Some thoughts on celebrity

Jack Nicholson was at the Dodgers-Yankees game tonight. In a Yankees hat. And this brought up all kinds of issues for me. First, he's allegedly a Lakers fan. Much as I've wondered if Bill Clinton has any idea what's happening in any of the World Cup matches he's attended, does Jack Nicholson know what's happening in any basketball game? Does he know he's attending a basketball game at all? OK, I guess that's about my only issue with this. But still.

I'm tired of all these Yankees hats. Jack. LeBron. Pretty much anyone else who lives more than 20 miles from New York. They're unnecessary. I don't hate the Yankees anymore - I'm back to just dismissing them as an annoying East Coast team that just sort of exists.

Detroit gives you real fans out of its celebs. Kid Rock sang America the Beautiful during the 2005 NBA finals. In a Rick Mahorn warmup. Bob Seger sang America the Beautiful during the 2006 World Series.

Chicago's about the same. Eddie Vedder wrote an entire Cubs song, for God's sake. Then there's the infamous Jeremy Piven moment in 2006 - on Father's Day, as hundreds of thousands of old people across the upper Midwest had just finished their second Miller Lites...

Yes, these are reasons why sports in the Em-Dub are better than those on the coasts. Real celeb passion. Catch the fever. Go ahead. Catch it.

Jim Leyland Resigns?

Now the problems the Tigers are having this season have been documented many times, but I've recently had a Nostradamic run, so here goes:

I think Leyland quits today. I hope I'm wrong. He's done great things for the Tigers and Detroit baseball in general. But this season will not end well. The Tigers are on pace for 63 wins. 63-99. Read that again. 63-99. Do I think that'll happen? No way. Too much talent. But if I had to predict a season-ending record, I'd probably go with 79-83. And that's going to mean people get fired and/or cut. I think Jim will try to go as gracefully as he can, but it's Jim Leyland. A ballerina he ain't. His way is gruff and blunt, and I think that's how he'll leave as manager. And I think it will happen in the next 4 hours. And I think the Wings win tonight. Finally.

Changing of the Guard

I will miss you, O Orange One. So by now, if you care, you know that Mr Tony has opted to roll out from the Washington Post. After 29 years. Dag, some would say. He'll still be on PTI, and have his radio show five months every year, and do Monday Night Football, which are all good things, I guess, but I don't know that he can represent DC as well anymore.

The Post job, even with what it had become over the last five years, gave us credibility on the national sports reporting scene. Sounds weird, but sometimes we've been a little bitter about all sports programming coming from New York, Boston, Philadelphia, and sometimes Chicago or Los Angeles, although those last two aren't as irritating. When PTI hit the "airwaves" (it's a cable show, people) in 2001, DC became a sports news place. Around the Horn. The US studios of the NHL Network are here. The steroid hearings oddly helped this image. We're legit now. Yeah, Wilbon's half the equation, and national guys like Norman Chad and Richard Justice came from here and still recall those days fondly, but Mr Tony is an ambassador for DC in many ways. He gets a lot of crap from a lot of people, but he's genuine in celebrating his uncoolness, and he at least creates the illusion that he's a pretty regular guy. He's a rare celebrity who seems to care about his family and talk about them as much as normal people would around their office, but his fame is still enough that you would tell your friends about it if you saw him somewhere. And most would know who he is.

I don't know that I'll raise a toast to him or anything like that, but it'll be odd without him. Hopefully someone else will get a great start to a career out of this. But I don't think that's the way the world works anymore.

Chris Webber retired yesterday. I've followed his career for almost my whole life, and along with Alan Trammell and Steve Yzerman, was one of the most influential sports figures of my youth. He was a star in high school, pretty much a local celebrity. I've seen him play since he was 14 years old and I was 7. That's a long time. And yet I'm still not sure how I feel about Webber.

There was so much promise in him from the beginning. For a time, it really looked like he would be one of the greatest players ever. The Fab Five era was amazing, and the other four guys were incredible athletes, but was there ever any doubt that Webber was the leader? I was 13 when he announced that he'd be declaring for the NBA draft. I know that I didn't understand then how or why you were allowed to leave college early. By the time Jalen Rose and Juwan Howard left a year later, I knew everything about the process.

Webber got drafted by the Magic and traded to the Warriors, got a mammoth 13-year contract, and promptly had a falling out with Don Nelson. At the time, the Warriors might have been my favorite NBA team (I sported the Timberwolves Starter jacket - that was a Pooh Richardson-influenced purchase), but it should have been obvious that it was not to be. The Run TMC days were gone. Sarunas sat out the season. Billy Owens was still considered a star. It seems like a long time ago now.

By the time he was traded to the Bullets, my family was living in Virginia. Webber's trade to DC was a huge deal. The Bullets were bad. And then they went out and got Webber. And then drafted Juwan. Was Jalen next? Would they sign Jimmy King and Ray Jackson the next year? No. And no. With what seems now like a pretty good roster, the Bullets were a mess. Sort of unbelievably. The 1987 NBA All-Star team would have lost 50 games with the Bullets. It was like they were cursed.

