Week-in-Review: Favre, Ramirez, Lingerie Football, and more
Our winter teams are done, the Phillies are hovering around first place but it’s still early May, and even the Eagles’ first mini-camp is in the rearview mirror. So, all I got is my fifth straight weekly recap of the stories that caught my attention and my quick fire opinions on them. Hey, I was even writing things down this week.
Week-in-Review:
· Brett Favre is coming back. No he’s not. Yes he is. The fact that he met with Minnesota head coach Brad Childress was the top story on SportsCenter at 6 o’clock on Wednesday night. It’s ridiculous. Why does Minnesota even want him? He’s not going to bring the Vikings to a Super Bowl this season, and he’s too old to count on beyond one year – just ask him. He’s also never been on the level of most quarterbacks considered great. He’s the gritty guy that John Madden made into a folk hero, and he’s quickly becoming a clichéd old athlete whose best days are far behind him but can’t live without the spotlight. The worst part is all the media members that are whining about the amount of attention Favre gets, as they give him more of it. Stop. Enough. Go away, Brett.
· Manny Ramirez is the latest baseball star to be exposed as a fraud, suspended 50 games for using a banned substance. I really wish I could get enraged, but it just doesn’t affect me any more. You can’t even applaud baseball, because a day after Ramirez’ suspension starts, Alex Rodriguez returns to play without ever being penalized for using steroids.
· Rich Hoffman of the Daily News and Mike Missanelli of ESPN 950 had a back-and-forth in their own mediums over whether the Sixers or Flyers have more fans. Some of the snobby replies from Flyers fans are the reason a lot of people don’t necessarily dislike the Flyers but take some joy in their lack of success. One clueless hockey fan suggested the Sixers would fall to fifth in popularity after the MLS came to the city. See, boys, we know you work hard for the organization, but your elitist fans hurt you as much as the fact that most people never see a goal scored without a replay. There’s no debate: basketball and the Sixers (when they’re good) are more popular. The NHL didn’t miss an entire season before the economy tanked because of its immense popularity. The Phoenix Coyotes aren’t reportedly declaring bankruptcy and moving to Ontario because hockey is selling so well.
· Avery Johnson and Doug Collins are the most talked about potential replacements for Tony DiLeo as the Sixers’ head coach. Neither name is overly exciting to me. Collins was the guy that coached Michael Jordan before he started winning championship after championship, while Avery Johnson’s 2005-06 Dallas Mavericks went from being on the verge of taking a stranglehold on the NBA Finals against the Miami Heat only to fold. My biggest question after hearing that Rick Pitino is a candidate for the Sacramento Kings’ coaching position is, why isn’t he a candidate for the Sixers? Ed Stefansky seems to like being the focus of attention for Sixers front office. I wonder if he would be able to accept a coach that would overshadow him.
· I can’t believe the number of fans I’ve heard suggest that the Sixers should resign Allen Iverson. This would be even dumber than Minnesota signing Favre. Iverson’s career proved that he was a great scorer and absolutely incapable of playing within a team concept. He might be done already. He certainly won’t be around long enough to build a team around him, and he’s probably not good enough any more even if a team was already built to fit him.
· After being told that he would start Game 2 for the Lakers against Houston in their playoff series, Lamar Odom walked to the arena to reconnect with his love of the game. See, he walked to his games as a kid. I wonder if TNT was there to film it when he was a kid or if the three or four reporters walking with him were there to cover it.
· Comcast announced this week that the NFL Network would remain on their systems as the two sides engaged in “productive” talks. Unless it shows up on my television without the cable giant sucking more money out of my wallet, I hope at least one of these corporations gets the shaft. Somehow, though, I’m guessing that will be reserved for the fans.
· There are multiple reports out there that the NFL is looking to hold a Super Bowl in London, England. Just in case there was any remnant of doubt that the NFL is loyal to its fans, they are apparently exploring ways to put their centerpiece game totally out of reach for an even greater percentage of those fans.
· We may be able to retire the term “ugly American” forever. Not only did a soccer referee need to “smuggled” out of England after a controversial call, fans have reportedly started a Facebook campaign to kill the man.
· The Lingerie Football League plans to start play in the fall. I know the cool guy thing would be to drool all over at the very idea of chicks running around in bikinis slapping each other around. ………Sorry, I got distracted. Oh, yeah, I remember the point. The first LFL player that wines because she’s not taken seriously as an athlete – and you know it will happen if this lasts 3 weeks – should be put in jail for being stupid.
