Probably the last entry of the year

http://www.courier-journal.com/cjsports/news2004/12/30/C1-brew1230-5716.htmlI could read this column with no byline and be certain it was Sally Jenkins that wrote it.

Simmons' mail bag is pretty funny.

Sean McAdam praises Jason Varitek.

I can't decide who is the bigger loser in this story.

This cracked me up. How much fun did the desk guys have coming up with the headline: Wiener wagon hotbed of sin. The last quote was pretty good too.

I'll link to almost anybody's column on who should and who shouldn't be in the Hall of Fame. If the Athol Daily News columnist runs who he'd vote for, I'd probably link to it. So here's Posnanski's.

Jerry Brewer is off Bobby Petrino's Christmas card list.


Do mess with Fossilman.

Shaughnessy is pretty good.


When Mitch Albom is on, he's good. I actually wished this column was a little longer.

Bill Lyon's year-end column ends with a topic, I've included a lot here.

The man on the bike.
Lance Armstrong won the Tour de France for the sixth consecutive time. It is without precedent. On his cap, he wrote: "Livestrong."
Perfect.
That motto was etched into yellow rubber bracelets, and before long, people were buying them, the proceeds going for cancer research, and hanging charms on them in memory of loved ones, or writing the names of those who had succumbed to that cruel and insidious killer, and now those rubber yellow bracelets have blossomed like a pasture of dandelions after a spring shower.
One word. Defiant. Inspired. Inspiring.
Livestrong.
A word, a cause, a crusade, a credo


Happy New Year...

Hodgepodge

Is the NFL's blackout policy outdated? Darren Sabedra thinks so

Bob Ryan had fun writing this column. I had fun reading it.

The other side of Reggie White

Michael Rosenberg says Texas shouldn't be in the Rose Bowl and it has nothing to do with Cal being more deserving.

R.I.P Lenny Briscoe

Jerry Orbach 1933-2004

Between holidays

Mike Bianchi apologizes on behalf of the sportswriting community to Steve Wilstein, who broke the McGwire Andro story in 1998.


Tom Reed says it's official: Cleveland is the biggest loser city in sports.

Bill Lyon writes one of the better Reggie White remembrance pieces of the many that are out there.

Woj and Ian O'Connor take apart Chad Pennington.


The overt religion in this Washington Times piece (I know, consider the source) on Johnny Oates dying bothered me.


This David Whitley column about where bad bowl names sprouted from amused me.


Outside of sports, here's a scary first person account of the tragedy in Asia.

Top 25

Meant to post this last Thursday when all the games were complete for last week...

Here's my men's basketball top 25:
1. Illinois
2. Kansas
3. Oklahoma State
4. Duke
5. Pitt
6. North Carolina
7. Syracuse
8. Wake Forest
9. Kentucky
10. Gonzaga
11. Georgia Tech
12. Alabama
13. Connecticut
14. George Washington
15. Iowa
16. Mississippi State
17. North Carolina State
18. Washington
19. Arizona
20. Michigan State
21. Texas
22. Louisville
23. Cincinnati
24. Boston College
25. Maryland

Pretty straight forward stuff this week...
Some good games this week including (using actual rankings not mine):
Tuesday
No. 3 Oklahoma State vs. No. 12 Gonzaga at the Ford Center, Oklahoma City, 9:30 p.m.
Wednesday
No. 18 Alabama at Wisconsin, 7:30 p.m.
No. 20 George Washington at West Virginia, 7 p.m. Most underrated national game
Thursday
No. 12 Gonzaga at Missouri, 8 p.m. Have to admire Gonzaga's scheduling.
Friday
No. 1 Illinois vs. No. 22 Cincinnati at Valley HS, Las Vegas, 10:30 p.m. Guess we'll see if Cincy is legitimate. A win and the Bearcats head for top 10. A close loss and they might still move up.
Saturday
No. 2 Kansas vs. No. 9 Georgia Tech Best game of the week, 2:30 p.m.
No. 5 Wake Forest at No. 25 Virginia, 5:30 p.m. Methinks Cavs get exposed.
No. 14 Arizona vs. Arizona State, 3:30 p.m. Upset special
No. 17 North Carolina State vs. West Virginia, 3 p.m.

Catching up

I haven't had time to post much lately, but there was too much good out there not to make an entry.

Michael Rosenberg has a very well-reported piece on fomer baseball player Carlos Perez, who appears to be a pretty terrible human being. If this column hurts Perez's chances of a comeback, Rosenberg has done a great service.

Sally Jenkins takes aim at MLB's hoodwinking of Washington and praises the politicians that stood up to it.

Posnanski likes writing feel-good stories.

Ian O'Connor makes a great point for why football has passed baseball in popularity nationwide.

