Cirque de Chaney

I'm bad at updating from the road, but I wanted to get a few Chaney links up.
Pat Forde
Fran Fraschilla
Katz

Good stuff from Kern, Shedian and Mike Jensen on philly.com

A day late and...

I blew it on the Bonds stuff... No free time Wednesday. Had a game to cover and a time consuming column idea for a piece that turned out O.K. at best.

I'm moving on, but here's a couple of Bonds columns.
Jay Mariotti
San Diego's Tim Sullivan

Woj sayd Bob Knight appears to have turned his career around.

No matter what John Chaney does, people find a way to soften it. If it was Huggins, he'd be getting villified. I like Chaney, but he sent a player in to hurt people and I think that's worth more than one game.

USA Today is doing a daily top 10 worst jobs in sports. It's pretty funny.

Ian O'Connor says the Olympics in New York is a bad idea. I think he's right.

Zing

If I have time, I'll try to find good stuff on Bonds tomorrow, but for now...

``I don't know Jose. I was better than Jose then, and I've been better than him his whole career. If he wants to go make money, go ahead. ... For somebody who brags about what he did, I don't see any of your records.''

Spring Training, Slides, Soviets and Steroids

Johnny Damon is bizarre.

Dan Shaugnessy has come around on David Ortiz.

At the end of his media session, he was asked if success had changed him.
"What do you guys think?" he said.
Obvious. No change.
"That's me," he said. "That's my personality. I can't change it. If I change it, my father will hit me in the head with the bottle of water. Just keep things the same way. Things have been working like that. Real good."
The Herald has Ortiz enjoying his icon status.
Schilling and Randy are friends but not close.

Murray Chass rips his fellow reporters' sensationalizing of the ARod story. Is he wrong? Probably not, but media ripping media always seems petty. Isn't the New York Times supposed to be above that?

Whitlock says Kansas is sliding.

The DMN looks at steroids in high school football

NY Times on the Miracle on Ice from the Soviet side

Spring training woofing... Amusing or idiotic?

It's probably both. It certainly makes for easy copy.


I enjoyed Shaughnessy's piece on Alex Rodriguez and Bronson Arroyo.

Morrissey and Vaccaro debate whether Trot Nixon was right about ARod.

Keith Foulke had a great line in an otherwise forgettable Red Sox notebook

Keith Foulke told Bronson Arroyo to let Rodriguez know that if he charges the mound against the Sox closer, "Kevin Foulke" would be there waiting for him.

The New York Post's Kevin Kernan takes on this topic too, but is laughably homerish in his last line.

Gordon Edes says ARod is taking the high road.

One of my favorite things about Spring training coverage is stories about guys battling for an unlikely roster spot. Chris Snow looks at George Lombard.

Top 25 and more hoops

I moved BC back to No. 3. If beating Syracuse isn't a legitimizer, not sure what is. Debated the last spot between Nevada, Iowa State and Maryland...

1. Illinois
2. Oklahoma State
3. Boston College
4. North Carolina
5. Michigan State
6. Kentucky
7. Kansas
8. Wake Forest
9. Arizona
10. Duke
11. Louisville
12. Syracuse
13 Utah
14. Alabama
15. Gonzaga
16. Charlotte
17. Washington
18. Wisconsin
19. Pacific
20. Pitt
21. Oklahoma
22. Connecticut
23. Cincy
24. Villanova
25. Iowa State

Caulton Tudor on Duke bouncing back.



The Associated Press had an interesting story on Cincy basketball player Jihad Muhammed and what its like to be a Muslim basketball player with a difficult name in a post 9-11 America.

Hunter S. Thompson 1937-2005

A sad end for an often unusual man.



His last Page Two column for ESPN.com

NHL goes dark

The Toronto Star's Damien Cox said this could be good for the sport long term.

The Ottawa Citizen says the game's future is uncertain.


The Star looks at replacement players being the league's potential next negotiating tactic.

Couple legal hang-up could accompany that including:
Anti-replacement worker legislation in Quebec and B.C. would prevent the Montreal Canadiens and Vancouver Canucks from hiring any replacements, although the teams could try to hold home games in arenas outside their home provinces.