Week-in-Review:
· Brett Favre is coming back. No he’s not. Yes he is. The fact that he met with Minnesota head coach Brad Childress was the top story on SportsCenter at 6 o’clock on Wednesday night. It’s ridiculous. Why does Minnesota even want him? He’s not going to bring the Vikings to a Super Bowl this season, and he’s too old to count on beyond one year – just ask him. He’s also never been on the level of most quarterbacks considered great. He’s the gritty guy that John Madden made into a folk hero, and he’s quickly becoming a clichéd old athlete whose best days are far behind him but can’t live without the spotlight. The worst part is all the media members that are whining about the amount of attention Favre gets, as they give him more of it. Stop. Enough. Go away, Brett.
· Manny Ramirez is the latest baseball star to be exposed as a fraud, suspended 50 games for using a banned substance. I really wish I could get enraged, but it just doesn’t affect me any more. You can’t even applaud baseball, because a day after Ramirez’ suspension starts, Alex Rodriguez returns to play without ever being penalized for using steroids.
· Rich Hoffman of the Daily News and Mike Missanelli of ESPN 950 had a back-and-forth in their own mediums over whether the Sixers or Flyers have more fans. Some of the snobby replies from Flyers fans are the reason a lot of people don’t necessarily dislike the Flyers but take some joy in their lack of success. One clueless hockey fan suggested the Sixers would fall to fifth in popularity after the MLS came to the city. See, boys, we know you work hard for the organization, but your elitist fans hurt you as much as the fact that most people never see a goal scored without a replay. There’s no debate: basketball and the Sixers (when they’re good) are more popular. The NHL didn’t miss an entire season before the economy tanked because of its immense popularity. The Phoenix Coyotes aren’t reportedly declaring bankruptcy and moving to Ontario because hockey is selling so well.
· Avery Johnson and Doug Collins are the most talked about potential replacements for Tony DiLeo as the Sixers’ head coach. Neither name is overly exciting to me. Collins was the guy that coached Michael Jordan before he started winning championship after championship, while Avery Johnson’s 2005-06 Dallas Mavericks went from being on the verge of taking a stranglehold on the NBA Finals against the Miami Heat only to fold. My biggest question after hearing that Rick Pitino is a candidate for the Sacramento Kings’ coaching position is, why isn’t he a candidate for the Sixers? Ed Stefansky seems to like being the focus of attention for Sixers front office. I wonder if he would be able to accept a coach that would overshadow him.
· I can’t believe the number of fans I’ve heard suggest that the Sixers should resign Allen Iverson. This would be even dumber than Minnesota signing Favre. Iverson’s career proved that he was a great scorer and absolutely incapable of playing within a team concept. He might be done already. He certainly won’t be around long enough to build a team around him, and he’s probably not good enough any more even if a team was already built to fit him.
· After being told that he would start Game 2 for the Lakers against Houston in their playoff series, Lamar Odom walked to the arena to reconnect with his love of the game. See, he walked to his games as a kid. I wonder if TNT was there to film it when he was a kid or if the three or four reporters walking with him were there to cover it.
· Comcast announced this week that the NFL Network would remain on their systems as the two sides engaged in “productive” talks. Unless it shows up on my television without the cable giant sucking more money out of my wallet, I hope at least one of these corporations gets the shaft. Somehow, though, I’m guessing that will be reserved for the fans.
· There are multiple reports out there that the NFL is looking to hold a Super Bowl in London, England. Just in case there was any remnant of doubt that the NFL is loyal to its fans, they are apparently exploring ways to put their centerpiece game totally out of reach for an even greater percentage of those fans.
· We may be able to retire the term “ugly American” forever. Not only did a soccer referee need to “smuggled” out of England after a controversial call, fans have reportedly started a Facebook campaign to kill the man.
· The Lingerie Football League plans to start play in the fall. I know the cool guy thing would be to drool all over at the very idea of chicks running around in bikinis slapping each other around. ………Sorry, I got distracted. Oh, yeah, I remember the point. The first LFL player that wines because she’s not taken seriously as an athlete – and you know it will happen if this lasts 3 weeks – should be put in jail for being stupid.
Comments
Jordan did not get along with Collins when he was young. However, he pushed very hard for Collins to be the head coach for the Wizards when he came out of retirement again. That tells me that, arguably the greatest player of all time, thinks Collins is a good coach.
Once again, the Sixers have a lot of problems. Sammy stinks and should only be used for maybe 15 minutes a game. Like it or not, the Sixers are going to have to figure out how to use Brand and make him the centerpiece. They must get someone who can hit the 3 in order to open up the inside.
Honestly, I think the Sixers will be mediocre for at least 6 or 7 more years. Once again, they are in cap Hell.