It’s a Bad Day When You Lose, 89-17

Yep, it’s a bad day in the NFL when you lose by a 72-point margin. Never happen you say? A lot of fans are homers. I contend this is the purist form of fan, those who are faithful to the teams where they live … or where they lived. There are a bunch of people in the San Francisco Bay Area who root for both the Forty-Niners and the clutsy Oakland Raiders.

Faithful fans stick with their teams through good and bad. No one was surprised when the Raiders had a 44-7 put up on them. They may be the worst team ever. But Niners fans were caught off guard by the 45-10 drubbing they took at the hands of the Atlanta Falcons.

Put them together and Bay Area fans lost by a combined 89-17. Now that’s a bad day.

What’s Wrong with Baseball

As we prepare to continue this series here is a review of numbers 7-10 of the list. Click on the titles to read the articles. Number 6 to appear soon.

10: Wimpy Pitchers

9: The Designated Hitter

8: Cheating

7: The Concept of the Closer

Refs Hand Game to Cowboys; Officiating Partial?

“The pass interference play that wasn’t.” —Bryant Gumbel 

No neutral viewer (which I was in this game) could go away from this game thinking both teams got an even shake. Call after call went against the Carolina Panthers, who would have upset Dallas without the apparent complicity of the officials. It was obvious the refs were calling marginal penalties against Carolina while ignoring egregious violations of the rules against the preferred ‘Boys, especially the obvious pass interference, run repeatedly on the NFL Network, that Gumbel and Collingsworth both agreed had to be a penalty and totally reversed the fortunes of the game. 

Even with all the refs did for them, Dallas could only muster a 20-13 victory.

They didn’t earn it. Dallas fans can’t be proud about this one. It was a shameful display by the officials and, for at least one game, put the Cowboys on the same moral low-ground as the New England Patriots. Appropriate, I guess, since the two teams may meet in the Super Bowl. Only something has changed, at least for me. Up till tonight I would have been rooting for Dallas in that game. After tonight’s preferential, shameful display, I’ll have a hard time watching that game, if indeed it does materialize. 

John Fox, you’ve got a right to be angry. The officiating system, in front of the whole world, let you down, and cast doubt upon the integrity of the system.

Cowboys fans, hang your heads.

Bobby Petrino Joins the Nick Sabin League

Bobby Petrino is not popular in Atlanta. After urging his embattled team to “play all four quarters” each game, Petrino skipped town after 13 games in his first season with the Falcons. Shades of Nick Sabin. When the going got tough, Petrino got going. The players, Atlanta fans, Georgia, and all NFL viewers are rightly upset with such a low-class display. We call upon players to display character. When head coaches show so little of it, we can only pity the players who have to play under them.

And wasn’t it tacky to hold that celebratory press conference where Petrino was heralded as the Second Coming of Arkansas football? Not only did he shaft the innocent Falcons, he also was shown partying on television right after he did it. ‘Tis pitiful for a human being to act that way.

Cowboys Win; T.O. Does Volleyball Impersonation

The Dallas Cowboys (11-1) defeated the Green Bay Packers (10-2), 37-27, last night in Texas, taking a huge advantage in the home-field-advantage race in the NFC. In a game televised only on NFL Network and thus leaving a lot of fans out in the cold and unable to see this marquee match-up, it was also disappointing that Brett Favre was injured early, meaning the NFC match of the season would not be decided by a head-to-head battle of the two QB stars.

But Aaron Rodgers surprised everyone. He actually performed better than Favre had before he left … and gave GB a real chance to win.

Terrell Owens had a great game but did another of his volleyball impersonations, clubbing a sure, short touchdown pass right to him with brick-like hands, and serving the ball gently into the arms of the Packers’ grateful Al Harris. (Shades of the time he did this as a member of the San Francisco 49ers, batting an easy catch to DB Mike Jones early in overtime with the Chicago Bears, which Jones promptly returned for a game-ending TD.)

T.O. also gave away another one that the incompetent refs covered for him on. Al Harris clearly stripped T.O. for an interception . Replay should have been able to reverse this. But we’re back to a blundering ref blowing a whistle at the wrong tim, saying “forward progress was stopped.” No way.

Will Favre return? The Pack may need him to lead them again on this same field in the playoffs.

Lewd Practices at Giants Stadium

It has become a halftime ritual at Jets games: drunken male fans harassing women and shouting for them to expose their breasts. Some women comply. When the men don’t get what they want, they boo, spit and throw beer bottles at the women.