And so it went for Chris. The Kings made it to the conference finals in 2002 with him as the leading scorer. It was all downhill from there. People hated him in Philly. His return to the Pistons received a, well, mixed reaction. And the Don Nelson reconciliation was strange. Webber looked horrible on the floor this year for the Warriors. He can barely run. It's a sad way to end a career.

What I haven't mentioned is the cash and the image. Yes, Webber took huge amounts of money from a UM booster. What was sad is that Chris never needed the money. His dad was a well-paid auto worker and his mom was a high school teacher and later, a college professor. He would claim to be "from the 'hood," when that wasn't exactly the truth. His press conference to announce that he'd be going to UM was during the state finals, which his team had been eliminated from. A lot of people got punished because of Webber's actions, whether in HS or college or the NBA. He was one of the most graceful big men in the history of basketball, but once a half-dozen banners are taken down because of you, a lot of people forget things like that. And as my dad would say, "He's laughing all the way to the bank."

Mick McCabe's brilliant piece on Webber in today's Free Press: http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080327/SPORTS06/803270393/1048/sports

And On this Last day of October...

To what do we owe this honor? It's the first post in nearly a month, you may say. Yep. I know. There's a lot to say. Let's go:

1. Michigan - Michigan State: to all you Ohioans who think you're UM's #1 rival, au contraire. I know that it's the 100th UM-MSU game, but nothing is bigger. ESPN wants you to think it's that final game, people around the country think it's OSU, but this is huge. My elementary school principal had 3 feet worth of maize and blue confetti poured in his office during UM-MSU week one year. I spit on him and yelled "State sucks!" out the bus window. I got in a lot of trouble for that one. But it's huge. Check out the Detroit Free Press' special section this week: A State of Rivalry

2. NHL Network: it's on. It appeared sometime very early yesterday morning, and man, is it great. "On the Fly," which has been on Versus for a while, but not in this format, is spectacular. Imagine SportsCenter covering hockey for an hour, letting the local TV announcers' calls describe the highlights, showing more than goals and the obligatory great save, and actually understanding and appreciating the history of the game. It's great. Tonight's Kings-Blue Jackets game at 10:30 Eastern will be their first true coverage of a game. It's probably just going to be the feed from Prime Ticket, but that's good enough for me! The NHL's site for NHL Network isn't up yet, but the Oct/Nov schedule is here. Call your local TV provider and get the hookup.

3. Burma: yes, the furor has died down. But it shouldn't. This situation is not going away. Sanctions are garbage. The US trades almost nothing with Burma. Southeast Asian countries who don't have a lot of economic options trade with them. Extractive industries are big there. Try to stop the trade in cut-rate minerals between Burma and Vietnam. It won't happen. I'm not saying we should invade, but if we want to show opposition to that government and their treatment of the public there, someone needs to intervene. Japan has long wanted to increase its military status on the world stage; a peacekeeping mission to Burma might be just what they need.

4. The fires: I'm going to San Diego tomorrow. I've heard you can't even smell smoke downtown. We'll see. I'm not nervous, just skeptical. This was handled so well by the local and federal authorities that it just makes it sadder that all the Katrina evacuees and the people who were left behind drew such a short straw.

Happy Halloween!

The Silver Lining

It's been a while, and a lot has happened in between. As always. If there are any regular readers out there, you know Mrs. Original's best friend has leukemia. AML. It's hardcore. She's in Lourdes right now, essentially hoping for a miracle. A lot of people don't know much about leukemia. It takes some pretty serious stuff to get people to pay attention and learn. Which is why Jason Blake's announcement is such a big deal. What does it mean for his career? We'll have to wait and see. But to have an athlete in a huge media market even attempt to continue playing through this condition will do major things for leukemia awareness in North America. Keep Jason in your prayers.

Thoughts another time about Brian Griese, the Presidential election, and other fun things.

The Day Has Come

A little bit of background on this one - at the same time as they announced the Vs. deal after the lockout, Comcast said they would be launching the NHL Network "shortly." That was September 2005. Then details came out that they were contractually obligated to start it up by July 31, 2007. And nothing happened. A few weeks ago, a press release hit the wires announcing that some people in Eastern and Central PA would start receiving NHL Network on their Premium Digital Tier in mid-October. Today, however, the following shocked and excited me. Not the NFL part.

