying flowers for Gisele Bundchen.
In related news, Eli Manning bought one of those roses you get at the gas station for $3.99, slipped it in an envelope and shoved it in a mailbox for his lady. Which was sweet, we thought.
Continue Reading January 22nd, 2008
Every two weeks, the gents at Free Darko will be taking a look at the deranged ecosystem that is the National Basketball Association in their own indelible fashion. Here’s this week’s entry, from Lawyer IndianChief.
Enjoy.
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With football on the nation’s collective brain, allow me to reference a recent Sportscenter segment in which correspondent Rachel Nichols reported on the Patriots just before (I believe) their playoff game with the Jacksonville Jaguars. Nichols’ commentary included the usual mechanical testimony about game strategy and current mindstate, some soundbites, a touch of conventional wisdom and then a smug closer, which I will paraphrase: “When I asked [Tom Brady/Mike Vrabel/Asante Samuel] about being undefeated, he responded, ‘nothing has changed, we practice just like we always have, with Coach Belichick telling us how terrible we are.”
[Groaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaan]. Can somebody tell me how long I’m supposed to be impressed/surprised/captivated by this crap tactic? Or should I imagine that a common dialogue in most sports-watching households consists of:
SON: Hey Paw, I’m confused, Why would the coach tell the team how terrible they are? I thought the Patriots were the best team ever!
FATHER: Well son, that’s the sneaky genius of Coach Belichick. He keeps his players motivated by making them think they aren’t that good!
I mean really. Who is falling for this stuff? You’re telling me that million-dollar guys like Tedy Bruschi, Rodney Harrison and Junior Seau whose glands synthetically manufacture swagger suddenly become all, “Gee shucks, I guess we can play better after all” when they hear that old “you guys are terrible” rhetoric during practice? And still this type of shaming is such a highly touted method of coaching despite relying on the oldest tricks in the book. I played high school basketball for the worst team in a pretty tough Minneapolis City conference. We won about six or seven games each of my varsity seasons, and without fail, our most asthmatic vomit-inducing practices came the day after those wins. After our toughest blowouts or our closest heartbreakers, the coaches would buy us donuts for our Saturday morning practices.
The bottom line is telling amazing professional athletes that they are “terrible” as a means of motivating them is neither novel nor effective. Worse, it conveys a sense of false humility, which is a characteristic worse than arrogance. And it underestimates the intelligence of the viewing public. Just once I’d like to see a coach step to the podium and tell the media that their team has the tenacity of some primordial ungodly sea creature and intends to dominate the opposing team in a torturous and unrelenting manner. Be straight with us.
Now what this all has to do with the NBA is that this faux “never good enough” style of coaching has become increasingly common in the Association over the past few years, and it is time for it to end. The Avery Johnson screaming about playing better defense to his perennially top-10 defensive team. The Gregg Popovich calling a timeout one minute into a game so because he doesn’t like his championship squad’s focus. Some may say these tricks are effective if you look at the success of the Mavericks and the Spurs over the past two years. I see it, however, as a luxury that these coaches have when in charge of such dominant teams. You can call them terrible, you can ream them in practice, you can feign disappointment that your team didn’t go after one more loose ball (even in a win), because you are coaching an already competent and confident group of players.
The prelude to the demise of the “you guys are terrible” style may have come with the firing of Chicago Bulls coach Scott Skiles. Now Skiles was nowhere as bad an offender as Popovich or Avery Johnson when it came to overdoing it on the negativity. On top of it, Skiles was a damn good coach for Chicago’s purposes. But could the guy give his team a compliment for once? The look on his face was one of constant misery and disdain, despite Chicago’s increasing success from MJ-afterthought to serious Eastern Conference force. I’m certain Skiles loved his team despite clashes with players from Tyrus Thomas and Ben Wallace, but never did he publicly elevate that team, instead taking multiple opportunities to spout negativity.