Jay Mariotti looks at Bob Knight in the homestretch of his career and hopes Knight will be graceful enough to leave with a warm legacy.

Dan Wetzel writes about the Hawaii Marathon in Afghanistan.

Top 25

Here's my men's basketball top 25:
1. Illinois (I'm now one of the 50)
2. Kansas
3. Oklahoma State
4. Duke
5. Pitt
6. North Carolina
7. Syracuse
8. Wake Forest
9. Kentucky
10. Gonzaga
11. Georgia Tech
12. Alabama
13. Connecticut
14. George Washington
15. Iowa
16. Mississippi State
17. North Carolina State
18. Washington
19. Arizona
20. Michigan State
21. Texas
22. Louisville
23. Cincinnati
24. Boston College
25. Virginia
Notes:

I struggled a bit on where to put Gonzaga. I had the Zags ranked No. 17 last week, but they beat Georgia Tech, my No. 1. Their only loss was Illinois, who is now my No. 1, so where do they go? I opted for No. 10, one spot ahead of Georgia Tech (who I think might beat the Zags, six times out of 10).
In the actual poll, Gonzaga is No. 13 and Tech is No 9, which is of course illogical...


BC remains difficult because it is undefeated with some escape wins over bad teams. I dropped them one spot after a double overtime win over Yale, the third best team in Connecticut. The Eagles will probably still be undefeated until I see them live on Jan. 2.

I'm getting a little enamored with Witchita State. The Shockers are undefeated with a win over Providence and were the preseason favorite to win the always underrated Missouri Valley Conference. I need to research them futher, but they could find their way into this space.

Well this issue should piss off most people that write proffessionally...

The Arizona Daily Sun says the publisher forced Gorham to write her apology column.

A couple nuggets in the midst of a busy travel week

Jackie MacMullen is back in form with a nice piece about Red Auerbach taking the Celtics rookies to lunch.

Joe Pos looks at steroids from the other side.

Michael Rosenberg suggests going back to the old bowl system. There are some funny lines, but he's not entirely joking either.

Three today

Three suggestions that are in no way connected to each other.

1. Michael Rosenberg of the Detroit Free Press ads his voice to the many on Willingham. I thought this passage made a lot of sense on where race fit into all of this.
Let's avoid the word "race" for a moment, since that word is kerosene on any well-intended conversation. Let's use the word "appearance."
Most people, subconsciously or consciously, think they know what a college football coach looks like. Bear Bryant, Bo Schembechler -- now those were coaches! Most of the great coaches in movies have a certain look about them -- firm jaw, glare in the eyes and, uh, light skin.
You're supposed to look the part. Schools avoid black coaches for the same reason they would avoid 400-pound coaches, 5-foot-2 coaches and goofy-looking coaches. That's not a joke. Check the record.
New England Patriots offensive coordinator Charlie Weis underwent gastric-bypass surgery a couple of years ago, partly because he believed his weight was costing him head coaching jobs. Weis is white.
When Ralph Friedgen was the offensive coordinator at Georgia Tech, he applied for almost every head coaching job in the Atlantic Coast Conference. Those schools should have known about him, since his offenses regularly scored in bunches against them.
Friedgen was passed over many times before Maryland, his alma mater, took a chance. He has had extreme success there. Friedgen is white and, by his own admission, not the most telegenic guy in the world.
Weis and Friedgen have suffered from the same mentality that hurts black coaches: They don't fit the mold.

I have a soft spot for the Army-Navy football game. This story would have been sad at anytime, but particularly so coming on the eve of the annual game.

You need to be a Sports Illustrated subscriber to get the final story, but as a Red Sox fan, I loved it. It runs in this weeks Sportsman of the Year magazine.

Willingham

Plenty of opinions on Tyrone Willingham today most of which are more anti-Notre Dame than pro-Willingham. Of the columnists below, I probably most closely identify with Bob Kravitz's opinion.

Wilbon says the folks at Notre Dame never really wanted Willingham anyway.

Kevin Blackistone takes a similar stance

Bob Kravitz said they didn't give Willingham long enough.

Ray Ratto agrees

Bob Ryan and Mike Vaccaro says Notre Dame is no better than anyone else.

Mitch Albom and Pat Forde sing a similar tunes.


Woj says Notre Dame continues to fool itself.

Art Spander looks at the racial implications.

Mark Purdy does too

Richard Lapchick said its a sad day for diversity in college sports.

Jay Mariotti says it was time for Willingham to go.

Folks in Utah seem resigned to Meyer leaving.

I'm looking forward to reading Whitlock and Rhoden if they jump in on this topic. I don't always agree with either of them, but they are two of the best a spawning discussions about race. I'm sure they'll do that here.