Thoughts

'Accountable' received a ton of attention and all thanks to those who commented via Blogger, Facebook, Twitter and offline.

Truthfully, I didn't want to discuss it at all. However, beyond the double-standards that came about in regards to Serena Williams' outburst, previous experience in the music 'business' compelled me to write the post. There have always been musicians who have skirted, if not obliterated the line of public decorum; Kanye West isn't the first and certainly won't be the last. Yet, with all of the commentary about the recent spate of anger from some public personas, no one mentioned how the music world isn't exactly going to slap him on the wrist for being such a jerk. The lack of accountability in that so-called business is astounding, but society hasn't exactly demanded such from its artists, either.

And we're moving on...

Since this Scribe will be away all of Saturday and early Sunday, there will be little activity until Sunday night; in time for the NBC-broadcasted tilt between the New York Giants and the Dallas Cowboys. Because this is quite an interesting weekend in the sports world, here are a few quick thoughts to go along with one or two links of suggested reading.

---

NYG in Big D: For some reason, the New York Beacon did not have this week's edition on the website. However, if you're not within the Boroughs to purchase it (or just haven't done so), here's part of the preview I wrote for that Sunday Night battle in Arlington. For those fantasy geeks, this might help you decide who to start or sit:

As mentioned, Dallas poses a different threat at running back with the trio of Marion Barber III, Tashard Choice and Felix Jones. Barber provides power and excellent pass catching ability while Jones – who missed most of his rookie season in 2008 with a broken foot – has blazing speed as a rusher and returner. Choice has a blend of both deceptive power and quickness. If it sounds familiar, they are likened to the two-year stretch of Brandon Jacobs, Ahmad Bradshaw and former Giant Derrick Ward.

In their 34-21 win in Tampa Bay, Dallas’ Tony Romo had a stellar game by throwing three touchdowns and 353 yards from just sixteen completions. Despite the passing fancy the Cowboys had, it’s easy to envision a greater emphasis on running the ball against the Giants. Barber had just 79 yards and the Cowboys had just 118 total; but they spent more time exploiting the Buccaneers’ secondary. Expect the ‘Boys to run plenty to not only test (linebackers Antonio) Pierce, Chase Blackburn and Danny Clark, but to give New York’s rotating defensive linemen few opportunities to get near Romo.

Read: Judy Battista, NYT - Lions Have Changed Everything So Far but the Mindset of  Fans, Matt Bowen, National Football Post - Why the Friday practice is crucial in the NFL

---

Fight Night: If you've seen the latest installment of 24/7, you probably know that Juan Manuel Marquez made a rather... unique (1:17)... addition to his training regimen over his last few fights. No matter how much of it he partakes or how much time off his opponent had taken in his retirement, the battle between Marquez and Floyd Mayweather Jr. is going to be a pretty solid fight.

The theme of this fight is Marquez's added weight and Mayweather's timing. The Money May camp has been pretty upfront about how the time away will affect him (not at all) while it is hard to determine what kind of affect the additional pounds of muscle will have on Marquez.

This is all stating the obvious to the fight fans, but Marquez is argualbly the best fighter Mayweather has ever faced. Mayweather is an overwhelming favorite in this bout, but as Kevin Iole pointed out in one of his preview pieces, Oscar De La Hoya was in the same position last year against Manny Pacquiao. A nearly similar situation presented itself then as well, with the naturally smaller Pac-Man absolutely destroying the active-inactive-active again Golden Boy.

Read: Fightnews.com - WWE's Triple H to walk with Mayweather

---

Is 'Da U' back?: Usually, someone will make a claim that a certain sport is better when its most popular team is in contention, if not the frontrunner for a league championship. In college football, it has been believed for years that Notre Dame has been that program. Yet, with essentially 13 years of irrelevance, the sport has thrived without the Fighting Irish being the star pupil in the classroom. USC, Ohio State, Oklahoma, Texas and Florida have been the marquee programs over much of the time, but there was something special when the Miami Hurricanes were at the head of the class.

To say that their 2-0 record against both Florida State and Georgia Tech is the beginning of the program's return to prominence is a big stretch, especially knowing that Virginia Tech and those Sooners are on deck for the next two games. Yet, watching the 'Canes for much of the previous two decades was like watching the first two rounds of the following year's NFL Draft. There was no question that most of those guys playing on Saturday would be running the fields on Sundays.

