January 2009 Archives

The wolves are out and the vultures are circling in Garyland The DC Sports Page Reported. Many Terrapin fans would like Gary to leave one way or another so winning can resume at Maryland. It's interesting to assume that by replacing Coach Williams will instantly bring back winning. It may take decades with such a decision, so why the rush and why not allow the man responsible for much of what the athletic department has achieved a chance to succeed.

How soon everyone has forgotten what losing is really like. I mean real losing. Real losing isn't just getting embarrassed by a highly ranked Duke team, but being embarrassed night in and night out and watching "our" beloved Terps give it everything they have only to fall way short. The Terps haven't finished with a below .500 record and have been eligible for post season games. It's hard to know what you have until it's gone. Just ask a wolf pack fan. NC State is still waiting for someone to restore the university to glory since Bobby V. passed away. Virginia had Ralph Sampson, but since then the Cavaliers have been wondering in the desert.

Every Terps fan would like to see UNC type players not just recruited by Gary but playing in a MD uniform, but as a co-worker mentioned recruits line up to play at Duke & UNC. No one lines up to play at MD. This isn't likely to ever change in the foreseeable future so having an excellent coach matters. Could recruiting change and is it part of being a head coach - yes, but what's more rare is finding a truly talented head coach that can coach.

When Gary arrived not only were scholarships reduced, post season games restricted, games broadcast on TV after midnight, but he willingly chose to repair an ailing program and mired deep in financial problems at his alma mata. A sign would hang at Cole Field House reminding students how much more money was needed for the stadiums. Gary returned a program to national prominence and brought home a national and ACC Tournament title. He's the closest to Gibbs or Lombardi at Maryland.

All that the Maryland Athletics has right now can be traced back to Williams. As he rebuilt the program, Gary's winning helped pay for and renovate Cole Field House, build Comcast Center, enhance Byrd Stadium, and more importantly showed potential football recruits that Maryland was a viable option for athletics. Without a strong winning program to show recruits what was possible, Vanderlinden may not have recruited the players that Friedgen inherited and took to the BCS Orange Bowl. Without the revenue generated from eleven straight NCAA Tournament appearances, how quickly would a nice soccer and lacrosse field been built or the luxurious football facility that Friedgen now enjoys be built?

Feinstein's Article couldn't be more correct. The recent quarrel between Yow and Williams in the media could have easily been avoided. The Athletic Department has been partial to Friedgen like a parent favoring one child over the other. Today's successes are paved by the hard work and dedication that Gary has demonstrated by restoring Maryland athletics to national prominence.

A lack of respect has been given to Williams. Isn't it Business 101 that if an employee remains loyal, grows revenue for the company (being Univ. of Md), represents the company well, and makes the supervisor look good because they're a shining star that the rule is "KEEP THIS PERSON HAPPY!"? If it's not a rule it should be. For an individual to give so much it appears strange that it's not Gary 1st when it comes to sports at Maryland.

When Terps fan started to grumble when Friedgen hit a rough patch, Maryland's athletic department came out to support him. Whether Gary has been winning or not he's always had his detractors. It's difficult to recall the athletic department supporting the head coach of Maryland Basketball that helped Maryland when the university needed him the most. It seems odd that the last real boast of confidence to the basketball program or support was from former athletic director Geiger.

Wouldn't every Terps fan want to give Gary a chance to improve the team over the remaining few years of his contract? He's given so much back to Maryland it's time for Maryland to give him the opportunity to return to the NCAA's with the remaining years of his contract and give him their full support. Gary rebuilt the program from the worst set of circumstances and should be given the chance to take the team back to the NCAA's with far less obstacles this time around.

Several times in the past three days I have heard something approximating the following said on ESPN: “I don’t think that Duke is the best basketball team in the country but they deserve to be ranked number one.”

