They came off the lake and out of the night. Swarms of flying critters descended with a fury on the Cleveland Indians and New York Yankees like a day of reckoning.
The midges — or Chironomus plumosus (Linnaeus) for those keeping score at home — all but exterminated the Yankees' hopes of reaching the World Series.
The bugs feasted on the ample jowls of Yankee reliever Joba Chamberlain as if they had lucked into a seven-course banquet of human flesh. Derek Jeter flailed his arms at shortstop, swatting away at the pests. Catcher Jorge Posada visited the mound with insect repellant. After the playoff game, a 2-1 win in 11 innings by Cleveland, entomologists weighed in with commentary.
Yes, strange things were in the air in 2007, unpredictable gusts and shifting currents blowing across sports.
Maybe this whirlwind by Lake Erie, like some Biblical plague of locusts, was foreshadowed a month earlier in Cincinnati.
Gabe Gross of the Milwaukee Brewers inexplicably broke for third base on a steal. Brewers manager Ned Yost, it turned out, had a mosquito bite and started scratching. Third-base coach Nick Leyva misread the gesticulations for the steal sign.
"I looked up," Yost said, "and saw Gabe coming and thought, 'What the heck is going on.'"
A lot of people wondered that very thing when they heard about Ryan Boatwright. He's a basketball star from Aurora, Ill., and USC coach Tim Floyd offered him a scholarship. Nothing unusual there. But Boatwright had yet to decide where he's going to high school. He's 14.
"Hmmm," Louisville coach Rick Pitino said. "I'm not good enough to evaluate that far ahead. Someday I might."
Youth — and we're talking really young — was also served on the Nebraska-Kearney women's basketball team. Coach Carol Russell was a few minutes late for a game, but please forgive her: She gave birth five hours earlier.
"I usually stand up for the whole game," she said after the 108-75 loss to North Dakota. "But I didn't have the energy."
She was not the only pregnant woman with grit. Colleen Pavelka induced early labor because her husband, a rabid Chicago Bears fan, had tickets to the NFC title game. Dad did his part, though. He was there for delivery in his "Monsters of the Midway" shirt.
Bears fans clearly are a hearty breed. Scott Wiese, an office-supply store worker, made a bar bet in Decatur, Ill. If his team lost the Super Bowl, he'd change his name to whoever led Indianapolis to victory. Well, the Colts won and Wiese began legal proceedings to become Peyton Manning. He should be thankful the Bears didn't play the Chargers, and tight end Brandon Manumaleuna was the MVP.
"I think I represent all Bears fans," he said. "Not that I'm saying they're all idiots like me."
No idiot, Matt White. He's a journeyman pitcher trying to make it in the Dodger organization. A few years ago, he bought 50 acres of land in Massachusetts from his aunt for $50,000. While poking around the property he found stone ledges in the ground. Now he's sitting not on a gold mine but a quarry that could yield more than $2 billion worth of rocks.
"I'm just a small-town guy trying to get to the big leagues," the left-hander said. "It's beyond comprehension."
Food and drink were assuredly on the menu in sports this year.
The English soccer power Chelsea warned that fans could be barred from games if they persist in throwing celery on the field. The fans have been singing obscene songs about celery for years, but club officials had enough once the veggies went airborne.
For Jonathan Papelbon's bulldog, the cuisine of choice was rawhide. The Red Sox closer had the ball from the last out of the World Series in his Mississippi home. Then Boss got hold of it.
"He tore that thing to pieces," Papelbon told the Hattiesburg American. "Nobody knows that. I'll keep what's left of it."
As for the drink, a Nebraska veterinarian was accused of injecting horses with vodka before races at Fonner Park. The charges were dropped and left unclear was whether the horses preferred the vodka with tonic and lime.
Elsewhere in the judicial system, Mike Tyson served a one-day sentence in Arizona for DUI. The former heavyweight champion ate sloppy joes and read the book "American Gangster" during his stay. Like other inmates in the open-air jail, he was obligated to wear pink underwear beneath his black-and-white stripes.
And maybe in 2007 there was a lesson to be learned about perseverance in the face of grinding, utter defeat.
At the Asian Winter Games, Kazakhstan beat Thailand in ice hockey 52-1. Until the Thais scored in the third period their highlight came when defenseman Terani Harnarujchai checked a linesman into the boards. Thailand coach Michael Rolanti, a former American college player, assessed the wreckage and took heart.
"I think it was a good game for us," he said, "because we did not give up."
As we started in today's Daily News "Writing On (and off) The Wall" column -- revisiting stories about knuckleball pitcher Jon Secrist, beach volleyball player Jeff Nygaard and the women of the L.A. Amazons pro football team -- there is more unfinished business before we head into the '08 season.
The story: In August, we found former Lakers and Loyola Marymount basketball coach Paul Westhead on the verge of making some history with the WNBA’s Phoenix Mercury, who were about to head into the playoffs having mastered his fast-paced "Paul Ball" style of creating turnovers into instant offense.
“These women have rejuvenated me, really reminded me about how fun basketball can be when the players work hard,” he said as the team entered the playoffs.
The followup: The Mercury, which set a league record by averaging 89 points a game in the regular season and more than 95 in the post season, ran off with the WNBA title in early September, knocking off the Detroit Shock in the five-game series. It made Westhead the only coach to have won both an NBA and WNBA title.
It was enough of an achievement that Wheaties put the Mercury team on its box of cereal, which is still available in most supermarkets.
("What kid doesn't dream of being on the Wheaties box?" Mercury star Dianna Taurasi wrote on her blog. "I admit, the picture isn't the most exciting I've ever seen, but hey. its Wheaties! The only upgrade I can think of is maybe Fruity Pebbles).
Later that month, Westhead decided he wanted to go back to the NBA as an assistant to longtime friend P.J. Carlesimo with the Seattle SuperSonics.
"P.J. and I have worked together and known each other for many years, and I'm thankful for the opportunity," said the 68-year-old Westhead, who took the Lakers to the 1980 NBA title and also was the head coach in Chicago and Denver.
"We are unendingly grateful for the commitment and leadership Paul provided from the day he joined the Mercury organization and the role he played in bringing our franchise and city their first professional basketball championship," Mercury general manager Ann Meyers said. "We wish him the best in his new venture."
The Mercury ended up hiring Corey Gaines, the former LMU standout guard under Westhead and his assistant the last two years, as its new head coach. Earlier this month, there were rumors that Westhead could get back coaching or as a GM in the WNBA when Seattle Storm coach Anne Donovan said she was stepping down.
"It's a clear conflict of interest," Westhead told the Seattle Times. "I would only have an interest if I didn't have this job. But I have a job that I'm very happy with."
Westhead, who has a three-year contract with the Sonics, said it's impossible for him to coach the Sonics and Storm simultaneously.
"This is a full-time job," he said. "No possibility. Can't happen."
Westhead didn't rule out a return to the WNBA.
"Well, I never say never to anything. I coached in college and went back to the NBA. And when I was in the NBA, went back to college."
###############
The story: In January, we found former NFL running back Christian Okoye (pictured) about to help launch the California Sports Hall of Fame with 19 members in the augural class, including Magic Johnson, Wilt Chamberlain, Eric Dickerson, Chick Hearn, Bob Mathias, Jackie Robinson, John Wooden and Bill Walsh.
“Let's call it a start and see where we go,” he said when asked why these 19 but many others weren’t inducted in the first class.
The criteria put forth by the group for entry: The person has had to made an impact in sports in California while playing, coaching, writing or announcing sports for any school, team or sports media company in California.
Okoye's non-profit organization benefits from the attention and fund raising done by the Hall, help through promoting youth sports and helping struggling athletes.
The story: In August, we found the National Golf League ready to launch its 2007 season, with 18 teams and more than 300 players who were members of the Nationwide Tour, Canadian Tour, PGA Q-School and other mini-tours and collegiates. The Los Angeles Stars, who call Chevy Chase Country Club in Glendale their home course, just got on board.
What separated the NGL from any other of its kind -- it encouraged having fun on the course, like a Ryder Cup atmosphere where fans were allowed to cheer, players could help each other out with strategy, and men and women competed together.
