Sportsmeat

First, a sampling of the headlines:

NY Times: Mets disarmed and not as dangerous
NY Daily News: Oh No!
NY Post: He’s Done!
Me: F&*#

The gamble the Mets took when they signed Pedro Martinez to a four-year contract was on his health. Pedro is one of the very best pitchers in baseball when healthy — probably still in the top 5 — but his body, even in his prime, has never stood up well for the whole season. What you hope is to get a quality 25-30 starts out of him in the regular season and then have him ready to roll in the postseason.

That’s not going to happen this year. Last night the Mets ruled Pedro out for the postseason, robbing the Mets of their No. 1 starter and only legitimate ace.

This is not the end of the world. Pedro only started 23 games this year, and the Mets went 11-12 in those contests, meaning they’re a not-too-shabby 83-53 in games NPBP (not pitched by Pedro). But the Mets never needed Pedro this season. They were 6-0 in his first six starts and, by the time he went on the DL, had already built a commanding lead in the NL East. They need him now. They him to start Game 1 and Game 5 of the NLDS, Game 1 of the NLCS and Game 7 of the World Series.

Pedro was still worth the signing and, with the Mets’ new TV network, also worth his contract. Like Piazza before him, he helped legitimize a team that was floundering, and his signing begat Carlos Beltran, which made it easier to get Carlos Delgado, and so on. Moreover, the Mets can still win a watered-down NL. But instead of being the clear favorite they’re now right in the mix with the Padres, Dodgers, Phillies and Astros (though still ahead of the Cardinals, who are choking worse than George Wendt in an SNL skit).

With Pedro, you have to be prepared for an injury. You have to know this can happen. But it still sucks.

At this point, I think we'd be remiss not to mention the alleged T.O suicide attempt. His people (which include Deion Sanders, which speaks volumes) are insisting that it was accidental, or just a bad reaction to the medication. What do I think? I honestly don't know and hesitate to speculate.

T.O. has been a world-class ass for the past six seasons, at least, but this is potentially serious business. I said this earlier half-jokingly, but I'm starting to give it more weight: I think T.O. is taking on a lot of Mike Tyson-like sensibilities. It's easy to dismiss these guys are narcissists, a#@holes, cancers or lunatics, but both have something to them. Both came from odd backgrounds and rose to the top of their sport -- all while maintaining a rogue public image.

Could it just be that both are exceptionally talented -- and surprisingly smart in a non-bookish sense -- but really troubled guys who never got help and surrounded themselves with bad people? It's a little reductionist (if that's a word), but it could be. Or I could be giving them both far too much credit for dominating headlines for the past decade.

(Or How Sportsmeat Got Its Name, Audio Edition)

I finally managed to post audio from our first show explaining the 'meat' in Sportsmeat.

To Michael Lewis' "The Blind Side"

I read the new Michael Lewis book this weekend because I had an advance reader's edition. (Like Big Thunder, I'm kinda a 'big deal.') Large portions of the book are available in SI and The New York Times Magazine, and the full hardcover version will be in stores next week, I think. Anyway, The Blind Side is well-written, interesting, and able to be read in one weekend, provided you plan to be killing four to eight hours in airports (curse you, Continental!). It includes two interwoven story lines: the rise of the left tackle in professional football, and the rise of one young left tackle prospect, Michael Oher, now of Ole Miss.

This is not Moneyball. While Lewis' chapters about Lawrence Taylor and Bill Walsh make a nice case for certain evolutionary shifts in the NFL, they make up a relatively small part of the book. And the basic premise -- that nasty pass rushers like Taylor made athletic, long-armed, big-handed, 350-pound left tackles like Oher prized commodities -- is not new to anyone who follows the NFL draft. The compelling part of this book is Oher's story. The normal descriptors about poverty and broken homes don't seem to come close to capturing the life that Oher lived for his first 15 years. But with a loving adoptive family, dogged tutoring, a self-interested high school football coach, and a few other key ingredients, Oher went from being a homeless teenager to being one of the nation's top recruits.

Some musings from the sporting weekend:

-) Why did the Bucs let Brian Griese go to the Bears? I didn't follow it that closely, but it didn't make sense to me. Chris Simms was never a proven starter, in the vein that the backup should have been a sixth-rounder from Toledo. "Simms has spleen removed after loss" is definitely one of the headlines of the year.

