4/30/1993 - Seles stabbed in the back

Monica Seles was the biggest star in women's tennis. At 19, she had already become the top-ranked player in the world, and dominated the likes of Martina Navratilova, Jennifer Capriati, and Steffi Graf. Seles gained worldwide attention by grunting every time she hit the ball. While it was frowned upon in tennis circles, her popularity grew, and grunting became ubiquitous for female tennis players.

In April 1993, Seles was leading Magdalena Maleeva 6-4, 4-3 in a quarterfinal match in Hamburg, Germany. She was using the change-over period to rest when a 38 year-old lathe operator named Gunter Parche shifted out from the crowd. The man brandished a nine-inch boning knife and lodged it between Seles' shoulder blades. Monica yelped in pain and stumbled onto the court as nearby spectators wrestled the assailant to the ground.

Seles was carted out of the stadium and taken to the local hospital. The blade had gone half an inch into her back and was just centimeters away from potentially paralyzing her. It was a couple months before she was physically able to get back on the court, but it would be several years before she actually did so.

The perpetrator turned out to be an obsessed fan of fellow German Steffi Graf. Gunter Parche had spent the previous months stalking Graf while anonymously sending her gifts and money. His walls were plastered with photographs of her. When Seles surpassed Graf and became the number one woman on the tour, Parche considered suicide. He then decided to take matters into his own hands.

"I could not bear it that Monica Seles had driven Stefanie Graf from the No. 1 spot in the rankings," Parche said at the time. "No one should ever beat my Steffi." He testified that he was not trying to kill her, but that he wanted to incapacitate her so that Graf could return to being the best in the world.

"He got his wish: I didn't do anything wrong except be the No. 1, and now I'm being punished for it," Seles said in 1993. "I've lost the ranking, I'm missing the Grand Slams -- which kills me inside -- and for me, 1993 is over, gone. It's a lost year."

Six months later, Gunter's sentence was layed out in a Hamburg courtroom. In a shocking decision, Judge Elke Bosse awarded him a two-year suspended sentence, leaving him a free man with a mere two years of probation. Seles and the rest of the tennis world were stunned. Even Parche assumed he'd get fifteen years in jail. Bosse was sympathetic of his mental status and his intention to "only" maim her. She found his promise to never harm anyone again "absolutely believeable" and noted that the stabbing was "something that happens every day in St. Pauli."

Monica Seles was traumatized by the attack. She underwent psychiatric therapy and completely disappeared from the game. For two years, women's tennis was without its marquee attraction. After years of depression and seclusion, Monica finally returned to the circuit in 1995. In an unprecedented move, Seles was co-ranked No. 1 with Graf at the announcement of her return.

Seles enjoyed a short stint of success when she came back. Her first tournament was an impressive win in the Canadian Open, where she dominated Amanda Coetzer 6-1, 6-0 in the finals. In 1996, she won the Australian Open and stood alone at the top-ranked position. However she never regained the prominence she enjoyed prior to the stabbing. Seles would face Graf twice in the U.S. Open and lost in three sets both times.

In February 2008, after further years of inactivity due to injuries, Seles officially retired from competitive tennis. Though she still amassed a Hall of Fame career, who knows where she could have gone had her best years not been taken from her.

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1/03/2005 - The Angels get a new name

When Arte Moreno purchased the team in 2003, he instantly petitioned the Angels to be known as the "Los Angeles Angels" instead of the Anaheim Angels. The problem was that in order for the Angels to play in Anaheim, the "Anaheim" had to be in the name, which was more than fair since they were in Anaheim. Moreno needed a way to somehow abide by the contract to include "Anaheim" in the title while still being known as LA. The shrewd owner found his solution and it was instantly ridiculed.

On January 03, 2005, the Angels announced that they had officially changed their name to the "Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim," the stupidest name in the existence of sports. The city of Anaheim called BS and sued them to return to the "Anaheim Angels". However, because of the suffix "-of Anaheim" in the title, the Angels won the suit. Major League Baseball now refers to them as the LA Angels, as does ESPN, TBS, and FOX.

Though for whatever reason, the Angels don't refer to themselves as "LA". The "Los Angeles" is absent in their uniforms, merchandise, and promotional material. Instead the scoreboard, public address announcer, and home broadcasters refer to them simply as the Angels, even though they have legal tenure to call themselves "LA". Part of it could be that many of the people living in Orange County hate Los Angeles and don’t want to be reminded that they are technically rooting for an LA team.

