Free Kicks

Sorry for the lack of posting yesterday- I am still getting settled, Windsor is in an undisclosed location (my bet is a secret underground bunker) working, and Falco is laid up sick and recovering. Things are harried over at ATH, but the show must go on. So, the Colts sealed up the #5 seed in the playoffs, and things just got a bit tighter for the Ravens. I was pulling for the Jags just to give another team a shot to take the heat off of Baltimore, but this doesn’t change a whole lot. The formula is still pretty simple. They have to win their last two, that’s it. Meanwhile, let’s line up for the kick…

What to Make of the Latest Mark Teixeira News
I am actually starting to hope that Mark Teixeira signs with Red Sox just so that he signs already. My god, this negotiation is starting to have shades of the Brett Favre drama in the mass of coverage and how fast the story changes. Last night he was going to sign with the Red Sox. Now, Red Sox owner John Henry has stated that his team is out of the running after looking at the other offers that Boras has received. At first glance this seems hopeful for the other teams in the race, but let’s hold that for a moment. This is clear posturing on the part of the Red Sox. Boras likely had them down to Texas to try to get them to up their offer, saying that it would take X increase to sign Teixeira. The Sox are trying to call his bluff, hoping that Boras will come off of his demands and return to the table. No team with a competitive offer (and we must assume that the Sox have one) just walks away- not even the Orioles are doing that. The Sox are just making a show that they might not be an option anymore just as a PR stunt to get Scott Boras to stop raising the price for his star client. It is good business, and it does not take Boston out of the running at all. In fact, I still think he will sign there.

Lions’ Winless Season would be About More than Football
I read an interesting piece by Elizabeth Merrill on ESPN about how the Lions season is being received in the city of Detroit. As someone who has close ties to the area, the utter failure of the Lions to win a game this season is just a microcosm of the way the city- and the entire state- has gone this year. Yes, the Red Wings are still incredible, the Pistons are perennial contenders and the Tigers are, well, at least the season’s over. The Lions are, as usual, terrible. But the difference this year was hope. This was a team that went 4-0 in the preseason as even while I was one of those who said that it meant nothing for the season, I did think it showed signs of improvement. There was hope in the city for a playoff bid in a mediocre division; this was the moment for Detroit to make a move. Yet as so often happens, that hope was dashed early and has only deepened since. From a football standpoint, it doesn’t really matter how the Lions do after this point. No matter what this franchise will get an overhaul, though count me among the people who believe that only an 0-16 season will get the Ford’s to do what it takes to tear down and build up this franchise.

This city is a lot like this team- beaten down on a weekly basis without good news sprinkled in to give it hope. This city also has a lot of great people, great attractions, and an impressive spirit to it, like this team does. There is talent on that roster (though not much), and there is talent in that city. The Big 3 have mismanaged their workforce (though the UAW hasn’t helped), and the Ford family has driven the team into the ground (oddly enough, in both cases the Fords are partly to blame). Root for the Lions to succeed next year or the year after, Michiganders have enough to be depressed about already.

BCS isn’t the Only (or even the best) Games of the Bowl Season
Bowl Season is upon us! While everyone will be watching Navy-Wake Forest in the Eaglebank Bowl and Maryland-Nevada in the Humanitarian Bowl (along with the 24 or so people who have bought tickets- yes, only about a couple dozen-DOZEN tickets have been sold), there are plenty of other great matchups that don’t have the acronym BCS in them. Personally I have trouble stomaching even watching the spawn of the BCS system, so these games are great distractions. The Poinsettia Bowl pits undefeated Boise State against 10-2 TCU, whose only loses have been to Oklahoma and by a hair to Utah late in the season. These are the two most tested non-BCS conference teams over time, the ones with the pedigree and experience of succeeding year in and year out even when they take on the major conferences. I am incredibly excited to see them face off on December 23rd. Christmas might come a day early if Hawaii manages to beat Notre Dame in the Sheraton Hawaii Bowl on Christmas Eve. Charlie Weis has wasted so much talent and it is a crime that he has a job right now- not because I don’t enjoy watching the Irish suffer, but because no coach who has failed so unequivocally against cupcake schedules with top-5 recruiting classes should be staying on for a 5th season. Hawaii has a lot to prove after being waxed by Georgia last year in the Sugar Bowl, and ND has to avoid a second straight losing season. This should be a great one to watch. After this week I will let you know of some others to keep your eyes out for, there is still plenty of football left!

Plenty of Big Games to Feast on This Thanksgiving

ATH may be taking a break on Thanksgiving, but feel free to check in on the blog in between bites of stuffing (or watching the stuffing being beat out of the Lions).

Speaking of which, how odd is it that we manage to get two of the polar opposite teams in the league playing on Thanksgiving every year? The Lions, the most hapless team (historically) in the NFL, having not won an NFL title since before the AFL was even thought of. Think about it, there was not a single active NFL player alive when Detroit won their last NFL championship in 1957. I am actually looking forward to watching the Lions on Thursday. They take double digit 1st half leads and lose by 17+ points on such a consistent basis, that I wish I could watch and see how that is done week in and week out. I couldn’t watch it even if I was in Michigan, as the Lions have been blacked out in their home state due to low attendance for a month, and it will likely get even longer.

