The Noise Factor

I came across this video and laughed hysterically. One of the things I noticed was if the call had been correct, this play would have went down as one of the greatest plays in baseball history. Devon White’s catch was overshadowed by a missed call, and his amazing play in centerfield went unnoticed except for those who had the pleasure to watch him in his prime.

Ironically, this video symbolizes Devo in that it really isn’t about his catch. It’s all about Kelly Gruber’s sick mullet. We Canadians appreciate the free flowing hair that reminds us of a giant piss resembling Niagara Falls.

I met Kelly 5 years ago and he wasn’t the biggest guy ever - but his hair was trimmed down to a normal cut. But for a brief period in time, he was the sex symbol in Toronto with that gorgeous hair. Enjoy:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_gOeHVXiixA

…And did I mention Devon White made an incredible catch? (I WAS THERE FOR THAT GAME AT AGE 10).

[kml_flashembed movie="http://www.youtube.com/v/_gOeHVXiixA&rel=1" width="425" height="350" wmode="transparent" /]

The countdown has begun for…

- …The Super Bowl, as New England and New York square off on Sunday.  What I’m not sure about is whether Bill Parcells or Dave Meggett will be cheering for the Giants or Patriots.  Perhaps Tiki Barber will put on a throwback Drew Bledsoe jersey and pray New York doesn’t win.  If he says he’s happy for his ex-teammates he’s lying - he’s wanted a ring so badly and it stings that the team has come together without him or his ego in that locker room.

Speaking of Bledsoe, it would have been interesting if Robert Kraft were to have called him for this game in case Tom Brady’s foot fell off during a drive.  Kid you not, I was thinking about it.

What I do know is this is New England’s game to win and to lose.  The New York Giants have fought hard to get here and should be credited for coming together and growing as a team through the pains they have shared together.  Nobody expected the week 17 matchup of these two teams to be the Super Bowl preview.  We’d be in for a great game if this was the case.  But instead of the game being played in New York we watch this in Arizona, a neutral site game.

That said, Arizona’s warm weather plays into New England’s passing attack and if their O-line stays one step ahead of the Giants defensive front it will be a long game for that Giant defense that has a very suspect secondary as is.

My call is New England will win and cap off one of the greatest seasons in sports history.

-…Jason Kidd sweepstakes have begun as the disgruntled point guard wants out of New Jersey.  The backboard and basketball rims inside the area breathe a sigh of relief.

Let’s remember how he showed up; he left a deep West Conference and a checkered past with Phoenix to a depleted East with virtually no dominant point guard left (A.I. had moved to the 2 spot by then).  Though he couldn’t shake off the rusty jump shot or his wife’s makeup from his knuckles he gave New Jersey a lift into the NBA finals twice and quickly helped himself to becoming the best point guard on the planet - facing nobody in the East to get there.

Since then he helped Byron Scott get fired and he still dents rims with regularity.  He also went through a messy divorce and hasn’t been that leader New Jersey can depend on.  Perhaps he will head back West to help a decent team get better, but he will quickly find out that there are point guards - LOTS OF THEM - that will shread him to pieces every night.  If he goes to the West he isn’t a top 4 point guard in that conference.  Good luck with that trade.

-…Johan Santana is looking to get PAID by the New York Mets.  Is it just me or are these prospects not what they seem?  If I’m giving up potentially the best pitcher in baseball why would I want a mid-20’s pitcher with a losing record and a 22 year old who makes Richie Sexson a batting champ?  I suppose the Mets needed this one as they held onto Lastings Milledge so long that they got, well, nothing in return.  Unless this 22 year old becomes legit overnight and learns to hit at least .260 in the major leagues this trade will be a success for the Mets - unless Santana goes Francisco Liriano in two months.  God forbid.

-…Tiger Woods attempt at the Grand Slam.  We say this every year and we see him fall short.  No slight on the guy - it’s not like he sucks or anything.

But Tiger is entering his golf prime, or at least according to history as guys in their early 30’s find their best success on the golf course, Seve Ballasteros excluded.  So if there was a shot at it we could see the best attempts over the next couple of years.  After that, we may not see another male golfer bring the kind of game or intensity or desire to win like Tiger Woods. 

It’s sad, but wait and see when Tiger hits 45; we’ll watch Tiger past his prime and obviously not the golfer he once was KILLING himself on the golf course for another major championship and he’ll be playing with a young stud who just doesn’t have the same will, focus or guts Tiger brings to the golf course.  It’s great now that we see the guy who wants it the most winning the most - but how will we react when we see that same man unable to beat random Joe’s who luck out a major victory? 

