The Sports Nut at Slate thinks the LA Lakers are the greatest dynasty in sports. Phillipe de Croy at the Volokh Conspiracy (what bench strength they have over there, then again, all the best conspiracies usually do) makes a convincing argument that the Yankees have earned that sobriquet.
Archive for July, 2003
July 31st, 2003
Odds And Ends
Over at Off The Kuff, Charles Kuffner takes a closer look at the Barry Bonds/Babe Ruth debate. As of two nights ago, the Boston Red Sox team slugging percentage stood at .504 -- the highest in Major League History since the 1927 New York Yankees. Dan McLaughlin at Baseball Crank takes a look at the historical significance.
Back at Page 2, Jeff Merron stopped off at Baltimore's Camden Yards as part of the Summer Ballpark Tour. He rates the place just one point behind Pac Bell in San Francisco, and does a credible job describing the place with one exception: somebody needs to tell him that playing "Thank God I'm A Country Boy," during the seventh inning stretch is a tradition that may just pre-date his birth:
Mark Belanger, shortstop for the Baltimore Orioles whose wife, Dee, was a John Denver fan, pushed to have
July 31st, 2003
Kobe Central
ABC News has broken the big news of the day on Kobe Bryant, getting someone in law enforcement or the prosecution team to outline the sexual assault case against the Lakers guard:
Sources told ABCNEWS that Bryant, 24, and the alleged victim met when he checked into the Lodge & Spa at Cordillera in Edwards, Colo., on June 30, and she gave him a tour of the facility. Bryant called the front desk from his room and asked for the woman and she went up to his room.Sources said the alleged victim was in Bryant's room for less than half an hour. There was some consensual contact between Bryant and his accuser, but the woman says she did not consent to intercourse. She sustained some physical injuries, sources said, which Eagle County prosecutors are expected to argue are indicative of sexual assault. . .
In addition, sources said, prosecutors are expected to argue that Bryant deceived law enforcement officials and that he gave inconsistent statements. Bryant's defense has said that he has been forthcoming and cooperative with law enforcement officials and stressed that he flew back to Colorado to surrender to authorities there in his July 4 arrest.
In an unsigned editorial, the Rocky Mountain News is calling Eagle County Judge Frederick Gannett's "decorum order" dictating the rules of media conduct during the case as "unconstitutional." A piece by USA Today's Tom Kenworthy buttresses the same claim.
For those so inclined, here's a link to a PDF copy of the actual felony complaint against Bryant.
UPDATE Dahlia Lithwich, Slate's Supreme Court correspondent, has written an interesting history of rape law, and how all the changes haven't made it any easier to determine guilt or innocence:
We have reformed, rewritten, and rejiggered rape law, but it is still fundamentally not "fair" in the sense of providing any real legal certainty. In the end
July 31st, 2003
More On The Millen Fine
The New York Times' Bill Rhoden on Detroit Lions owner William Clay Ford, Jr.'s defense of Team President Matt Millen in the wake of the $200,000 fine Millen received for violating the NFL policy on interviewing minority coaching candidates:
Ford, vice chairman of the Lions, refuses to admit to a procedural blunder. Instead, he went on the attack, blasting Dan Rooney, the Pittsburgh Steelers' owner and chairman of the owners' committee on diversity in the workplace, and Commissioner Paul Tagliabue for their respective hiring practices. Ford trotted out his soul credentials as well. He boasted that he had "more African-Americans running dealerships than all the rest of the auto companies combined."He also reminded us that he was once the N.A.A.C.P.'s man of the year.
Did he get the "Soul Train" award, too?
Cute, and a clever way of avoiding the point Ford is trying to make. But even Steelers owner Dan Rooney, while defending his team's hring practices, admitted to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette that the Lions have a better record in minority hiring than his own team. My next question is this: which reporter is going to have the guts to challenge Tagliabue's own hiring record at NFL HQ in New York?
My guess is I'll be waiting a very long time.
POSTSCRIPT Here's a pretty priceless quote from Ford on Tagliabue that didn't get picked up in much of the coverage:
"I think people understand what Matt did," Ford said. "Now, is Pablo Tagliabue going to give a course in Lying 101?"
