Idea (II)

As you were invited to over the weekend, here are a few of the moments that stuck out to me this year in sports. Of course, there were a good bit that I was fortunate to have attended, whether it was related to the Beacon, SNYS or as a fan. Yet, there will be other posts about that throughout the holidays.

All credit to the original uploaders.

• Beyond being there and meeting Joe Frazier (though I should have finished the article... oops), this was such a thorough and unexpected domination by Bernard Hopkins, even the most avid Kelly Pavlik supporters had to stand in awe and respect.

• After two barbeques in South Jersey and actually getting some sleep, this epic match was the cherry on top of a great Fourth of July weekend.

• Sure, there are a lot of you who are Boston Celtics fans now, but your hearts were in your laps because of a team no one expected to win more than a game in the first round... let alone three. Welcome back to the NBA, Atlanta. We've missed you and your ridiculous pyrotechnics!

• Who would have thought that the NHL would have given us the first treat of a phenomenal 2008? Oh, that's right, the people that watched this game on New Year's Day. If you were subjected to the anti-climatic bowl games later that evening, I hope you at least enjoyed this earlier that afternoon. (By the way, I recognize how much many puckheads dislike Sidney Crosby or at least the hype around him. However, you had to have appreciated this moment.)

• Sorry, Patriots fans. (Note: If anyone has a video with Marv Albert's radio call, please send the link. If you can't recall, let's just say that I'm not a fan of FOX.)

• Finally, since there isn't a great video from YouTube and MLB does not allow embedding, search "All Star Home Run Derby 2008" in its video site.
  For those who followed me one the journey to Dallas back in July, I was able to add photos and videos from the last game before the All-Star break (revisit, if you will). Instead of covering the All-Star Game festivities myself, I was at a hotel in suburban Dallas with a face stuffed full of pepperoni, sausage & Sprite, excitedly jumping up and down like a stressed-out nicotine fiend without smokes.
  To say that what Josh Hamilton did the following night at Yankee Stadium defied our wildest imaginations is an understatement. However, it was great to see a football-crazed state hold off all the talk about the Cowboys, the Texas Longhorns and the Oklahoma Sooners, if only for a little while. There's a bonafide superstar in the making in Arlington and the Rangers need to do everything possible to build around him.

So, share you favorite moments, no matter where they may come from.

Executioner

As promised just over an hour ago.

Pavlik had to be stitched up at the hospital, hence, no pics.

When the replay comes on this weekend, watch it or at least DVR it. You'll thank me later.

Should be writing about this fight and the Giants right now, but with having essentially missed a week because of vacation, you need more of this. Love it, people!

Kelly Pavlik - Bernard Hopkins Light Heavyweight Bout & Press Conference

Ropes

Though there will be a couple of posts in the coming days to go along with the article for Sports NY Style, here are a few observations from last night's Kelly Pavlik - Bernard Hopkins bout:

• If Hopkins showed this much aggression in his previous fights with Jermain Taylor and Joe Calzaghe, do you think he would have set his sails, riding off into retirement off of those potential victories? He would have certainly defended the middleweight crown for another fight or two before pushing for Calzaghe. Yet, the inevitable swan song would have ended with this ad-libbed chorus: "I still never let a white boy beat me".
  
  
• Only the retired (you can choose to believe that or not) Floyd Mayweather, Jr. used the ropes as well, if not better than Hopkins did last night. He not only used them in his usual defensive manner (which has always been exceptional), but he used them to enhance his offense as leaning on them created leverage into his counterpunches from Pavlik's attempted advances.
  
  
• From the press conference (there will be some points from that added later on Scribe and the article for Sports NY Style), Pavlik's manager Jack Loew mentioned the post-fight conversation the fighters had. Hopkins, who made twenty defenses of the middleweight crown, suggested that Pavlik stay at his natural middleweight size and he could dominate the division as close to the manner that the 43-year old did for over a decade. Loew essentially agreed and it appears that Pavlik can reign there until (and if) new challengers emerge in the next two to three years.
  
