1/22/2006 - The ocho scores ochenta y uno

In almost every statistical category, Michael Jordan was superior to Kobe Bryant as of February 2006. He had achieved more rings, points, rebounds, assists, MVP's, Olympic gold medals, and possessed an almost insurmountable legacy. But on January 22, 2006, Bryant accomplished something Michael never did: he scored 81 points in a single game.

On a night where the NFC and AFC Championship games ended in blowouts, and the Seattle SuperSonics beat the Suns 152-149 in double overtime, Kobe Bryant was the major headline. Only a month before, Bryant scored 62 points through three quarters against the Dallas Mavericks, but sat out the 4th period because the game was already decided. Fans and writers lamented that good sportsmanship deprived them from seeing a player score 70, 80, or even 90 points in a single game.

On this night, Bryant took over in a fashion that satisfied -- and amazed -- basketball fans everywhere. The Toronto Raptors, who statistically had the second-worst defense in the NBA, had an 18-point advantage four minutes into the third quarter. Kobe then took over and proceeded to have a 27-point period, one where he single-handedly outscored the Raptors. By the end of the quarter, Bryant was sitting on 53 points and Toronto's lead had turned into a 6-point deficit.

With the game still in the balance, Bryant had all the permission in the world to rack up as many points as he could. The Raptors played like a deer in the headlights as Kobe dazzled them with three pointers, layups, dunks, fadeaways, and free throws. The Lakers went to him almost exclusively and Kobe scored 28 of their 31 points in the quarter. Eventually the Raptors sent him to the free throw line in resignation; Bryant scored points 75 through 81 from the charity stripe.

Only 4.2 seconds remained when Bryant was taken out by coach Phil Jackson. After 41 minutes and 56 seconds, he left the floor to a standing ovation from the Staples Center crowd, who had seen one of the greatest performances in sports history. In scoring 81 points, Bryant somehow turned a five-on-five basketball game into his own personal playground.

His 81 points was the second-highest total in the league's 60-year history; only Wilt Chamberlain, who scored 100 points against the Knicks in 1962, scored more in one game. The most Michael Jordan posted was a 69-point outing against the Cleveland Cavaliers. A player had reached 70 or more points just nine times before this, with Wilt doing it six times. Chamberlain's 100-point game was thought to be unmatchable in the modern NBA, though Bryant's performance forced skeptics to acknowledge that if anyone could break it, it was him.

"We were just watching him shoot," said Toronto's Chris Bosh. "He takes the type of shots where you don't think they're going in, but suddenly he's rolling, so he's kind of hard to stop. We tried three or four guys on him, but it seemed like nobody guarded him tonight."

"You're sitting and watching, and it's like a miracle unfolding in front of your eyes and you can't accept it," said Lakers owner Jerry Buss. "Somehow, the brain won't work. The easiest way to look at it is everybody remembers every 50-point game they ever saw. He had 55 in the second half."

Almost instantly, analysts argued that Kobe's performance was more impressive than Wilt's 100-point game. Those who believed this cited that Bryant, as a guard, had a much tougher job scoring than the 7'1 Chamberlain. They noted that the opposition Kobe faced was significantly stronger and quicker than the one Wilt was up against. Chamberlain scored 100 in a season where he averaged 50 points per contest, a feat that, while impressive, simply could not exist in the era that Bryant was playing in.

Few experts could visually make the comparison between Chamberlain and Bryant's games. Whereas Bryant scored 81 in a crowded arena filled with cameras and photographers, Chamberlain's 1962 outburst was untelevised, leaving only a murky radio broadcast of the game as evidence. Chamberlain's teammates purposely fouled their opponents so that Wilt would have more chances to reach triple-digits. Bryant, who made all but one of LA's shots in the 4th quarter, had little leverage in that department, though the 4th quarter in Wilt's game has often been referred to as a farce.

Statistician Harvey Pollack was at the game where Wilt scored 100, making him one of the only people in the world to witness both Kobe and Wilt's career-highs. Pollack contended that because Bryant was still well shy of "the Stilt's" record, it wasn't as impressive. "It's not as great a feat until you match the man's points," he said. "Nineteen points left."

Gary Pomerantz, who wrote a book about Chamberlain's 100-point game, motioned that the social significance in Chamberlain's masterpiece far exceeded Bryant's. ''1962 was a very different America,'' Pomerantz said, noting that in Wilt's era, quotas existed that limited the number of African-Americans a team could have. ''The black freedom struggle was in full flight, and it was a very different NBA. When you size up what Kobe does in 2006 in an NBA game versus what Wilt did at a time when you had the first generation of African-American superstars, it's hard to compare them on that social level. What Wilt did that night in Hershey was to blow that quota symbolically to smithereens.''