-) Apparently getting arrested is helping the Bengals. Odell Thurman, already serving a 4-game suspension, got picked up for drunk driving. That should propel the Bengals to 6-0.

-) I never thought Tom Coughlin was a good fit for the Giants. After last season, I just figured I was wrong. And I know it's Shockey, but couple that with Tiki Barber from last year and there's something there.

-) The Jets don't suck. The first three games have been a pleasant surprise and have allowed me to say what I would have laughed at one week ago: they could win the division. The Pats and Dolphins look awful, so I think 9-7 is going to take this thing. Don't get me wrong, I don't see the Jets posting a winning record, but maybe 7-9. And that means they're only a miracle away.

-) Have two college QBs ever ended games worse than Penn State's Anthony Morelli and Michigan State's Drew Stanton? That was ridiculous.

-) Bad weekend for American teams. Andy Roddick loses, 17-15, in the fifth set as the U.S. falls in the Davis Cup, and a rejiggered points system and new-found camraderie does nothing to change the result in the Ryder Cup. And Phil went 0-4-1. Ouch. He's not exactly bouncing back from giving away the U.S. Open.

Wanted to get the meaters take on the A-Rod story in SI. Here are the things that jumped out at me:

-) The candor with which the Yankees spoke to Tom Verducci, who wrote the article. There's no question that players confront other players, challenge them and question them in a clubhouse, but rarely does that filter out to the press. Especially in a clubhouse as professioanl and buttoned-down as the Yankees.

-) The access Verducci had. He got stuff I wouldn't expect a beat writer to get -- he was probably helped in this regard that he's not there bugging everyoen every day, but it speaks well of Verducci's understanding of the league and his experience that he could infiltrate the Yankees so well. Very impressive stuff.

-) I actually thought A-Rod came off as a pretty sympathetic figure, but also as a little aloof and out of touch. He seems to exist in a different world from everyone else on that team (a point Verducci made well when A-Rod named Rob Thomson, who throws BP, as his closest friend on the team). That said, he's not a bad guy, and his so-called bad season is still pretty remarkable.

-) I'm definitely starting to buy into the whole clutch-hitting debate. A-Rod is undeniably talented, but he legitmately seems to go into big at-bats hoping he won't screw up rather than relishing the chance to be a hero (clearly I have never interviewed A-Rod in my life, so I'm basing this all on stuff I've read).

Overall, good stuff and worth reading. Thoughts?

Charlie Weis bashing seems to be the media topic du jour, so I thought the following quotations might be instructive.

The first, from a John Feinstein interview on NPR the week before Notre Dame-Penn State game:
Feinstein: ... Charlie Weis, who believes that he is sort of a cross between Joe Paterno and Knute Rockne, helped revive Notre Dame last year. They went 9-3, went to a big bowl. They have a big favorite for the Heisman Trophy playing quarterback for them, in Brady Quinn, and they're playing at home, which is why I think they're the favorite in this game. And they will slide right into the number two slot in the rankings behind the winner of the Ohio State-Texas game should they win.
Host Steve Inskeep: I think you maybe just took a sly little shot there at Charlie Weis of Notre Dame.
Feinstein: Uh, just, I wasn't actually trying to be sly. I was trying to take a shot at him. The man's got an ego the size of the state of Indiana.

Second, a selection from a laudatory preseason college football preview by Barker Davis of The Washington Times:
"Every few years, a truly special talent emerges from the cliche-spouting, ex-jock masses who define the profession. From Paterno to Bowden, Holtz to Spurrier, Stoops to Carroll, these men quickly distinguish themselves from their peers in more than just the win column.
"There's an undeniable magnetism surrounding the true coaching greats, a complex concoction of intelligence, confidence, competence and passion that instantly confers authority and quietly commands attention.
"Notre Dame's second-year coach has precisely such a presence. And with such a compelling character at play among relative cardboard cutouts, one gets the feeling the Irish won't need leprechauns much longer."