Actually, since Tagliabue is of Italian descent, 'Paulo' would probably be a more approprite nickname.
July 31st, 2003
D.C. Baseball Update
A story is running on the AP wire quoting the Montreal Expos' union representative as well as an official of the Major League Baseball Players Association that the players are unlikely to approve playing home games in two cities again next season. Said Expos union rep, catcher Brian Schneider:
"We want to play 81 games in one city," said catcher Brian Schneider, the Expos' player representative. "That's what the players want, and I think everyone's expressed that pretty much. I don't think the guys would be very happy if we had a split schedule."
But just as interesting was the following quote from an Expos front office executive:
Bob DuPuy, baseball's chief operating officer, has said baseball hopes to make a decision by the end of September on the future of the Expos, but team president Tony Tavares isn't sure the timetable will be met."We're just not privy to what the decision-making process is, other than to know that major league baseball is focused on a permanent relocation of this franchise," he said. "Whether they can accomplish this before the 2004 schedule, frankly, I'm a bit skeptical."
Glad to see somebody associated with Major League Baseball telling the truth about Washington's chances to get the Expos.
UPDATE: Forces in the District have just floated a new stadium financing plan that's getting qualified support from City Councilman Jack Evans. As many may recall, it was Evans who earned all sorts of applause a few weeks ago when he told MLB that they would have to award a team to Washington before any financing plan would be approved in the District.
July 30th, 2003
D.C. Baseball Update
At a rally outside the Arlington County Courthouse, about 200 protesters shouted and stamped their feet in vain trying to convince the County Board to change their mind about building a Baseball stadium for the Montreal Expos somewhere inside the county. Brought along for the protest was the "NIMBY" Chicken, the unofficial mascot of the protest. Its appearance would have been appropriate, but with one important change: the chicken should have arrived with its head cut off. That would have been the perfect symbol for the effort to bring Baseball to Northern Virginia -- plenty of meaningless activity that's going to end to no effect sooner or later.
July 30th, 2003
Historical Revisionism and Seabiscuit
Plenty of folks seem to be enjoying the film, Seabiscuit, based on the best selling book by Laura Hillenbrand. But while the film is garnering plenty of positive reviews, there are a few sportswriters that are striking discordant notes about the film. Andrew Beyer, who covers horse racing for the Washington Post generally liked the movie, but did have a few quibbles with some of the historic lisence the filmmakers took with the subject.
More critical was Allen Barra of the Wall Street Journal, who believes that the film overstates Seabiscuit's imapct on the sports world of 1938:
It's difficult to believe that even Seabiscuit's greatest race generated more headlines or inspired more people than Joe Louis's June 22, 1938, heavyweight championship rematch with Max Schmeling, Adolf Hitler's chosen representative of the Master Race. (Schmeling had beaten Lewis in their previous bout two years earlier.) The Louis-Schmeling fight was an event of international importance, which dominated the sports pages of at least two continents for months before the bout. Louis himself was a sports figure whose success brought a divided nation together, cutting across class and racial lines.
As for me, I'll probably see the movie sometime this weekend and decide for myself. And you should too.
July 30th, 2003
NHL Roundup
Time to take another look at the NHL as we creep closer and closer to the opening of training camps in September. Up in Boston, the Bruins announced that they are going to retire No. 8 in honor of Cam Neely, the man who invented the position of power forward in the NHL.
Out in New Mexico, ex-Blackhawk Theo Fleury is taking pot shots at the team's front office in Chicago over the way he was treated last season. The Hawks, rather smartly I might add, declined to comment. Fleury says he wants back in the league, but I can't see who would take a chance on him now.
In case you missed it, the whole situation with Mike Modano's ring being for sale on Ebay was a big misunderstanding -- at least as far as Modano and his agent are concerned. The jeweler who had custody of the ring is still claiming he was given permission to sell it.
After a two-day absence, Steve Ovadia is back, and sounding off on the Mark Messier to Edmonton rumor.
On The Wings is excited about Ray Whitney coming to Detroit, but wonders if he'll be able to deal with less ice time. Then again, with Igor Larionov and Sergei Fedorov gone; and Steve Yzerman likely in his final year in the league, I'm thinking the Wings will have plenty of ice time available.