It should also be noted that while Wilt's teammates fouled the opposition intentionally to keep 100 a possibility, they did it because the Knicks concentrated more on stopping Wilt than winning the game. The Knicks triple-teamed the "Big Dipper" and held the ball to limit his possessions, which is understandable when you're being embarrassed like that. "They were willing to do anything to stop me," Wilt said on the 25th anniversary of the accomplishment. "I maybe could have scored 140 if they had played straight-up basketball."

A reasonable case can be made for both sides of the debate, although from an athletic standpoint, it's hard to disagree that 81 was better. A side nobody wanted to hear came from Vince Carter, who told reporters that Bryant's scoring barrage was a detriment to the league. "The only bad thing about it is that younger kids, whose minds are easily warped are going to think, 'Oh, I am going out there and do it instead of (honoring) the team concept first.'"

Carter was seen as a player in the mold of Kobe Bryant and was ultimately shouted down by members of the press. It turned out that the Nets guard knew what he was talking about. Just two weeks later, Epiphanny Prince from Murry Bergtraum High School broke the women's record for points in a high school game. This was controversial considering that Prince finished with 113 points, played the entire game, and her team won by 105. Asked what was going through her mind during the game, Prince answered, "I was thinking about Kobe."

Hulu.com - Kobe's 81-point game in its entirety

Read More...

1/15/1967 - Packers win first Super Bowl

The Green Bay Packers, the best team in the NFL, faced the Kansas City Chiefs, the best team in the AFL, in the first ever meeting between the two leagues. The heavily favored Packers held their own and handily vanquished the upstart Chiefs. The game drew a record 65 million viewers and continues annually to this day, where it remains the most watched program on American television.

Super Bowl I was so devoid of commercialism that it barely resembles the Super Bowls we see today. Tickets for the big game didn't cost the thousands they do now; they actually had to move the crowd closer so they could make a better impression for the TV cameras. It wasn’t even known as the "Super Bowl" back then, rather it was the "AFL-NFL Championship Game." Only until Chiefs' owner Lamar Hunt saw his kid playing with a superball did its present name take form.

Only five men, four team captains and a referee, were present for the coin flip. Compare that to today where several dozen cameramen, crew and teammates crowd the proximity. The halftime show was just a college marching band, a far cry from a declothed Janet Jackson and Justin Timberlake duet. It remains the only Super Bowl to be broadcasted on two major stations. CBS owned the NFL license and NBC had the AFL, so commissioner Pete Rozelle allowed both networks to carry the game. The opening kickoff of the second half had to be replayed because NBC wasn't back from commericial yet.

Green Bay's defense won the game just as much as their offense did. Kansas City's high-octane running game was grounded to a halt, producing only 72 rushing yards. They resorted to the passing game and got by thanks to several trick plays. In the second period, a fake pass allowed Len Dawson to find Curtis McClinton for a 7-yard touchdown. It was the Chiefs' first and only touchdown of the game.

The Packers' offense showed their stripes in the second half. Bart Starr continually converted passes on third downs that kept the drive alive. Starr's 250 yards and two touchdowns would earn him the MVP, though he was hardly the only candidate. Max McGee, out drinking the night before -- anticipating that he wouldn't play -- went in when WR Boyd Dowler separated his shoulder on the second play of the game. McGee caught only four passes in the entire regular season but looked like a bonafide all-star against Kansas City, making seven catches for 138 yards and a pair of touchdowns. Even better, he became the answer to the trivia question, "Who caught the first touchdown in Super Bowl I."

In the end the Packers, heralded as one of the greatest teams in football history, were too much for the Chiefs. The game concluded with Green Bay winning 35-10. Vince Lombardi's squad was granted the "World Championship Game Trophy" for their efforts. A trophy that only three years later would be named after Lombardi himself.

McGee was a beloved figure

Read More...

4/18/1981 - The longest baseball game

It was an April day in 1981 when the Pawtucket Red Sox and Rochester Red Wings (the AAA affiliates of the Red Sox and Orioles) met at McCoy Stadium in Rhode Island. The initial 1,740 fans in attendance had to wait to see future Hall of Famers Cal Ripken Jr. and Wade Boggs; a problem with the lights delayed game's start for thirty minutes. Little did the fans know that a thirty-minute delay would be a pittance compared to the length of the game.