The followup: Two top teams from the three divisions went to the finals -- the Sonoma Marin Breakers and the East Bay Power (Northern California), the OC Wedge and the Inland Empire Styx (Southern California) and Phoenix Fireballs and the Scottsdale Screech (Arizona Division). Phoenix won the $36,000 purse in a two-day, 45-hole event that led to a playoff against Sonoma.
During the season, former UCLA standout Charlotte Mayorkas, (pictured) a top rookie on the LPGA Tour, came out to play during a match with the Styx at Cross Creek in Temecula.
“It is just a matter of time that a major sponsor, television network or producer will want to partner with us and show the televised audience how exciting and appealing this new kind of golf can be," said NGL founder Bob Aube, hoping to expand into Texas by 2008 and into Florida in the coming years, as well as tweek some rules.
###############
The story: In June, we dug into the Beach Tennis USA Tour racket going on near the Santa Monica pier -- a cross between badminton, volleyball and tennis that stopped people riding their strand cruisers to watch this unusual hybrid.
It's been marketed as the "X Games of Tennis."
"Everyone who transitions to this enjoys it," said Mike Owens of Tarzana, a 49-year-old tennis instructor at Braemar Country Club.
The followup:Nadia Johnston and Arpi Kojian, who won in Santa Monica and Long Beach, ended up as the national champions and were named outstanding women's team of the year. Ken Kuperstein and Mike Fedderly, who have plenty of ATP Tour experience, won in Santa Monica, won the SoCal Point Series (Santa Monica, Long Beach and Santa Barbara) and were named outstanding men's rookie team.
The 2008 schedule has yet to be released, but it's expected to start again in April and run through the finals in September.
Following up on today's Daily News media column on more about the passing of Stu Nahan (pictured above, as "Skipper Stu" when he did a kids TV show in Sacramento in the late '40s) with more odds and ends that should be stirred, not shaken, in your New Year's Eve cocktail:
==A New York Times business section story this week on the growing value of sportswriters these days -- those especially going from the print mode to the Internet -- makes for interesting scenarios, especially at ESPN.com and Yahoo.com. For example, Rick Reilly's new contract with ESPN -- $3 million a year, to leave Sports Illustrated -- caused player agent Leigh Steinberg to say: “It’s the exact same model as what happened to athletes. We’re seeing free agency for sports journalists."
==A residual effect to the NFL giving CBS and NBC access to its NFL Network coverage of Saturday's Patriots-Giants game is that the local channels in Boston, New Hampshire and New York that had already planned for and sold ads to carry the game locally are now told to scram. The NFL says it'll work it all out so they'll be financially compenstated as well for their troubles.
Media guys around the country are trying to come up with winners and losers in this new scenario. The New York Times points out that the cirmstances that came out of this mess isn't a justification of the NFL Network's importance in the grand scheme. One ESPN writer says the NFL simply punted after its miscalculations.
More handwringing to follow...
== Your time spent in front of the TV gazing at football this weekend and beyond:
The NFL:
Saturday: 5:15 p.m.: New England at N.Y. Giants with Bryant Gumbel and Cris Collinsworth, on Channel 2, Channel 4 and, if you must, the NFL Network.
The NFL Network, by the way, should just be finishing up its 65-hour pregame show. Seriously. It is also doing a six-hour "Total Access" live lead-in show starting at 11 a.m.
And, for those who are away from the U.S. this holiday season, ESPN International Networks will carry the NFL Network coveage to 20.3 million television homes via ESPN Pacific Rim (Australia, New Zealand, Pac Islands); ESPN Atlantic (Sub-Saharan Africa); ESPN Israel; ESPN’s European sports network – NASN (North American Sports Network), and TSN in Canada.
Sunday: 10 a.m.: New Orleans at Chicago with Dick Stockton and Brian Baldinger, Channel 11 (KTTV originally had the Detroit-Green Bay game slated but changed its mind on Wednesday) 10 a.m.: Jacksonville at Houston with Dick Enberg and Randy Cross, Channel 2 1 p.m.: Dallas at Washington with Joe Buck, Troy Aikman and Pam Oliver, Channel 11 1 p.m.: San Diego at Oakland with Greg Gumbel and Dan Dierdorf, Channel 2 (acing out Jim Nantz and Phil Simms doing the Pittsburgh-Baltimore game at this time, as well as Kansas City-N.Y. Jets on another CBS feed). 5:15 p.m.: Tennessee at Indianapolis with Al Michaels, John Madden and Andrea Kremer, Channel 4
Colleges: Tonight: 2 p.m.: Champ Sports Bowl from Orlando, Fla., (Boston College-Michigan State) with Mike Patrick, Todd Blackledge and Holly Rowe, ESPN 5 p.m.: Emerald Bowl from San Francisco (Maryland-Oregon State) with Sean McDonough, Chris Spielman and Rob Stone, ESPN 5 p.m.: Texas Bowl from Houston (TCU-Houston) with Brad Sham, Charles Davis, Mike Maylock and Kim Jones, NFL Network (sorry, but not on CBS nor NBC)
Saturday: 10 a.m.: Meineke Bowl from Charlotte, N.C. (UConn-Wake Forest) with Dave Pasch, Andre Ware and Quint Kessenich, ESPN 1:30 p.m.: Liberty Bowl from Memphis, Tenn. (Mississippi St.-Central Florida) with Terry Gannon, David Norrie and Vince Welch, ESPN 5 p.m.: Alamo Bowl from San Antonio (Penn State-Texas A&M) with Chris Fowler, Craig James, Doug Flutie and Erin Andrews, ESPN
Sunday: 5 p.m.: Independence Bowl from Shreveport, La. (Colorado-Alabama), with Mark Jones, Bob Davie and Stacey Dales, ESPN
Monday (New Year's Eve): 9:30 a.m.: Armed Forces Bowl from Fort Worth (Cal-Air Force) with Dan Fouts, Tim Brant and Todd Harris, ESPN 11 a.m.: Sun Bowl from El Paso, Tex., (Oregon-South Florida) with Craig Bolerjack, Steve Beuerlein and Sam Ryan, Channel 2 11 a.m.: Humanitarian Bowl from Boise, Idaho (Fresno State-Georgia Tech) with Dave Lamont, James Hasty and Heather Cox, ESPN2 1 p.m.: Music City Bowl from Nashville (Florida St.-Kentucky) with Ron Franklin, Ed Cunningham and Jack Arute, ESPN 4:30 p.m.: Chick-fil A Bowl from Atlanta (Clemson-Auburn) with Brad Nessler, Bob Griese, Paul Maguire and Bonnie Bernstein, ESPN 4:30 p.m.: Insight Bowl from Tempe, Ariz. (Indiana-Oklahoma State) with Bob Papa, Mike Mayock, Sterling Sharpe and Kim Jones, NFL Network (CBS and NBC, too? Naw)
Tuesday (New Year's Day): 8 a.m.: Outback Bowl from Tampa, Fla. (Wisconsin-Tennessee) with Sean McDonough, Chris Spielman and Rob Stone, ESPN (Doesn't it seem as if John Madden should be at least associated with this ... Outback Bowl ... ) 8:30 a.m.: Cotton Bowl from Dallas (Missouri-Arkansas) with Pat Summerall, Brian Baldinger and Jeanne Zelasko, Channel 11 10 a.m.: Capital One Bowl from Orlando, Fla. (Michigan-Florida) with Mike Patrick, Todd Blackledge and Holly Rowe, Channel 7 10 a.m.: Gator Bowl from Jacksonville, Fla. (Virginia-Texas Tech) with Verne Lundquist, Gary Danielson and Tracy Wolfson, Channel 2 2 p.m.: Rose Bowl (USC-Illinois) with Brent Musburger, Kirk Herbstreit and Lisa Salters, Channel 7 5:30 p.m.: Sugar Bowl from New Orleans (Hawaii-Georgia) with Thom Brennaman, Charles Davis and Chris Myers, Channel 11
Wednesday: 5 p.m.: Fiesta Bowl from Glendale, Ariz. (West Virginia-Oklahoma) with Matt Vasgersian, Pat Haden, Terry Donahue and Laura Okmin, Channel 11
Thursday: 5 p.m.: Orange Bowl from Miami (Kansas-Virginia Tech) with Kenny Albert, Daryl Johnston, Barry Alvarez and Jeanne Zelasko, Channel 11
==ESPN recently sent reporter Chris Connelly and a camera crew to South America for two weeks to piece together a story following up on the 35th anniversary of the "Andes Flight Disaster," which airs on Sunday's "Outside the Lines" (ESPN at 6:30 a.m., reairing on ESPNEWS at 9 a.m.). On Dec. 23, 1972, a charter flight carrying 45 people -- including the Stella Maris College's "Old Christians" rugby team, crashed into the Andes Mountains in Argentina. Some 16 survivors spent 72 days trying to stay alive -- including eating the flesh of the dead to avoid starvation. Their story was recounted in the 1993 movie, "Alive." Connelly and the crew found three of the survivors, including the man who found them.