Last week, the Rangers acquired former NHL tough guy Chris Simon, and Tim Harvey has it exactly right on what it really means. I saw Simon up close here in Washington when he scored his career-high 29 goals a couple of years back, and people need to remember that he regularly played on a line with Adam Oates that year.
With that season complete, Simon completely forgot about the rest of his game -- which was the reason Washington traded Keith Jones and a first round pick to Colorado in the first place to acquire him. After waiting a few more seasons to turn it around, the Caps finally shipped him to Chicago, where they soon discovered he was nothing more than dead weight.
In the end, perhaps one last run on Broadway is the perfect capstone to his career -- just another underachieving veteran playing out the string.
UPDATE: The Penguins have re-signed defenseman and power play revelation Dick Tarnstrom. Sure he piled up the points, but can you say Warren Young? Look for Tarnstrom to get dealt at the deadline next season.
The Minnesota Wild re-signed goalie Manny Fernandez, half of their netminding tandem last season, and their goalie of the future. Does anyone remember that he's the Godson of head coach Jacques Lemaire? Just asking.
The Edmonton Oilers re-signed Brad Isbister, who they acquired at the deadline last season from the New York Islanders. Isbister, whose real sin on Long Island was that he wasn't Todd Bertuzzi, seemed to enjoy playing back in his hometown after the trade. At 6'4", 220, Isbister plays like he's 5'8", 185.
Finally, the Missouri Supreme Court ruled that Tony Twist's lawsuit against comic book mogul Todd McFarlane should be granted a new trial. McFarlane has admitted that he named a character in one of his comics after Twist; Twist wants some cash in return.
ANOTHER UPDATE: Defenseman Brian Leetch has signed a two-year deal to remain with the New York Rangers. Terms were not disclosed.
July 30th, 2003
Kobe Central
In Eagle County, Colorado, District Attorney Mark Hurlbert is getting reinforcements in advance of the trial of Kobe Bryant. In additon to $150,000 of supplemental funds provided by the county, Boulder County is loaning a veteran prosecutor who specializes in sexual assault and domestic abuse cases. (The Denver Post has a profile.) On another note, Bryant's legal team is asking a judge to reconsider a decision to allow cameras in the courtroom during a potential trial.
Katie Lovell, an 18-year old Colorado resident who was wrongly identified as the alleged victim in the Bryant case, went on ABC's Good Morning America today to tell her story.
The NBA released its 2003-04 schedule, and Bryant and the LA Lakers are scheduled to play the Dallas Mavericks in the season opener on October 28th. No word yet on whether or not Bryant will be in the lineup that night.
July 30th, 2003
And Mondesi Means Goodbye
The Yankees have exiled Raul Mondesi to Arizona, and Jason Scavone couldn't be happier:
Perhaps Raul's departure will herald a return to the values of the '96-'00 teams, where leadership mattered. Where professionalism wasn't just an appreciated virtue, but a mandatory attribute. Most importantly, maybe it'll mean they'll be looking closer at hitters who produce rather than chasing pipe dreams of sluggers who's best seasons are five years behind them.
Ah, yes, the halcyon days of 1996-2000, when the Yankees went trolling for great hitters in their prime, born leaders like Jose Canseco and Cecil Fielder.
Let's face it: the situation here is that the Yankees are loaded, and certain players who would play everyday on a franchise with a lower payroll (granted, in spite of their production and their lousy temperment), can easily be shoved aside in the Bronx. The Yankees don't have to put up with Mondesi's nonsense because they can afford not to. Other teams aren't so lucky.
July 30th, 2003
Real Pain
While FC Barcelona are set to play an international friendly against AC Milan in the comparitively sedate setting of Washington, D.C., their La Liga rivals, Real Madrid, are having a little rougher time during their tour of Asia. In Hong Kong, 30 tatooed thugs forced their way to the head of a line of 2,000 local soccer fans who had been waiting outside for three days to buy tickets to a Real exhibition match.
Fortunately for the dedicated Soccer fans, the line-jumpers fled when local police arrived. In Japan, tickets for Real exhibition matches have been fetching up to ten times face value.