In professional basketball especially, there seems to be an exacerbated concern over the expansion of players’ egos to the point where “we-suck” coaching is advocated just to ensure no player is overstepping his boundaries. The thing is, you can’t suppress true swag. Eventually the headband is going to get worn and the tattoos are gonna show. Tyrus Thomas will never truly become the freewheelin’ Tyrus Thomas (He Shall Be Free) if he is constantly told how bad he is. The 2007 Warriors would have never defeated the Dallas Mavericks had Nellie harped on their poor shot selection. It is time for all false modesty to be dispersed, and instead praise to be heaped on the most dominant athletes of our time. You may think that the modern athlete is already overpraised, compared to say, the common schoolteacher. I want to see the explosion of confidence and skill that occurs when they are told they are god-like.
Continue Reading January 22nd, 2008
One of the nice aspects of the Super Bowl is that, with the media clusterphooey descending on the game, smaller stories that people might not know about lesser-known players. OK, actually, this is one of those theoretically nice things; it never actually happens this way, which is why, we repeat, you should cancel your cable for the next week and a half. Alas.
Anyway, one overlooked story that we’d like to shed some light involves Giants running back Ahmad Bradshaw. The guy’s got some speed, but as his college experience can attest to, not quite enough. The date was July 21, 2004.
Police approached Bradshaw in front of Coup de Villes on Elliewood Ave. and asked him what type of drink he was holding. The 18 year old initially cooperated, telling the officers it was a Long Island Iced Tea. When officers asked Bradshaw for identification, however, he gave them incorrect information. Davis said that Bradshaw was then informed that he was not free to leave yet and he would be patted down for the officers’ protection. It was at that point that Bradshaw fled the scene.
Police chased him for about a quarter-mile before stopping him near the Rotunda. Davis said there was a struggle between the parties when the officers were trying to handcuff Bradshaw, leading the officers to use pepper spray. He was then taken to the Albemarle-Charlottesville Regional Jail and was released later Saturday on a $1,000 bond.
That’s right: A future NFL running back, at the age of 18 and at the most gazelle-like of his powers, could not outrun policemen. How do you even draft a guy after that? Honestly, “being chased by the cops” should really be an event at the combine.
From Coupe De Villes To The Super Bowl [Bolder Debate]
Continue Reading January 22nd, 2008
They’ve announced the villain in the next Batman movie, and this one’s the most insidious of all. His powers include super smugness, a photographic memory that does not include anything prior to 2001, and invisibility (should the conversation turn to the Bruins). Only posted comment to his photo so far: “I want to punch this loser in the face.” (That seems harsh: I like the handiwork here). And for those who think that the Celtics aren’t represented, all I can say is that you haven’t seen his ass.
ALTERNATE CAPTION: This is what I get for falling asleep on Iracane’s couch.
If you think this is unusual, you should see the poor schmuck with the Knicks/Mets face. That guy might as well have leprosy.
Fan Faces [San Diego Union Tribune]
Continue Reading January 22nd, 2008
As much as we enjoyed the Giants-Packers NFC Championship Game on Sunday — we were hardly rooting for the Giants, but hey, what’s more exciting than a guy finally hitting a game-winning field goal on his third try? — we found it somewhat disorienting: We are absolutely not used to see Giants coach Tom Coughlin happy.
No one looks as perpetually disgruntled as Coughlin. We’d suspect his wedding album has a picture of him scowling as his wife musses up his face with cake. We don’t know Coughlin personally, but he can’t be that unpleasant in real life, can he?
Following are our favorite aggrieved Tom Coughlin photos. We suspect we might see some variations on these on Super Bowl Sunday.
Continue Reading January 22nd, 2008
Among odds and ends found in the Chargers’ locker room while sweeping up on Monday: Philip Rivers’ anterior cruciate ligament. Seems that he was playing with only one on Sunday, which is why he seemed extra limber, no doubt. Playing without body parts: That’s pretty gutsy.