“We spent three hours on horseback through the Andes foothills -- like riding a horse on the railing of the Observation Deck of the Empire State Building -- to get to the place where two of the Andes rugby-team survivors were found by the farmer, Sergio Catalan, who is the center of our story,” Connelly said in an ESPN release “The survivors were amazing men, with great careers full of achievements, gorgeous families, and the ability to talk about their experiences in English, which was impressive all in itself. They live lives that are very much of the 21st century, but the man who saved them lives a life straight out of the 19th century.”
==The Golf Channel says it will incorporate a Doppler radar technology called TrackMan Tour System into its PGA Tour coverage in 2008, which will let viewers see the exact, 3D club movement and ball flight of a player from different angles, including data on the ball launch, flight and landing. The Golf Channel will use it for the first time on two holes during its live telecast of the Mercedes-Benz Championship from Hawaii on Jan. 3. It's the first time a network uses the technology on an American broadcast of a regular-season PGA Tour event.
==NBC has taped coverage of the 40th Baja 1000 on Sunday (10 a.m., Channel 4), the desert off-road race that runs some 1,300 miles from Ensenada to Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. Among the participants were NASCAR's Robby Gordon, former Indy car star Danny Sullivan and actor Patrick Dempsey.
==ESPN Classic revisits the death of Roberto Clemente on the 35th anniversary of his plane crash with a lineup of shows on Monday. A "SportsCentury" look at the Hall of Fame baseball star (11 a.m.) is followed by a replay of the seventh game of the 1971 World Series between the Pirates and Orioles (Clemente hits a home run) and then an ESPN profile of Clemente done in Spanish (subtitled in English).
==And finally:
ESPN had planned a radical three-hour New Year's Eve special featuring attempts by action sports dude Robbie Maddison (above) to jump the length of a football field on his motorcycle and stunt driver Rhys Millen trying to execute a back flip in an off-road racing truck. But after Millen injured himself earlier this week during a practice run, ESPN has cut its "New Year No Limits" special from the Rio Hotel in Las Vegas to just 90 minutes, featuring Maddison, immediately following its coverage of the Chick-fil-A Bowl.
The show now starts at about 8:15 p.m. PDT, or 45 minutes before 2008 begins on the East Coast. At the stoke of midnight EDT, Maddison will start his record jump try. ESPN's Joe Tessitore and Mark Schlereth are there to broadcast it, with Jamie Little and Cam Steele acting as reporters.
“After successfully landing the 360-degree backflip three times into the cardboard boxes in training, I am disappointed that our last jump ended in an accident," Millen said through his promoters. "As I lay here in the hospital with three broken vertebrae in my neck and two compressed and broken vertebrae in my back, I am also disappointed that we cannot perform the 360-degree backflip at the Red Bull Experiment on New Year's Eve, but I'm happy that I will be able to walk again."
Millen's stunt, which would have had him go some 50 feet high and 80 feet long, was to have been performed at midnight PDT.
You can see, Millen has already had his mugshot cut out of the promotional banner:
Stu Nahan, a former minor-league hockey goalie and children's show host who became one of most-recognized sportscasters and a pop culture figure in Los Angeles, died Wednesday morning in his Studio City home.
He was 81 and had been battling lymphoma.
Nahan, who last worked as a Dodgers radio reporter and commentator at KFWB-AM (980) in 2004, had long stints on TV at KABC-Channel 7 (1968-'77), KNBC-Channel 4 ('77-'87) and KTLA-Channel 5 ('88-'99).
Bob Miller, who had known Nahan since starting as the Kings' play-by-play voice in 1973, said he last saw Nahan at a Kings game about a month ago. Nahan's wife, Sandy, contacted him on Christmas Eve to say her husband was not in good health. Miller left him a message on Christmas Day and had hoped to visit him soon.
"I don't know if I've known any other announcer who knew so many other people in all different sports," said Miller prior to Wednesday's Kings' telecast. "He was a great friend of the Kings, and of hockey. He always loved it when he could kid you about something on the air, and he was always great when you could kid him back."
Nahan parlayed his sportscasting fame into several TV and movie roles, starting with "Brian's Song" and continuing in the "Rocky" films, as well as playing himself in "Fast Times at Ridgemont High."
That 1982 movie had Nahan in a cameo interviewing surfer Jeff Spicolo (Sean Penn) in a dream sequence, with Spicoli asking him where he got his jacket. Nahan said every time he saw Hall of Famer Tony Gwynn, the San Diego Padres star would repeat the line: "Hey dude, nice jacket."
Actually, the line didn't quite go that way:
Nahan was known as "Skipper Stu" while doing a children's TV show in Sacramento in the 1950s, and then as "Captain Philadelphia" when he did a show in Philadelphia, where he was also the play-by-play man for the Philadelphia Flyers at WTAF-TV.
His minor-league hockey career with the Toronto Maple Leafs organization in the late '40s led to him playing for the Los Angeles Monarchs in the early '50s. Bob Kelley, the long-time voice of the Los Angeles Rams, helped Nahan get work in the sportscasting business.
On May 25, Nahan was given the 2,339th star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. One of Nahan's last appearances on TV came shortly thereafter when KTLA had him appear on its Sunday night sportscast:
Nahan is survived by his wife, children Kathy, Mark and Kevin from a previous marriage; five grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren. Services are pending.
NFL invokes the 'Patriot Act,' brings CBS, NBC on board
The New England Patriots' pursuit of a perfect record within the imperfect guidelines established by the NFL Network has somehow been rectified.
CBS and NBC were granted permission by the league Wednesday to simulcast the NFL Network's otherwise exclusive telecast of the Patriots-N.Y. Giants game from the Meadowlands on Saturday night, allowing those who've feared they'd be shutout in watching New England's quest for a 16-0 record now view it on their over-the-air network of choice. Even on their cable systems.
Why Fox and ESPN weren't included in this deal was unexplained. With New England as the road team, AFC rights holder CBS would have normal first dibs on it. NBC comes into play somehow because it has the national prime-time package.
In a statement, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell says the league has "taken this extraordinary step because it is in the best interest of our fans. What we have seen for the past year is a very strong consumer demand for NFL Network. We appreciate CBS and NBC delivering the NFL Network telecast on Saturday night to the broad audience that deserves to see this potentially historic game. Our commitment to the NFL Network is stronger than ever.”
NBC Sports chief Dick Ebersol: "We're happy to accommodate the NFL's request for a joint national simulcast of this potentially historic game to make it available to the widest possible audience."
The NFL Network has been trying to turn the screws on cable systems to carry its channel as a basic tier offering,, but the companies have been resisting passing the costs onto its subscribers. DirecTV and the Dish Network both have added the NFL Network. Comcast carries NFL Network on a special sports tier.
In recent weeks, politicians such as Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry have tried to intercede in the negotiations -- Kerry, because his constituents would have been most directly affected by having Patriots games unavailable outside the Boston area (where it is being offered free on over-the-air TV anyway).
For those who care about such historial matters, this will be the first time three networks are simulcasting an NFL game. At the first Super Bowl in 1967 from the Coliseum, CBS and NBC both had their own network employees and productions of the game.