Cox Communications Northern Virginia Launches NFL Network in High Definition

              Cox to Also Launch Much-Anticipated NHL Network

   HERNDON, Va., Sept. 26 /PRNewswire/ -- Cox Communications Northern
Virginia announced today the launch of NFL Network HD. The network is now
available on Cox Cable channel 718 on the Digital Sports & Info Tier for
Fairfax County and Fredericksburg-area customers with HD set-top boxes. NFL
Network offers more high definition programming than ever before, including
major events such as Super Bowl Week, AFC and NFC Championship Week, and
the NFL Draft, all presented in stunning high-definition.
   "Our valued customers have made it clear to us that they want more
high- definition programming, which is why we continue to aggressively add
to our suite of HD content," said Janet Barnard, vice president and region
manager for Cox Northern Virginia. "We're thrilled to offer NFL Network HD,
which we believe will make being a football fan more enjoyable and
compelling than ever."
   In addition to a variety of exclusive programming, the following eight
primetime regular season games will be featured on NFL Network HD:
   -- Colts at Falcons       Thursday, Nov. 22, 2007 at 8:15 PM ET
   -- Packers at Cowboys     Thursday, Nov. 29, 2007 at 8:15 PM ET
   -- Bears at Redskins      Thursday, Dec. 6,  2007 at 8:15 PM ET
   -- Broncos at Texans      Thursday, Dec. 13, 2007 at 8:15 PM ET
   -- Bengals at 49ers       Saturday, Dec. 15, 2007 at 8:15 PM ET
   -- Steelers at Rams       Thursday, Dec. 20, 2007 at 8:15 PM ET
   -- Cowboys at Panthers    Saturday, Dec. 22, 2007 at 8:15 PM ET
   -- Patriots at Giants     Saturday, Dec. 29, 2007 at 8:15 PM ET
   Effective October 30, Cox will also launch the NHL Network, featuring
24- hour hockey coverage including live games. The network's signature show
-- NHL On The Fly -- offers hockey fans exclusive coverage of each game,
including press conferences, expert analysis, and special highlights from
the NHL All- Star Game, NHL Stanley Cup Final and NHL Entry Draft. NHL
Network will be offered on channel 248 of the Digital Sports and Info tier
for Fairfax County and Fredericksburg-area customers.
   About Cox Communications:
   Cox Communications is a multi-service broadband communications and
entertainment company with more than 6 million total residential and
commercial customers. The third-largest cable television company in the
United States, Cox offers an array of advanced digital video, high-speed
Internet and telephony services over its own nationwide IP network, as well
as integrated wireless services in affiliation with Sprint. Cox Business
Services is a full-service, facilities-based provider of communications
solutions for commercial customers, providing high-speed Internet, voice
and long distance services, as well as data and video transport services
for small to large-sized businesses. Cox Media offers national and local
cable advertising in traditional spot and new media formats, along with
promotional opportunities and production services. Cox Communications
wholly owns and operates the Travel Channel. More information about the
services of Cox Communications, a wholly owned subsidiary of Cox
Enterprises, is available at http://www.cox.com,
http://www.coxbusiness.com, and http://www.coxmedia.com.

SOURCE Cox Communications Northern Virginia


-The odds that we would get this in Redskin/NASCAR country before the Upper Midwest and New England seemed to be zero. The odds that we would get it AT ALL seemed to be close to zero. But Cox shocked me. I've heard the negatives.

"It's not worth the hype."
"Not worth the extra money."
"Not very many live games."
And so on.

The Canadian NHL Network, which is expected to provide almost all of the content to the US version, has set the following schedule for this season's televised games: http://www.tsn.ca/nhl_network/feature/?fid=10435. And that's OK with me. I'll be sending a polite email to Cox now.

Around the Great Lakes - Sports edition

I feel almost as if this should be two posts, one serious and one not. But it's all Chicago/Detroit stuff and it all fits together in some weird way. The two big sports stories this morning in my world come out of Chicago.

Last of the Old School
First and foremost, Bill Wirtz, the owner of the Chicago Blackhawks, passed away this morning. The Blackhawks have been a complete disaster for most of my lifetime. With the exception of the 1992 Finals appearance, they've been either slightly above average or terrible over the last quarter-century. Kind of like the Atlanta Hawks of the NHL, except the Blackhawks had some glory days long ago. Wirtz's legacy will probably be the move into United Center and the total lack of a local TV contract over the last several years. Both of these are/were sad situations. I will say that the United Center is a great place for basketball. The Bulls have truly made it their home over the course of its existence and it certainly makes for a better TV game than the Stadium did. But as a kid, I was a die-hard Wings fan and those divisional games against the Hawks were epic. Chicago Stadium was a big part of that. The noise, the goal siren, the old-style cages for the goal judges. The 1991 All-Star Game. Denis Savard, Steve Larmer, Dirk Graham, Al Secord, Doug Wilson, and on and on. United Center just isn't the same.

No announcement has been made about control of the franchise. This may seem like a callous statement five hours after Mr Wirtz's death, but the season starts in a week and the team appears (sort of) ready for prime time, with a slew of young talent and some pretty decent off-season acquisitions. Mr Wirtz was one of the last people from the old NHL to remain involved with the game. The post-expansion generation is nearly gone, a bizarre thought for those of us who grew up with the system firmly in place, seemingly until the end of time.