My simple point is that there are plenty of writers willing to stroke Weis' ego, and this is a classic case of the media building up a sports figure and then gleefully hacking him back down. I'm not saying Feinstein is wrong -- in fact, he correctly noted that what Davis calls "magnetism" could easily be considered egotism. Weis could learn a lot from Paterno, who has historically downplayed his team's talent, even when the Lions did have a legitimate shot at a national championship. But at the same time college football writers need to get a little perspective and stop buying into their own hype. In college football, the press has more power in crowning a champion than it does in any other sport, and writers also hold the decisive votes for the Heisman. Presenting a level-headed view of the nation's top-ranked teams would go a long way toward showing that the writers deserve the influence they hold.

And yes, I listen to NPR. Reception for ESPN radio is not so good in central Jersey. Go ahead, laugh at me.

While scanning the scoreboard Sunday, I found myself watching Art Shell's postgame press conference, in which he said the Raiders had "stabbed ourselves in the foot" on offense. The Rog-like malaprop was appropriate, I think, given the state of affairs in Oakland. Shooting yourself in the foot implies that it was accidental -- one envisions a cartoon cowboy misfiring with the gun in his holster and hopping around, cussing and such. Stabbing one's foot would almost have to be intentional, given that your hand is rarely within range of your foot for an accidental slip of the knife. With six points in two weeks, stabbing themselves in the foot sounds like a pretty good synopsis of the Raiders' philosophy on offense.

Since I'm a little late to the party, I thought I'd go with a second post in response to Big Thunder's football extravaganza (sp?). So we'll go one at a time:

Tennis
The fourth set had nothing to do with Roddick's heart and everything to do with Federer's talent. I actually think Roddick plays with about as much heart as anyone in tennis, right up there with Lleyton Hewitt and Marcos Baghdatis (who is big on pounding his chest as a reminder), but when Federer shifts into a higher gear no one can stay with him. That includes Nadal. With all apologies to Tiger, Federer should be the 2006 Athlete of the Year. Heading into the 2004 season Federer had one major. Now he has nine. No one but Borg has accomplished as much by 25 as Federer, and he's the most amazing athlete I've ever seen live. Ok, I'm done gushing here.

College Football
Couldn't agree more about Ohio State. They dominated Texas. I thought the Buckeyes would win, but not as convincingly as that. A really, really impressive showing because Texas is still a very talented team. Plus, now Ohio State gets to sit back and see who will contend after this weekend, which is the first time in 13 years that seven games have involved top 25 teams.

I know everyone loves the Notre Dame-Michigan matchup and ABC is pumping USC-Nebraska (probably the day's fifth-best game), but the clear Game of the Day is Auburn-LSU. They would be No. 3 and No. 5, respectively, in my top 20 and the winner has the inside track to winning the best conference in football. Huge game. The other interesting one is Lousville-Miami because, oddly enough, I want to see if Miami is any good. I have a feeling that the Miami-FSU game to start the season may have been a matchup of two teams more likely to finish around 25th than around 10th. But I'm wrong frequently, which brings us to ...

NFL
The Ravens blew me -- and the Bucs, for that matter -- away. Wow. I thought they were the most overrated team heading into the season, but they looked great. Now, it's only one game (ie, no need to panic in Tampa, Dallas, etc.) but that defense was remarkable and McNair looked solid. The North division, particularly with how well Cincy has rebounded from their rash of incarcerations, is really interesting.

As to the Jets, a great start. Pennington looked really good and it was a good win considering it had all the makings of a typical Jet come-from-ahead loss. This team is still going 6-10, but at least it provides some rooting interest for a few more weeks. Side note, interesting that the Jets used a second round pick on Mike Nugent after one bad game by Doug Brien (I know this game was far less important, but I can't imagine this has been a fun week for Nugent).

Also, I completely agree about Steven Jackson. I thought he was a stud in college and is a perfect NFL back. I think the same of Laurence Maroney. And Larry Johnson will struggle some because the Chiefs are going to have a tough year. I always really liked Herm Edwards, but I don't think he's a great coach and this team lacks playmakers outside the new LJ (doing the old LJ pose via the 4-point play).

While I hesitate to make too many judgments off Week 1, I think we can safely conclude that the Titans, Raiders, Packers and 49ers will not be contending for playoff spots this year. I see them as the Jets' big obstacles to Adrian Peterson.

I touched on this in my recent epic post, as well as in the comment section, where I ran off an unprecedented 4 straight comments without a response, but I just wanted to reiterate one point with our east coast readers who might not have stayed up late to watch a total blowout (namely Budds and EJ): the Oakland Raiders are an embarrasingly bad football team.