Bestest college football player of all time is ....
This shouldn't be keeping me up at night, but for some reason, it has.
ESPN and ABC have been running this feature all season long, a countdown from 25 to 1 to determine the greatest players in college football history.
25. Ernie Nevers
24. Reggie Bush
23. Johnny Rodgers
22. George Gipp
21. Archie Griffin
20. Charley Trippi
19. Dick Butkus
18. Jim Brown
17. Bronco Nagurski
16. Tom Harmon
15. John Elway
14. Hugh Green
13. Glenn Davis
12. Earl Campbell
11. Charles Woodson
10. Vince Young
9. Roger Staubach
8. Bo Jackson
7. Tony Dorsett
6. Jim Thorpe
5. Sammy Baugh
4. Doak Walker
3. Herschel Walker
2.
1.
Those last two? They haven't named 'em yet. They're supposed to do so during ABC's coverage of the Rose Bowl on Jan. 1.
So who could it be?
We have no inside knowledge. But if we'd put a wager down, it'd go:
2. O.J. Simpson (pictured in artwork above)
1. Red Grange (pictured here)
So what about Doc Blanchard?
Paul Hornung?
Bobby Layne?
Barry Sanders?
Alan Page?
Jerry Rice?
Lee Roy Selmon?
Byron "Whizzer" White?
Elmer Layden?
Not Doug Freakin' Flutie?
Even Matt Leinart?
Give us your two best guesses and see who's right.
ENGLEWOOD, Colo. -- Denver Broncos kicker Jason Elam can handle pressure-packed field goals without even a hint of nerves. Composing himself to read the review of his first novel was a different story. Elam was jittery and tense.
“I put on a thick skin thinking people would rip it apart,” Elam said with a laugh.
But the 37-year-old's foray into the world of literary fiction has drawn positive reviews. Elam and Denver pastor Steve Yohn’s first novel, “Monday Night Jihad,” hit bookstores last week. The suspense thriller combines football, religion and a spy adventure in which the hero tries to thwart a terrorist plot.
So far, the reviews have been:
--“A chilling ride through a nightmare scenario,” said Joel C. Rosenberg, author of the best-selling “The Last Jihad.”
-- “Rich details about life as an NFL player invigorate the story,” Publishers Weekly wrote.
-- “I found ‘Monday Night Jihad’ to be not only interesting, but very thought-provoking,” Indianapolis Colts coach Tony Dungy said.
The book was put out by Tyndale House Publishers, which has issued religious or inspirational titles like “Quiet Strength” by Dungy (a reflective memoir) and “Don’t Bet against Me!” by Deanna Favre (her tale of battling breast cancer).
The main character in Elam’s novel is Riley Covington, a bruising linebacker and Air Force lieutenant loosely based on former Broncos reserve Steve Russ, now an assistant coach at Syracuse University. Covington is an Air Force Academy graduate — just like Russ — who plays for the fictional Colorado Mustangs, a team in the Pro Football League.
Following a tour of duty in Afghanistan, Covington, a third-round pick of the Mustangs, is living out his dream of playing professional football when he gets dragged back into his former life as a member of a special operations squad. Covington is sent back overseas to help stop escalating terrorist attacks.
As the book advertises on its jacket cover, “time is running out, and it soon becomes apparent that the terrorists are on the verge of achieving their goal — to strike at the very heart of America.”
“Writing this book has been so much fun,” said Elam, who’s already working on a sequel. “We’ve had a blast.”
Elam asked Yohn to collaborate on the project more than a year ago. They would meet at a coffee shop, discuss character and plot development, write sample chapters for the other to peruse and then critique their work.
“Unlike a lot of celebrity books, Jason was involved every step of the way,” Yohn said. “I’m notorious for starting a book, getting bored and setting it down. I went in determined to have a book that I would read to
the end — that would have me wondering what was going to happen next. I think we did that.”
Elam is proving to be just as talented with story telling as he is with his right foot. He became the first player in NFL history to record at least 100 points in each of his first 15 seasons during the Broncos’ loss at Houston last Thursday.
He will also pass Hall of Fame quarterback John Elway for most games played in club history (235) tonight at San Diego.
“John’s the man,” Elam said. “Anytime you’re even close to doing something he did, it’s pretty special. I feel blessed, having played 15 years for the same team.”
Now, he’s just hoping it doesn’t end.
Elam’s contract is up after this season, and he doesn’t know how he figures into the Broncos’ long-range plans.
“I still feel really good and I’m kicking the ball well,” said Elam, who’s book is laced with stories from the locker room. “Whenever I finish, my main hope is that I can go upstairs and shake everybody’s hand and everybody feels good about everything.”
That shouldn’t be a problem. He’s well respected around team headquarters. The powers that be in the lush offices upstairs all wanted signed copies of his book, which he happily provided.
Soon, he’ll be embarking on book signings in Denver to promote the novel. He said his biggest thrill was walking into a bookshop recently and spying his novel on a display rack.
“That was pretty cool,” he said.
Offensive tackle Matt Lepsis has a copy and planned to crack it open on the plane ride to San Diego.
“I’ve already talked to him about it, so I know what it’s all about,” Lepsis said. “Jason is very passionate about his beliefs and I think that has led him to this point in his life that he wanted to put it on paper.”
Elam figures he’ll draw some criticism for the terrorist element in his book. Yet all he wanted was for the novel to be thought-provoking.
He’s well-versed on religion. He’s currently studying the world’s 12 major religions through a distance-learning program at Liberty University’s seminary in Lynchburg, Va., where he’s pursuing a master’s degree.
“I just got to thinking — why do people believe what they believe?” Elam said. “That’s why I wanted to write this book. Riley Covington is confronted by some tough problems in this book. He questions what’s going on and why, as most of us do.”
He thought about making Covington a kicker, just like him, but decided against it.
“I couldn’t make the hero a kicker. It had to be plausible,” Elam said.
As for what is more daunting, a last-second kick in front of a raucous crowd or reading a book review, Elam said that was simple — the kick.
“At least you know you’re not going to have chicken wings and snowballs thrown at you if
they don’t like your book,” he said with a grin.
As expected, NBC has tossed aside its regularly-scheduled coverage of the Chiefs at N.Y. Jets and today decided to trade out Tennessee at Indianapolis for the game at 5:15 on Dec. 30, since the 9-6 Titans can claim the AFC wildcard spot with a win.
If the Titans lose, Cleveland can sneak in with a win over San Francisco earlier in the day.
And you know the Colts are just coasting at this point.
NBC is taking advantage here of the flexible scheduling for Weeks 11-to-17. NBC points out that as indication of the success of the first year of the flex sked, three of the final four games on NBC did a rating more than 20 percent higher than the comparable games in 2005.
Fox Sports anchor/reporter Jeanne Zelasko learned this week she has a form of thyroid cancer and will have surgery after her assignments covering the Cotton and Orange bowls for the network next week.
Zelasko, the host of Fox's Major League Baseball studio show since 2001 as well as serving as a reporter on NASCAR and college football, said she found out Tuesday about a bump found during her yearly physical and was told by her doctors that it was in the very early stages. He has told several bosses at Fox about her condition.
"I'm fine, I'm in great spirits," Zelasko, who lives in Valencia, said Friday. She says she still has not explained what's going on to her 5-year-old son and 2-year-old daughter.
"I have had knowledge of my thyroid disorder for three years. Thyroid disorders are not uncommon. I get my blood levels checked twice a year. Ironically, I just had my blood checked and it looks great. I guess they have to look for a tumor marker in the blood. And who knew to look for that on a routine test."
Zelasko hoped that by revealing her condition it would help others take a more aggressive approach when they receive their annual checkups.
"I have chatted with so many people these past few days, telling them not to rely on just the blood work. And routinely checking your thyroid is something you can do in traffic ... unlike a breast exam that might get you a few odd looks."
Zelasko said post-operative treament will consist of radiation but could chance course if the tissue or glands removed looked bad.
Zelasko noted the irony in the fact that ESPN's Stuart Scott found out this week that he had cancerous abdominal cells after an emergency appendectomy and will begin chemotherapy in the coming weeks as a precautionary measure.