July 30th, 2003
Long Dark Days For Baylor Basketball
Yes, it's unfair to ask College Basketball coaches to be held accountable for the behavior of their players in the offseason. Completely and horribly unfair. But that's what's about to happen to Baylor head basketball coach Dave Bliss and his staff, as the fallout continues from the murder of Patrick Dennehy, a transfer student who never saw a minute of playing time in a Baylor uniform.
It isn't as if we haven't seen this before. Here in the D.C. area, the Men's Basketball program at the University of Maryland descended into Limbo after the tragic Cocaine-related death of All-American Len Bias in 1986. After Bias died just hours after being drafted by the Boston Celtics, it wasn't long before all of Maryland's dirty laundry became public, and the program spiraled out of control -- a situation that wasn't rectified until Gary Williams returned to coach his alma mater from Ohio State.
And, as unfair as it might seem now, the administration at Baylor would probably be best served by cleaning house now, and getting a fresh start. Is that harsh? Probably, but the plain fact of the matter is that Baylor is going to suffer horribly, and not just it's athletic program, but as an educational institution as well. It's in the best interests of the university, students, faculty, and alumni, to start over as quickly as possible.
Everyday Baylor officials wait to clean house, is another day wasted. They shouldn't waste too many more. Gerry Fraley of the Dallas Morning News agrees.
July 29th, 2003
Another Lineman Collapses In Jacksonville
In Jacksonville, another defensive lineman for the Jaguars, John Henderson, collapsed at practice due to dehydration. No word yet on his condition. Two days ago, another lineman, Larry Smith, also collapsed. He returned to the team today, but didn't practice outdoors.
July 29th, 2003
Joke Of The Day
A little bit of levity from Scrappleface:
A day after the National Football League fined the Detroit Lions $200,000 for failing to interview black coaches when it hired Steve Mariucci, the league has ordered all quarterbacks to consider blacks as primary receivers on pass plays. . .A spokesman for the NFL Players Union said, "Well, at least it's easier to find a black receiver than a black coach."
No comment as of yet from Wayne Chrebet. Primary assist on this item goes to Right Wing News.
July 29th, 2003
Kobe Central
An Eagle County, Colorado judge has just set forth a number of rules that will govern the behavior of the media set to cover Kobe Bryant's upcoming sexual assault trial:
The "decorum order," signed Monday by Judge Fred Gannett and filed Tuesday said the "privacy of the alleged victim is of significant importance to this court, and any media or other person who broadcasts, publishes, or otherwise disseminates the image or name of such person may be subject to exclusion from certain proceedings and other legal sanctions."In recent days, a Los Angeles radio talk show host has broadcast the name of the woman. In addition, two Web sites have carried information about her.
The order also establishes restrictions on what activities can take place in public areas surrounding the Eagle County justice center.
For example, "all cameras, cell phones, video phones, tape recorders, or other transmitting devices shall be barred from the courthouse."
In addition, "media members of the public may photograph persons, except the alleged victim and her family, witnesses and jurors. The media shall not contact or attempt to interview any parties."
The CNN story also reports that a number of companies with business relationships with Bryant are planning to stick with him for the time being, and that the State of Colorado is planning to go live with a Web site to serve as an information clearinghouse for the trial.
Over at the Denver Post, Jenny Deam takes a look at the special pressures of being the wife of a professional athlete, and uses interviews with the wife of Denver Broncos wide receiver Ed McCaffery and the ex-wife of former Pittsburgh Steelers backup quarterback Terry Hanratty as the centerpieces. Money quote: when Lisa McCaffery reveals that she hopes that Bryant's wife, Vanessa, eventually leaves him.
Finally, I'd be remiss if I didn't mention a post from Robert Musil that talks about the elephant in the room in the Bryant case:
RACE! RACE! RACE! The media won't say it, but I will say it:THE KOBE BRYANT RAPE MATTER IS A CASE ABOUT A WHITE WOMAN WHOSE ACCUSATIONS OF RAPE THREATEN TO DESTROY ONE OF THE MOST SUCCESSFUL AFRICAN AMERICAN MEN IN THE WORLD.