Or-ton! Or-ton!
It appears the majority of Bears fans have received an early Christmas present: Brian Griese is your new quarterback. Hail to the victors. Except he's facing nearly an identical situation to the one Rex did in 2005 when he came back from injury. His reign as starter is so eagerly anticipated that it's plainly obvious that things will not go well. To win the division, the Bears need to win at least 11 games. That means 10-3 from here on out. Quick rundown on what needs to happen to make 11-5 a reality:

1. Cedric Benson can't fumble, can't average 2.6 yards per carry, and has to be productive without a change of pace back to set up his running "style."
2. The defense has to stay healthy. Pretty much everyone. That's going well.
3. Griese has to play like a future Hall of Famer.

Write it down: you will see Kyle Orton in significant game action by Thanksgiving.

On Rex and Big Z

The Hopeless?

Well, it's that time of year again. Week 3 has passed in the NFL and the world thinks they know everything there is to know about every team in the league. Except last year at this time, the Bears had outscored their opponents by something like 468-3 and people were talking about 16-0. Seriously. Deadspin is, well, Deadspin, but they've cast their vote. I have been a Rex defender (and a Lloyd Carr defender - I may be the most hated man in America), but it's getting tough. Until you really think about the illustrious history of Chicago Bears' quarterbacks.

Check out the list of the Bears' leading passers here. I would venture a guess that most people can't remember the first names of most of those guys. Here's some help. KORDELL Stewart. JIM Miller. CADE McNown. SHANE Matthews. ERIK Kramer. DAVE Krieg. STEVE Walsh. JIM Harbaugh. MIKE Tomczak. And the one everybody probably remembers, Jim McMahon. Here's the problem: Mr Grossman was supposed to be the future of the franchise. Remember 2005? Rex was ready to go for the last four games of the season and Orton was still the starter for two of those, leaving Bears fans up in arms. What was Lovie thinking, right? This Grossman kid could throw for 250 yards in a hurricane! Turns out he's not so good in bad weather. Or against average or better pass defenses. Or when he's not in the shotgun. Combine these scenarios, and we're talking about 70-80 percent of the time. There were even very good Rex moments last night. The first drive after the Cowboys made it 17-10, Rex threw about three darts in a row, and I thought he was ready to roll. But he wasn't. It was a bad day for the Bears.

When you throw in the fact that Donovan McNabb had a great day, times are tough. McNabb needs to be himself. That is, a one-man team with no help who gets blamed for everything and run out of Philadelphia. Then the Bears can pick him up and he can come back to his hometown, save the day, and the Bears win five Super Bowls in a row, while Rex goes and coaches some high school team in Georgia (an aside: This is probably Rex's next step. The media has devoured him. I can't think of any way for him to stay in the NFL and be productive. It's really, really sad. he's not that bad of a QB.).

Many of you read that last paragraph and thought, "Wow. This guy is delusional." Unless you're a Bears fan. This is an actual, viable plan to most of us. I feel bad for Rex. There's no way any normal human being could put up with this much crap and still go out there every week. He must be pretty tough mentally. He hasn't had a single confrontation with anyone in the media (and Jay Mariotti works in his city), he hasn't lashed out on camera, he hasn't blamed anyone but himself, you could go on and on. I wish him well in whatever he decides to do. He needs to think about himself for a minute and get out before things get even worse. That said, I've seen a lot of Brian Griese. Remember, I'm a Michigan fan. Brian Griese was a great QB in college. In the NFL, he's been great to bad, depending on the week. Read those last two sentences again, everybody.

...And the hope!

The Cubs, meanwhile, are playing like it's June all over again. Z appears to be back. The final home game of the regular season yesterday was a beautiful thing to watch. People know this is a playoff team, and I think they can beat any team in the NL. Zambrano, Lilly, Hill, and Marshall has to be the playoff rotation. Marquis should be elsewhere. Maybe the bullpen, maybe a beach somewhere, but certainly not in the rotation. Are they a team of destiny? Probably not, but I don't see how they'll lose to any of the other NL playoff teams. San Diego is a fairly similar team, Arizona is inconsistent and has a weak back end of their rotation, and the Mets don't appear to be playing the same sport as their opponents lately.

While they haven't clinched yet, it seems certain. The Brewers are back, though. This should be a great rivalry for the next 3-5 years. And it's nice to see Craig Monroe get another postseason appearance.

Theater of the Bizarre

I missed Barry Bonds' 756th home run last night. I was washing dishes. Didn't have the game on the radio in the kitchen for some reason. But it's OK. I had replays.

In 1998, I missed McGwire's 62nd because I was taking out the trash. Not sure why I picked that exact moment to take a walk to the dumpster. Maybe it was foreshadowing the events of the next decade. I was kind of upset about missing history at the time, but I moved on.