Feminist author Naomi Wolf said, “This is a sign of the degradation of public morality in America. I don’t want my daughter to be exposed to this.”

The practice has been reported only at Jets games, not Giants games. Some fans have been kicked out, mostly females for indecent exposure. It is said the abusive male fans are hard to pinpoint.

I’ve been to my share of games where drunken fans interfered significantly with my enjoyment of the game. The Jets have to stop this now, before violence accompanies the sexual abuse. This kind of performance has no place anywhere, and people who purchased tickets have a right to enjoy the game without drunken perverts spoiling it.

Sports Soaps Top 5 of the Week

The U.S. sports scene has been providing a bumper crop of soap operas.

1. Barry Bonds: Finally indicted.
2. A-Rod: Mr. Not-October slinks back to New York.
3. O.J.: Is America ready for another trial?
4. Stephon Marbury: AWOL egoist pays.
5. Ricky Williams: Desperate Dolphins tap sober former-superstar.

Dishonorable Mention:

Joe Glenn/Kyle Whittingham: Coaches prove they can be less mature than the students they coach. [story]
Michael Vick: Continuing saga.
Belichick/Patriots: The coach fans love to hate.

Bonds Indicted: Career Over

Barry Bonds has been indicted for multiple counts of perjury and obstruction of justice four years after his testimony before the grand jury that he did not knowingly take performance-enhancing drugs. The baseball world is wondering, Why now?

Did they wait for him to break the record? What do they suddenly have now that they didn’t have before?

Regardless, his career is certainly over. A debatable value as a DH, most likely in nearby Oakland for the A’s, Bonds has lost his options. No g.m. is going to want to add a circus to their 2008 schedule. And, of course, he may not be at liberty to play anyway.

It’s a sad day for baseball. Some fans, mostly in San Francisco, were holding out hope of his innocence. And while those hopes have not been entirely dashed—he could still be found innocent—most expect a guilty verdict to be inevitable.

Now we can look forward to months of news dominated by the Bonds and O.J. cases. Remember when sports were what mattered in the sports world?

It’s Just 1-0

The Colorado Rockies were completely dominated by the Boston Red Sox who put on a record-breaking display in a 13-1 route in game 1 of the World Series at Fenway Park. The Sox handled the Rocks like they were Little Leaguers, but an hour after the game is over, it’s no worse than a 1-run loss for the Rockies. It’s just a 1-game-to-none margin no matter what the score was. Maybe the Red Sox have used up all their hitting in the first game, they might be thinking, hoping.

Who knows? What we do know is that this was just one game and Boston will need to beat Colorado three more times before they can be crowned. And it’s not exactly like the Rockies have never had to overcome a seemingly insurmountable difficulty before.

So play the games. Hopefully seven of them. Fans love seven-game series.

No matter what happens, it has been an incredible postseason, one that has been good for the fans, and good for baseball.

Byrd Revelation Casts Pall Over Indians-Red Sox Game 7

I have said that game sevens are heaven—seventh heaven if you will—for baseball fans. It is unfortunate when anything takes away from those magical games. But a blog called Sports and Ethics can’t ignore the current revelation about Cleveland starter Paul Byrd.

“Byrd, whose win in Game 4 of the ALCS moved the Indians within one victory of the World Series, bought nearly $25,000 worth of human growth hormone and syringes from 2002 to 2005, the San Francisco Chronicle reported Sunday.” (Read the full report here.)

Baseball doesn’t need this. One normally associates steroids with power hitters, like the accusations against Barry Bonds. But a non-superstar-type player seems to have the most to gain from such use. Byrd has denied the accusations in the past. The timing of this revelation seems political, like something that would happen near election time. Game 7 is the closest to election time in baseball there is. It is a shame to see this now. It is even a worse shame if it is true.

No matter what happens, we will be hearing a lot more on this. If the Indians pull one out tonight, it will become front and center until the end of the World Series.

What’s Wrong With Baseball #10: Wimpy Pitchers

With a night off from playoff frenzy, in the midst of a postseason that gives hope to the little guy, I offer the beginning of a series on What’s Wrong With Baseball, from authorities greater than myself. Offering one at a time, in no particular order, we begin with number 10. Agree, disagree or offer your own selections.

#10. “Too many pitchers” pitching too few innings.