We’ll probably be cheering for the fallen hero to return to glory one last time the way we rooted for Jack Nicklaus in 1986 and, for me, 1998.

The countdown has begun.  Tick tock, tick tock.

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Break out the hometown flag as this writer is playing the role of homer. 

It couldn’t be further from the truth as the Toronto Raptors shocked the Boston Celtics Wednesday night in Beantown.  The game-winning basket was scored by the man who began the year as the second-fiddle to starting point guard T.J. Ford, who suffered a career-threatening injury when he was accidentally hit in the head by Al Hortford that triggered a neck/spinal cord injury that has plagued his young career.

What Calderon has done in place of Ford has not only been remarkable, it comes to no surprise to this writer who has watched a young man with a lot of talent find himself and his abilities to be a very effective point guard in the NBA.  In fact so effective that he should be going to the NBA All-Star game this year.

My gut feeling is he won’t.

Heading into the game against Boston, Calderon was scoring just under 12 per game and roughly 8.5 assists per game to go with a shooting percentage of over 50%, free throw percentage over 91% and a 3-point shot at 42% - a significant increase from last season.  Let’s also remember that his assist-to-turnover ratio is over 5.5 to 1 - best in the NBA.

But you must remember that he was the backup at the beginning of the season which will naturally keep his averages low for an All-Star calibre player.  That said, Calderon has averaged 14 per game, 9.5 assists per game, 50% shooting with over 96% at the free throw line and a 41% 3-point shot over the last month.  His assist-to-turnover ratio?  It dropped to 4.7 to 1 - still incredible.  It’s also incredible to watch a guy adjust to the significant increase in playing time and having to be the man in crunch time which he has done gracefully.

Despite having a much better year than Jason Kidd, Kidd will represent the East at the point guard position.  That comes to no surprise as Calderon was not on the ballot and even if he was the All-Star selection process is a popularity vote and the best player does not always get voted in.  The next spot (or two) will be filled by Chauncey Billups who is having another solid season.  If a 3rd point guard is selected it gets tricky; Joe Johnson could be asked to slide to the point guard position if he is picked to go (as could Dwyane Wade), and the other true point guard candidate that could take that last spot is Mo Williams of Milwaukee, who’s having a very good year in his own right.  Jamaal Tinsley would have gotten consideration before the new year but he has begun to fade.  Honourable mention to another guy who is having a solid year is Andre Miller.  However, I don’t know if he would be producing like this with a team that was going somewhere.

If there were no ballots and they stuck the vote in my hands, Billups and Calderon would be the two point guards going out of the East.  Then again, I’d probably ask to move one of the stud guards from the West into the East.  I want to run down the loaded guns they have: Chris Paul, Deron Williams, Baron Davis, Tony Parker, Jason Terry and Steve Nash.  Not too shabby.  Nash, Paul and Williams would be my first 3 picks out of the bunch.

Perhaps the late opportunity to start and the lack of publicity for Jose Calderon will be the reason he sits at home during this year’s All-Star festivities.  Make no mistake about this young man because he has come a long way since his rookie year with the Toronto Raptors.  If his improvement in his game continues he will be an All-Star next year - unless we witness an incredible comeback from T.J. Ford that would spark discussion as one of the best feel-good comeback stories of 2008.

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Supposedly the evening NFC Championship was a ratings success.  Apparently a lot of people tuned in to watch the New York Giants seal the victory over the Green Bay Packers in their 1700th attempt to end the game victorious. 

Problem is, I bet people just had their TV set on and was doing something else, because few people, if any, showed any guts to tell us how things went down in that game.

Brett Favre choked again.  The legend and Two-Time MVP (his co-MVP is fraudulent and a slap in the face to Barry Sanders’ amazing season), proved he couldn’t carry the load the way he use to back in the 1990’s.  Don’t take that as a sign that he should retire.  Not once have I ever said he should retire.  But, as usual, nobody call him out for that interception that ended Green Bay’s season.  Nobody called him out for allowing New York to have numerous chances to win the game.  Nobody said he was outplayed by Eli Manning - because he was.

Did you watch the game? 

Or do you have to be Chad Johnson, Randy Moss, or Terrell Owens to draw attention to themselves and be ridiculed for it.  So much for throwing snowballs and "having a great time".  We watched Favre do what he has done several times in playoff games and that’s crumble down the stretch.  Excessive celebrating with officials is "having fun" yet anyone else gets fined for that. 

At least Tom Brady clutched up when he had to.