  
• Does Pavlik try to move up in weight later in his career? Most successful middleweights have considered it and some have done so with mixed results. The extra ten pounds seemed to have slowed him down and stripped some of his late-round stamina as it was the case when he had his rematch with Taylor last year. However, if those challengers don't emerge and he still possesses power in that right cross, it'll be hard for Pavlik to grow his legacy and drawing power by staying in a stagnant division.

Much more to come during the week about the fight, the NFL, the World Series, the NBA and random quotes from the 1986 Goldie Hawn epic Wildcats. Can't do much when you have three hours of sleep.

Say What?!?!: Sing it with me now... "football...Wildcats... football... Wildcats..."

Update

Just returning from vacation and going back to work... on the weekend, nonetheless!

Have a full slate of boxing and football as I'll be covering the Kelly Pavlik-Bernard Hopkins light heavyweight fight this evening for Sports NY Style in Atlantic City and of course, back on the Giants beat with the Beacon on Sunday when they host the San Francisco 49ers. The fight may be better than some think and the football game might be a slaughter... or the other way around. Yet, that's what makes sports so compelling... you never know.

In the meantime, I'm going to have a slew of updates over the next two days as Scribe didn't get looked at very much in my five days away. SNYS, as you can tell, needs much more to add as well. Stay tuned.

Talk

Even though the summer's typically quiet, this year doesn't bring that slow, laid-back feeling. In fact, this week alone gives us enough to think about, laugh about, cry about and ask about.

For a few minutes, think of me as the 'Linda Richman' of sports. Talk amongst yourselves. I'll give you a topic... or five.

The Alex Rodriguez saga has already been addressed here, so we can skip that.



Yet, staying with baseball, the CC Sabathia deal is absolutely great for not only Milwaukee Brewers fans and the city itself, but for the sport. It seems as if despite the obvious desire to have Red Sox-Yankees play every night, baseball is reminding folks that other teams do play in other cities besides "the major markets". Metro Milwaukee may be the smallest TV market in the league, but a trade like the one involving last year's AL Cy Young winner not only gives real hope to the team's first playoff appearance in 25 years, but it gives the Midwest an even greater stronghold in the game. Every team between the Mississippi River and the Rocky Mountains has some sort of intrigue and promise. The Brewers have already become a team to notice in the last two-plus seasons, but adding someone of Sabathia's caliber gives the big city Chicago Cubs and historic St. Louis Cardinals a major run for their money. (Thoughts from Jeff Passan, Yahoo! Sports)



Floyd Mayweather, Jr.'s comments about HBO Sports' boxing commentators are rather biting and present sone serious charges of alleged racism by the men who are somewhat responsible for promoting the sport of boxing. Whether he may be right or wrong about his claim of bias is up to you, but what he said about Kelly Pavlik was intriguing for one reason; as cool as he was in person, you'd swear that from all reports that Youngstown, Ohio is the only place to have ever endured hard times. Sometimes, it's a bit overplayed in sports media and personally, I can see how Pretty Boy feels a racial slight, even if I may not agree. However, what's undeniable is that Floyd will always keep at least his eye and mouth on the sweet science.



Speaking of commentators, there is already a crowded room when it comes to NBC's "Football Night in America". Yet, the addition of Dan Patrick (and hopefully a happier one as you read Richard Sandomir's report), actually gives some sort of levity to the group. Already with Bob Costas, Cris Collinsworth, Tiki Barber, Peter King, Jerome Bettis and old friend Keith Olbermann, you'd swear that NBC wants to host a kegger full of ex-jocks and boisterous sports talkies. However, the one thing with Patrick that none of the others add is a somewhat self-effacing personality that unlike the others, will actually do well with adding humor to his scripts.