In retrospect, these are probably the two biggest moments in sports of my lifetime. Personally, the '97 Stanley Cup finals was more important, and the '87 division race where the Tigers came from behind and won that final game 1-0 (on a masterful complete game six-hitter by Frank Tanana) to avoid the one game playoff with the Jays - that was probably more important to me. But on a grand American scale, 62 and 756 were monumental. Nothing in sports is bigger or more powerful than the home run records. And today, they feel dirty and unloved; definitely not sacred.

It doesn't matter if Hank Aaron stayed home, or if Bud Selig wasn't there. The presence of either, or both of them, wouldn't have made the night, or the record, any more legitimate. Bud Selig has had an absolutely horrific tenure as commissioner of MLB, and this was just another butt in the ashtray. Arms raised upward, Bonds stood and watched as the ball went out, and then pointed skyward as he gleefully (I guess) stomped on home plate. Reggie-esque.

Andy Van Slyke. Bobby Bonilla. Will Clark. Matt Williams. Jeff Kent. These are the guys Bonds hit before or after for most of his career, and probably owes most of his home runs to. Pretty good players in their own right. All but one are retired now, and none were at the game. To be fair, they are all in baseball, so we can assume they all had other responsibilities. The exception is renowned baseball genius Bonilla, who was at home in Connecticut, where watching the home run was "very exciting."

After the 2004 Presidential elections, a Washington Post columnist noted that this was the first election in history where people didn't remove signs and bumper stickers for either Bush or Kerry, almost not acknowledging that an election had taken place. Will this be the pattern baseball will follow? An interesting question, since Hank Aaron broke Babe Ruth's record legitimately and Ruth is still revered by many as the greatest slugger of all time. I think it's weird to see Bonds' name on top of the career home runs list, but it's there and it isn't going away. Baseball's last gasp of a chance to preserve the record for Hammerin' Hank is gone this morning. Many thought this day would never come. In the words of the illustrious Emeril, BAM!
By the way, the asterisk just means he's an active player. Smirk.

The record falling doesn't bother me. Strangely, the record falling to someone suspected of steroid use doesn't even bother me that much. It's Bonds' personality that seals the deal for me. When Aaron broke the record, it was a great day for BASEBALL. I would encourage everyone to read the chapter on the 1974 season in Roger Angell's Five Seasons, where Aaron's record is detailed in words from memories just weeks old. Listen to the call by Vin Scully. This was a profound social moment and a great sporting moment. From that, we went to a moment where nobody cared about the race of the athlete, or what he'd been through, or even the record he broke. Just Barry Bonds hitting another home run, presumably for Barry Bonds.

Thank God for Kevin Garnett

The top 10 reasons you should be really really happy that Kevin Garnett will officially be a Boston Celtic by the time I finish this post:

10. That guy who actually won the Tour de France and the 'roid-hounds who didn't.
9. 10 of Paul Pierce's 24 errant shots per game will fall into the hands of someone who can actually score inside.
8. No more 68-point efforts by the Timberwolves
7. Incessant NFL coverage stops for an hour
6. ESPN can add a team that it cares about and devotes coverage to, bringing the total to 8 (sorry, they were already on the short list).
5. No more lamenting that #21 never gets retired in Boston.
4. KG won't have to deal with Kobe.
3. A solid distraction from Barry getting pelted with sharp objects culled from a local hospital's biohazard bins.
2, 1. I'm out of stuff. But that's a good list, right?

Has it happened... yet?

The End of Sports As We Know Them?

Usually, I don't pay any attention to USA Today. It's the "local paper" (based in Reston) that nobody cares about. It's easy to get the writers as guests on local TV here; that's pretty much what it's good for. But today, The Nation's Newspaper hit paydirt with its attempt to sum everything up in nice, tidy 1000 word articles. Pro sports are in trouble.

Hockey kicked off the crap derby with the lockout and the ensuing idiotic TV contract (no, here's the real one. But that didn't seem SO crazy, did it?). Baseball's steroid scandal has come to a head at what is arguably the most important moment in the sport's history. Michael Vick has drawn worldwide attention to the "discipline" problems in the NFL, and the NBA has referees involved with the mafia.

All three of the latter situations have taken the strongest attributes of their respective leagues and run them into the ground. Baseball prides itself on records, tradition, and the like. The criticism of Roger Maris' record seems insane at this point. The NFL has built its empire on casual fans who know virtually nothing about the game's history, can't identify more than 20 players in the league, and treat Sundays from September-January as a social event.

The NBA is different. It came out of nowhere in the 1980s, and a slew of near-miraculous comebacks in games and playoff series from 1985-1995 led many people to talk of conspiracies within the league. Ironically, as Jordan faded away and the league became less popular again, this talk also faded. Well, it's back. The days following the announcement of the Pete Rose scandal in 1989 were chaotic, but I think this NBA stuff is going to be much bigger. Every call in every game can be questioned now. Monday was probably the happiest day of Rasheed Wallace's life.