We talked about Green Bay’s defense and running game being the reason why they could get to the Super Bowl.  The running game stopped and their team became pass-oriented in the second half.  Big mistake - but they had to do it since the running game was shut down, right?  So they had to start gunslinging.  And they lost because of it.  Had Peyton Manning did what Favre did in overtime you’d be crushing him right now.  But Favre slides under the radar again.  Total hypocrisy. 

OTHER BULLCRAP

- If I haven’t done enough to ruffle a few feathers (not that I’m trying to), this might do the trick.  A writer on Fox Sports decided to be cute with a blog post and certainly got some attention:

"I believe there should be rules for booing. One, you never boo amateur athletes on the team you support. Two, you boo professionals on the team you support only for a visible lack of effort. Booing because they screw up is for sub-morons"

- If I find out an amateur had beat his girlfriend, played while academically ineligible or started a fight on the playing surface would you like me to applaud?  You didn’t think of all the angles, which makes me wonder who the real sub-moron really is.  You get your ticket punched and as long as you obey the stadium rules you can boo whoever you want.  You can boo an amateur athlete who has 3 kids with 3 different women.  Or I can just ask him politely to wrap up.  An amateur athlete will be ragged on if they absolutely deserve it.

"I don’t believe all Patriots fans are worthless cobags; I believe most Patriots fans are worthless cobags"

- This coming from a guy who wanted Green Bay to badly make the Super Bowl?  For what?  So that New England could slap them around with their junk?  I’ve been to Buffalo games and find New England fans to be a LOT better than other fans I have encountered over the years.  Whatever, I shouldn’t bother critiquing this bullshit.  I will move on.

- The Miami Heat find ways to lose and they are suddenly doing it with flare.  It’s as if they script this.  Put them on the clock for a nice draft position.

- Sidney Crosby is out 6-8 weeks and nobody noticed.  I guess they are the same people who watch Packer games.

- Roger Clemens gets an invite to Houston’s pitching camp.  Maybe he can get back into pitching shape on Houston’s clock so he can bolt for New York like he did last year.  Very smooth.

- Golf season begins this week.  Different year, same old storyline.  Let’s see what Tiger does this season.

- The New England Patriots will complete the perfect season.  The venting is over, and so is this incredible post. 

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Let’s begin chronologically…

Seattle v. Green Bay

- Everything was going right for Seattle as they got two turnovers early in the game.  They convert two touchdowns right away and you could hear a pin drop at Lambeau.

(cue Inspirational Music)

And then "The Great" Brett Favre leads the team to victory.  Well, that’s what you all want to believe but all he did was manage the game and minimize mistakes.  When he plays within the Joey Harrington rules he is very effective.

First off, Green Bay’s D stood up to Seattle and gave up 6 points.  I don’t count the first 14 in which the offense created by a lack of ball control.  The Packers D has not been given the credit they deserve.

Second, Ryan Grant bounced back after two fumbles to rush for over 200 yards.  In case you don’t know this, rushing for 200 yards is a landmark.  It’s like throwing for 400 yards in a football game.  He has to be credited for his performance.  By the way, that first fumble was all Favre.  He threw the ball low and behind Grant and it allowed Grant to get smoked.  Second fumble was just Grant.

Lastly, Favre was able to contain himself yesterday.  He loves to gunsling and loves to be the hero.  Yesterday’s game was big for him because it showed that if he doesn’t play selfishly, the way he did against Dallas, his team will be put into a great position to win.  If he wants to go downtown and be superman his team will lose.  It shows that when a selfish player puts his team first they will give themselves a better opportunity to go further.

New England v. Jacksonville

- The Jags played the Pats tough and all the people who wanted to be bold and pick the underdog got burned.  You seem to forget that Tom Brady has never, NEVER lost a playoff home game.  He’s also the best quarterback in the game.  For good measure, he’s the greatest quarterback to have ever played the game, period.  So if he’s going to lose a playoff game in the prime of his career with a team that went 16-0 its not going to happen against Jacksonville.

However, New England’s defense was suspect again.  It is sad to watch a guy like Junior Seau be outrun by offensive lineman and quarterbacks because at one time this guy was a beast on the football field.  As was Tedy Brusci, who has looked old as well.  The Patriots will need their offense to continue clicking because they cannot rely on their defense to save the day the way they once did during their championship runs earlier this decade.

Did I mention Tom Brady is the greatest quarterback of all time?

Indianapolis v. San Diego

- Peyton Manning’s team has had another deflating playoff loss yet again.   Their defense didn’t show up when they needed to the most.  Of course, maybe Bob Sanders getting hurt proved how valuable he is to that team. 