Same goes south of the border. Only American citizens would be allowed to play for the NHL's 24 U.S.-based clubs, Harvard University sports law professor Paul Weiler said in an interview.

Wetzel says Bettman and Goodnow should both be unemployed.

Albom blames Bettman.

Michael Rosenberg said both sides are to blame.

Wilbon calls this a win for the owners, but rips Bettman.

Rich Hoffman seems genuinely saddened by the cancellation.

Woj says hockey's days as a major are over.

This could be it for some stars, including Steve Yzerman, one of my all-time favorites.

This made me laugh out loud.

ESPN says Mike Greenwell thinks he should retroactively be the 1988 AL MVP because Jose Canseco was using steroids. He's starting to drift into the Oil Can Boyd delusion zone.

Spring training, dog show, lockout

I'll be hunting for more NHL cancelation stuff tomorrow, specifically for stories that look at the future of the league and the game etc. If readers have some to suggest please forward them to me.

For hockey fans that can't wait, check out this SI.com piece by Michael Farber. He's clearly been ready for this decision and wrote a well-researched and thought-out story.

The Boston Globe, which had a good overall sports section today had this story on the lockout's damage to the Quebec economy. It appears that Bob Hohler has taken on Joe Burris' old role at the Globe.

The Globe has a Stan Grossfield story on Red Sox fantasy camp and Gordon Edes on Pedro.

Jeff Jacobs did a nice column on Providence star Ryan Gomes.


Dave Albee had fun writing this column about Steve Lavin's hair. There's enough puns in here to call him a poor man's Marty Dobrow. The link came from the college basketball blog which has become a daily read.

Its the time of year people are writing Tom Brennan stories. I'll read all of them.

These sort of columns almost always flop, but I enjoyed this one. The Seattle PI's Jim Moore's dog wrote about the Westminster Dog Show.

Giambi

The three New York tabloids had weak efforts on the headlines for the Giambi apology.

I can't seem to get the Post's to reproduce. The front was He's no Yankee, He's a Dodger, which is pretty lame. The back is Yankee Zipper, which won't win any awards either.


This is better.


I don't get the picture here at all.

The Mikes, Vaccaro and Lupica weigh in.

Murray Chass says the Yankees had to know.

Ballparks and more

Safe to say any interesting articles on ballparks will be linked to here.

The Red Sox owners have done a great job of tweaking and expanding Fenway without detracting from the park's character. More adjustments are coming.

Folks in DC are hoping for a distinctive park with Washington flavor for the Nationals.
This picture is only one idea. It's not the final park design.



Tony K says the locals haven't quite figured out these Nationals yet.


The Bopston Globe's Gordon Edes catches up with Derek Lowe.

Believe it or not I didn't find this on Fark.com. It came from Sports pages.com's top 10 by way of the New York Times. Apparently one of Zimbabwe's top woman athletes is infact, a mediocre male athlete.

Whitlock on Jermaine O'Neal.


Coming tommorow, if I get a chance, will be Giambi reaction in the NY Tabs. Here's the A.P. Story.

The Casey Blog is updated.

This is getting ridiculous

How scared are the networks of the Federal Censorship Commission?

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/02/08/business/media/08adco.html?pagewanted=all

Post Super Bowl

I find myself feeling bad for Eagles fans this morning. For starters I like Philadelphia (the city), I like McNabb and Westbrook and pretty much the entire roster except for Owens.

Despite their reputation, Philly has good sports fans. Sure they have a few idiots. Everybody does. But most of them are knowledgable. They care and they've waited a long time. The comparison to Red Sox fans is a good one. I feel bad for the ones that drove to Jacksonville and spent their kids college funds to be there.

I'm glad the Patriots won, but I wish they'd beaten somebody else.



Headlines:
NY Post and Newsday both have: Pat Trick
NY Daily News was Double Bill
Philly Daily News has "We coulda won" next to a picture of McNabb and Damn with a picture of Owens
Online is Die Nasty on Philly.com


Big Picture Stories:
Nick Cafardo
Mitch Albom

Dynasty Stories:
Bob Ryan

Shaughnessy (Trivia Guess how many paragraphs it took him to mention the Redsox. Answer Below)

Plaschke

NY Times

Mariotti

Ian O'Connor says Belickick and Brady are better than Torre and Jeter. If he carries this column around with him, he'll never pay for a drink in Boston again.