It intrigues me when people just walk away from fandom because of a specific action. My dad will watch NHL games when they're at our house or we're there, but that's it. The lockout soured him on the sport. When I was a kid, those were basically the nights I got to stay up late during the school year - Red Wings nights. I have all but walked away from the NFL. Last season's Bears team won me back a little bit, but I think I've seen the Super Bowl 4 times in the last 10 years. A lot of people don't watch baseball anymore for a slew of reasons, including the steroids thing.

It's kind of amazing that nothing like pro sports ever existed in our 10,000 years of civilization. I guess the gladiators were sort of a similar thing, but this is a unique historical experience with no precedent. With problems abounding and other sports like NASCAR, soccer, golf, and the "extreme" sports on the rise in popularity, could we be watching the erosion of North American pro sports as we've known them for the past 100 years?

The Beginning

So Dave Beckham and family are on their way to loverly Southern California. And the majority of those in the sports community seem to think that little will change for Americans and their relationship with soccer. I don't ALWAYS like to be a contrarian, but I think this is going to be the start of soccer's emergence as our fifth major sport (I only count team sports, and yes, I count hockey, I'm from Michigan, for crying out loud).

Beckham is the one soccer player that every American has heard of. My in-laws, who live outside Philadelphia, where soccer, competitive logging, and jai alai are all equally popular, know Beckham. Pele was a soccer player. Beckham is a legitimate celebrity. People would watch him go grocery shopping. Unlike Pele, he isn't at the tail end of his career, showing up, playing great against horrid competition, and cashing checks. MLS is about 30 steps above NASL. He speaks fluent English, which is a factor I haven't heard anyone mention. This makes a HUGE difference. In 1975, networks weren't exactly scrambling to interview people the majority of their viewers wouldn't be able to understand. No such fears this time. Pele also was not married to a famous person. He was widely viewed as arrogant and self-promoting, and still has that reputation. Beckham is just Beckham, and hey, is that a Cherry Pepsi he's got in his hand? Make sure to pick up some of that on your way home.

So what could go wrong here? Well, see, Beckham isn't going to score a ton of goals. To Americans, this is ultimately the mark of a star athlete. You throw 25 touchdown passes if you're a good football player. You average 25 points per game in basketball. You hit 30 home runs. You score 40 goals in hockey. ESPN is planning to have 19 cameras in use when LA Galaxy play Chelsea in Beckham's Galaxy debut July 17. One will be focused on Dave the whole night. As a soccer fan, this is simultaneously the best and worst idea ever. He might not do a lot in the game. But for more serious fans, it will be a unique opportunity to focus on one player and all the precision that goes into his game plan. But again, he probably won't score. Which will lead to his being dubbed a flop and a failure. But Beckham can take it. He's staying here. This is the coup MLS needed to become legit, and I think America is ready.

Sports Roundup

Billups Signs on Dotted Line for Pistons - 5 years, $60.5 million. Holy cow.

Michigan has signed with Adidas - Apparently this is a far bigger deal than I realize.

Penguins Headline Wings' Exhibitions - The big schedule is out too. The season opens with a two-game series between the two Southern California teams (those would be the Kings and Ducks, for those of you not in the know) in London. England, not Ontario. The Wings open against the Ducks on Oct 3 at JLA. The Ducks' banner will go up (presumably) on VS on Oct 10 against Boston.

Sabres in Line for Outdoor NHL Game - This might be good for the Sabres and the NHL in general. At least it won't be somewhere in the South.

NHL Network news - (crickets) This is pathetic. There has to be some news somewhere.

And lastly:

Ichiro is insane.

Coach Hep

Forgive me, Hoosiers, for the time passed since the death of Terry Hoeppner that I haven't said anything about it. I grew up in Michigan, and eventually went to a college with no football team (grad school, too - how'd I pull that one off?), so Michigan has been my team all my life, and the Big Ten has been my conference. I certainly can't root for Michigan State, or Ohio State, or Wisconsin, or Penn State, or even Iowa or Minnesota, but Indiana... well, they're just Indiana. A school that felt like it had to have a football team because it's massive.

Anybody who knows anything about Indiana knows that football is not a big deal there. Now that the Colts have won the Super Bowl, maybe the lukewarm atmosphere will start to change, but in Bloomington, if you say the word pigskin, chances are that people will think you're actually referring to the skin of a pig in raw form.

So you kind of root for Indiana. You know they're not going to beat you, and most years, you'll beat them 35-3 or 42-10 or something lopsided like that. And they have that uphill battle against IU basketball, which three consecutive undefeated seasons couldn't win them. So when a guy like Terry Hoeppner passes, the whole conference feels it.

This guy was Ben Roethlisberger's coach a couple years ago. He left Miami after Ben's first season away (probably knowing things would never get better than 2003), and went to IU. Everyone questioned him for that decision. He could have had his pick of big schools, but he had his roots in Indiana, and he stuck to them. This guy coached after receiving treatment for his brain cancer in summer 2006, and the 06 Hoosiers weren't a bad team. You always get the feeling with IU that they're about to turn that corner, and then they never quite do it. The loss of Coach Hep might be the spark this team needs to get to the next level. He gave them everything he had, even if it was only for two seasons.