If I was the Ford family I would be proud that I lasted this long with a losing product before starting to go under. Then again, it seems like that is a pattern with Ford these days, huh? We Orioles fans talk about our loyalty in filling up Camden Yards consistently up until the last couple of years; what about the Lions? This team is a mess, the ownership is a mess, and they came consistently for decades! Sorry Baltimore, in this we got nothing on Detroit. But when the measure is being a pathetic sports team, I will take that loss.

Meanwhile, we also get the Cowboys, one of the most legendary franchises in the league. 160 consecutive sold-out games. The most valuable franchise in the NFL according to Forbes. 5 Super Bowl wins. All-time record of 422-306-6 (the Lions have 488 wins, but 562 losses to go with them). I know the ‘Boys aren’t playing up to expectations this season, but what a pairing? Could you have a more disparate pair of teams to feature annually like this? I guess the day is designed that way- the Cowboys during the feast, and the Lions to help you fall asleep afterwards.

However, while we are all preoccupied with pro football, there is a lot of other big games going on this Thursday to sneak away from your mother-in-law to see. Texas vs. Texas A&M us always a big one, despite Mike Sherman’s disappointing debut season. I am a fan of Sherman and I am convinced he will turn this football team around in a few years. Being as they are in the Big 12 South that might take longer than a year or two, but it will happen. Texas however would be loathe to overlook the Aggies… nevermind. You get blown out by 20 points to Baylor and it just isn’t your year to upset anyone. It could still be good to see Colt McCoy try to resurrect his Heisman hopes after Graham Harrell took a big step back against Oklahoma last week.

The New Orleans Hornets will face off at 10:30 PM against the Denver Nuggets who are sporting a shiny 5-1 record in their last 6 games, and are *gasp* playing team defense behind point guard and new leader Chauncey Billups. I wrote here a couple weeks ago that the Iverson trade was bad for Detroit. I didn’t say anything about Denver, but I should have- Chauncey is so much more than an aging point guard. He has a mind for the game and knows how to get a team to come together. Don’t believe me? 114.8 points per game allowed last year, 97.2 points per game allowed so far this year. Without him, the Pistons are not the same team anymore, and are left with “Shoot first ask questions later” Allen Iverson. This should be a great matchup between Chris Paul and Billups.

You want more? How could I forget Maryland-Michigan State basketball at 7 PM? If the Terps are anywhere close to contending this season, it will have to come through for this drama-filled club to keep pace with the #5 Spartans in the Old Spice Classic. I’ll still be keeping tabs on Oklahoma State- Gonzaga. I don’t trust the Bulldogs outside the safety of their terrible conference, and the Cowboys are better than a lot of people think. It’s still too early to make any determinations in college basketball, but these are the games that could get a team in (or keep them out) of the Big Dance in March.

Photo Credit: (Kirthmon Dozier: Detroit Free Press)

Free Kicks

I wanted to turn off the Rays game after the top of the 7th, but then I figured I might as well stick around to watch Sox fans in agony watching their playoff hopes die at the hands of the kids of Tampa. I am not sure whether I am glad I didn’t or not. It was either that or go to ESPN for wall-to-wall up-to-the-minute coverage of Tony Romo’s pinkie, including interviews with his ring finger and a reading of all 36,000 statements that have been released by Jerry Jones in the last 4 days. Don’t worry everyone, Maryland basketball is right around the corner. Wait, maybe we should worry. Forget it, just line up for the kick…

Was That the Beginning of a Series Comeback?

Okay, so I knew the Rays bullpen wasn’t as good as their starting pitching, but come on now- that comeback by the Red Sox was aided in no small part to relievers that may have been thinking more about the Phillies series than the Red Sox at this point. Going into last night’s game the big controversy was whether to start Scot Kazmir, given his rough previous month of outings and difficulty in the playoffs thus far. However, that gamble more than paid off, with Kazmir scattering only 2 hits over 6 innings of work. At 111 pitches I understand (and agree with) the decision to take Kazmir out. There was no sense in leaving him in there with a 7 run lead.

Is this the beginning of another patented Red Sox comeback? I will never question the Sox’s ability to deliver crushing emotional blows whenever possible to their opponents (even those by proxy in Baltimore and New York). Stop talking about Schilling being gone, or Lowell, or anyone else. They have just gotten it done consistently in the postseason, especially when their backs are against the wall. The numbers still say Rays win at home on Saturday… but with the Red Sox, nothing is out of reach.

Was That Just a Good Management Decision by the Lions?

Roy Williams has just been traded to the Cowboys in exchange for their life savings a 1st, 3rd, and 5th round pick in this year’s draft. On top of that, Dallas signed Williams to a 5 year extension with $20 million in guaranteed money. This was an incredible move… for Detroit. The Lions already have enough wideouts to get by, and in return they have the building blocks for their future. This was a move that was obvious to Lions fans but one that Millen was incapable of making. The idea of trading a star player was just too much for him.