Wilbon

Gary Shelton

On Brady
Jackie MacMullen

On Bruschi
Mike Vaccaro

Boston Herald


On Belichick
Woj

Jerry Izenberg

On the break up of the trinity
Karen Gueregian


Miscellaneous:
Selena Roberts comparts the Pats to the Yankees and the Eagles to the Sox

Bill Lyon on Oh So Close

The Cleveland Plain Dealer has a "Here Comes Crennel" story

On McNabb's Tough Night
Phil Sheridan

NY Times

On Terrell Owens
Stephen A. Smith

Dave Anderson of the New York Times


Trivia Answer: 8

Pats win again

Check back for stories tomorrow...

Top 25

1. Illinois
2. North Carolina
3. Boston College
4. Kentucky
5. Kansas
6. Michigan State
7. Syracuse
8. Wake Forest
9. Louisville
10. Oklahoma State
11. Duke
12. Arizona
13. Washington
14. Utah
15. Alabama
16. Gonzaga
17. Oklahoma
18. Wisconsin
19. Pitt
20. Charlotte
21. Cincy
22. Mississippi State
23. Connecticut
24. Villanova
25. Georgia Tech

Excellent story on Barret Robbins

Jon Saraceno writes a very good in depth look at the downward-spiraling Barret Robbins.

Play the game already

I've never liked having two weeks before the Super Bowl. By the end of it the stories are tiresome and people are just ready to see the games.

Anyway here's a few more anyway...

Shaughnessy calls the Eagles "The Football Red Sox."


Wetzel has two good stories. One on Bruschi and one on Vinatieri.

The Sentinel is doing a Boston vs. Philly thing. It's pretty contrived especially these photos.

The City Comparison here is even lamer.

Mike Bianchi flopped badly in his attempt to write this column as Ben Franklin.

David Whitley was equally brutal pretending to be Paul Revere.

Apparently there is very little good coming out of Florida newspapers. Mike Freeman's Peek at Owens' Diary is pretty bad too. NOTE TO EVERYONE WHO WRITES: These things never work. Never.
I'm speaking from experience. I've written some stinkos. Contrived humor can't sustain a full column. Leigh Montville and Norman Chad are the only ones that ever nail these. Too many other good writers waste inches on it.

Ian O'Connor writes about Charlie Weis.

I like JeMarcus Russell more for the way he handled Ryan Perriloux's idiocy. If you're smart enough not to read much after signing day, you probably missed Perriloux. The quarterback from Reserve backed out of his commitment to Texas at the last minute to go to LSU. He then proceded to rip Russell, LSU's current QB. I don't like LSU anyway and now I hope this kid's career mirrors C.J. Leak's.


Nice story by Plaschke on Neil and Josh Parry
http://www.latimes.com/sports/columnists/la-sp-plaschke3feb03,1,6506810.column?coll=la-headlines-sports-columnists

More Ken Powers

The Ken Powers plagarism appears worse than it originally seemed. There's more comparisons between his work and others that are pretty damning at Bostonsportsmedia.com. New York Times and A.P. Coverage.

Million Dollar Baby

This post belongs more on Jim's Blog, but I'm posting it here. I used today's rare day off to see Million Dollar Baby. It was excellent. I strongly recomend it.

Super Bowl and plagarism

Some plagarism allegations at the Worcester Telegram and Gazette for lifting material from Sports Illustrated. It's being talked about at Boston Sports Media and Editor and Publisher.

Super Bowl etc.

Jeff Jacobs has a nice piece on Matt Straub.

The Miami Herald has a story on baseball in Venezuela. It's good, but it's a little one-sided not really mentioning that players in that country have been targetted by criminals.

Chad's Super Bowl viewing guide.

Bob Ryan on playing for the feeling.

Katz points out the realistic possibility that Bill Self and Roy Williams could be coaching against their former schools in the Final Four

The Redskins are idiots.

Stark talks about how far Sosa fell.