As further evidence of their ineptitude, I'd point to Peter King's prediction column on SI.com. King, a writer not overly prone to hyperbole, predicted that the Raiders would lose by 48 points to the Ravens on Sunday.

And I'm pretty sure he wasn't joking.

Apparently our Dear Leader learned his TV speaking techniques from Tom Jackson. He is absolutely choking the invisible man. "Ya see ... the Broncos defense ... they need to learn to stop being so partisan. They need to come together ... as one ... and support the war. If they don't ... it validates everything the terrorists stand for ... Yeah ... he he ... he he."

OK, so I don't do political commentary well.

I hate blog posts that say either of two things: (1) sorry I haven’t posted in forever, or (2) I can’t think of anything about which to write. So I hate half of this post. Sorry I haven’t posted in forever. However, there are a million things about which to write.

I’ll spit out a couple quick hits, perhaps to start a discussion:

• Ryan Howard is the NL MVP, whether the Phillies make the playoffs or lose every one of their remaining games. The only way he isn’t is if Albert Pujols hits a homer in every remaining game. So, I’d only give Pujols about a 15% chance of winning. No Met should be in the discussion.

• Ohio State is the best team in college football, and its not very close. They are much much better than Notre Dame.

• Nice to see Andy Roddick pack up his racket and leave before the fourth set began on Sunday. Don’t get me wrong, Federer’s great, but Roddick doesn’t have 1/10th the heart of his coach.

• DIRECTV NFL Sunday Ticket is simply the best thing ever. The ability to watch every single game cannot be understated. Among other things I noted on Sunday:

• How ‘bout those Jets, EJ? I know Coles had the numbers, but Cotchery (sp?) was the guy that I saw repeatedly making plays.
• The Ravens look like they may be the team that took the biggest leap during the offseason. Its only one game, but that defense is still tough, and Jamal Lewis looked like the player he was 3 years ago.
• The hit on Trent Green was dirty. But it wasn’t so vicious as to warrant a suspension (the result was worse than the hit itself, if that makes any sense).
• Carolina tends to sh*t the bed early in every season. I don’t get it – I feel like Fox is one of the top 5 coaches in the league, so why can’t he get them going?
• I predict that Steven Jackson will be in the top 3 in rushing when the year is done. Larry Johnson (2 new starting tackles, no Al Saunders or Dick Vermeil) will not. More on Vermeil below.
• I watched the opening drive of the Cowboys-Jags game, and I thought that my prediction to leave them out of the playoffs was a mistake. Then, Drew Bledsoe happened. During the offseason, when so many experts picked the ‘Boys to win the Super Bowl, I kept saying to myself, “But ... don’t they still have Drew Bledsoe starting?” They do, though it might not be for long. However, this team is no better than .500 with him at QB.

I want to write about 10 pages on the Manning Bowl, but I’ll leave it at this:

• As a Giants fan, I’m incredibly heartened by the offensive line play – they were opening gaping holes for Tiki and Jacobs, and Eli didn’t get touched.
• Penalties (some valid, but two big ones (Burress’ “crackback” and Carter’s interference) were not) killed them. Incidentally, how can you get called for a hit at the knees when your shoulder pad hits the defender's shoulder pad? Perplexing...
• Eli (still) needs to improve his accuracy. Especially with balls flying high on him.
• The defense played an average game. Good against the run, but little pressure on Manning.
• And finally, anyone who says that Peyton Manning is not the best quarterback alive simply does not know what he’s talking about. He made so many plays – many of them on the move – that if he were replaced by an average quarterback, that Giants win that game by at least two touchdowns. He was especially brilliant on third downs, which absolutely took the air out of the Giants' D. Repeatedly. I like Tom Brady, but there should not even be a "Who's the best QB" debate.
• I’m just hoping that the above bullet points put us high on the google search rankings for “gaping holes” and “balls flying high.”
  