For the sake of practicality, I still refer to the Angels as the "Anaheim Angels." Regardless of how dumb the team name is, Moreno has otherwise done a great job as owner. 2007 marked the fourth straight year that the Angels posted a winning record, and isn't that what really matters? Besides, at least he didn't call them the Mighty Ducks.

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Resilient Rockets still alive after win

The Houston Rockets may not beat the Utah Jazz, but their gritty win in Game 3 was enough to keep their season alive. It ensures them another home game, meaning they're one road win away from regaining control of the series.

Houston got their production from everybody last night. Rafer Alston scored 20 in his first game of the series, Battier had 12 points, Scola had 16, Mutombo had 7 rebounds, and Bobby Jackson had 8 off the bench. Carl Landry had a front tooth knocked out in the first half, but stayed in the game and produced 11 boards and the game-saving block in the closing seconds. And Tracy McGrady, who was blamed heavily after scoring just one 4th quarter point in the first two games, scored seven points in the final four minutes -- giving his team the decisive edge.

It's hard to feel optimistic about Houston when they still need another win against the league's best home team. But of the Jazz's five home losses, two have come against the Rockets. If Alston and T-Mac can outscore Boozer and Williams like they did in Game 3, they should have a puncher's chance.

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3/03/1972 - Hey Song reaches sports world

It was on this day in 1972 that sports history was shipped to record stores across the country. Gary Glitter released his self-titled album, Glitter, and with it came "Rock and Roll" parts 1 and 2, or the "Hey Song" as it was mostly referred to. The song's instrumental began receiving airtime throughout sports stadiums in the 1970's. With it's rhythmic clapping, one-syllable lyrics, and adrenaline-pumping ambiance, "Rock and Roll" was perfect for arenas packed with 50,000 screaming fans. Over time, the song became the most commonly played music in any sporting venue in the country, and wove its way into the fabric of sports music.

The song's airtime has been dwindling however since the turn of the century, thanks to Gary Glitter's sordid rap sheet. Glitter was arrested on child pornography charges in 1997 and 1999. Rumors of underage sex circled the performer for several years, and in 2005, he was sentenced to three years in jail for molesting an 11 and 12 year-old girl. His sex offender and pedophile label forced many teams to stop playing the song. In 2006, the NFL asked every team to remove the Hey Song from its playlist. The Denver Broncos, who were one of the first teams to adopt Glitter's tune, switched their touchdown celebration music to "Go Daddy-O" from Big Bad Voodoo Daddy (it was later changed).

Despite the baggage, the Hey Song can still be heard in a majority of sports arenas. Though it begs the question: if your favorite piece of art was painted by Adolf Hitler, is it still a good painting? Would you still hang it on the wall or would you want nothing to do with it?

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8/21/1998 - The andro in the locker

In the middle of Mark McGwire's historic 70-home run season, there was a shadow of a doubt that maybe McGwire wasn't hitting home runs the right way. The slugger was sitting on 50 home runs when AP writer Steve Wilstein happened to look inside his locker. Lying next to a can of Popeye spinach and a pack of sugarless gum was a brown bottle of androstenedione, a performance-enhancing supplement legal in baseball but banned in the NFL, NCAA, and Olympics.

''Everything I've done is natural,'' McGwire told the Associated Press. ''Everybody that I know in the game of baseball uses the same stuff I use.'' He did admit that the bottle was his and that he had used andro for a couple years.

Andro is a drug intended to increase the testosterone in men and women, but was not considered a steroid because it didn't directly increase muscles -- rather it was considered a pre-steroid or steroid precursor. Because it could be purchased over the counter and because Big Mac was to become the home run king, andro sales went through the roof. In 1999, sales rose 1000% with $50 million worth going on the market.

Later that year, McGwire announced that he had stopped taking androstenedione. "I thought long and hard about it and I don't like the way it was portrayed like I was the endorser of the product, which I wasn't," McGwire said. "I don't like how it's portrayed, but young kids take it because of me. I don't like that."

When people discuss the sports writers' culpability in the steroids era, this is one of the first things they bring up. McGwire's pursuit of Maris' record had everyone on such a high. It was setting television records, attendance records, baseball records--it was bringing the game back from the '94 strike. The last thing anyone wanted to hear was a controversy over a maybe-sort-of steroid that was perfectly legal. Tony La Rusa called it, "an invasion of privacy." Reporters and columnists attacked Wilstein for seeming to make an issue out of nothing. "The reaction was disappointing," Wilstein said.