Zelasko and Scott share the same agent, Jackie Harris of William Morris Agency.
"I told her we have to add her to the list of things that cause cancer," said Zelasko. "Just kidding, of course! One has to keep her sense of humor, right?"
Fox Sports spokesman Dan Bell said: "Of course, our thoughts and prayers are with her and we consider her part of our family. We expect her to be right back there in April for the start of baseball season."
Zelasko is married to Curt Sandoval, the longtime sportscaster at KABC-Channel 7.
==For those who need to hear it straight-up from Stuart Scott about what he's been going through lately with that appendix thing and all the stuff afterward, here's a voice clip that ESPN provided at this link, complete with a punctuated "boo-yah" at the end.
==More backlash from the networks hooking microphones and adding locker room cameras to NBA coverage, as we tried to get into last week:
ESPN had to apologize to Utah Jazz coach Jerry Sloan for allowing a four letter word to get on the air, on tape, as he was addressing his team at halftime of their game against Phoenix last week. "We apologize for the inadvertent expletive during a taped halftime segment. ... It was said quietly, and we missed it," said ABC/ESPN spokesman Mark Mandel, to the Rocky Mountain news. Sloan told the Deseret News in Utah of his expletive making it on-air: "They told me there wouldn't be any mistakes. I was guaranteed that there would be nothing that would go over the air, when (the NBA) first came out and talked about (putting a camera and microphone in the locker room) -- a guarantee that there will be nothing that will be harmful to you. Now I end up the bad guy right off the bat. They misrepresented the whole situation to me."
==Among the "Media Circus" awards for 2007 by Sports Illustrated's Richard Deitsch:
+Person of the Year: Fox Sports' Jay Glazer
+Best announcing team: Verne Lundquist and Gary Danielson, CBS college football (Lundquist, by the way, is matched with Billy Packer on Saturday's UCLA-Michigan game on the network at 11 a.m.)
+Best newcomer: Charles Davis, Fox Sports college football
Along with Deitsch's 10 more memorable media moments from the past year was something that happened just last week: WNBC TV's erroneous story just prior to the Mitchell Report that named, among others, the Dodgers' Normar Garciaparra, the Yankees' Johnny Damon, St. Louis' Albert Pujols and Boston's Jason Varitek as those who were about to be named as performance enhancing users. Guess again, stupid TV people.
WNBC's Jonathan Dienst said he posted the list because he received it from two separate credible sources. Both, apparently, non-credible. “We checked it and rechecked it. … I am very sorry for the mistake," Dienst told the New York Post. Now he sounds like Brian Roberts.
The list was taken off the WNBC website after some MLB officials saw the mistakes, but by then, CNBC.com and The Drudge Report had picked up that false story. The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported that KTVI, the local Fox affiliate, also reported the faux list while KMOV, the CBS' affiliate, was more cautious and didn't. Deitsch points out that WNBC eventually had some explaining to do. If you think Roger Clemens is about to lay a lawsuit on the L.A. Times, there may be more legit litigation coming from this boner as well.
==Read on, if you must ...
==Your weekend (and beyond) of televised football:
Colleges (as the bowl season officially launched Thursday with the Poinsettia Bowl in San Diego, where you got to hear Lou Holtz -- not pictured here -- with a live mike ramble on about stuff):
**Today: 5 p.m.: New Orleans Bowl from New Orleans (Florida Atlantic-Memphis), with Mark Jones, Bob Davie and Stacey Dales, ESPN2 -- the first of three bowl games coming from the Crescent City this year, including the BCS title game sometime in ... late March?
**Saturday: 10 a.m.:PapaJohns.com Bowl from Birmingham, Ala. (Cincinnati-Southern Miss), with Pam Ward, Ray Bentley and Rob Simmelkjaer, ESPN2 1:30 p.m.: New Mexico Bowl from Albuquerque (New Mexico-Nevada), with Dave Barnett, Rod Gilmore and Dave Ryan, ESPN 5 p.m.: Las Vegas Bowl from .... you get the idea (UCLA-BYU), with Brad Nessler, Bob Griese, Paul Maguire and Bonnie Bernstein, ESPN
**Sunday: 5 p.m.: Hawaii Bowl from Honolulu (East Carolina-Boise State), with Terry Gannon, David Norrie and Jeannine Edwards, ESPN
Christmas Eve and Christmas Day: No games
**Wednesday: 4:30 p.m.: Motor City Bowl from Detroit (Cent. Michigan-Purdue), with Dave Pasch, Andre Ware and Quint Kessenich, ESPN
**Thursday: 5 p.m.: Holiday Bowl from San Diego (Arizona State-Texas) with Brent Musburger, Kirk Herbstreit and Lisa Salters, ESPN (as well as Dan Fouts, Tim Brant and Todd Harris doing it for ESPN Radio)
The NFL:
**Thursday: 5:15 p.m.: Pittsburgh at St. Louis with Bryant Gumbel, Deion Sanders and Marshall Faulk, NFL Network (oh, sorry, you missed it)
**Saturday: 5:15 p.m.: Dallas at Carolina with Bryant Gumbel and Cris Collinsworth, NFL Network (sorry, you'll miss it .. but did you catch the dig Fox's Frank Caliendo laid on Gumbel on the Fox NFL pregame last Sunday. Dressed up as Dr. Phil, Caliendo said: "Bryant Gumbel had to miss his NFL Network game this week because he had a sore throat. So this week, he sucked on a lozenge instead of suckong on my TV.")
**Sunday: 10 a.m.: Green Bay at Chicago with Joe Buck, Troy Aikman and Pam Oliver, Channel 11 (instead of N.Y. Giants at Buffalo in a heap of snow and Philadelphia at New Orleans). 10 a.m.: Oakland at Jacksonville with Ian Eagle and Solomon Wilcots, Channel 2 (up against Cleveland-Cincinnati, Kansas City-Detroit and Houston-Indianapolis on CBS). 1 p.m.: Miami at New England with Jim Nantz and Phil Simms, Channel 2 (as opposed to Tennessee scrambling to make it into the playoffs in a home game against the N.Y. Jets, or a meaningless Baltimore at Seattle game, both on CBS; or Tampa Bay-San Francisco and Atlanta-Arizona on Fox in this window). 5:15 p.m.: Washington at Minnesota with Al Michaels, John Madden and Andrea Kremer, Channel 4
**Monday (Christmas Eve): 5 p.m.: Denver at San Diego with Mike Tirico, Ron Jaworski, Tony Kornheiser, Michele Tafoya and Suzy Kolber, ESPN (last "Monday Night Football" broadcast of the year)
==If you've any interest in the miscommunication between heavily painted faced Fox reporter Pam Oliver and talking out of both sides of his mouth Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Donovan McNabb, proceed to this Philly newspaper link.. Then hit delete.
==Must-read: J.R. Moehringer's piece on Pete Carroll in the December issue of Los Angeles magazine that reveals as much as anything we’ve ever seen about the breakneck, competitive lifestyle kept by the USC coach. It shoulda been the cover story instead another puff story on Hilary Swank.
==ESPN/ABC will have some representation at the Screen Actors Guild Awards ceremony, scheduled for Jan. 27 -- Oliver Platt, John Turturro and Sam Shepard. Platt (as George Steinbrenner) and Turturro (as Billy Martin) are nominated for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Television Movie or Miniseries for their roles in "The Bronx Is Burning." They're in the same catory as Shepard (as trainer Frank Whiteley) in the movie "Ruffian." The other nominees in that category: Michael Keaton, as James Jesus Angleton in TNT’s "The Company," and Kevin Kline as Jacques in HBO’s "As You Like It."
==HBO's "Real Sports" does a roundtable year-ender with Bryant Gumbel, James Brown, Mary Carillo, Frank Deford, Jon Frankel, Bernie Goldberg and Andrea Kremer when it returns to the airwaves Wednesday (9 p.m.)