And that was just the quick hitters. Now onto the one topic I wanted to actually write about – last night’s game between the Raiders and Chargers. As 27-0 games go, this was one of the more entertaining ones. Again, since I’m running long, I’ll go with bullets:

• Dick Vermeil was in the booth (with Brad Nessler and Jaws), and I have to give him a pretty high rating. I am always impressed when a color guy points out something that, as a football fan of 20 years, I didn’t know. Vermeil had about 4 of those moments in the first half. Plus, his comments simply demonstrate that he’s a “football guy.” He gets excited about the nuances and coaching moves in the game (not just by the big hits and long bombs). Plus, he seems more schooled in TV than Jaws, even though Jaws has about 15 years of on-air experience (though, to be fair, I know Vermeil was a commentator for awhile too). I’d take Vermeil over Bill Maas or Dan Dierdorf every day of the week and twice on Sunday (since they play the most football on Sunday). Plus, you never know when the waterworks will start.
  
• In the second half, my governor (gulp), Arnold came on. After being welcomed, he immediately said something to the effect of “Isn’t this wonderful? Art Shell is back as the coach, and the team is putting on quite a performance. Its miraculous!” This was when the Raiders were down 13-0, and had about 40 yards of total offense. (I’m not sure of the exact quote – I’m sure it will be up on youtube soon). As he was saying that, you could see Jaws ever-so-slightly shake his head in disbelief. Classic.
  
• Arnold brought along a firefighter from the Bay Area who had joined the relief effort at ground zero five years ago. After a few questions, Nessler did the customary “you are the true hero here” speech, a sentiment with which I agree. As Nessler was wrapping up his tribute, though (and at this point, the “action” on the field didn’t really matter), the Raiders punted. Under his breath (with Nessler still speaking) Vermeil mumbles “Wow! What a punt!”
  
• That punt was one of 4 consecutive punts that Vermeil praised. He’s a real punting aficionado, apparently. He should have seen the Giants-Eagles matchup back in ’98. Brad Maynard would have knocked his socks off.
  
• The Raiders put in one of the worst performances I’ve ever seen. At no point during that game was there any danger whatsoever of them scoring. None. Every pass play was like a jailbreak. Seeing Shawn Merriman lining up across from Robert Gallery and Aaron Brooks is like seeing a nature film where a crocodile is planted near the edge of a river and two birds step up to take a drink of water. You know what’s coming, and it ain’t gonna be pretty.
  
• Speaking of Merriman, I think that we need to pass the torch of “Scariest Guy in the NFL” to him. I imagine it was previously with Ray Lewis or Jerry Porter, but if I had to choose one person to NOT step into the UFC octagon with, it would be him. That dude is ferocious (and to risk being struck down by lightning, I’d say he’s the closest thing to LT since LT).
  

Whew, I guess I’ll leave it like that. Eagles-Giants next week is big for both teams. Let’s get some chatter going!

Come back here with my shoowwww

First of all, I realize that I probably shouldn't be blogging about trivial sports stuff on the anniversary of 9/11, but I was too lazy to post this last night. Apologies.

Moving on... Some of my best memories of college life are the lazy Sundays we spent watching football, capped by NFL Prime Time. With Berman rumblin' stumblin' bumblin' through the highlights and Tom Jackson choking the invisible man, the show was one of the great simple pleasures of sports on TV, right up there with hearing Walt "Clyde" Frazier say "percolate." But Prime Time was a victim of the Sunday Night-Monday Night shift, and now we have to get our highlights from Terry Bradshaw, who sounds like the homeless man outside the Hoboken PATH station, or Bob Costas. Costas is solid, of course, but he lacks that buddy-on-the-couch quality that Berman has perfected. And no, placing Costas in that enormous leather chair is not helping things.

Speaking of not helping things, the SNF intro with Pink? Yeah, not helping. I'll miss kickoff for the next 16 weeks if it means I can avoid seeing that again. How many singers turned NBC down before they said, "You know, I hear the kids like this 'Pink' lady." Maybe I'm just especially tough on my fellow Pennsylvanians, but I thought her 15 minutes were up.

Apparently Detroit Lions assistant coach Joe Cullen was arrested twice in recent weeks -- once for drunken driving and once for driving nude. And yes, you read correctly. Somewhere Chico Lind, he of the pants-less late night cruising, is smiling.