Rivers played the entirety of the Chargers’ 21-12 loss to the New England Patriots with a right knee with no ACL. He revealed Monday he had arthroscopic surgery last Monday to clean out loose cartilage and enable him to play. “If I don’t do that Monday, I had no chance of playing,” Rivers said. The San Diego Union-Tribune first reported Friday that Rivers had injured his ACL, but the extent of the injury was not known until today. “The ACL is gone,” Rivers said.
Meanwhile, LaDainian Tomlinson now has himself the opposite reputation — funny how things work out sometimes, eh? — defending himself for sitting out the majority of the game with the Patriots. The NFL Network’s Deion Sanders, for one, called LT out for not playing, saying, “Big-time players are supposed to play in big-time games.” Said LT in response:
“He’s never been a running back and had a sprained MCL. You tell me what running back has played with a sprained MCL and been effective. You might go out there and try to limp around and play, but it’s not going to happen. I don’t know how information gets passed on, but until you talk to the source of the problem, what’s going on with me, I think it’s ridiculous when people make comments like that.”
Also, Bill Belichick maintained that Patriots DE Richard Seymour isn’t a dirty player, but no one was listening to his bull####.
Philip Rivers Is One Tough Mofo [Larry Brown Sports]
Rivers Played On Knee With ACL ‘Totally Gone’ [San Diego Union-Tribune]
L.T. Fires Back At Neon Deion’s Criticisms [MSNBC]
Seymour Stands Ground [Boston Globe]
Continue Reading January 22nd, 2008
Filed under: PC, RPGs, Sports, Casual
You’ve read the fan fiction. You’ve speculated on the endless message board threads. You’ve played the demo over and over and over. Now, the day you’ve been waiting for is finally here. The full release of Tales of Game’s Barkley: Shut Up and Jam: Gaiden is now available for download.
We hope you’ve cleared the rest of your 2008, because the epic story of post-cyberpocalypse Neo New York in the wake of the great B-Ball purge of 2041 threatens to own the entirety of your existence for some time. We can’t wait to find out the true nature of the chaos dunk and discover what the press release calls “a cavalcade of easter eggs, ranging from the mysterious to the unique.” Hopefully by the time we’re done finding them all, we’ll be nearing the release of the implied second chapter of “the Hoopz Barkley SaGa.” Hit the download link and check out the below trailer while you join us in waiting with bated breath.
Continue reading Fan-made Charles Barkley RPG sees full release
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Continue Reading January 22nd, 2008
In November, we told you about the pure bliss that went into being a beat reporter following the New York Knicks. (Note: We are employing The Sarcasm there.) But covering the Knicks doesn’t just involve hating yourself and your choice of career; it can actively mean being beaten up by security.
Some New York Giants players were interviewed by media at halftime of the Knicks-Celtics game yesterday, but when reporters tried to talk to a fan who was being ejected — you’d be amazed how often this is happening at Knicks games right now — matters went dangerously awry.
I would estimate that a dozen ushers surrounded the three reporters, including myself, physically blocking our path and berating us for not listening to their orders, not “respecting” them and not letting them do their jobs. I explained that, in truth, it was the other way around. The security staff was keeping us from doing our jobs. One reporter was physically restrained and had his credential torn off his neck.
I’ve gotten to know a few ushers and security people at the Garden over the past couple of years, and like them. But I don’t envy their jobs. I don’t envy anyone who has to work in this place, under these conditions. It’s sad, really, is the best way I can put it.
Honestly, this might be one of the most depressing sentences we’ve ever read in sports journalism: “I don’t envy anyone who has to work in this place, under these conditions.” Sigh. For months, we’ve encouraged the Knicks to hang onto 2007 SHOTY winner Isiah Thomas for raw entertainment value. But we dunno; he’s turning that place into a toxic swamp. Maybe we should get him out of there before the Cannibalistic Humanoid Underground Dwellers arrive.
Newspaper Reporters Vs. Garden Security [Newsday]
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