==ESPN has unfortunately assigned Chris Berman to anchor another of its faux news presentations when the network tries to determine the greatest sports highlight clip. Ever. "SportsCenter's Greatest Highlights" starts with fans narrowing down the list of 100 highlights, and then stuffing them into a bracket to go head to head against other highlights until a winner is determined on March 2, 2008. The starting point with the list, which is up on the ESPN SportsNation site, begins with Babe Ruth's proported "called shot" in 1932. But, in true ESPN, it didn't-happen-until-we-came-along, there are only 30 highlights before ESPN's launch in 1979. The other 70 are from 1980 to present day.
==Here's what Dick Vitale told readers of his ESPN.com blog about his surgery, before it happened on Tuesday.
==We can't let the passing of veteran sportscaster Don Chevrier go without some recognition. Chevrier died Monday at his home in Palm Harbor, Fla., at 69 after suffering from a blood disorder.
Those who were caught up in the NBC Olympic curling coverage at the recent Winter Olympics heard Chevrier's soothing voice and learned about the sport.
"As anyone who knew him can attest, Don was one of the true gentlemen in our business," said NBC Sports and Olympic chief Dick Ebersol, who added that Chevrier was one of the two greatest "all-around sports broadcasting talents in North American history" along with Jim McKay.
Chevrier, the original Toronto Blue Jays play-by-play man, ended up doing 21 different sports in his career, including team handball at the 1976 Olympics.
Chevrier was put on the spot by Howard Cosell in 1982, when Cosell quit as a boxing commentator midway through the beating that Larry Holmes put on Tex Cobb in the ring, leaving Chevrier alone in the booth to call the remainder of the ABC telecast.
At the 1980 Lake Placid Games, Chevrier called the "Miracle on Ice" hockey game for ABC Radio, while working events for CBC.
Chevrier, pictured here on the left with partner Don Duguid, was the distinct voice of the cult hit curling during NBC's 2002 and 2006 Winter Olympics, having done the sport for CBC for more than 20 years.
Here's how Chevrier handled a "little disturbance" during the 2006 Games curling coverage -- when a streaker happened to get into the picture while the stone was making its way to the house (those are real curling terms, not a reference to the streaker). Watch the the top left corner during the live "action," and then the middle of the screen as it pans out to see authorities escort the naked dude out:
==Never thought we'd link Kelly Ripa with ESPN, but it's happened. Regis Philbin's psychotic sidekick, as well as her non-descript husband, are the executive producers of a documentary on the Brandon (Fla.) High School wrestling program that has a 451-0 record since 1973. Mark Consuelos (Kelly's husband) once attended the school way back when and thought it would make a good story, so he and Ripa's production company, Milojo Productions, along with John Hock and Hock Films, are doing the project and sold it to ESPN, which will air it in October, 2008. The doc entitled "The Streak" will cover the 2007-08 season. In the last 34 years, the Brandon wrestling team has 18 state championships and 66 individual state champions. ESPN is promoting this as a look at "the longest winning streak in the history of American sports." Any challenges to that? Perhaps, a Marv Albert hairpiece tops that?
==We will admit to some extent that ESPN's Mike Greenberg does have some natural game-show hosting talent as he takes the six-episode series "Duel" into the last two nights -- tonight at 8 p.m. and the finale Sunday at 8 p.m. on ABC. Washington Post heralded TV critic Tom Shales compared Greenberg to NBC's "Deal or No Deal" host Howie Mandel, and wrote in a recent column that at least Mandel "is able to keep up a sense of tension, however illusory, and inject occasional hilarity." Shales wrote Greenberg is a "sleazy host" who "sucks the energy out of the air" and "appears to have been born without a sense of humor, but with an obvious contempt for all game show contestants." In the opening episode, Shales notes that among Greenberg's "witticisms: 'Discretion is the better part of valor.' He so mercilessly drags out the proceedings, repeating contestants' options ad nauseam, that a player named Denise at one point snaps, 'Oh, just get on with it!' Thus the most honest and enjoyable moment of the show."
Shales, you're reading way too much into this thing.
Consider poor Greenie, having to go on both "The View" and "Good Morning America" to pimp his ride.
==a href="http://www.bcdb.com/cartoon/14550-Peter_Puck_(Series).html">Peter Puck, we've found you:
The NBC cartoon that used to instruct kids about the rules of hockey back in the 1970s has resurfaced in Toronto Maple Leafs' local broadcasts, 28 years after he left the air. CBC's "Hockey Night in Canada" also used the Hanna-Barbara character in the late '70s.
"Peter Puck is a part of hockey's cultural heritage," said Chris Hebb, senior vice-president of broadcast and content for Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment. "Now the thousands of hockey fans who grew up watching Peter Puck can relive cherished childhood memories of the past, and also introduce their own children to this beloved character."
Peter Puck returned on Thursday's Leafs-Tampa Bay broadcast and will appear 11 times, in its original form, through February. Original, with some slight edits (no more two-line offsides rules to worry about). Two of those Maple Leaf telecasts are Jan. 9 at Anaheim and Jan. 10 at the Kings.
Memo to FSN West and Prime Ticket: Sign the Puckmeister up ASAP if he's still willing to work.
==And finally:
This from AwfulAnnouncing.com, making note that ESPN "First Take" reporter news reader Sage Steele stumbled upon some humor in a cold read (or, what was her first take) of Sean Taylor's posthumous vote into the Pro Bowl:
BOSTON -- The World Series ball is gone, and Jonathan Papelbon has an excuse: My dog ate it.
Farfetched or not, that’s what the Red Sox closer insists happened to the souvenir from the final out of Boston’s sweep over the Rockies in October.
Really, Papelbon blamed it on his bulldog, Boss.
“He plays with baseballs like they are his toys,” Papelbon told the Hattiesburg (Miss.) American. “He jumped up one day on the counter and snatched it. He likes rawhide. He tore that thing to pieces. Nobody knows that. I’ll keep what’s left of it.”
While the Red Sox have swept two of the past four World Series, they’ve had less luck when it comes to
preserving the ball that was caught for the final out. It took a prolonged negotiation before first baseman Doug Mientkiewicz agreed to donate the 2004 ball to the Hall of Fame.
Papelbon, who has a home in Hattiesburg, struck out Colorado pinch-hitter Seth Smith to finish off Game 4 on Oct. 28. Papelbon threw his glove high in the air while catcher Jason Varitek tucked the ball in his back pocket. After the game, Varitek said he planned to give the prize to the team. A few days later, he said he’d given it to Papelbon.
Instead, the relief pitcher said, Boss got hold of that ball.
Papelbon told a similar tale to the New England Sports Network for a story that aired Nov. 30 — but with a slightly different ending. He told NESN he threw what was left of the ball in the trash.
“It’s in the garbage in Florida somewhere,” he said.
The fate of the last ball became an issue in 2004 when the Red Sox swept St. Louis in the World Series to end an 86-year championship drought. Mientkiewicz, who caught a toss from pitcher Keith Foulke at first base for the final out, kept the ball. The team wanted it back. Mientkiewicz eventually agreed to lend the ball to the Red Sox for a year and then donated it to the Hall of Fame.
The Red Sox didn’t sound particularly concerned with what happened to this latest souvenir.
“The 2004 ball is obviously very special to us because it was the club’s first World Series win in 86 years,” team spokesman John Blake said. “This ball was in the hands of one of the players and we take his word at what happened to it, but it’s a non-issue as far as the club’s concerned.”
The Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, N.Y., has a bunch of Red Sox memorabilia from the 2007 World Series, including Papelbon’s glove.
“We did not ask for the ball,” spokesman Jeff Idelson said. “We were more focused on other items.”
Papelbon wasn’t in Boston and wasn’t immediately available for comment, Blake said. His agent did not immediately respond to a request for comment from The Associated Press.
Tony, Eva and Alexandra ... the triangle offensive
San Antonio Spurs guard Tony Parker has sued a celebrity gossip Web site that published stories claiming he had an affair with a French model, which would constitute cheating on his new wife, actress Eva Longoria and likely draw more attention to the otherwise slumbering Spurs' 2007-08 season.
Parker sued X17online.com on Wednesday in Los Angeles Superior Court, alleging it posted a series of "false and defamatory" stories. His damage demands: At least $40 million.