On opening day, the 'Meat crew reveals its NFL forecasts

Big Thunder picks the Eagles, Bears, Panthers, and Seahawks to win their divisions in the NFC, with the Giants and Buccaneers as wild cards. In the AFC, his division winners are the Patriots, Steelers, Colts, and Broncos, with the Dolphins and Bengals in the wild card slots. Conference title predictions: Panthers over Giants, Colts over Patriots. Super Bowl champion: Colts. Offensive MVP: Ladanian Tomlinson. Defensive MVP: Troy Polamalu.

EJ picks the Cowboys, Bears, Panthers, and Seahawks to win their divisions in the NFC, with the Redskins and Buccaneers as wild cards. In the AFC, his division winners are the Patriots, Steelers, Colts, and Broncos, with the Dolphins and Chargers in the wild card slots. Conference title predictions: Panthers over Seahawks, Colts over Patriots. Super Bowl champion: Panthers. Offensive MVP: Tom Brady. Defensive MVP: Brian Urlacher.

Budds picks the Giants, Vikings, Panthers, and Seahawks to win their divisions in the NFC, with the Eagles and Bears as wild cards. In the AFC, his division winners are the Patriots, Steelers, Colts, and Chargers, with the Ravens and Bills in the wild card slots. Conference title predictions: Seahawks over Eagles, Colts over Steelers. Super Bowl champion: Colts. Offensive MVP: Peyton Manning. Defensive MVP: Brian Urlacher.

Tiger Woods? He's good.

To paraphrase Happy Gilmore, blue trophy, gold trophy, who gives a crap. Tiger may be tired, but he's still the athlete of the year so far. So does that mean the U.S. team will be the favorite in Ireland later this month? Er, not so fast. While it's hard to imagine that a European team with one major champion -- the aging Jose Maria Olazabal -- could outplay Tiger, Phil, DiMarco, Furyk and company, one has to look at recent history. With only one U.S. win in the last five Ryder Cups contested across the pond and the dreadful 18 1/2 to 9 1/2 loss in 2004 when the Americans hosted, the outlook is about as promising as the weather forecast. (I have no idea what to expect from County Kildare in late September, but I suspect sweaters will be worn.) Best case scenario: Hope for the U.S. team to stay within striking distance and make the Sunday solo matches worth waking up for.

Apparently, Chien-Ming Wang's 16 wins are convincing fans that he is a future Hall-of-Famer. What else could drive someone to pay $450 for a bobblehead that isn't even a particularly good likeness?

And in case you missed it, McSweeneys.net ran a fun piece of steroid grand jury testimony, featuring Charlie Brown, that included this gem:
"Peppermint Patty's so great. She's so wonderful. She's been on the juice for years! Why do you think Marcie always calls her 'sir'? Her testosterone levels are through the roof."

I figure, after one of the best matches of the last 10 years, now would be a good time to check in from the US Open. First, I need to admit that I picked Marcos Baghdatis to beat Andre Agassi and end his career yesterday, and obviously I was wrong. It won't be the last time. But I also can't say I care much. That was one of the most compelling matches I've ever seen. It wasn't at the level of the 2005 Aussie Open semi between Marat Safin and Roger Federer, but the possibility that it could be Agassi's final match, coupled with Baghdatis cramping in the fifth set (and still hitting winners!) made it impossible to go to stop watching.

It's a funny thing to say after watching Agassi, 36 and bad back and all, pull out the win, 6-4, 6-4, 3-6, 5-7, 7-5, but Baghdatis may have impressed me more last night. Despite the fans in Ashe Stadium booing him for taking too long between points (despite the fact he was in agony and could barely walk), he could not have been more gracious in defeat, nor Agassi more gracious in victory. We won't see a better match this Open, though we will be watching that match on a loop during the rain delays to come on Saturday and again 15 years from now. Amazing.

As to other highlights from the first four of my 14 days at the Open:

Getting to see Federer and Rafael Nadal play in person, from about 10 rows back. These two guys are amazing and TV, as the NY Times Magazine "Play" article pointed out last weekend, does not do them justice. Nadal routinely hits winners from purely defensive postures and moves like a man whose 5-foot-8 (not 6-1). And Federer is just remarkable. Where everyone else seems to bludgeon the ball with every shot, he carves it. The ball sounds different when Federer hits it.

Meeting John Feinstein, a really cool guy. Very laid back, very friendly, great story teller as a writer and in person. I grew up reading him, and it's always nice when people you look up to turn out to be solid people.