Last summer, we mourned Randy Walker, who kept the Northwestern program strong even when people said he couldn't do it. We'll never know what Terry could have done at IU. It's going to be a tough year for that program. We'll miss you, Hep.

Quick takes - NHL free agent mayhem

- First and foremost, let me express my joy that my dislike for Todd Bertuzzi can come back to full strength now. I know the Wings have a long history of rental players, but what a waste.

- Robert Lang is no longer a Wing. His 14 goals and 19 assists will fit in nicely with the rest of that dynamic Blackhawks lineup.

- And completing the trifecta of Red Wings losses, Matthieu Schneider would like to be closer to his home, where he lived when he played for the Kings and actually performed like a top-3 defenseman.

- Jiri Hudler may go play in Russia. I would not approve of that; he has the potential to be a GREAT two-way forward.

Around the rest of the league, it turns out Paul Kariya is just greedy after all. Just a few seasons removed from his altruistic, Karl Malone-esque pay cut to try to win a Cup with Colorado, he goes to tha STL for a 2-year, $18m deal.

And were Ryan Smyth's tears fake? There's suddenly a lot of bitterness around this "good guy." He's made some bad moves. It wasn't all management. Have fun with your 7 seed in the West this year, guys.

The poor Sabres' dynasty is over before it started. I'm unclear as to why anyone would leave a team poised to be a force in the East for the next several years, but I never won a Little League World Series, either.

MR.BRIERE GOES TO PHILLY, a one-act play

Flyers management: Hi Daniel. Welcome to Philadelphia.
Daniel Briere: Hi, I'm excited to be here to try to turn around this once-proud franchise.
FM: Heh. That's great. There are a couple things we need to take care of right away...
DB: Sure! Whatever you need!
FM: These will be your skates. They're made of lead. We don't want anybody on our team outskating the opposition. That's not the Flyer way.
DB: Um, OK. I guess I can deal with that. I'm a sniper. I can get to the wing and hang out there.
FM: Yeah. About that. We don't really go for that kind of thing here. Too exciting. We don't want anyone falling out of their seat and dropping their $8 Miller Lite. The rink guys are busy grooving the ice in the slot right now so you can try it out. It's going to be tough for you to turn, but I think you can tough it out.
DB: (silence)
FM (whispers to other FM): He's built like Manute Bol. You're sure this is the right guy?

Good move, Daniel. I won't get into Chris Drury's stupidity any further than to say that the Rangers should provide another April flameout.

Follow the disloyalty here

Today's Sports Post - ¿West Coast Bias?

I never thought I would see this, but apparently there's someone in the world who thinks ESPN is actually biased AGAINST the Northeast. To that I say, whoa. I quit watching non-"event" ESPN about two years ago in favor of Yahoo! Sports and Sporting News. If only a few teams existed in sports, I get the feeling it would be OK with ESPN. Those teams are the New York Yankees, Mets, Giants, and Knicks, the Boston Celtics and Red Sox, the New England Patriots, the Philadelphia Eagles, and Duke University basketball. You could fill 24 hours per day with coverage of just those teams, right?

The arguments in favor of this coverage make no sense. "They're the most popular teams." Maybe in number, I guess? the Yankees and Red Sox are probably the two most hated baseball teams as well. The games are on local TV in New York and Boston. That's enough. We do not need to have all 38 or however many games between the two teams shown nationally. And that's when they play each other. I cannot count how many times ESPN has shown a riveting Red Sox-Devil Rays or Yankees-Orioles matchup on a Monday or Thursday when there are other, BETTER, games on the schedule.

"Well, ESPN is based near New York, so it's easier for them to get there." Then maybe ESPN should be a regional network. Don't call yourself the Worldwide Leader if you're going to show 3 hours of poker every night and get the Giants on Monday Night Football 7 times a season.

I think that's enough of a rant on that topic.

Oden vs Durant

I guess it's good for the NBA that this "battle" has captured the attention of the sports world. Personally, I'm more concerned about who the Pistons will take at 15 and 27, but we'll get to that in a minute.

I would take Greg Oden over Kevin Durant 100 times out of 100. Oden seems to be Hakeem 23 years later. He'll never be a great scorer, but he will average 12 boards a game for 10 years and play great defense. No question there. Durant, on the other hand, seems to be a glorified T.J. Ford. Which is OK, i guess, if you're into that sort of thing. Greg Oden also seems to be funny and smart. The NBA could use a little dose of that sometimes by someone not named Tim Duncan or Shaquille O'Neal.