That doesn't mean the residents of that Eagle County, Colorado, are racist or bad. It doesn't mean the accuser is wrong or right. But it does raise the questions of whether Mr. Bryant has been already wronged on account of his race, and whether the jury may be biased on account of his race, and whether he will "play the race card" to seek an unjust acquital at some point if his trial proceeds poorly. In short, it is not possible to understand this matter without discussing its racial aspects.
For God's sakes, race matters - and should be reported where it matters.
Certainly race does matter, and if Musil's instincts are correct, it threatens to consume the trial once it gets underway.
July 29th, 2003
D.C. Baseball Update
Representatives of the Major League Baseball Players Association will meet with the Montreal Expos to determine which city the players would like to be based in next season. The choices: Washington, D.C., San Juan, Montreal, or a modified schedule with both San Juan and Montreal as home parks. Meanwhile in the Washington Times, Dick Heller is agitating once more for a decision on the Expos from Major League Baseball -- something which will likely have little effect on the disposition of the team.
July 29th, 2003
The Best There Ever Was
Barry Bonds is only 14 home runs away from eclipsing the 660 hit by his Godfather, Willie Mays. But in the mind of the San Jose Mercury-News' Ann Killion, nobody will ever come close to passing the "Say Hey Kid":
Bonds may catch his godfather next month. Maybe in September. But sometime soon. Bonds' voice thickens with emotion when he speaks of Mays' record ``mattering more than anything because it's close to my heart.''Those of us who grew up in Willie Mays' era can understand that passion. It reminds us of the faith we had as kids: nothing could ever be bigger than Willie Mays.
I'm not old enough to have been alive when Mays robbed Vic Wertz in the 1954 World Series. Or when he rode down Montgomery Street in the ticker tape parade to welcome the Giants. I'm not old enough to remember Mays doubling to right with two out in Game 7 of the 1962 World Series. I'm actually not old enough to have many specific memories of Mays playing.
But I'm old enough to remember a world in which Mays was the standard of excellence.
An all-around standard of excellence which all ballplayers ought to aspire to. In fact, whenever I read about how much Bonds reveres his famous Godfather, I have to wonder out loud whether he actually learned anything from his example. Can anyone imagine that when the time comes, Bonds will be able to exhibit anywhere near as much humility as Mays did during his retirement speech at Shea Stadium in 1973?
July 29th, 2003
Is Milicic’s Career On Hold?
Something tells me Detroit Pistons head coach Larry Brown is having some serious agita over this development:
Darko Milicic's European team has sued his American agent, seeking at least $10 million in damages for encouraging the Detroit Pistons' draft pick to pursue an NBA career.In a lawsuit filed Friday in New York, Hemofarm Vrsac says agent Marc Cornstein and Pinnacle Management Corp. interfered with Milicic's European contract. Milicic has played for Hemofarm since 2000, and the club says it has him under contract through 2009.
"Despite their knowledge of Milicic's contract with Hemofarm, (Cornstein and Pinnacle) began advertising Milicic to NBA teams and the public at large as a player available to be selected in the 2003 NBA draft," the lawsuit says.
Hemofarm says it trained Milicic in its youth basketball program, paid for Milicic's room and board, and arranged employment for his mother at pharmaceutical company Hemofarm Group, which sponsors the team. It says Pinnacle ignored those investments in Milicic.
Hemofarm may want $10 million in damages, but the NBA limits the amount teams can spend to buy out the contracts of international players. That limit is $350,000. Of course, as we saw with Yao Ming's contract, there are creative means available when it comes to greasing the right palms in order to get serious Basketball talent to North America.
July 29th, 2003
Tiger Abandons Nike Driver
Thanks to Off Wing reader Peg Brister, who passed along the news that Tiger Woods has dropped his Nike driver in favor of a six-year old model no longer manufactured by Titleist:
"He wants to make a switch," said Mike Kelly, Nike's business director of golf clubs. "We think it's a natural phenomenon for most golfers. Whether you're the best in the world or an average golfer, you go back in the garage and find something you were successful with."In an era of bigger clubs with thinner faces, Woods is going back in time.
The 975D is not even on the market except in resale bins. Titleist upgraded that version with the 975J in 2001, and the 975K and 975E this year.
For Woods, it's more about control than distance.
He is 128th in driving accuracy on the PGA Tour this year, hitting the fairway 64.5 percent of the time.