Cy Young said, many years ago: “Too many pitchers, that’s all, there are just too many pitchers. Ten or twelve on a team. Don’t see how any of them get enough work. Four starting pitchers and one relief man ought to be enough. Pitch ‘em every three days and you’d find they’d get control and good, strong arms.”

This from the man for whom the top pitching award in each league is named. He ought to know. When Cy Young said this, there were pitchers routinely twirling on two days’ rest. Many years after this, guys like Juan Marichal and Warren Spahn were pitching 16-inning complete games. But, alas, they needed three days’ rest. How many young fans have heard the Braves’ success slogan of old?: “Spahn and Sain and two days of rain.”

Even this is soft by the standard of The Standard (Young). What would he think today? Relievers limited to one inning, starters to 100 pitches, and getting 4 to 5 days of rest.

Cy Young played for the Red Sox. He would have scorned Terry Francona’s decision to rest Beckett the extra day, thus limiting the use of his ace to two games in a seven-game series. … Robbing the Sox and the fans of their best shot. (Young played for two Cleveland teams as well … and a second Boston club.) To Young, pitching made you stronger. Throw more, not less.

From Cy Young, our number 10 thing that is wrong with baseball: “Too many pitchers” pitching too few innings.

Bikini-Clad Teens Asked to Leave; School Was Right

Two Florida Teens who went to school in bikini tops and shorts with body painting with their school colors prior to their homecoming game were asked to leave by school administration.

“At first all they received were compliments.” Well, yeah, mostly from the guys, I’m sure.

When the two were told by the principal “they had to leave because they were causing a distraction and were violating the school’s dress code, they were shocked.” How shocking. Who would have thought that wearing a bikini to school would violate the dress code?

“He just told us to leave,” Cummings told MyFOXTampaBay. “Just flat out, ‘You ladies need to leave.’”

Sounds like a reasonable action by the principal to me.

And one of the mothers is protesting the principal’s action.

People, we have come too far if a school principal can’t enact some sort of dress code. Yes, every teenage boy in sight of those girls would have been distracted all day … and given them lots of compliments. This principal is a better judge of what is good for his school and its students than these girls’ mothers.

(Read the story here.)

Don’t Count Boston Out

Everyone reading this knows the Indians just defeated the Boston Red Sox, 7-3, to take a commanding 3-1 series lead. But we all know what happened in the 2004 ALCS, and the World Series that followed. That year the Red Sox came back from the largest possible deficit, down 3-0, to the New York Yankees no less. Any team that did that can do what it takes to get to the 2007 World Series. This time, they only need to win 3 straight, not 4, and, while the Cleveland Indians are a good team, they are not the New York Yankees.

The odds are still against Boston. It is unlikely there will be another miracle. But there certainly could be. The Red Sox have bequeathed to baseball an atmosphere of hope, and the Colorado Rockies of 2007 haven’t hurt that atmosphere any. What the Red Sox did in 2004 will be good for baseball as long as baseball lasts. Games … and series … are never over till they’re over. Fans on both sides can enjoy every moment of every game.

Now, do the Sox have another miracle run in them?

Don’t count them out.

Keep the Ball

When Kevin Youkilis homered into the left field stands at the Jake to give the Boston Red Sox their first run after falling behind 7-0, the fan who came up with the ball immediately sailed it back onto the field. This is a tradition of disdain for a visiting club’s homers that apparently started—at least was popularized—in Wrigley Field. I always felt bad to see those balls sail back onto the field. I count two souvenir balls, one caught on the fly, from Candlestick Park amongst my most treasured sports possessions, probably more so because I caught the balls in my youth. It hurts to see someone throw such a precious possession back simply for a momentary rush … or worse, because they are pressured by surrounding fans to do so. I’m sure that is the sad reason a lot of balls are thrown back.

When David Ortiz homered, the Cleveland fan who came up with the ball was clearly elated, then, when pressured by surrounding fans, almost threw it back, but hesitated. She later sold it to a Boston fan.

I’m not sure what happened to the ball hit by Manny Ramirez when he completed the back-to-back-to-back to help Cleveland scramble back into the game. But I do know this; a lot of fans regret tossing those balls back. These opportunities don’t come that often. Keep the ball … if not for the love of the game, then for the love of your team. That ball that was tossed back tonight shouldn’t be seen by Indians fans as a despised Red Sox homer, but as one of the balls in Cleveland’s possible victory. And even if the indians were to lose, it’s a historic part of Cleveland’s great 2007 season.