"This is false. It never happened. And X17 had to know that the story was false, or, at the very least, it had to have entertained serious doubts about the credibility of its supposed source," the lawsuit said, according to the Associated Press.
The lawsuit also alleged that X17 never contacted Parker, Longoria or their representatives before running the stories, and refused to retract them after being told the claims were false.
Last week, the Web site posted a story that said the model Alexandra Paressant (pictured), a former girlfriend to soccer star Ronaldino, told X17 that she had a two-month affair with Parker. The story said Paressant told X17 she attended Parker's wedding last summer, where the French soccer star Thierry Henry introduced her to him.
"No one from X17 attempted to contact Mr. Henry, who ... would have told them in no uncertain terms that this woman was not at the wedding," the lawsuit said, adding that Parker has never met anyone named Alexandra Paressant.
"If this woman exists, he has no way of knowing whether she is one of the many fans who have, from time to time, managed to obtain his cell phone number and called or left messages or who may have engaged him in conversation."
We're finally watching the TiVo'd version of "Sports Unfiltered" with Dennis Miller on Versus -- the one where Pete Rose made his appearance and said all those crazy things about how he'd get to 5,000 hits if he was allowed to use steroids back in the day, which we blogged about earlier.
We didn't realize the laughs and giggles that would come from the stories of gambling -- which is what got Rose in trouble in the first place and to this day keeps him from the Hall of Fame.
Rose told Miller a story about how he had been talking to former teammate Tony Perez recently ("and I still can't understand him," he said) when he segued into a yarn about how players tried to make extra cash back in the '70s.
Rose talked about how the Reds moved from Crosley Field to Riverfront Stadium in mid-season that year, which was kind of crazy. But Rose had an idea.
"I bet Tony Perez $150 that I'd be the first player to sh-t at Riverfront," Rose said, getting a surprised laugh from the audience -- not so much about the nature of the bet, but that he was admitting to making a bet long before he was denying that he made bets.
Miller now has his head on the desk laughing.
"We had a 7:30 (p.m.) game. I got to the ballpark at 11 a.m. I beat him by 10 minutes," says Rose, holding up both hands to expose 10 fingers, in case the audience needed a visual aid. "I got the money!"
(Maybe Rose thought he was on HBO ... Versus bleeped the key element of that bet, not because of ethical standards, but for some fear of the FCC, which they don't need to do since they already said the show was rated TV-14 at the start of the program).
Later, comedian Norm MacDonald came on -- one of Miller's former "Saturday Night Live" buddies -- and suddenly brought his own gambling problem.
"It was a huge problem," he said, causing the audience to vary between a laugh and a cry.
MacDonald said his worst bet ever came in the 1999 National League championship series when Atlanta was facing the New York Mets. Normy Mac said he bet on the over -- 7 1/2 runs.
"Who was on the hill?" Miller asked.
MacDonald went silent.
"I don't usually follow that," he said.
"That might play into the result," Miller said.
At the end of 9 innings, it was 2-2. MacDonald knew he was in trouble.
In the 15th, it's now 3-3. And Robin Ventura is up for the Mets with the bases loaded.
"And I'm in deep trouble," MacDonald says. "If he hits a single, one runs scores, and I lose."
Ventura, for those who remember, hit a grand slam. So MacDonald wins, right?
Remember how that game ended? Mets catcher Todd Pratt met Ventura rounding first, began a celebration, and Bob Costas told the audience that only one run would count, so it was a 4-3 decision. Seven runs. Not 10.
"That was my birthday, I remember, October 17, 1999, my 36th birthday," MacDonald lamented.
"So that was it, time to quit, right," said Miller, hoping for a stoic ending.
"Naw, I didn't quit then," said MacDonald. "But I did go to Gamblers Anonymous once. What a bunch of losers."
It reminds me back as a kid watching that episode of "The Flintstones," where Fred had a gambling problem. And whenever someone made a bet with him, Fred's eyes would glaze over and he'd start sounding like a cackling bird, saying, "Bet, bet, bet ... betbetbetbetbetBETBETBET!" And he'd go on a gambling binge.
Kind of like back in the early Flintstone days, when he and Barney would -- seriously -- do ads for Winston cigarettes.
Oh, so funny. Teaching kids the hilarity associated with gambling and smoking with the aid of revered cartoon characters.
Yabba-dabba-don't.
On a very special "Sports Unfiltered With Dennis Miller" (Wednesday, 7 p.m., Versus, with several replays), guest Pete Rose manages to make himself look pretty good.
Especially when stacking himself up against a bunch of guys who've injected needles into their rear end to try to get an edge.
The Man Who Won't Be Hall of Fame Material Until Hell Freezes Over was in Santa Barbara taping the show with Miller, who remarked: "Your juices were always flowing, thank God they didn’t have steroids back then."
"I would have got 5,000 hits," said Rose, taking the bait.
Rose went on to make himself look stupid say:
"The Mitchell report’s come out and I never thought anybody would make me look like an altar boy."
As well as:
"If you’re gonna put these guys that supposedly did steroids into the Hall of Fame, I mean I gotta get a shot somewhere."
And then there was:
"I’ve been suspended 18 years for betting on my own team to win… I was wrong....but these guys today, if the allegations are true, they’re making a mockery of the game."
That's our Pete. Always good for a delusional quote even without popping a few greenies.
Pete's repeat performances are Wednesday at 10 p.m.. Saturday at 7 and 10 p.m., Sunday at 4 and 11 p.m. and Christmas Eve at 2 and 8 p.m.
Steve Mason said he came across what he called a "stunning statistic" last week -- one in four homeless in America is a veteran.
"We need to do a better job of taking care of our heroes when they come home from war, whether it's past wars like Vietnam or current conflicts like Iraq and Afghanistan," Mason said.
As a result, Mason's 1-to-4 p.m. show on KSPN-AM (710) will go live from the VA Hospital in Westwood on Wednesday to celebrate the holiday season with the veterans who are still receiving treatment.
“I hope that we can bring some holiday spirit to the heroes at the VA hospital and do some small part in raising awareness for the cause of Veteran's Affairs," he said.
Part of the show will inform and educate the public about the issues facing veterans and to help bring some holiday cheer to the VA Hospital patients, doctors and staff.
Voting starts today and runs through Jan. 10 for the annual "L.A.'s Greatest Moments" decision for 2007, sponsored by the L.A. Sports Council and culminating in a big production airing on FSN Prime Ticket on Jan. 20.
(Don't let the photo above of that English guy influence your decisions in any way ... you're big enough to make your own choices ... probably). The LASC site is where the voting takes place, and it says the concept of a "moment" is loosely defined -- it can be a specific instant in time (a winning goal, hit or shot), an individual or team milestone, an upset victory, a remarkable game, a special event or a career achievement. All that's required is the moment take place in the "local area" or have a local athlete or team involved.
(Or it could be a day at the Home Depot Center when some bloke gets blasted with confetti).
From there, a "blue-ribbon" media panel will select and rank the overall top 10 moments of the year and also select the Sportsman, Sportswoman and Sports Executive of the Year.
Back in '95, the organization sponsored the 100 greatest moments in L.A. sports history and produced a book that's still out there for the getting (a little outdated? could be, but it's a great conversation starter). Although Kirk Gibson's 1988 World Series home run would probably hold up well at No. 1.
