gradioc’s profile

It's so funny. Every year we are bombarded with media telling us the Cowboys are the best team in the NFL "on paper". Romo gets mentioned with Brady and Peyton Manning as the elite QB's in the league. And, every year, we watch them fall on their faces.

Super Bowl? Hell, this franchise hasn't won a playoff game since the mid 90's and is not likely to this year. Their defence is weak, the secondary was bad WITH Pac Man, and Wade Phillips got flat-ass out-coached by Jim Zorn.

And now Jerry Jones (whom I heartily detest for the way he treated Tom Landry) has decided to swap next year's draft for Roy Williams.

Well, good luck with all that.

posted at 08:40 PM on October 15

It's not cancer awareness, missing the spotlight, or the need for competition. Whenever a man does something incredibly stupid (and I think this is), there is only one question to ask.

Who is she?

In July Lance broke up with Kate Hudson. In my 20's I made some pretty stupid life decisions right after breakups. Of course, Lance is older than that, but I wasn't breaking up with Kate Hudson either, or, for that matter, Sheryl Crow. (Oh, dear sweet Jesus God, Sheryl Crow. I'm surprised he didn't sign up for the Peace Corps after that one.)

posted at 06:49 PM on September 10

I am shocked. That's right, shocked. And dismayed too. Yes shocked AND dismayed, that there was no, an absolute and total lack of, "Ricky Williams is a stoner" jokes, despite his signing of an extention this week. C'mon, focus!

"Jason Taylor must be scratching his head. Missing some voluntary workouts to be on Dancing With the Stars gets you traded by The Tuna, but, apparently, missing two years of your career to be on a tie-dye microbus in a cloud of the chronic gets you a contract extention. WTF?"

I mean, Jeez, how hard is that?

posted at 09:14 PM on September 04

It's really heartbreaking. I remember when June Carter Cash passed and we watched grief drag down Johnny and knew he'd be gone soon. Kind of feels like that to me. A classier guy never made movies. You may come up with one just as classy, but more? Naw. Godspeed to you Paul Newman.

posted at 08:22 PM on August 31

"Truth be told, I think what we heard that night was a 70-year-old man say some things people of his generation said in a locker room. Not acceptable, but such words don't necessarily equal racism."

I have to disagree with the author here. Things like this, the true attitudes of generations before us, and of many today, very much equal racism. In fact what people say in the locker room, or the bar room, or the board room, where ever they think no one will bust them, is the very essence of racism.

I try very hard not to consider people evil for being born when and where they were and I do not consider Campanis evil. He merely reflected the attitudes and beliefs he grew up with. Abe Lincoln, while way ahead of the curve for his time, still had beliefs about race that would mark him as worse than Campanis today.

Evil? No, I don't think that. But racist? Absolutely. The attitudes of people like Al Campanis were the reason there were no black managers at that time.

posted at 07:29 PM on August 31

"I'm sure Mariotti is thinking about his free trip to China, something he could not afford, being a national sports writing figure. That is just silly."

shfts, I think you either overestimate how much these guys make or underestimate how much it costs to get to Beijing. Even if he's making mid 6 figures, that's probably a significant percentage of his take-home and a chunk of change he did not have to spend, thanks to his "dying" newspaper.

The main point here though is that the paper paid him for years, provided an outlet for his opinions, and helped to make him a big deal. Just a little class might be in order, but, hey, it's Jay Mariotti. He's a jerk.

posted at 07:53 PM on August 29

When I arrived in West Berlin in 1982 right out of the Infantry School at Fort Benning Ga, like all new members of The Berlin Brigade, I went through a two-week indoctrination called the School Of Standards. There was a lot of different stuff taught there, German and Berlin history, specific rules governing our occupation status, how to deal with the Soviets, etc.

But the most time, every afternoon of the two weeks, was given over to learning the basics of the German language. The Army thought it very important that we at least were able to get around the city without appearing to be idiots.

But there's only so much you get in 40 hours, and for probably the first year I was there I was very reluctant to carry on a conversation in German, even though I also had one semester of German in college. I knew I was butchering syntax and sentence structure and it was embarrassing to be giggled at.

My main point here is that I, too, have been a stranger in a strange land. I find the reluctance of these young women to speak bad English in front of a news crew and a camera perfectly understandable. I'm sure most of the "speak the language or go home" honks here have never had that experience.

All that being said, the LPGA has a product to sell, and personalites drive that. I understand their frustration with top players who cannot, or will not, express themselves at all in English.

Oh, and for bleedinbluno2 (the fist poster), a working knowledge of English IS required to become a US citizen unless you're old or mentally handicapped (usually reserved for close relatives, like a child or a parent, of a citizen).