Read: Joe Drape, NYT - Earning Her Stripes in College Football ; Manny Navarro, Miami Herald - Could Canes be on path to national title in '09?

---

Lock Out: It seems that the American sporting public is far more concerned about an impasse in labor negotiations in the NFL than in any other sport. Well, the reality has come about for the NBA as it is locking out referees.

If this story hasn't registered to you until now, don't worry. Beyond the basketball scribes, the tussle (no one brawls in baseball anymore) between the Yankees and Blue Jays essentially Kanyed actual sports news. Yet, this is a scary proposition because basketball referees are notorious for questionable officiating.

Has there ever been a day when one can appreciate the zebras for what they do? If both sides of the table can't come to an agreement by the start of the NBA season, that day will come in mere weeks.

Read: Jeff Fox, SLAM - 1996 NBA Draft Remix

---

Finally, a baseball question: was there a point in releasing next year's preliminary schedules earlier this week? Beyond shuffling interleague opponents and alternating which teams in other divisions visit once or twice a year, you know who your favorite teams will play next year; the same ones they've played for decades.

Read: The Onion - Derek Jeter Honored for Having Fewer Hits than Harold Baines, Style Points - Moving out of the Metrodome and into the Technodrome

Promoters

"I compare myself to a big-league slugger, a quarterback, the doctor who delivers the baby," he said. "I'm not an inventor, but I'll take your product to the next level."

Death now comes in bizarre four-packs, it seems.

In the spirit of the late Billy Mays (for the unfamiliar, OxyClean, Mighty Putty and ESPN360.com), I’ve decided to come up with a handful of some of the best promoters in sports.

Ah, but you know how Scribe does? There’s always some sort of twist.

This is about shameless self-promoting, proper vocal projection and the all-important disregard for the opponent. A few are quick and quite funny while the final is a long collection of the man who once said “I can sell out Madison Square Garden (doing something alone)”. You can certainly add to this list as sports, unlike any other entertainment vehicle, provide some of the greatest self-appreciating and opponent-demoralizing fodder you will ever hear.

Shannon Sharpe may have been known more for his mouth and the late eighties part in his hair, but neither would have remained in our conscious if he wasn’t a future Hall of Famer. With that said, Sharpe deserves more credit for reminding NFL fans that the New England Patriots were still an operating franchise in 1993 (New England, it’s okay if you conveniently forgot that there was a team before 2001).



Somewhat sticking with the northeastern region of the States, current Boston Celtic Kevin Garnett was criticized by some in the media for this, but personally, I thought it was funny as all hell. As a YouTube commenter said about the video “sounds like he's been playing too much call of duty.”



Notice the flow from loading up clips to being a soldier. Kellen Winslow (Juinor) will never live this down, especially if he has a bad game as the new tight end for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The former University of Miami star should get props for not only trying to keep it clean for the kiddies, but for the most overlooked (and hysterical) part of the rant, which occurs in the :17 - :20 interval.



His schtick may be tiring to some, but the birth of “Ocho Cinco” by the now Chad Ochocinco was something to behold in this post-game interview. You can thank DeAngelo Hall for getting him started.

And for those of you from Atlanta, how is Willie Anderson’s Fatburger spot?



Watching this live was hysterical (WARNING: choppy audio). Think of this as Floyd Mayweather Jr. promoting his own skill through multitasking.



Finally... need I say more?

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?

One

There are two birthdays to observe today.

First and most important (personally), a shout out to RS. Won’t mention the age because you know where I live. You have a lot of dirt on me. Your military husband and the Ben-10 clone you call ‘son’ might hurt me bad. Happy birthday, Number 3!

Secondly, happy first birthday to Scribe.

Sure, there’s just a few celebrating this one year anniversary – okay, just me – but just as any infant, it takes time to building into a fully-functioning… thing.

Scribe began a few days after the folks in Las Vegas were counting the final pennies from boxing’s biggest payday in its 100+ year history. There had been this ongoing debate about mixed martial arts supplanting the sweet science in the sporting conscious. While in Sin City to cover some of the fights prior to Floyd Mayweather Jr.s’ win over Oscar De La Hoya, I had spoken with some of the most impassioned sports fans I have ever encountered about this supposed decent of boxing. With so many insights from fans that flew from across the globe, the event provided more than enough inspiration to start blogging again.