But San Diego got dinged as well.  It wasn’t bad enough to have Antonio Gates hurt but Ladainian Tomlinson?  Damn.  But, what was so impressive was watching Michael Turner play himself into an extra couple million dollars from another team for next year’s contract.  And then, the 3rd string running back Darren Sproles grabs a screen pass and blew by EVERYONE.  That was impressive.  Its like the Chargers have a neverending supply of running backs who can perform at will.

Is Philip Rivers a tool or what?  He has to shut the hell up.  Billy Volek stepped in and it didn’t even matter.  Rivers isn’t that good and should show some humility on the field before New England welcomes him with a dose of shut-up juice.

New York Giants v. Dallas

- I’m watching this game as we speak.  Don’t really care about this game.  This is New England’s Super Bowl to lose.

OTHER STUFF

- What the hell is wrong with Joakim Noah?  Who does he think he is, Barry Bonds?  How can a player be benched by his teammates?  This means he must have done something worse than just say bad words to an assistant coach. 

I’ve always felt uneasy about him and I couldn’t put my finger on it.  At first I thought his teammates at Florida were better, but then I thought he was a Richard when he would make appearances for press conferences.  Or it could have been that ‘too good to be true’ story with that guy.  Regardless, he has to be professional.  Otherwise he’ll just be shit.  He had a promising future in the NBA and we all thought by being drafted by the Chicago Bulls he could put them over the top.  Maybe he’s just a cancer on a team full of question marks.

- Scott Rolen for Troy Glaus; whatever.

- Had to drop this on you since I have no affiliation with US Politics.  Is your country actually serious with voting for a weak President?  Hillary Clinton shows her vulnerability and Americans repay her with a nice victory in New Hampshire.  You kidding me?  Are you ready for someone who will break down when things are not going so well? 

Granted, over 80% of American media is liberal and I expect everyone to give poor Hillary a break but I never expected USA to embrace weakness.  But I’m not American, so good luck with that.  It’s like allowing a weak NFL team to win the Super Bowl - it doesn’t happen in sports. 

That’s why sports is better than Politics.

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Last week I went a perfect 4-0 on bets for both straight winners and point spreads. Now, this week will be different. Could someone go 8-0? Yes. Why not me?

Regardless, this is my take and we’ll leave it at that….

AFC

New England v. Jacksonville

- People really want to pump the Jaguars up like they are a team of destiny. I understand. We saw Pittsburgh do it two years ago. And Jacksonville has come a long way over the last 4 years.

However, lets look at this picture honestly; Jacksonville couldn’t stand up to Indianapolis twice this year, so how will they stand up to New England in their house? How will they smash the Pats after they squeaked out a win against a fading Steelers team? They won’t. They will play New England tough but they will lose by 10.

Indianapolis v. San Diego

- The Chargers have handled Indy very well over the last few years and beat them earlier this season. Couple of factors: 1) The game was in San Diego and it won’t be this weekend…2) Antonio Gates will not be a factor this weekend and that hurts San Diego…3) Indy has learned to play without Marvin Harrison and the 3rd and 4th wide receivers have stepped up.

This will be a different Indy team than the one we saw in San Diego. We may be teased early in the game, but Indy will take firm control and win the game.

NFC

Seattle v. Green Bay

- I wonder how Matt Hasselbeck will respond this weekend. The loss 4 years ago, in my opinion, wasn’t his fault. He played well enough to win that game and the one player who cost him is on the other side of the field: Koren Robinson. The other player who let him down is in San Francisco, Darrell Jackson. Hasselbeck is tough, but as long as he doesn’t go interception crazy he won’t dictate the win or loss.

The game will be dictated on Seattle’s defense. Will they stop Ryan Grant? Well, it may not be in his control because this is going to be Green Bay’s game plan:

Brett Favre will go downtown early and often. Just like he did against Dallas and just like he did in his previous playoff games (Minnesota 2004, Atlanta 2002, St. Louis 2001). We won’t be seeing a game manager at the beginning of the game. We will see a cowboy try to gunsling. If he succeeds he will be a hero. That is what he wants and the media will run with it. If he fails, so will Green Bay. Deviating from the script will result in a Seattle upset.

Dallas v. New York Giants

- What is the big deal with New York? They have gotten their ass kicked in both matchups badly. How will they beat them all of a sudden? And why do they get any hype? They walked all over a injury-depleted and weak-division winning Tampa Bay team. I’m not impressed and the Giants have had missing guts for years. Did they find it? Nope. I find Dallas winning convincingly.