While the change might be only temporary, it marks the first time he has gone back to old clubs after switching to Nike. He started playing the Nike Golf ball in May 2000, and switched to the Nike irons last September.
Woods continues to use his 3-wood, wedges and putter -- all Titleist products.
As my regular readers already know, I've been all over Woods the past few months when it comes to his campaign against "hot" drivers. His blanket accusations about competitors cheating under our noses smacked of sour grapes to me, and his $100 million connection to Nike didn't help either. But this change merits observation, especially since it hurts Nike so much in the marketplace. Stay tuned.
July 29th, 2003
42 Years Of Memories
Congratulations to Mets broadcaster Bob Murphy, who announced on Sunday that he would be retiring after 50 years as a Baseball broadcaster, the last 42 with my beloved hometown New York Mets.
For many fans, Murphy will be best remembered for his calls during the magical 1986 postseason, where a Mets squad that had totally dominated the National League during the regular season tempted fate with chilling regularity. But for me, a New Yorker who left for college in Washington, D.C. in the Fall of 1985, I'll never associate those great moments (which I watched either on television or in person) with Murphy's signature call.
Instead, I'll remember Murphy best as part of the broadcasting team that accompanied the Miracle Mets of 1973 to within one game of the championship, only later to soldier through the rest of the 1970s with Ralph Kiner and Lindsey Nelson as the Mets descended into chaos both on and off the field. As I got older, I began to think that a broadcaster like Murphy deserved better than the misery that was the Mets in the late 70s and early 80s.
And when they did win that second World Series in 1986, I can remember being as happy for Murphy as anyone else. Someone as good behind the mic as him deserved to have a chance to cover another team that won it all. It's only fitting that his radio call of Game Six will live on long after we are all dead and gone.
July 28th, 2003
Just Who Paid For That Stadium?
In today's Washington Post, Peter Whoriskey writes about an invisible Federal subsidy that sports teams have been enjoying, a loophole that he claims is depriving the Federal Treasury of more than $100 million this year:
The recent wave of sports stadium and arena construction is costing the U.S. Treasury more than $100 million annually because the projects have been financed with tax-exempt bonds, a federally supported method of borrowing money more often used to build roads, schools and other public projects.The federal tax break for professional sports venues is rarely recognized in the fractious stadium debates across the country.
At least 38 major league sports venues have been built or rebuilt using nearly $7 billion in tax-exempt financing since 1990, according to a Washington Post review of more than 40 professional baseball, football, hockey and basketball projects. The cost to the Treasury was calculated using the same methods employed by Treasury and congressional tax estimators.
The kicker here is two-fold: first, because the bonds are tax-exempt, they carry a lower interest rate, making it easier for municipalities to repay the interest due. And of course, private investors buy up the bonds because the profits they make are exempt from any Federal taxes.
I'm sure plenty of you have heard of "unfunded Federal mandates," instances where Congress passes laws that force states to expend funds to comply, but don't appropriate any Federal assistance in order to pay for them. Instead, think of the use of tax-exempt bonds to build sports stadia as an "invisible Federal liability," an instance where urban sports fans have local stadia subsidized by taxpayers all over the country.
Overall, this is a great story, but I would have liked some additional detail. As it is, we're expected to take the reporter's math on faith. Instead, the Post should have published a detailed spreadsheet in MS Excel or PDF format that independent researchers could have parsed. Further, this would also have allowed the Post to identify the team owners who enjoy the largest subsidies.
July 28th, 2003
There May Be No Crying, But There’s Plenty Of Cheating In Baseball
In a lengthy, but worthwhile piece in Newsday on the history of cheating in baseball, Bob Herzog unearths this gem of a story:
[G]eorge Frazier was a modestly successful middle reliever with a reputation for throwing pitches that had what former major-league outfielder and current MLB Radio analyst Billy Sample likes to call "a strange gravitational pull.""One time, [AL president] Bobby Brown called me into his office in New York, and when I got there, the room was full of umpires," recalled Frazier, now a TV and radio analyst for the Colorado Rockies. "He looked right at me and said, 'Now George, I want you to tell me the truth. Have you ever put a foreign substance on the baseball?' I just looked him right in the eye and said, 'No, sir. Everything I use is made right here in the United States.' Everyone laughed and I never did get any discipline."