As you read recently, blogging for some people is an exercise in demonizing athletes and celebrating a culture of hate in sports. It was one of the reasons why it was easy to walk away from the platform after being a part of Version 2. Another reason was there were too many blogs that just weren’t updated frequently enough to make an impact.

Yet, those reasons that were difficult to overcome were the reasons to come back to it last May 15th.

The overall purpose of Scribe (and this whole sports media gig of mine) is to add something more to the pile of news and opinions you can get from multiple sources. Instead of ripping folks apart (unless there is no way around it and is deserved), it was important to show one another a different angle to what we see, read and listen to on a daily basis. It’s to foster conversation – though there needs to be less offline comments and more online comments – and provide food for thought.

It was also born in order to bring up topics that may not garner the heavy media coverage in a certain region or the country overall. That’s why you have seen an array of not only game and player observations, but business or socially-focused pieces. It’s why you’ve seen the major sports mixed with those with a smaller spotlight so that in passing, maybe we will pay more attention to what could become something special to the industry.

While I hope that has not been an issue for the three of you that reads this, the main issue has been keeping things fresh.

While the previous blogging efforts lacked frequency, they did not lack thought or conversation. It was a great experiment that provided some lessons to apply if there would be a chance to make this successful. What Scribe has been doing and must build upon are those smallest of nuggets and the biggest of dissertations.

There just needs to be more.

Those five days in Vegas reminded me that we all want more; whether you are obsessed or casually drifting by for the moment. Going into a second year of this blog, my hopes are that there will be.

Thank you all (again, the three of you) for reading, commenting, forwarding along and asking about Scribe.

Anyone have a kazoo?

Say What?!?!: Seriously. Does anyone have a kazoo?

Love

There's a lot of hate going 'round and quite frankly, it's stale, old, tired, pointless, mundane, absurd, revolting, repetitive and most of all, stupid.

Even in sports, hate flows so much that you can sometimes forget what you love about them in the first place. Maybe we need some reminders.

Love having once played the games yourself.

Love the history you didn't hear about on television.

Love when a player comes to your town and puts on a clinic.

Love the times in the backyard or at the gym where you tried the Dream Shake, but you tripped up and fell on your face.

Love the time when your brother didn't pick you on his team and you ended up beating them with a bases-loaded RBI single.

Love the undrafted rookie tight end.

Love Steve Bartman... PLEASE!

Love the greatest song and video from an athlete of all time.

Love Pony's comeback.

Love the combination of mental wherewithal with sheer physical strength.

Love the post-game camraderie between bitter rivals.

Love the no-calls, bad calls and "should-that-have-been-a-call?"

Love how first base was a patch of dirt in the grass, second base was a brown paper bag, third base was a tree and home plate was a puddle of mud yesterday afternoon.

Love the hard foul.

Love Scott Norwood (though the opening of this video is a little harsh, it's the best to be found).

Love the screen pass.

Love the single stretched into a double.

Love the fullback, the most unappreciated position in all of sports.

Love the third jersey.

Love Floyd Mayweather, Jr.

Love another team in another city besides your own.

Love the wire hanger and pair of socks you used to refine your jumpshot in your bedroom.

Love the gifted athletes who have yet to realize their potential.

Love the athletes who refuse to call it a career until their bodies tell them no more.

Love the first pitch, jumpball, kickoff and faceoff.

Love the pro-hop made famous by LeBron James, even though it travelling.

Love the "who the f%&@ are the Colorado Rockies and how did they come here and sweep their way to the World Series?"

Love the player that can't shoot a lick, can't dribble and can't pass, but can defend and rebound like hell.

Love the pros, taking their life's work and displaying it for the world to see.

Love the amateurs whose futures have yet to be determined.

Love the golf swing, even if you're trying too hard to drive the ball out of the course.

Love the player that has been traded to more times than you've been to McDonald's.

Love Manu Ginobili when he's not flopping every other play.

Love your team's biggest rival.

Love your biggest rival's best player.

Love your biggest rival's home city.

Love the random company that you never heard of which brought the naming rights to the stadium, even though you're going to call it something else entirely.

Love Roger Federer.

Love souvenir cups.

Love the silence of announcers when they've witnessed history.

Love the sweet science.

Love the conference championship games.

Love seeing several 250+ pound grown men falling over each other for a fumble recovery.

Love the chants of "DE-FENSE!"