What followed was the longest, most-enduring game of baseball ever played at any professional level. 32 innings later, in the wee hours of the morning, the game was finally suspended.

"I remember calling my father the next day and telling him I got four hits," Boggs said. "He said, 'That's great.' I said: 'Yeah, but I was up 12 times. We went 32 last night.' "

Ripken called it, "the most bizarre and remarkable game I've ever been involved in."

The Red Wings held a 1-0 lead going into the bottom of the ninth. But the PawSox tied it up, sending the game into a marathon of extra innings. Out after out, inning after inning, the ballgame drolled into the early hours of April 19th. "Guys that were big league players and on their way to being big league players couldn't get a hit and couldn't do anything to change the course of the game for 32 innings," said Wings outfielder Dallas Williams.

"I remember it being a real chilly night, so the pitchers had a clear advantage," Ripken said. "It was so cold, in fact, that as the game dragged on, we actually started little fires in the dugout to keep warm."

By the 21st inning, the temperature had dipped to the low 40's. Less than 100 fans were still in attendance. That inning, Dave Huppert doubled in a run to give the Red Wings a 2-1 lead. But in the bottom of the inning, a Wade Boggs double scored Dave Koza to tie the score at 2.

"A lot of people were saying , 'Yeah, yeah, we tied it, we tied it!'" Boggs recalled. "And then they said, 'Oh, no, what did you do? We could have gone home!'"

Huppert and the other Rochester players were devastated. "We weren't thinking history at the time. We were thinking about getting some food and some sleep. I was starving, freezing and dog-tired."

Pawtucket manager Joe Morgan (not the Joe Morgan) was ejected in the 22nd for arguing a call. Wings reliever Jim Umbarger came on in the 23rd inning and threw 10 innings of shutout ball. Bruce Hurst, who was a major contributor for the 1986 Red Sox team that went to the World Series, closed out the morning with five shutout innings. "No, none of the players fell asleep," said Hurst. "We were just trying to stay warm. It was the coldest I've ever been in uniform."

The game should have stopped at 1 a.m. because the minor league curfew was at 1 in the morning. However, the umpire's rule books were missing that factoid, and the game went on regardless.

At 2 a.m., ushers started handing out free concessions to the few remaining fans. Sox pitcher Luis Aponte, who had already tossed four innings, was given permission by Morgan to go home. When he arrived at his house at around 3 a.m., his wife didn't believe his excuse. He slept on the couch that night and waited for the newspaper to arrive in the morning. "She finally believed me," he said. "But it wasn't easy."

Finally at 4:07 a.m., the game was halted after 32 innings and a tied score of 2-2. Pawtucket general manager Mike Tamburro had finally gotten through to International League President Harold Cooper, who had been at a wedding and didn't get home until 3. Said Hurst, "I heard that he said: 'You idiot, this is absurd. Call the game.'"

The game was suspended just four innings shy of a quadruple-header. Only 19 die-hard fans were still in the ballpark; PawSox owner Ben Mondor gave season tickets to each of them. When the ballgame resumed 65 days later on June 23rd, there was a buzz in McCoy Stadium like never before. The MLB players union was on strike, and the continuation of the longest game in baseball history was the big story of the day. A sellout crowd of 5,746 packed the ballpark; over 140 reporters were on hand and the game was televised on ESPN. "I remember they wanted us to play the continuation of the game at Fenway Park," said Boggs. "But we as players voted not to cross the [picket] line."

Ironically, the longest game in history ended in a blink of an eye. In the bottom of the 33rd, Steve Grilli (who was not with the Red Wings when they played in April) allowed the first three batters to reach base. Cliff Speck was brought in in relief. Dave Koza ended the marathon on a 2-2 curveball that he singled to left field. Marty Barrett high-fived Boggs as he crossed home plate, officially ending it in a 3-2 Red Sox win. The game had gone on for 8 hours and 25 minutes, though the 33rd inning only lasted 18.

"What it took them eight and a half hours to accomplish," Grilli bemoaned, "I undid in about two minutes."

"There were several of us who had bad weeks that game," joked Ripken. "Think about it, that game was like an entire series in itself. I was so happy when I got a single in the top of the 33rd because I knew all those stats were going to count after that game ended, and my average was going to take a big hit."

No player took a bigger hit than Wings outfielder Dallas Williams, who wound up with the worst hitting performance in baseball history. Williams finished 0-13 with no runs and no RBI. A pair of sacrifice bunts spared him from going 0-15. "(My batting average) went down about 15 points," Williams said. "I consider that day the worst day of my baseball life."