There's plenty more where that came from, including tales about Lou Burdette, Whitey Ford and Phil Niekro. Give it a read.
July 28th, 2003
200,000 Reasons To Pay Attention To Minority Hiring
The big NFL story over the weekend had to be league commissioner Paul Tagliabue levying a $200,000 fine on Detroit Lions team president and former NFL All-Pro Matt Millen for violating the NFL's new minority hiring policy. Nota bene: that's a personal fine on Millen, not the Lions. That's something which Millen finds particularly galling because all he feels he did was conduct a search honestly to acquire the one candidate he wanted -- in this case, former 49ers head coach Steve Mariucci.
After keeping quiet most of the weekend, Lions owner William Clay Ford, Jr. stepped up to defend Millen. In the New York Post, Phil Mushnick reacted rather predictably, as did Tom Knott in the Washington Times, with both pointing the finger at Tagliabue for caving in to pressure from hucksters like Al Sharpton and Johnnie Cochrane.
Giving the story some proper context, and a more nuanced approach, is the Detroit Free Press' Drew Sharp, who not only defends Millen, but also calls out the San Francisco 49ers for the way they seemed to have managed to game the system to their advantage:
The league needs to concentrate its efforts on teams that pursue first-time NFL head coaches, not penalize teams that target a proven winner.The San Francisco 49ers' search for Mariucci's successor was more insulting to the spirit of the policy than anything Millen did. The 49ers sent out early signals that they were looking for a fresh face, catering to some of the league's most impressive coordinators. They interviewed capable minority candidates such as New York Jets defensive coordinator Ted Cottrell and deserving white candidates like their own defensive coordinator, Jim Mora Jr.
But those discussions were a smoke screen to conceal the 49ers' real objective, which was to convince Dennis Erickson to return to the NFL.
The NFL apparently didn't think this deceit was worthy of sanction, though, particularly for a franchise considered one of the league's shining lights.
UPDATE: Here's what USA Today's John Saraceno had to say:
Indeed, Millen's biggest "mistake" was ever letting on that Mariucci was his man. But what would've been more moral? For Millen to B.S. minority candidates into believing they had a chance to be his hire
July 28th, 2003
Body Identified As Dennehy
Medical examiners in Waco, Texas have identified a body found there to be Patrick Dennehy, the missing Baylor University Basketball player.
July 28th, 2003
Kobe Central
On Friday, an Eagle County, Colorado judge ruled that the sexual assault trial of Kobe Bryant will be televised. The courtroom will have one pool television camera as well as a photographer.
State investigators in Colorado are now looking into anonymous threats that have been leveled against Eagle County District Attorney Mark Hurlbert. Later reports say the FBI has been called in to investigate as well.
Over at the Washington Post, media critic Howard Kurtz is holding his nose at the whole exercise in media overeaction:
When it comes to the Kobe Bryant story, it sometimes looks as though all of the media have crawled out of a dark, foul-smelling cave. Whatever the outcome for Bryant and his accuser, it's a slam dunk that the reputation of journalism will suffer.
For more of the same, check out this piece by Selena Roberts at the New York Times. At Poynter Online, Geneva Overholser says it's long past time that the press name the accusers in rape prosecutions:
The responsible course for responsible media today is this: Treat the woman who charges rape as we would any other adult victim of crime. Name her, and deal with her respectfully. And leave the trial to the courtroom.
To repeat, here at Off Wing Opinion, I will never identify the accuser in a rape case, nor link to any source that will. That's the way it is for this case, and any other. In other developments, I've added three new links to my Quick Links section that will take you directly to the three papers that are dedicating the most resources to the Bryant case: the LA Times, the
Denver Post and the Rocky Mountain News.
July 28th, 2003
Ephedra Update
Last week, Congress held two days of hearings concerning the use of Ephedra, the nutritional supplement found by a Florida coroner to have contributed to the Spring Training death of Baltimore Orioles pitcher Steve Bechler.
During those hearings, the commissioner of the FDA announced that the agency was considering a ban the herbal supplement that reportedly helps individuals lose weight, even though a 1994 law might make that difficult. Most witnesses at the hearings called for tighter regulation of Ephedra, and nutritional supplements in general, while manufacturers of the supplement continued to insist that it is safe if used as directed.