I don’t understand this reasoning. In my book, the only reason a team deserves to be ranked number one is if they are the best team, otherwise what is the purpose of the rankings? The statement from above alludes to the fact that the rankings may simply be some way to break ties among power conference teams with the fewest number of losses. Duke, UCONN, Pitt, Oklahoma, and Wake Forest all only have one loss but pollsters think Duke is the best team out of those five. Is North Carolina with two losses better than all five of those other teams? If so, then they would be deserving of the number one ranking.

Tom Glavine, an Atlanta Braves great and arguably one of the best all time lefties, is showing interest in pitching for the Naitonals. His choice is to resign with the Braves, but if that is not the case, he might turn to Stan Kasten, current Nationals team president and former Braves excecutive.

This is not exactly the best choice for the Nationals in pitching. Glavine might have a best a couple of years left in him, but if they are looking to improve on last season's abismal record, Glavine could give them those extra few wins. Even with his age, he is probably better than all the current projected rotation, except possibly Daniel Carbrera. If the Braves do pass on him, Washington should not hesitate to work a deal, especially given the relationship he already has with Kasten.

After every bump in the road Gary Williams detractors embrace the notion of looking for a new head coach to bring a championship to Maryland. His greatest critics discuss the lack of tournament appearances since 2004. While attending games this season, students have voiced their displeasure with the team and head coach. The current students acknowledge the championship of 2002 and then quickly dismiss it. They mentioned they're looking for a championship caliber team while at Maryland and they're not getting it from Gary.

What has been the NFL team with the worst regular season record to host a conference championship game? I don’t know the answer for certain, but I have a good guess: this season’s Arizona Cardinals with a regular season record of 9-7.

I usually go to the sports book at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas one Sunday a year during NFL football season. I make sure to arrive before 10am local time before the first game of the day starts. On a recent trip, I arrived shortly after 9am and was amazed to find that there was hardly an empty seat in the place.

My first thought as to why it was so busy was that there must have been an NFL game that had started earlier than scheduled. My second thought was that I had incorrectly set my watch to the local time in Vegas and that the games had started already. Neither of those thoughts were correct.

An interesting entry by Cindy Boren at the Washington Post's Redskins Insider blog. What's so interesting about it is that the Redskins seem to imply that the economic downtown is responsible for why "revenue from tickets and season tickets was not where it needs to be."

UMMMM.... Dan, are you sure it's not because of the team's performance on the field? And hey, I thought this stadium was sold out, baby!

The readers have spoken and a winner is crowned. Noriko wins the inaugural cheerleaders vote-off here on the DC Sports Page. If you want to see a larger version of the above photo, just click on it for a pop-up window.

Also...

30 Rock, Law & Order, Scrubs. Three solid shows. Also three things I'll be watching off my DVR Thursday night instead of the Fedex BCS National Championship Game. BTW, to the powers that be, "BCS National Championship" is redundant, since you have Championship twice. Those of you who know the real BMT probably know of my hatred of the Bowl Championship Series. The rest of you now get the details. This has been something that has been brewing in my mind long before we started the DC Sports Page, but I have motivation to write it this BCS season.

Michael Wilbon wrote a column that inspired me to write this even more. Like I really needed more impetus to do it. While I am not a sports journalist, and have never been a huge fan of college football, I agree with his stance 100%. Why watch any bowl game except one, when it has already been decided, down to two teams, who the champion will be? And they can't even get that right.

Mark Teixeira, a Maryland native, was introduced as a Yankee. Mark recounted his love of baseball and his dad taking him to Orioles games as a child. He smiled as he said he was a fan of Mattingly even though he loved Cal (Ripken) & Eddie (Murray). He would wear a Yankees cap in the late 80s and early 90s to Yankees/Orioles games. Teixeira then regaled the audience what it was like to be a Yankee. As Bill Simmons said in his most recent mail bag article, "More!" Maybe Teixeira appreciated the Nationals offer even though he didn't sign with them. After all, he didn't trash the Nats.