With that out of the way, I heartily endorse the selection of Nick Young at 15 and Aaron Afflalo at 27. NBAdraft.net has them exiting the building tonight with neither player. I am not a fan of that. I've followed Nick Young since he almost came to St Joe's in 2004 and he has developed nicely since then. He's the type of quick, long, lean player the Pistons like and utilize well. So is Afflalo. They got their inside guys with Maxiell and that guy from Senegal. Now it's time to speed up the game with athletes that can emulate the conditioning of Tayshaun and Rip.

7:30 Eastern, ESPN. I'll be watching the post-coverage on NBATV also. But not til DC United try to get back on track. That's on ESPN 2.

Meanwhile, let's give some props to Kenny Rogers. Dude is back.

How Over Is It?

For those of you who are Red Wings fans, you know the drill. For those of you who are not, it's time to get yourself acquainted with an annual tradition. When the Wings don't win the Stanley Cup (and keep in mind they've won 3 since 1997 and are widely considered the best team in the NHL over the last 2 decades), it's assumed that somebody has to go, that they're a problem and are holding the team back from reaching "the next level." Jimmy Carson. Tim Cheveldae. Bryan Murray. Chris Osgood. Paul Coffey. Ray Sheppard. Curtis Joseph. Dave Lewis. Manny Legace. I could go on. All casualties of not making it to "the next level." It's like a turkey farm on the third weekend of November. Somebody's going, because they couldn't make it to "the next level" of turkeydom.

So what happens next? Will next year be the dreaded rebuilding year? It's too early for that, I think. There are lots of things to worry about between now and then. The Pistons. The Tigers. Michigan football. DC United (my favorite local team). The start of the NFL season, I guess?

Front and center is the issue of what to do about my cable subscription. I got the following response from Cox Communications yesterday to my 15th (I think) email regarding this situation:

Dear Valued Cox Customer:

Thank you for contacting our Cox Northern Virginia Online Customer Care
Team.

We are currently working to add ESPNU. While we do not have a timetable
we can say we are in talks to add this channel with in the year.

If you need additional information on other Cox products or services,
please visit our web site at http://www.cox.com/fairfax
We hope that we have been able to provide you with the information you
requested.  If we have not, or if we can be of any additional service to
you, please do not hesitate to contact us again.

My name is Margaret
Thank you for choosing Cox Communications, Your Friend in the Digital
Age!

Sincerely,
The Cox Northern Virginia Online Customer Care Team

Comments: Hi,
I'm wondering if there is any timetable to add ESPNU and/or CSTV to your
channel lineup.  Cox customers in other parts of the country have these
channels, why not Fairfax?
Thanks.
IAmOver13: yes
submit:   Submit

Progress! But no response to the CSTV question. College hockey. I need college hockey. So as I shop for the new TV for upstairs, I can look forward to this.

However, today, I was disturbed by this. Not cool. Big Ten Network will get second choice for the football game of the week? I missed ONE Michigan football game last year with only a basic cable subscription. I was anticipating a similar situation this year. Not if some stupid "regional" network steals it away! I'm guessing Cox won't add Big Ten Network in Fairfax County, VA?

Southeast Michigan Holds Its Collective Breath

With the economy in Michigan in horrid shape and no signs of a comeback imminent, sports have taken on a larger role in a state that was already crazy about its teams. So understandably, there is much fretting taking place on the state of the NBA and NHL playoffs. Let's start with the Pistons, shall we?

Here's Mitch Albom's column from this morning's Free Press. Basic gist: the Pistons were one Donyell Marshall shot away from a loss. And LeBron James didn't play that well. And furthermore, LeBron is pretty much the team. Zydrunas Ilgauskas (who is apparently only 32?!? Maybe I'm getting him confused with Sabonis?) is a rickety mess. Donyell Marshall is a stereotypical Timberwolves first round pick. Look at that list for a minute. Felton Spencer? Laettner? J.R. Rider? Paul Grant? William Avery? Ndudi Ebi? And Garnett just sticks out. It's crazy. But the Cavs. Does anyone other than LeBron have the talent of the top 8 in the Pistons rotation? They should be winning these games by 15-30 points.

What I like about this is that everyone's freaking out about LeBron's decision to pass to Marshall with 10 seconds left. Please, national news media, continue to ignore the Pistons and the fact that they are nearly blowing games to teams that are in danger of demotion to the NBDL.

And now, your Detroit Red Wings. The team that apparently could outshoot the 90-91 Québec
Nordiques 75-12 and lose because Ron Tugnutt made some amazing saves. Every year. "Well, they just ran into a hot goalie." Every year. When will a Wings goalie be "hot"? Why weren't these excuses made for Glen Hanlon? Or Cheveldae? Or Vernon or Osgood or Hasek the first time? We know Giguere is great. But you can't get 2 out of 50 shots past him and Hasek can't face more than 20 without giving up 3? Here's the plan, guys: SCORE. Get Hasek 3 goals. 3. And you'll win.

Wings in 7. Pistons in 5. The Tigers better keep chuggin.' I'm predicting 98 wins and a division title there.