Sticking to TV, does anyone know when (because it's is an instant classic) the men's Wimbledon final will be re-aired? Whether anyone likes him or not, for John McEnroe to say that it was the greatest match he had ever seen says a lot about the skill level and aura that both Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer brought to the All-England Tennis Club. The New York Giants' Super Bowl win and Tiger Woods' performance at the US Open may be the most talked about sports events all year, but if there was anything that exceeded fans' expectations in any other sport, tennis gave it to us on Sunday. Though, if you believe William Rhoden's New York Times piece, you knew that the Williams' sisters weren't too shabby, either.



Expectations might be a little tempered right now if you're a Clippers fan.



Finally, if possible, go to your neighborhood bar, hijack your friend's cable or order the package yourself. If you do not live in the Los Angeles area, do yourself a favor; order MLB Extra Innings. Could you imagine someone handling play-by-play of an entire baseball game solo as Vin Scully has done for decades?

TKO

"Think I'd better let it go/Looks like another love T.K.O.!"

One-half of this nutty weekend involved a nice trip down the Garden State Parkway into Atlantic City for Kelly Pavlik's first defense of his middleweight crown for Sports NY Style (look for article tomorrow) against British contender Gary Lockett. In all honestly, the slideshow lasted longer than the fight (TKO in the third as Lockett's corner threw in the towel), but to have been ringside for a major title bout was pretty cool nonetheless.

The Yankees, of course, took up the other half of this weekend. No pics on Joba Chamberlain's second start. Sorry. Back to work.



Say What?!?!: Ah, what the heck. Just enjoy it.

:-O

There are actually words - and great words that aren't appropriate for a G-rated blog such as this - to describe the tiny smidgen of joy at the moment.

Over the weekend, the alumni magazine arrived, but with being that this guy was barely home except for food, there was no time to look at it. Just a few minutes ago as I was doing some cleaning, I had parused through very casually. Then, with one page turn, this comes up as the first news bite for the undergraduate Class of 2004:

Jason Clinkscales is a freelance sportswriter in New York City. He wrote an article "Sports Journalists: Why So Angry?" that was published on January 20 in BC: BlogCritics Magazine, an online magazine at blogcritics.org. Jason's work is featured in the New York Beacon, a weekly African-American paper for which he is the reporter for the New York Yankees and New York Giants. His work can be found on his blog, A Sports Scribe, at asportsscribe.blogspot.com

Considering that Babson College is more known for finance, entrepreneurship and big money ballers (or baller hopefuls), this is a pretty big deal for me. So for all of my fellow alums who discovered that very bio, welcome and feel free to stay a while.

What else is a big deal? Tomorrow, expect a rundown on this weekend's Gary Lockett-Kelly Pavlik fight down in Atlantic City. I'll be covering The Ghost's first middleweight title defense for Sports NY Style (my return to the website that provided the spark for Scribe in the first place). Add that to another likely Yankee game on Sunday and there is much to do.

Twiddling

So you're trying to figure out how to pass the time until baseball starts up again (in Tokyo, if you need a reminder, Red Sox and A's fans). In all honesty, that's kind of sad, but it's your perogative. Yet, there are plenty of other sports that give thrills, chills and if you attend live, unfortunate beer spills. It's very easy to just say watch more basketball or hockey or even read a book, but instead, here are five games and events in February to keep an eye on.

Of course, Scribe advises that you should just watch anything where there's a ball and a bunch of people running for it, with it or at it.

• Saturday, February 9th: San Antonio Spurs @ Boston Celtics - Though the defending champs are not clicking on all cylinders at the moment, these two games will be considered NBA Finals previews. Neither team has played each other this season, but the always-intriguing matchup between Tim Duncan and Kevin Garnett will take center stage. With Tony Parker out of the lineup for the Spurs, Rajon Rondo may avoid the same fate as Daniel Gibson suffered in last year's Finals. Parker sped past Gibson so much that the Cavaliers guard is still chasing the Frenchman's shadow. The rematch takes place on Monday, March 17 in San Antonio.
  