As the Chargers and Colts gathered themselves at midfield in this past Saturday's playoff game for the standard overtime coin toss, "GAME OVER" was yelled by Rivers after winning the coin toss. All league MVP Peyton Manning could do was watch from the sidelines as the Chargers led by Rivers marched down the field for a game winning touchdown in overtime.

The NFL rule is very specific about over time. A coin toss determines who receives the ball in a sudden death format where the first team to score wins. The NCAA allows both teams to have a possession. Both teams start at the same yard line and every subsequent tie moves the ball closer to the goal line for teams to start. Many fans have voiced their displeasure at the existing NFL rule after this game. It seems fair, plain, and simple. Each team has a defense. If the defense can stop someone to get the ball back their offense will have a chance. The Colts illustrated why a championship winning defense is important. The Titans or Ravens may not have fared any better on a game winning drive, but you'd like their chances better.

The college rules should stay in college. The NFL is a professional sport and as such a defense of professionals is paid to perform and stop the opposing team's offense the same as they're paid for the first 60 minutes.

After the improbable 6-2 run to start the season, the Redskins finished a mere 8-8. On offense the team has several areas of concern from Zorn completing a full second season as coach, Vinny & Danny's making the right personnel decisions, finding a starting receiver opposite Moss, to Santana's shoe shine problems, the offensive line woes, Clinton's outburst, and Campbell's execution on the field. The only position without concern is that of starting TE, Chris Cooley.

On most championship teams the most vocal or inspiring player on offense is the quarterback. He leads by his command of the game, the ability to bring out the best in players around him, and by execution. In some cases the leader on offense leads by example, but it's the quarterback the rest of the team listens to and follows. The quarterback is the extension of the coaching staff's game plan. After days of preparation, it's the job of the quarterback to execute the offense to perfection and lead the team to victory.

There have been many great running backs that never won a title let alone made it to the Super Bowl. Eric Dickerson never made it to the Super Bowl neither did Barry Sanders. There have been other great running backs in a similar situation and the striking similarity regarding the leadership stemmed from the quarterback position. Make no mistake about it. It was Eric Dickerson's Rams and not Jim Everett's. Just like this is Clinton Portis' team not Jason Campbell's.

This beckons the question; does Jason Campbell have 'it'? No quarterback can win without a strong running game, but can Campbell lead the Redskins to another Super Bowl?

Another effect of the unfairness of NFL divisions and playoff eligibility, which I wrote about yesterday, is to expose the double standard that the sports media applies to the NFL as opposed to other sports.

College football uses a system that is broken to determine its national champion. The entire sports media gets all up in arms every year at this time to go out if their way to tell the public just how messed up the system is. But not a single critical word is uttered in the national media regarding how unfair the NFL divisional format is. In fact, on today’s episode of The Sports Reporters, Howard Bryant’s parting shot was an attempt to justify the NFL’s misguided playoff eligibility. After stating in an earlier segment that “a monkey playing cymbals can make the playoffs in the NFL once every five years. The rules are set up to do this,” Bryant argued that the 11-5 Patriots had no right to complain about not making the playoffs because they had a weak schedule and had only defeated one playoff team. Hello Mr. Bryant, the 8-8 Chargers beat zero playoff teams during the regular season!

This just goes to show that while members of the media are quick to ridicule various aspects of sports, the NFL is treated as some sort of sacred cow that gets a free pass from the media. Steroids in baseball? Outrage is cried by the media. Players are stained for life by the media. Steroids in the NFL? The media reports it then ignores it. When is the media going to wake up from its love affair with the NFL to see that it has just as many flaws as other sports.

How many talking heads is enough for an NFL show? Apparently eight IS enough on NBC. Roll call on NBC places Olbermann, Patrick, Costas, Bettis, Barber, King, Collinsworth, and Millen all on football night in America. It's a painful program to watch and is less entertaining and informative than any other network. How many different diagnoses of a single game can warrant this many broadcasters and analysts? This came to the attention of BMT and I as we watched the playoff games on NBC. Other network are broadcasting and covering multiple games in progress while NBC has only one game to cover. They may have highlights of the earlier games but eight talking heads is excessive.

