Giants stallin’ as Bonds seeks Guarantees …

MercuryNews.com | 12/20/2006 | Klesko aboard, not Bonds

Giants first baseman Mark Sweeney said he spoke with Bonds last week and the left fielder said his contract was “a long way from getting done.”

Wow … here I am fresh from annual Christmas-wrapping chores and reading what is probably the best Christmas present I could ask for … news the Bonds isn’t yet sorted in his $16m deal with the Giants. It means there still remains slight hope the juicy-slugger won’t be in the MLB next season.

Seems the Giants aren’t so gung-ho as the appeared when they ageed in-principle to this deal on December 7th.

Good to hear they are savvy enought to want to build in some protection … or maybe it was Bonds’ demands for a fully guaranteed salary that finally tipped them off that all may not be ‘right’ with this deal?

Whatever it was, despite Bonds’ attorney Michael Rains’ insistance that the ongoing Balco investigation is unlikely to disrupt Bonds’ 2007 season the Giants are now looking for contractual ‘weasel-words’ that will protect them if he does indeed miss any significant part of the season as a result of oh … say a subpoena.

Could it be that they’ll realise the dis-service they are doing the game … and file this deal under ‘T’ for trash-can?

We can but hope.

sportsRANT!! :: it just stinks Thomas …

“I can’t speak for him, but he put his players in a tough position. I think he put his players in a very bad position.“

Those were the words of one Isiah Thomas, commenting on Denver Nuggets’ coach, George Karl after the brawl that saw all 10 players ejected from the game Sunday.

Oh … my … word! Isiah Thomas just shut the beep up, man!

Bad enough the Knicks stink-up the NBA. Now your running feud over the ‘Grapple-in-da-Apple’ continues to drag the name of the Knicks franchise even further into the sewer. It’s embarrassing and degrading.

Long and short of it is your team got slaughtered and YOU couldn’t hack it.

Bad enough this man publicly stated his team isn’t up to the job with his – “we’d surrendered” whine – but now he’s banging on about how the brawl was someone else’s fault.

No, man. It’s on YOU!

YOU can’t coach this team to compete.

YOU think there’s some sort of MERCY rule that ought to protect you from a hiding (heck this isn’t little league or high school — grow up man).

YOU sent out the hit man to hard-foul knowing it might instigate a fight.

YOU, you and you.

They say a fish rots from the head on down … but, I’m not so sure, because the one modicum of class in this whole episode came from James Dolan, chairman, Madison Square Garden, following the NBA’s decision, when he said:

“I was sitting just a few feet away at the end of Saturday night’s game. I believe the Commissioner acted appropriately, as it was an ugly incident, not worthy of the Knicks, Nuggets, Madison Square Garden or the people of New York. I am grateful to the fans and our security personnel for remaining calm during some very chaotic moments. The incident was deeply regrettable, unacceptable on every level and I hope and expect to never witness anything like it again. We are all very sorry it happened. We will have no further comment on this matter.”

I think we all echo that statement Mr Dolan. Well almost all of us … have you checked with your coach and President?

It seems Thomas is a fish from a very different kettle and whilst as a player he ranks with the best … he just flat out stinks in a management role. Period!

In fact his record since retiring as a player hardly inspires confidence, begging the question as to how many second-chances one man can go through:

• Toronto Raptors (94-98 Part owner and Executive Vice President) :: left the organisation in disarray after a four-year tenure during which they failed to participate in playoff action at all.
• NBC Broadcaster :: Thomas’ monotonous and ham-fisted delivery forced NBC to draft Bill Walton as cover.
• CBA (98-2000 – Owner) :: Oh, boy! The CBA folded into bankruptcy with many managers pointing the finger of blame at Thomas’ mismanagement and profligate spending.
• Indiana Pacers (2000-03, Coach) :: Thomas steered the Pacers to two first-round playoff losses. But was accused of overplaying Jordan during the 2003 NBA All-star game. And his failure to realise the potential of his team was underlined in his final season when the third seeded Pacers were ousted by sixth-seeded Boston.
• New York Knicks (2003 – President) :: Turned the franchise into the highest-salaried, lowest value team in the NBA. They had the second worst playing record at the end of the 2005/06 season despite their payroll. And high profile coach, Larry Brown, lasted just that single season before an acrimonious departure saw him walk away with an $18m payoff.
• NY Knicks (2006, President and Coach) :: OK, so now Thomas is the man. But the results are ‘the same’. The Knicks’ spiral of despair continues unabated. Ah, if only there were a mercy rule …
• Oh … and in amongst all of this … Thomas is fighting sexual harassment charges (January 24, 2006) after Anucha Browne Sanders alleged he made numerous sexist and demeaning statements to her, making sexual advances and repeatedly telling her that he was in love with her.