• [Above] Saturday, February 16th: Kelly Pavlik-Jermain Taylor II, Undisputed Middleweight Championship - Boxing had an outstanding 2007 and much of this can be attributed to this gem of a fight. Back in late September, an undefeated champion, Taylor, had scored a knockdown on Pavlik in the middle of the second round. With still over a minute left in the round, Taylor threw just enough to keep Pavlik at a distance. Big mistake. Pavlik fought himself back into the fight to the point that judges had scored the fight even leading into the seventh round. And then, Arkansas' son crumpled in the corner from a beautiful combo from Pavlik. The Youngstown, Ohio native shocked the boxing establishment with his win and set up this rematch at a catch weight of 166 pounds. Taylor's no bum, but even in his previous fights since defeating Bernard Hopkins for the undisputed championship, he hasn't looked like the anointed boxing star he was supposed to be. With the loss to Pavlik, there are more questions surrounding the former champ than with his two questionable wins over Hopkins. Order the fight, go to a sports bar or get real close with a friend (just not me).
  
  
• Wednesday, February 20th: Phoenix Suns @ Los Angeles Lakers - You know that ESPN or ABC will scramble to air this game nationally, even if it means telling Lost to get lost for a week. Yes, the whole Shaq versus Kobe angle was played out long before the Disney broadcasters pushed it on us in recent Christmases. However, the Suns, whose up-tempo, seven-seconds-or-bust style has been compromised (to say the least) when they traded Shawn Marion and Marcus Banks for the fourteen-time All-Star and four-time NBA champion. No one knows what to expect from O'Neal - or even if he will play - but expect the Lakers to have worked out some of the kinks as their newest acquisition settles in. Pau Gasol should have two more weeks under him with his new team by then (also helped by the All-Star break). The Lake Show will have its first post-break test against a team still widely considered to be Western Conference contenders.
  
  
• Ongoing: The head coaching search of the Washington Redskins - Giants fans and 'fans' (those bandwagoners that suddenly believed in Eli Manning after the Super Bowl ended), be very, very afraid. Not that the personnel will suddenly forget how to play defense when the new season rolls around, but if first-year defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo is offered and accepts the head coaching position with rival Washington, it may not bode well. Owner Daniel Snyder loves the big splash of free agent signings and coaching hires, even if the success has not followed. Though he would join in on a trend of hiring the hot, young coordinator, hiring the architect of the league's most talked-about defense would put the Giants in a very peculiar spot of having to find another DC who can utilize the players in a similar manner. Spanoulo originally came from Philadelphia, but it is unlikely that New York would look in that direction again. The respect and admiration that he gained from that lockerroom is something that cannot be replicated with just anyone if he departs, and neither will the production if they end up defending their Super Bowl championship without him.
  
  
• All month: College basketball - while Scribe doesn't delve too much into college sports, March Madness is just around the corner. Duke's win over UNC tonight should serve as a reminder of how intense the games are getting right about now. What should also stay on the periphery: top-ranked Memphis host (7)Tennessee and the hopes are that loading the home schedule with big-name national opponents will garner the best possible bracket in the NCAA Men's Tournament. Also, (6)Georgetown and (19)Connecticut command Big East attention, fifth-ranked UCLA has (17)Stanford and (9)Washington State to worry about and Kansas will test their number 4 ranking with some tough outs [Baylor, at (12)Texas, a rematch with Kansas State and (18)Texas A&M]. Can't forget the ladies, either.

Say What?!?!: Super Bowl XLIII in Tampa, Florida will feature the NFC Champion San Francisco 49ers and the AFC Champion New York Jets. No worries, Jets fans. As you have come to expect, the good fortunes are just a cruel joke. They'll find a way to let Alex Smith throw seven touchdowns in the second half for the red-and-gold's sixth championship.