The emergence of Calvin Johnson and consistency of Mike Furrey allowed the Lions to trade a player who was never bad with the fans or the media and was a marquee player who Detroit wasn’t able to utilize up to his value. This allowed them to trade him and leave the Cowboys with 2 receivers of the same style in Owens and Williams and more money sewn up in contracts to leave Dallas handcuffed should they go after many more big names. Jerry Jones should take a lesson from Steinbrenner- all stars don’t win a championship. A team does.

Was That Just a Body Blow to the Mid-Majors?

I have been following BYU closely since their rout of UCLA, hoping against hope that perhaps they could go undefeated and add their names to the list of schools slighted by the mythical national championship known as the BCS. Over time that list would grow until the Presidents of the Universities realized all the money being left on the table and went for a more equitable system.

But I also knew how good TCU was, and I knew that it could be a trap game for BYU. It wasn’t a trap game in the end. It was a huge-chasm-at-the-end-of-a-cliff game, a complete whalloping from the Horned Frogs who are out to remind everyone that they were the first mid-major to take on the big boys of college football consistently- and win. However, the Mid-Majors are not done just yet. Those of us who long for a title game in which more than a chosen dozen teams anointed by tradition are able to play can still pin our hopes to a few remaining contenders. Utah is still roaring through the Mountain West albeit against an incredibly weak schedule, and Boise State as always is thumping every team it faces but likewise does not play anyone (aside from Oregon) that would make them part of the controversy even if they did go undefeated. And if you are really desperate, Ball State is still undefeated. Okay, so maybe things are rough…

Free Kicks

I saw it. I flipped over to the USC-Oregon State game as an afterthought when I realized I had already seen that episode of “First 48”. Then things got interesting. In the summer you forget the sudden-ness of football, the feeling that you know on that play that things will change for one way or the other. There are no fouling off pitches in football. There was nothing more exciting than watching USC line up for the onside kick...

God I Love Thursday Football

I shuddered when I saw the students start to claw over the walls with 2:39 left to go in the game. I winced when I saw Mike Riley doused with Gatorade with 1:40 left and an onside kick yet to play, clinging to a 6 point lead. I had seen all of this before. USC would somehow come back and steal a game they had no business winning. But then Oregon State recovered the onside kick and the celebration could begin in Corvallis. How incredible is college football? Let’s be honest, no one really thought that Oregon State could beat Southern Cal… again. This team that was throttled by Penn State and Stanford took apart the Trojans from start to finish.

Then again, USC has had a tendency to give away the easy one lately- be it to Stanford or Oregon State, they seem to wilt when facing a team that refuses to be intimidated. Either way, I love games like this. In the NFL, a 1-9 team beating an 8-2 team is unusual, but not Earth shattering; the league is built on parity. College Football is built on a hierarchy, of Storied Programs, Major Conferences, Mid-Majors, FBS, etc etc. It is so much sweeter to watch that hierarchy turned on its head.

It’s Almost Funny… Nope, Still Depressing

Matt Millen is gone. I will spare you the diatribe about how terrible a General Manager he was, that will be all over the news. The more important thing to consider is the future of the Lions. The city of Detroit will shrug their shoulders and give a weak smile, but the problems of the Lions will likely remain for years to come. This is a team that just seems snake-bitten with incompetence at all levels. People will applaud Bill Ford Jr. for his statements and subsequent pressure to remove Millen, but we shouldn’t be too excited. The Fords have never cared much about the quality of their product on the field.

Like Peter Angelos, they care about keeping butts in the seats. They knew that the fan base had reached its breaking point. Lions fans are loyal fans, but even their spirits have limits- a statewide depression lasting over a decade long and 8.9% unemployment will drag down the willingness to shell out a few thousand to watch a football team go 4-12. The Fords are following in Angelos’ footsteps- do nothing until the fans start to turn away, and then fire some executives to make it look like real changes are being made. It won’t be until the Lions enjoy a couple more seasons of failure that a complete overhaul will be made. The slogan for this year’s Lions reads “Do You Believe in Now?” No, we don’t. Don't ask again for another few years.

Now That’s Some Job Security

The Mets have awarded GM Omar Minaya a 4-year extension, and I actually don’t have a huge problem with giving him an extension. I do raise an eyebrow about giving him an extension NOW. I mean, this tells the fans that where they are is okay, that possibly missing the playoffs after a sizeable September lead is more than acceptable. I am not arguing that Minaya is to blame for the 2007 or 2008 collapses, but that the organization cannot start patting itself on the back just yet. Remember, the only reason they are still tied for the wildcard is because the Brewers decided to lose 5 out of 14 during one stretch earlier this month. Minaya put this team together, and if this team fails to make the playoffs with a $140,000,000 payroll, fans will have to question what they are paying for. If you have the second highest payroll in the majors to work with, you better be able to put together a playoff team. If not, then maybe there IS a problem with the GM.