As if on cue, the NFL announced that Denver Broncos safety Lee Flowers would be suspended for the first four games of the regular season after he tested positive for Ephedra. Buried deep inside the AP account was the fact that the Bronocs knew back in June that Flowers would be suspended -- making the timing of the announcement of his suspension in the midst of Congressional hearings all too convenient.
July 28th, 2003
The Case For Rice
Sinclair Rankin thinks Jim Rice deserves to be in the Baseball Hall of Fame, and that baseball writers are giving Rice a raw deal:
Bill James created a Hall of Fame monitor
July 28th, 2003
On Stadium Architecture
When Camden Yards, the new home of the Baltimore Orioles, opened in 1992, it marked the beginning of a new trend in ballpark design that evoked the golden age of the game. But that trend has run its course, and fans are looking for something new. Christopher Hawthorne in the New York Times explains.
July 28th, 2003
Weekend Roundup
The day after Korey Stringer's widow announced she would sue the NFL in connection with her husband's death at training camp just a year ago, Jacksonville Jaguars defensive lineman Larry Smith collapsed during a practice at the team's training complex in Jacksonville.
Three paralympians are suing the USOC for failing to provide equal benefits to disabled athletes:
Attorney Amy Robertson said Sunday that the lawsuit will ask the USOC to comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act and the Rehabilitation Act. It will also seek compensatory damages for benefits and a breach of contract with a marketing company Hollonbeck created to promote the Paralympics."Their view tends to be that in a sense, Paralympians are second-class athletes; they're too disabled for the real show, they're too disabled to make it in the Olympics, which is a completely wrong-headed way of thinking about it," Robertson said. "The Paralympic games are elite, highly competitive athletic events and are placed on equal footing in the law that created the USOC.
"So there's no basis whatsoever to say, `well, we're the USOC. The thing we really need to be focusing on is the Olympics.' That's flat out discrimination."
Safe to say, George Bush 41 never anticipated something like this when he signed the ADA into law.
Mexico defeated Brazil, 2-1, in overtime in the final of the CONCACAF Gold Cup.
Congratulations to Lance Armstrong, America's greatest athlete, on his fifth consecutive victory in the Tour de France.
In the fourth closest finish in IRL history, Alex Barron defeated Sam Hornish, Jr. in the Firestone Indy 400 in Brooklyn, Michigan.
And at Saratoga, my friend Jason Scavone got stiff-armed by a jockey. Congratulations, Jason -- you've officially arrived.
UPDATE: Before you start talking about six in a row for Armstrong, take a look at the field of challengers expected to put up a fight next year -- including American Tyler Hamilton, who fought through a broken collarbone on the first day of the Tour to finish fourth.
July 25th, 2003
Lunchtime Update
Though Jan Ulrich cut two seconds out of Lance Armstrong's overall lead in today's stage of the Tour de France, the American still has a 65-second advantage heading into tomorrow's critical time trial.
While Suzy Whaley continues to draw huge and supportive crowds to the Greater Hartford Open, former World Number One David Duval has withdrawn from the Tournament after a first round score of 83. Whaley, who qualified for the tournament by winning a PGA sectional from the Women's tees, shot a first round 75.
Luc Robataille signed a one-year deal to play with the Los Angeles Kings, the team that originally drafted him back in 1984. Robataille, who played the last two seasons for the Detroit Red Wings and helped them win a Stanley Cup in 2002, had slumped badly last season, tallying only 11 goals and 41 points. With a labor war looming after the 2003-04 season, one can only assume that this will be the 37-year old winger's last contract.
In China, David Beckham joined his new teammates at Real Madrid at practice for the first time. Elsewhere in World Soccer, Mexico defeated Costa Rica to advance to the finals of the CONCACAF Gold Cup. They'll face Brazil in the Final this weekend at the Hell known as Azteca Stadium. Costa Rica will play for third place against the U.S.
In Waco, Texas, authorities have temporarily called of the search for the body of missing Baylor University Basketball player Patrick Dennehy, until chief suspect in his disappearance, Carlton Dotson, can be extradited to Texas.