All this worrying about everybody speaking the same language, it seems to me, makes you sound awfully FRENCH. And, yes, I do mean that as a deadly insult. My internationalism only goes so far.

posted at 06:42 PM on August 27

I don't think it's as complicated as many of the other posters seem to. It's a bunch of overprotective parents terrified that their kid might get an owwie. If their kid could hit those pitches I doubt they'd be bitchin'.

posted at 08:24 PM on August 26

Ah, but throw out all the stats for one second and think about the pressure this put on Byrd. In spite of all the progress that has been made in the last 2 decades in quantifying aspects of this most number driven of sports, it is still a game being played by humans with all their foibles.

What did that feel like, standing on deck and watching the catcher stand and hold his mitt out to the side? Shock, anger, fear, embarassment? All these I would think, and some more I can't imagine.

What exactly were the odds of his getting a hit when faced with a situation seen only five times this century?

Oh, and BTW, I said explicitly it was a risk. I jumped in because Shotput called it "a chickenshit move". I was not defending the wisdom, but the right of the manager to use the rules of the game.

posted at 05:47 PM on August 20

I'll agree it was a risk, but "chickenshit"? Naw, I ain't buyin' that. To me it's like taking a safety on purpose in football. It seems crazy to give the other team 2 points, but under just the right circumstances (up 6, time running out, backed up on your own 1 or 2 yard line), it is a smart play to get the free kick rather than punt from the end zone.

The one that does not get done enough is in basketball. Up 3 with seconds left, it makes sense to foul the ball handler in the back court. Why give them a chance to get off a 3-pointer? Give up the 2 free throws and go home a winner.

posted at 06:13 PM on August 19

This is heartbreaking. Farve made such a point of leaving the game with a good taste in his mouth. Then the Packers made the playoffs and were competitive all the way through the season. For a class act it was the perfect time to go home. I saw someone thinking that Miami might trade Jason Taylor for Farve. Green Bay should be so lucky. Let Farve play 3 games behind the Miami offensive line and he wiil wish he'd stayed on the farm. Taylor is still an effective legitimate NFL starter. So is Farve. The difference is Taylor would play for a real contender while Farve lives on his back, reduced to being a ticket selling ploy, and having to suffer the mind games of The Tuna. My question is; if Farve is put in a really bad situation (such as Miami), would he quit in midseason? A year ago I would have said, "No way. Not Farve. Not ever.". But after all this, can you be sure?

posted at 10:06 PM on July 11

As for community ownership, seems there was an ultra-small-market that bought their team long ago and have done pretty well. What are the chances that Green Bay Wis. could get an NFL franchise today? Los Angeles is the only town I can think of that might be able to make that work today. But as to the NBA, these teams are becoming vagabonds as they try to blackmail their markets with threats of leaving and the markets reply, "Whatever." I'm here in NC and by the time the Hornets left for New Orleans everybody in two states were so tired of George Shinn's act there were volunteers to drive the bus. Had Hurricane Katrina not made New Orleans a basket case and a national story there's a good chance Shinn woiuld have beaten the Sonics to Oklahoma City, having gotten all he could out of the Big Easy. David Stern needs to look at what his OWNERS are doing and maybe focus less on what the players wear on airplanes.

posted at 07:29 PM on July 09

Okay, this is just a personal opinion, but it really hit me as I watched the finals how much I really detest Kobe Bryant. The whole rape allegation and narcin' out his teammates for sleeping around aside, dude blew up the Lakers because he could not stand to share the spotlight. That creates a problem. How can you surround Kobe with the talent he needs to win a championship without pricking his ego? It's almost impossible. How do you write a LA Times sports page headline ahead of time? Simple. "Kobe Scores 40, Lakers Lose".

posted at 08:51 PM on June 26

Bob Harig on ESPN.com interviewed Hank Haney, Tiger's swing coach, by telephone and Haney said, "The week of Memorial [two weeks before the Open], I thought there was no chance he could play," Haney said in a telephone interview from his home in Texas. "The doctors told him he needed to be on crutches for three weeks and then three more weeks of inactivity, and then you start rehabbing. "But Tiger looked the guy in the eye and said, 'I'm playing in the U.S. Open and I'm going to win.' Then he started putting on his shoes and told me we're going to go practice. It's just incredible." Big. Flaming. Brass. Ones. These guys come around once a generation at best with talent clearly surpassing all their competition and an iron will that wiil not accept anything short of complete victory. In my lifetime it's a short list; Ali, Jordan, Woods.

posted at 05:55 PM on June 18

Alright, you guys back up off of Justine. I absolutely loved to watch this average sized woman (5' 5 3/4" the story said) take on the behemoths and whip their asses with skill and cunning that overcame the power game that has ruined men's tennis. I will miss her badly. It's not only tennis for me either. I'd rather watch Duncan than LeBron, Ichiro over Big Papi, Mark Martin rather than Earnhardt.

posted at 09:30 PM on May 14