If you catch a homer served up by your home team some day, keep it … as a souvenir of your team. If you don’t, you may regret it some day.

Two Undefeateds Will Remain; Let One Not Be the Cheatriots

With Indy on a bye and the other two undefeateds playing each other, there will be two teams left without losses at the end of the day. That is, of course, except in the unlikely event of a Pats-Dallas tie. Then there would still be three.

Justice would demand a Cowboys victory. The Patriots should have forfeited at least the one game against the Jets. But with an apparently complicitous commissioner, Roger Goodell, who took it easy on the league primadonnas, then destroyed evidence, that didn’t happen.

The Dallas Cowboys are a good, honest team … up against the exposed villains of the league. Every honest football fan not living in Massachusetts should be saying, “Go Cowboys!”

Big Red Bleeds Red in Lincoln

The Nebraska Cornhuskers were embarrassed today on their home turf in Lincoln, losing to the Oklahoma State Cowboys by a whopping 31-point margin, 45-14. It was the worst home loss for the Huskers in nearly half a century.

For Husker fans, who are among the most avid and faithful in the nation, it was a humiliation. It was the 287th consecutive sellout in Memorial Stadium, and it was homecoming. The Huskers didn’t score in the first half, trailing 38-0 at halftime.

Nebraska slipped to 4-3 overall and 1-2 in the Big 12 with the loss, while Oklahoma State improved to 4-3 and 2-1.

During the post-game press conference, Bill Callahan, who is an unacceptable-in-Lincoln 25-18 in his four years, did not seem to display a very strong sense of urgency.

I think that is something he needs to display … rather fast … while he still can.

Boston Up 2, Down 1

No this is not the Red Sox-Indians score. The Red Sox breezed to a 10-3 first-game win. This is the city’s score.

Up: Boston Red Sox, back in the running.

Up: The city of Boston. I have walked the Freedom Trail, sampled the clam chowdah, and a lot more. It’s one of the best cities in America.

Down: Patriots, the team that didn’t need to cheat, but did. The team that tries to make NFL fans believe it didn’t matter. The coach that besmirched his team and damaged the league. The coach who is not “the best coach in NFL history.”

It would be easier to enjoy the Red Sox run if the Patriots weren’t still around, bothering sports fans.

(But wait; it’s really Foxborough, isn’t it?)

Umps get it right; “Hal McRae Rule” Appears in NLCS

In the seventh inning of game 1 of the NLCS in the desert, Rockies starting pitcher Jeff Francis gave up a leadoff double then hit Justin Upton with a pitch. When Augie Ojeda grounded to third baseman Garrett Atkins, Upton was forced at second and went into a roll block with an arm bar that prevented second baseman Kazuo Matsui from making a throw.

Second base umpire Larry Vanover called interference on Upton and Ojeda was out. Major League Baseball banned this in 1978 after Kansas City Royals designated hitter Hal McRae used the tactic on New York Yankees second baseman Willie Randolph in the 1977 American League Championship Series.

This time the umps got it right. Even if discouraged Arizona fans strongly disagreed and pelted the field with debris causing a temporary desertion of the field by Colorado players at the behest of manager Clint Hurdle.

They were right! CO beat AZ, 5-1. And we get to mention an obscure rule. Now that’s good baseball.

Daunte Drowns the Dolphins

Daunte Culpepper vindicated himself against his old team by leading the Oakland Raiders to a 35-17 victory in Miami against the Dolphins following a deluge. He threw for two touchdowns and ran for three, pointing to his knee, the reason Miami let him go, after one of them. It was a bitter pill for Dolphins fans, vindication for Culpepper, and a glimmer of hope for longsuffering Raiders faithful.

Patriots Can’t Prove They Won Fairly

What Roger Goodell thought he did by destroying the Patriots’ illegal tapes is exactly the opposite of what he actually did. Goodell thought he made it impossible to prove the Pats cheated in their Super Bowls. Instead, he made it impossible for New England to prove they didn’t. Everyone (rightly) assumes Belicheat’s boys profited from ill-gotten info in their three biggest wins. What the fans need is evidence that they didn’t. Until we see proof Bill’s boys are clean, we should assume they’re not. But they had to do it. Knowing they are guilty without the evidence is just a little bit better than knowing they are guilty with the evidence. There was no way to prove their innocence from the tapes … because they’re not innocent.

Roger Goodell has succeeded in something. He has successfully extended this ethics scandal/integrity crisis to the league office. Now, who’s guarding the hen house?