Box Score for the longest game

Read More...

2/22/2005 - John Chaney sends in the goon

John Chaney had an outstanding career coaching the Temple Owls. In his 33 years as a college basketball coach, Chaney racked up 741 wins and earned a spot in the Basketball Hall of Fame. He preached discipline and ethics, and cleanly recruited his athletes. He demanded 6 A.M. workouts so his players wouldn't miss classes. He built Temple's athletic program and was a pioneer in African American coaching.

Chaney's bane was that he was at times too emotional, and it often led to embarrassing outbursts. In 1984, he scuffled with George Washington coach Gerry Gimelstob and had be removed after clenching his hands around his neck. A decade later, he threatened to kill John Calipari at a post-game press conference. And in 2005, he was the catalyst to a final incident that eventually led to his ousting at Temple University, one that desecrated his prior teachings of morals and integrity.

The Owls were playing at home against St. Joseph's University. Chaney was steamed that the officials weren't calling "illegal screens" on any of St. Joe's players. In retaliation, Chaney sent 6'8'', 250-pound Nehemiah Ingram into the game to foul. Ingram was not a regular performer; the most he had played in a game was 10 minutes and he hadn't played in the last five games.

It only took four minutes for Ingram to foul out of the game. On his last foul, Ingram hammered John Bryant in mid-air as he attempted a layup, which sent the St. Joseph's alumn sprawling on the floor. Bryant was not able to attempt his free throws; he left the court clutching his right arm in pain and did not return.

Afterwards, Chaney was left to defend his actions. At first, the 73 year-old coach came off as unapologetic. "I'm a mean, ornery, son of a bitch," he said. "And when I see something wrong, I try to right it. I'm going to do the same thing they do to me. I'm going to send in what we did years ago - send in a goon. I'm from the old school, I try to play it right, but no more, no more."

A few days later, Chaney switched tune by apologizing for his actions and issuing himself a one-game suspension. However, the x-rays showed that Bryant had broken his arm, and would miss the rest of his senior season.

With that revelation, Temple -- who had come under fire for not reprimanding Chaney themselves -- suspended him for the remaining three games of the season. "Last week, my words and actions were wrong, wrong, wrong," said Chaney, who did not fight the suspension. "If it's the judgment of the school to suspend me, I can accept the responsibility of my actions."

When the Atlantic-10 tournament began, Chaney again suspended himself from coaching. “I never intended -- nor did any of my players intend -- for anyone to be injured, regardless of what may have been said emotionally before, during and after the game." "John Bryant is unable to play in the tournament because of the injury he sustained last week against Temple. Neither should I be able to coach.”

In the offseason, calls were made for Chaney to either resign or be fired. Even his supporters and admirers agreed that it was best for him to go; they didn't want to see him damage his legacy like Woody Hayes or Bobby Knight, but by that point, it was already too late.

Chaney stuck around for one more season before calling it quits, a decision which was made so he could tend to his ailing wife.

Goon-Gate Slideshow

Read More...

It's Brand or bust for less-interesting Warriors

That 2007 Warriors team was too talented for its own good. When they beat the Dallas Mavericks in the first round, Golden State had a starting lineup with five players capable of scoring 20 a game. But a team that talented is too hard to sustain. And a year later, J-Rich and Baron Davis are gone, and the Warriors appear to be near rebuilding.

The Warriors have offered Elton Brand a $100 million contract, about $30 million more than the Clippers are willing to give him. If Golden State wants to stay in the playoff hunt, they absolutely need to acquire Brand. Otherwise they're going to be dwarfed by ten or twelve other Western teams looking to make the postseason.

But even if the Warriors land Brand, which may even be an upgrade since Golden State is in desperate need of a bigman, the old run-and-gun Warriors are dead. This team was incredibly unique in how small they were at their peak. Point guard Monta Ellis was playing shooting guard, shooting guard Stephen Jackson was playing small forward, small forward Jason Richardson was playing power forward, and small forward Al Harrington was playing center.

With Davis gone, the balance of the Warriors' fast lineup falls apart. Ellis' game makes him better suited to be a shooting guard, but he's so small that without a big point guard like Davis in the rotation, Monta will almost certainly be the point guard. And with Monta at the point, and potentially (and hopefully for Warriors fans) Brand as the power forward, this team will become a slower, plotting team that isn't anywhere near as quick. Even if they stay competitive, the most exciting team in the NBA just got a lot less fun to watch. And that's if they land Brand -- if they don't, they might not be watchable at all.

Read More...