This weekend’s NFL Wild Card playoff games feature something interesting about the matchups: all four home teams are underdogs. This means that most people think that all four of the Wild Card teams are better than the division winners they are playing. This situation is further proof that the existence of divisions are unnecessary and counterintuitive to the goals of a playoff. The goal of a playoff is to pit the top teams against each other to determine who is the champion of the season. So explain to me why the 8-8 San Diego Chargers deserve to compete for the championship while the 11-5 New England Patriots aren’t good enough to compete for the Super Bowl? The Patriots, Jets, Cowboys, and Buccaneers each have records better than the Chargers this season. The Broncos, Texans, Redskins, and Saints all have the same record as the Chargers this season. That puts the Chargers somewhere between the 16th and 20th team ranked by regular season record. By regular season record, the Patriots rank tied for 7th.

I’m not a Patriots fan, so I’m not arguing that “my team was robbed.” I’m a sports fan arguing for fairness when it comes to determining eligibility for the postseason. The existence of divisions makes the playing field unequal when it is possible to have an 8-8 team in the playoffs and an 11-5 team not in the playoffs.

One of the best writers in sports, Bill Simmons aka The Sports Guy, has a thoroughly entertaining and insightful podcast. On the 12/10/08 podcast, Bill Simmons talked with David Stern as he celebrates his 25th Anniversary as Commissioner of the NBA. Bill discussed several topics during the near hour long conversation and asked a variety of questions, but one of the more intriguing was asking Stern who some of his favorite owners over his 25 years in the NBA and why he would cite them as a favorite or model owner. Sure enough Abe Pollin of the Washington Wizards made Stern's top three favorite owners. He was an owner before Stern even became commissioner The BS Report.

Who would have thought that Abe, aka "where's the cake", the man that crossed words with Michael Jordan during a labor agreement dispute, the owner that hired and fired Michael Jordan, and the owner that won a title in the late 1970s and is still waiting for his next championship would make such distinctive and honorable list? Abe is a great humanitarian. His kindness and generosity are well known and documented. He also chose to move the team back to the city at a personal cost of his own pocket for the betterment of the community to revitalize the area. Abe is in poor health and may not see another title, but his generosity and goodwill will live on in the community. It’s good to see Abe is revered and held in such high esteem by Stern.

One of baseball's greatest players phone is silent. Will the Nationals place a call to Ken Griffey Jr.? It's a familiar sound to hear that when he's healthy Griffey can still produce and do it well. The Nationals know all too well from dealing with Nick Johnson's injuries. While everyone is concentrating on other players, Washington could secure a steadying influence in the club house and the outfield by signing a future hall of famer.

For a team like Washington looking to rebuild the organization with players from the farm system, signing a player like Griffey, Jr. will provide the right type of player to help augment the development of the younger players on the team. It couldn't hurt in negotiations with Dunn to have one more player on the team he's already knows. Name one player on the Nationals roster that any free agent would say here's a player I want to play with and the answer would probably be zero, but add a player like Griffey, Jr. and that would change. There's something about talking baseball in the club house with one of the games greats. It's just one more selling point to prospective free agents.

Rumors on the boards suggest the Nationals are interested in Milton Bradley of the Rangers (OF). Just what the Nationals need another outfielder that may hit around 20 home runs. Signing Bradley after missing out on the Teixeira sweepstakes would sink any fan's 'Battleship'. The Nats possibly signing Bradley would be acceptable if he was the missing component towards winning a division title or championship. His signing with the Nationals would bring neither. It would only clutter the outfield with more of the same.

The only thing palatable about signing Bradley if they fail to sign any marquee players would be for the front office to hand out board games to every fan in attendance for every game Milton Bradley plays. At least it would provide the fans something to watch during the games. If the Nationals are completely locked out of signing any significant players during the offseason, it would mean more to invest the money into the community with charity work and donations to some favorite charities rather than over pay for a player that won't dramatically change the record of this team.