If I had a record like that I’d be thankful I still HAD a job. I’d also be in my bosses office real soon saying thanks for brokering a little leverage with (NBA Commissioner) David Stern – just enough elbow room to wheedle me out of a suspension for mouthing of to Carmelo Anthony and stoking the fires that led to the fight.

And if I was David Stern … I’d be hoping nobody saw through that ‘no evidence for suspension’ sham … hoping they’d concentrate on my hitting the players hard and ignore me letting Thomas run his mouth.

Principles are a hard thing to protect Mr Stern. If you’ve got ‘em fight hard to keep ‘em.

 

Technorati Tags: NBA, Thomas, Karl, Knicks, Nuggets, Grapple, Apple, Sports, Basketball, Brawl, Carmelo, Isiah, NY, New York

Shortlist :: T.O. ‘accidents’ I have known …

Some people are just more accident prone than others. They spend their whole lives stumbling from one crisis to another, often wondering ‘why me’? So statistically it’s no surprise that the sports world has its share of these accident-prone-wonders. Chief amongst them is Dallas Cowboy’s wide-receiver, Terrell (T.O.) Owens.

Here listed in no particular order are just TEN of the slightly-mad things T.O. has ‘accidentally’ done ( … I’m sensing a pattern here, but it could just be me …):

1. Spat in the face of Atlanta Falcons defensive back, DeAngelo Hall. Although initially apologising for the act, he quickly recanted when the NFL levied a $35,000 fine, claiming it was an accident.
2. Taken a drugs cocktail of pain-killers and supplements that led to an ambulance ride to Baylor University Medical Centre and sparked wide-spread ‘suicide rumours, giving sports-talk-radio a major boost in ratings
3. Claimed his auto-biography misquoted him when stating his return to the Eagles line-up for Superbowl XXXIX was “heroic”. Owens said it was written by his co-author and he’d not read it (… no honestly he did!)
4. Publicly called the Philadelphia Eagles and quarterback Donovan McNabb ‘classless’; claiming they’d be better with Brett Favre at the helm. And then rubbed salt into the wound with a lame apology pointedly not directed at McNabb.
5. Used an interview with Playboy magazine to hint that team-mate Jeff Garcia was gay.
6. Used the Dallas Star logo in Texas Stadium as the podium for his touchdown celebrations.
7. Refused point-blank to honour the 49ers trading him to the Baltimore Ravens; filing grievance and forcing a trade to the Eagles
8. Spent the majority of his Dallas Cowboys pre-season training on the sidelines with a ‘hammie’; posing in Lance Armstrong-style cycling gear on the stationary exercise bicycle just in case anyone didn’t notice him
9. Had a very public spat with wide-receivers coach, Todd Haley
10. Got the horse-collar tackle out-lawed. Owens suffered a fractured fibula after Dallas Cowboys safety Roy Williams horse collared him and the NFL reacted quickly to outlaw the technique before the start of the 2005 season. (I hasten to add this was BEFORE T.O. joined the Cowboys – although I’m sensing Bill Parcels may have been tempted a time or two in training).

The GBU Report 18Dec2006

This week’s GBU Report looks at Philly quarterback, Jeff Garcia; Dallas Cowboys spitting wide-receiver, Terrell Owens; and the Denver Nuggets-NY Knicks all-in-tag-wrestling bout.

The GOOD: Back to the Future Jeff Garcia? No? Admit it, go on. When you heard who was stepping-in to replace the injured Eagles’ QB, Donovan McNabb, you groaned – maybe you winced – go on it’s OK to say so; most everyone else did. Some even smiled, especially if their next Fantasy Football opponents had McNabb in their lineup.

But after this weekend’s victory over the NY Giants in New Jersey it’s finally time to say: “Damn good job, Jeff. You got this team, this town, buzzin’”.

Since taking the reins Garcia is 3-1 with nine touchdown passes and a single interception. On Sunday he tossed a 19 yard game winning TD to Reggie Brown and a 2-point conversion, with defensive end Trent Cole sealing the 36-22 win with a 19-yard interception return for a TD. All of this coming after Garcia gave-up a personal-foul penalty (taunting) and then an interception that keyed the Giants go-ahead 4th quarter score.