Love watching two dozen cars veer nothing but lefts for four straight hours without bathroom or cigarette breaks.

Love the kid catching the foul ball or watching his favorite third basemen walk out of the dugout.

Love the medicines and medical practices made available thanks to the game's scariest moments.

Love that the defensive coordinator didn't take the head coaching job down I-95.

Love the body bump, sports' best celebration.

Love women's sports.

Love thy sneaker.

Love football/futbol/soccer.

Love this writer.

Love another sport.

Love your sport.

Love sports.

Give Scribe something else to love.

Antithesis

Will it be a conquering or a comeuppance?

That’s the question that surrounds the last mega-fight of the 2007 boxing calendar. Undefeated pugilists Floyd Mayweather, Jr. and Ricky Hatton will duel on Saturday in Pretty Boy’s adopted home of Las Vegas. If you have been watching Mayweather-Hatton 24/7 on HBO (the best sports-related show on television right now), you can see not only a stark contrast in boxing styles, but despite very few commonalities, you’ll find that these guys are the complete antithesis of one another. And that makes for an even better fight than people think.

In this era of sports, there is more animosity between and within fans and media – even between local governments and owners – than between athletes themselves. There is more vitriol and venom from non-participants of sports than the folks that put their complete beings on the line. At the same time, there are cries that athletes are too friendly, too chummy, too… nice.

This is where boxing comes in.

What makes the sport so intriguing, no matter how poor the politics or how bad the business is how contrasting styles and personalities can sell the fight. Because teams in league sports tend to try to emulate the style of the current dominant clubs, you tend to have the differences between the original and a near replication or dull copy. In boxing, where there is a greater emphasis on matching styles for their Pay-Per-View fights, the debates that rage reflect how the contrasting styles are selling the fight. You have Floyd’s speed and svelte movement with his punches and defense that the technical fans gravitate to. In the other corner, Ricky brings the bulldog style, combined with his 2-for-1 specialty – takes two punches to give one body shot. These fights come about more often than not, but because of varying levels of experience between combatants, usually one style tends to dominate the other. With a combined 81 professional wins and zero draws or ties, this is not a hard sell to the boxing fan. Yet for anyone who has been mesmerized or enraged by Pretty Boy Floyd’s persona over the past year, there are going to be more buys for this fight just for the chance to see him fail… or succeed.

What made the Dallas Cowboys, New York Yankees, Duke Blue Devils men’s basketball team and Notre Dame’s football squad so polarizing throughout the history of sports were not only the championships and storied histories. They had the built-in advantages of their passionate fan bases with more disposable income to consume anything showing allegiance. They had indelible images that have lived on forever to torture their rivals. Most of all – for most outside those bases – those teams had the players that you wanted to catch in a back alley. Maybe you didn’t have a logical reason for despising the athletes or maybe an overall perception became reality. Yet, you didn’t know them as people.

You know Floyd Mayweather, Jr.

He tells you that he’s the greatest boxer of all time. He shows you how much money he carries in his man-purse. He flips the bird at crowds that boo him. He gets in the faces of his opponents and belittles them… constantly. He was on Dancing with the Stars weeks before he was to train for the most challenging bout of his career. He let 50 Cent ride a Segway! He… doesn’t… stop… talking.

He has about as many supporters and fans as he has detractors and haters. He’s the perfect villain in a sports landscape that craves them. He has the brashness once owned by Terrell Owens. After this fight, he’ll have the bank account stemming from sheer talent and a great sales pitch as Alex Rodriguez. Yet, Mayweather has the championships and a quick combination.
He’s perfect for the everyman that is supposed to be Ricky Hatton.

There’s a tidal wave of Hatton backers preparing to order this fight, crossing all socioeconomic backgrounds. Most of them – admittedly, myself included – knew little about the Briton’s career until Mayweather’s camp went on the attack. As they have studied up on his record and looked into his personality, they are anxiously awaiting the fists to fly in hopes to watch the sport’s biggest comeuppance since this guy. In some ways, the fight represents much more than two men dueling.

It represents the Florida Marlins upending the Yankees in 2003. The Arizona Cardinals upsetting the Cowboys in 1999. The Blue Devils losing to Clemson… ever. Notre Dame… well, you know. Notre Dame today.

The Pittsburgh Steelers beating the New England Patriots on Sunday? Maybe.