OTHER STUFF

- Jim Rice was before my time frame, but I am still not convinced that he should be voted into the Hall of Fame. If I had to choose between him and Andre Dawson, my vote goes to Andre. Then again, I am the same guy who’s on the “Fred McGriff to the Hall of Fame” hype train. Jump aboard if you like.

- Alexander Ovechkin signs for $123 million for 13 years. Gigantic. But here is the problem: he’ll be 35 when his contract is up so if he decides he still wants to play and he is a top-tier player by then he will not get the huge money that he would have gotten if he opted to sign an 8 or 9 year deal instead of 13. He is the best hockey player in the world and he should be paid like the best player in the world.

- Another Philadelphia Flyers incident involving Steve Downie yet again. This time he sucker-punched Jason Blake of the Toronto Maple Leafs. Blake made comments about Downie’s hit on Dean McCammond several months ago which brought these two men together. Downie got off without a suspension. Don’t worry, he’ll do something worse next time.

Blake’s only problem was he defended his ex-teammate Chris Simon’s actions when he impersonated David Ortiz when he whacked Ryan Hollweg. Blake’s a hypocrite and he’s had a knack of ticking players off (Sean Avery - although he’s a lune too).

- I was going to write more but a song by Foreigner song just came on the television. Have a great weekend.

What a wild 4th quarter between Seattle and Washington!

Sometimes when you watch these games you never know how the momentum will swing. The game has shown a lot of dramatics, especially in the last quarter.

One team that has shown some dramatics this season has been New England, who will continue to receive criticism for being caught with videocameras recording the New York Jets. Notice the word “cheat” was not mentioned - it would be unfair to do so since there have been traces of other teams using the same strategy as New England. It reminds me of the steroid scandal in baseball where we have seen a few people caught despite the fact that we have our suspicions - which are probably accurate - about other players who haven’t been caught.

I go back to the Denver Broncos dynasty back in the late-1990’s. They had some incredible teams that managed to win two titles back-to-back and turned John Elway into one of the greatest winners in NFL history. Yet the most interesting part of that story is the report that came out a few years later about the team being over the salary cap during those two years. First, how did the NFL not catch that when it all happened. Second, how could Denver run the risk of getting caught over something seemingly obvious. Lastly, how could the same people who call New England cheaters disregard the fact that Denver pulled a fast one on the NFL not once but twice?

If you think I am making this up just search for it on the internet and you will find the report. It pays off to have a great sports memory.

Speaking of which, I can recall some great seasons in the NFL and Tom Brady had one of the finest in history. The MVP was well-deserved. He received all but 1 first place vote. When I heard that my first reaction was, “good thing someone recognized Randy Moss’s season”. Come to find out they didn’t give that vote to Moss. They gave it to someone else.

(At this point, I am about to take my blog out of the running to be featured on FOX’s homepage. Why? Because nobody has the stones to do this….)

They gave the first place (pity) vote for Brett Favre. Over the course of his career he has won 2 MVP’s and ripped half of one away from Barry Sanders (no way that should have happened). He has broken all the major passing records and will walk into Canton without a split second thought. That said, why the pity MVP vote? Did he really need it? Whoever voted for Brett Favre should have their vote ripped from them and should NEVER be able to vote in any sport ever again. That vote is an insult to Moss, who had one of the best seasons for a wide receiver in NFL history. That is embarrassing.

The nonsense catering for Brett can be compared to having a giant concert performed by the 10 best music artists to raise money for Bill Gates. Despite the great sports memory I cannot remember any current or future Hall of Famer that has received this kind of walk-on-water status like Favre. He’s done some great things, he’s gotten away with a lot of things and he’s stamped his ticket as one of the best quarterbacks of all-time. Let’s leave it at that and stop over-crediting him.

He may lose next week to Seattle.

SIDE THOUGHTS:

- Alexander Ovechkin is on pace to score 60 goals. That is phenomenal and he has done it almost singlehandedly. Said it before and I’ll say it again: best NHL hockey player on earth.

- Jose Canseco must be trying to use the hurry-up offense to get his second book published. Or his second book may create a potential lawsuit. Either way, we’ll at least listen to what he has to say this time around as the events that unfolded after his first book got our attention.

- Watching the desk guys on NBC with the sound down is only slightly better than when the sound is up. Just noticed that right now.

Jags v. Pittsburgh up next. It’s a 99% sure bet that the winner will get first crack at New England. Shall be interesting.

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