Category: Sports

… would have been 7 if his foot wasn’t on the line. Just an amazing story.

Obviously Pgh was the better team tonight, but as a fan who had no strong rooting interest, I have to say that I was frustrated by the fact that the game was pretty much decided by two penalties, both of which were questionable. I’ll never completely blame a game on the officiating (because the team that does the best it can with the situations provided is usually the deserving winner), but I do wish the game could be decided by the players and not the officials.

To clarify, I’m talking about the supposed offensive pass interference in the first half that took away a Seattle touchdown and the supposed holding that took away a first and goal from the 2 in the second half (and led to the big Pgh interception). Perhaps these were penalties, perhaps not, but they were both close enough that they could have gone either way. If one or both of those is called in Seattle’s favor, it’s a totally different game, and maybe even a different champion.

The Stillers made the big plays when they needed them, and Seattle did not. This is the reason the yellow & gold hoised the trophy. I just wish there were fewer penalties deciding those big plays.

Ok, so I don’t exactly have the most objective opinion on whether Jim Rice should be in the baseball hall of fame (he was my favorite player growing up), but I’m pretty disappointed that he failed to make it this year. His stats don’t make him a lock, but with recent revelations about the juice, it just seemed like Big Jim Ed’s time had come.

I actually feel that most Halls of Fame are complete crap; they feel the need to induct someone each year for the PR that the event brings. As such, Aerosmith makes the rock n’ roll hall of fame and Tony Perez is enshrined in Cooperstown. I’d love to see baseball have much stricter rules for inductment, but that is not the case. The current guidelines elected Ryne Sandberg — they should also have elected Jim Rice.

Rumors abound that the Red Sox have approached Roger Clemens about coming back to the team.

I originally tried to articulate how much this upsets me, but I failed for one of two reasons: 1) I couldn’t seem to accurately express my distaste for Clemens, or 2) I didn’t have the patience to list out the lengthy number of examples against his character.

Thinking about it more thoroughly, however, what bothers me is this: We all know that professional sports are driven by money first and loyalty second; gone are the days of players sticking for one team for their entire careers, becoming synonymous with a franchise. Rooting for a favorite team is rooting for a uniform more than a specific player, as free-agency precipitates a massive swapping of players each and every off-season.

As sports fans, we know in our minds that this is true, but in our hearts we cling to the idea that maybe, just maybe, there is something more. That each time the Red Sox and Yankees take the field, the venom rises and the hatred the fans have for the other side is shared by the players, that they’d never swap shirts for all the money in the world. Its a thin thread that we cling to, but we cling nonetheless — it keeps sports interesting.

Signing Clemens would shatter that ideal. After all he’s done, all he is — a Hall of Famer in a Yankee cap, if it was up to him — the last place he should ever be is Boston. The Sox are as guilty as any franchise of player swapping, even gutting a championship team just weeks after the clinching win, but this would be taking it too far. Signing Clemens would confirm once and for all that loyalty and love of Red Sox Nation matters so much less than money, money, money. If they bring back The Rocket, they might as well trade Manny & Big Papi for Jeter and A-Rod, just to make the destruction complete.

So, if you’re listening Boston, don’t let this happen. There are more important things than championships.

I live in the Philadelphia area and I’m an Eagles fan, and although I’ve heard about McNabb and T.O. for months on end, I never really understood where this whole spat came from in the first place… until today.

ESPN spent about 17 hours this morning talking about the T.O. suspension, and it was during NFL Countdown that I finally understood it. Terrell Owens was upset because last year, in the week leading up to the Super Bowl, the Eagles, including McNabb, were adament that they could win the game without their star receiver — and here is the key — who was injured and not supposed to play!

Were they supposed to say they could not beat the Patriots without T.O.? All evidence (medical and otherwise) suggested that T.O. would either not return at all or, if he did return, would only be able to play sparingly.

Yep, normally athletes going into a game where they are underdogs tell the press that they can’t win. The Eagles definitely should have said, “nope, you’re right — we just can’t win if he doesn’t play. If he can’t go, we shouldn’t even play the game!”

It’s one of the stupidest things I’ve ever heard. (At least until I heard Michael Irvin agree with him.)

The Bambino took a nap
but now he is back

with a vengeance