Sometimes, the event named the top moment is ... a little confusing (see: 1996 through 2001). Here's a list, newest to oldest, of the top moments since '96:
2006: Kobe Bryant's 81-point game 2005: USC's 55-19 win over Oklahoma in the BCS title game (Orange Bowl) 2004: USC's 28-14 win over Michigan in the Rose Bowl that effectively gave the Trojans the No. 1 ranking by the AP 2003: USC's 38-17 win over Iowa in the Orange Bowl to gain a No. 4 overall national ranking. 2002: The Rose Bowl hosts college football's BCS national championship game for the first time as No. 1 Miami defeats No. 2 Nebraska, 37-14. 2001: Former UCLA quarterback and Rose Bowl MVP Rick Neuheisel returns to Pasadena as coach of Washington and leads Huskies to 34-24 win over Purdue in the Rose Bowl. (No. 5 that year on the list: Lakers beat Philadelphia in five games for a second consecutive NBA title) 2000: Heisman Trophy winner Ron Dayne leads Wisconsin past Stanford in the Rose Bowl, 17-9. (No. 5 that year on the list: Lakers rally from 15 points behind in fourth quarter to defeat Portland in Game 7 of Western Conference finals, sparking an NBA title run under first-year coach Phil Jackson) 1999: Future Heisman Trophy winner Ron Dayne scores four touchdowns as Wisconsin beats UCLA in the Rose Bowl, 38-31 (No. 6 that year: Staples Center opens). 1998: Michigan defeats Washington State in the Rose Bowl 21-16, to win a share of the national championship (No. 10 that year: Fox, Inc. overhauls historic Dodger franchise, from the trade of Mike Piazza to the hiring of manager Davey Johnson and signing of pitcher Kevin Brown to the richest contract in baseball history) 1997: Peter O'Malley announces Dodgers are for sale (No. 2: Tiger Woods of Cypress wins the Masters) 1996: The Galaxy signal a return of big-time soccer to Los Angeles; traffic stops as 69,000 attend opening game at Rose Bowl. (No. 3 that year: Lakers sign center Shaquille O'Neal to long-term, $120 million contract; No. 4 that year: Tommy Lasorda era comes to an end as Dodgers manager retires after 20 seasons; No. 10 that year: UCLA's 48-41 double-overtime comeback win over USC, the Bruins' unprecedented sixth straight against the Trojans.
In other words, take pride in the vote. Otherwise, something goofy may happen.
The ballot has three moments nominated in 18 categories: Angels, Avengers, Chivas, Clippers, Dodgers, Ducks, Galaxy, golf, horse racing, Kings, Lakers, motorsports, Olympic sports, Sparks, tennis, UCLA, USC and Division I schools.
Winners are announced on the FSN Prime Ticket special from the Beverly Hilton Hotel.
In the new Golf Digest cover story, "The Year of Living Dangerously," writer Jamie Diaz reveals that Tiger Woods has been working on someone who could eventually replace him.
Maybe not tomorrow.
Woods has been mentoring 20-year-old aspiring pro Corey Carroll out of Rollins College, impressed enough by his worth ethic that Tiger introduced himself to Carroll, who was in a practice bunker three years ago.
"What are you trying to do with this bunker shot?" Woods asked him.
Carroll: "When I showed him, he said, 'That's interesting. Some guys have had success that way. Here's how I do it.' And for the next two hours we hit bunker shots and talked.
"About a year ago Tiger suggested I begin working with (swing coach) Hank (Haney), and since then Tiger and I get into a lot of discussions about the mechanical aspects of the game. We practice together and work out together, talk about the methods of different players, just anything golf."
It's kind of how Woods took to Mark O'Meara as his confidant and mentor on the PGA Tour when he first broke in. O'Meara became part of "Team Tiger," a circle of people Woods admired and kept close to him as he build a career on the PGA Tour rarely seen before. In lesson three of the book "Tiger Traits: 9 Success Secrets You Can Discover from Tiger Woods to be a Business Champion," author and motivation speaker Nate Booth talks about the importance of idenfitying people in your life who can help you achieve your goals, and keeping them there for advice and as a check and balance when things aren't going so well.
To follow up on our Daily News column today on Booth and his book in the Daily News, we have more Q-and-A from Booth about why these nine traits of Woods work together in the business world, not just one or two that will bring some short-term satisfaction:
Q: When did you become a Tiger fan? A: The short answer is probably the last 15 years. I was always a golfer and followed his career. When I saw him win the third of his three U.S. Amateur tournaments, which may be the toughest golf events to win, I saw this young kid doing stuff that no one had been doing before and I started putting stories I found on him into a file. The more I've seen him grow and develop, it's easier to form an appreciation for, when all is said and done, what he's done both on and off the course. You don't say that often about too many people. He's one of these characters who comes along once every 20 years and accomplishes great things.
Q: At what point did you decide it was time to do a book on him? A: I had written nine books, and when you get done with one, you look around and see what seems right at the time. There's been tons of books written about him and his mental game, I understand that. But there wasn't a book on him that went into his characteristics and attributes that allowed him to be so successful on and off the course. What is it about the guy that's so attractive to many different people? His que score over the last 10 years has been in the top three in terms of likeability.
Q: There is a list of recommended books and newspaper stories in your book about Woods. Is this where you extracted most of the information about him as well? A: I've read all the books about Tiger, and especially enjoyed this three DVD series where he talks about his family. There was a lot of great information and insights there. You really get a sense that, while maybe he has a lot of natural talent, he had a lot of other things going for him early on. Without the way his parents raised him, we may have never heard of him. You can see how he was very lucky to be in that family, because his parents devoted so much to his achievement.
Q: Is there one trait any more important than any other that you found, or do they all have to work together to bring success? A: They really do all work together and are linked. You've got to have natural abilities. And once people achieve great things and have dreams, they connect with that natural talent. Sometimes people get excited about doing something but they don't have any natural talent. They read books and spend money and do stupid things and don’t achieve it. The importance of having a dream is utilizing those natural talents. Then you have a group that's going to support you and help you develop. Who are the heroes you can emulate? To me, it's all tied together. Maybe the first and the last traits, the bookeneds to this whole thing, are more important than everything in between. You definitely need the first to go anywhere and the last to keep things going.
Q: Is there any other sports person that you can compare Tiger to that might be worth using as a business role model? A: If you look back on the history of sports, maybe the only one with a similar effect was Muhammad Ali. Michael Jordan, to some degree, but I don't think he transcended sports the same way. Maybe Pele in soccer as well.
Q: There is the footnote where you say you're donating a portion of the proceeds to his foundation. What went into that decision? A: I was very interesting to get Tiger’s permission to do the book as something that was authorized but I couldn't get through his representatives. I had lawyers and the book distributors' lawyers look at where we stood if we did the book without his permission. We found we stood legally pretty solid because there was a case where Tiger sued someone who had painted his picture and ran off 2,000 prints of it and sold them, but the courts denied it, saying you can interpret someone's likeness. But even if we had something legally to stand on, I wanted to be morally and ethically right here, and thought donating to his foundation was a nice thing to do. I'm grateful for him.
Q: Has there been any reaction from Tiger or his "team" since the book came out in April? A: No. I just know a personal friend did get him a copy of it, but I haven't heard anything.
Roger Clemens and Trenton, N.J., have a history.
He did a rehab assignment last May with the Double-A Thunder after signing a bazillion dollar, one-year deal to rejoin the Yankees. (Not a real snazzy performance: three runs and six hits in 5 1/3 innings).
He is not, however, affiliated with Clemens Construction, based in that city.
So, in light of recent news, savor this back page of the Friday Trentonian, and turn the other cheek:
Even classier are these new odds posted on Bodog.com: Will Roger Clemens pitch in a MLB game in 2008?
Yes +300
No -500
Will Roger Clemens publicly admit to using steroids before the end of 2008?
Yes +250
No -400
Will A-Rod fail a drug test before the end of the 2008 season?
Yes +200
No -300
Will Andy Pettitte publicly admit to using steroids before the end of 2008?
Yes +250
No -400
Will Mark McGwire be named on more or less Hall of Fame ballots than last year?
Over 23.5
Under 23.5
Will Mark McGwire publicly admit to using steroids before the end of 2008?
Yes +150
No -200
Will Bud Selig resign or be relieved of his duties before the end of 2008?
Yes +150
No -200
They came off the lake and out of the night. Swarms of flying critters descended with a fury on the Cleveland Indians and New York Yankees like a day of reckoning.
No idiot, Matt White. He's a journeyman pitcher trying to make it in the Dodger organization. A few years ago, he bought 50 acres of land in Massachusetts from his aunt for $50,000. While poking around the property he found stone ledges in the ground. Now he's sitting not on a gold mine but a quarry that could yield more than $2 billion worth of rocks.
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