Garcia is a Superbowl winner already and in the topsy-turvy world of the NFL he might steer the Eagles to the championship too.

Hey don’t scoff … How much did you have on the lame-o St. Louis Cardinals winning the World Series?

Zilch, eh? Me too, but just maybe they started a whole new trend of reversing into a Championship winning streak.

 

The BAD: Spitting Image

I could just keep this spot open for Terrell Owens. This time he’s cited for the disgusting spit he launched at Atlanta Falcons DB, DeAngelo Hall. Let’s hope T.O. doesn’t go the way of soccer’s serial-spitter El-Hadji Diouf (EPL-Bolton).

Owens was frustrated. Maybe he should sit and rest a while, uh?

Might even do him a favour, stop him heaping more treacle as he revealed he has torn ligaments in his right ring finger and is putting off Surgery until the off-season.

Yes, once again hero T.O. is: “… doing this for the team.”

Nice excuse for the league-leading 15 dropped passes, T.O. Maybe we should get the Falcon receiving corps checked out too.

 

The UGLY: Knicks in a Twist …

Today’s GBU Report ought to be dominated by the NBA brawl between the Denver Nuggets and the New York Knickerbockers. And it is, even though – in the word of the immortal soccer coach Arsene Wenger: “I did not see it!”.

So I quote MSNBC sports in stating what happened, thus:

All 10 players on the court, including league scoring leader Carmelo Anthony, were ejected after the melee Saturday night at Madison Square Garden. The mayhem began when New York’s Mardy Collins flagrantly fouled the Nuggets’ J.R. Smith with 1:15 left in Denver’s 123-100 victory.

Anthony faces an automatic suspension for throwing a punch, and Smith and New York’s Nate Robinson will be penalized for their fight that spilled into the stands.”

Right, that’s plainly awful, awful!

But what pissed me most about this malarkey was the reason the Knicks sparked the fight.

Seems the Knicks lived-up to their wussy name.

They spat their dummy because they were upset that the Nuggets were romping away with the game and … no seriously, listen to this, seriously … and the Nuggets wouldn’t take their foot of the gas and coast it, instead continuing to play hard to the end. Gasp!

And that … that is lame excuse of the ‘ever‘ for starting a fight.

If running-up the score sticks in your craw Knicks, there’s a reason for that – it’s to spur you to action … you’re s’posed to play harder to stop the other team scoring … heck you might even learn something and improve as a team; God knows there’s scope for that.

The Knicks are an embarrassment ON and OFF the court. They just made it official.

BackBITES 15Dec2006

Today’s backBITES takes a swipe at ESPN Radio talk-show host, John Kinkade, Dallas Cowboy’s wide-receiver, Terrel Owens and … the Atlanta Falcons.

 

 

 

The Kinkade Tirade … Memo to John Kinkade (ESPN Radio – The Herd, Thursday): If you’re going to stand in for Colin Cowherd then feel free to line-up some material, John.

For those who didn’t hear: JK spent the first 20 minutes wailing about how uninterested he and 95% of the nation were in the Boston Red Sox and their 3rd starter (sic). If there’s ever been a bigger waste of air time … boy am I glad I missed it.

So, once JK resorted to lame and banal skits on what Dice-K was up to … well, I tuned out and moved-on. John, no idea how the show turned out – hope it went well for you.

T.O. on another mindless ramble — you know what? Feel free to engage some brain cells man, especially if there’s a microphone in listening range. Do I ever want to hear what a Pro-bowl wide-receiver has to say? You bet I do. I want to hear you breaking down the game and giving me a feel for what it’s like inside the NFL … or is it really that vacuous and self-serving in there?

Atlanta Falcons – on switching Michael Vick to running back … whichever bright spark came up with this idea – fire ‘em or at least give them a padded room to sleep in.

Vick rushes spectacularly well for a QB. Know why? ‘cos he’s got the pass option in his hands and the defence have to back off and respct it. Boy is he great at exploiting that.

But just try letting all those linebackers finally.get their clean-hit licks at him and see how he stands-up to that.

Then – whilst your medics are piecing your franchise QB back together – check the fan sites and sports talk-shows to see who’s still in your corner. Way to go Falcons.