Mark McGwire was called before Congress in 2005 to testify if he had ever used steroids. McGwire decided not to answer any questions, claiming that he didn't want to "talk about the past." From then on, McGwire was labeled a steroids user.

Looking back, it was naive to think that the 6'5, 250 pound McGwire wasn't taking the very best stuff in order to get stronger. Take Barry Bonds for instance: assuming all the allegations are true, Bonds not only took the "cream and the clear" during his professional career, he took Human Growth Hormone, amphetamines, creatin, Insulin, Winstrol, Stanozolol, Clomid, Deca-Durabolin, Norbolethone, andro, and Trenbolone (a drug originally intended to increase the the muscle quality of cattle). Then he would work out for four or five hours.

However the andro discovery was not a tip-off to McGwire's apparent steroid use. His legacy remained intact and people eventually forgot about the bottle in his locker. In April 2004, the sale and distribution of andro was outlawed in the United States for its health risks. Two months later it was banned in Major League Baseball, and those who take the drug are labeled a cheater.

The day it all started

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6/14/2007 - Spurs become unwatched dynasty

With a four-game sweep of the Cleveland Cavaliers, the San Antonio Spurs won their forth title in nine years. Most declared their period of dominance a dynasty while others argued that they never won in consecutive years and that the Lakers were clearly better for three straight years.

The 2007 Finals came in with absolutely zero momentum: there had been just two overtime playoff games and only a handful of close ones. When the ratings came back for the '07 Finals, it wasn't pretty. It scored a 6.2 in the Nielsen Ratings, making it the least watched Finals of all time. Three of the six lowest-rated Finals had involved the Spurs, including the worst two.

The San Antonio Spurs were a very methodical, slow, half-court team. They were easily the least flashy team in the league. Many analysts thought that people had a natural disposition against the Spurs and that that's why no one watched the Finals.

To me, the Spurs themselves weren't the most exciting team in the world to watch, but the problem wasn't that they were boring -- it was that the games they played tended to be boring. When they played high-paced teams like the Suns and Mavericks, the ratings were fine and the games were great. But when they played a similar half-court team such as the Pistons or Jazz, the games were gruesome to watch.

I never understood why people couldn't wrap their heads around why the '07 Finals got low ratings. The games were awful! It was a four-game sweep and the games weren't interesting! You can't expect to win primetime when the Spurs are leading a Finals game by 20. Same thing for when the Spurs played the Nets and Pistons in the Finals. Those series were ghastly, almost every game was a blowout. Since when do we expect people to watch programs that are bad? If the series was great and the ratings were still low, now that'd be a real surprise.

Some expected that LeBron James' presence alone would save the Finals. However, Bruce Bowen did such a stellar job defending him that James never had a breakout game or any particularly memorable plays.

Tentacoli was a 1977 Italian film about a killer octopus that ate beach-dwellers. This movie had a hell of a cast: John Huston, Shelley Winters, Bo Hopkins, Henry Fonda, and Claude Akins. The movie was utter garbage, and at the end of the day, people weren't asking themselves why the film was so bad. That's because while the cast was good, everyone knew that the film itself had to be awful. Same thing with the 2007 Finals. Yeah LeBron James draws numbers, but if the game (or movie) he's in is unwatchable, why would people watch it?

Of course, the other source of the dreadful ratings was ABC, whose NBA coverage was the equivalent of a Rabbi eating a pork sandwich next to the Wailing Wall. They half-assed their coverage to the extent that they didn't even bother removing the 'ESPN' logo in the scoreboard bug. If there is a definition for the word apathy, keeping the logo of a different channel on your network has to be it.

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Stern couldn't ask for a better regular season

The final two months of last year's NBA season went as poorly as humanly possible. There were only a pair of overtime games, the Suns were jipped out of the series, and the Spurs sweeped what was the lowest-rated Finals of all time. A month later, Tim Donaghy was charged with betting on games he officiated, while Kobe Bryant begged to escape from LA.

It was as bad a summer as the league had ever experienced. And yet look where it is now. The Celtics and Lakers are the favorites to meet in the Finals, Shaq is in the same division as Kobe, and the Western Conference race was as great as its ever been. Sure the Sonics are on their way out, but so is Isiah Thomas (barring divine intervention).

The NBA couldn't ask for a better season to follow last year's debacle. As long as the Pistons and Spurs don't meet in the Finals, ABC should have no problem gaining a respectable rating. Or at least, one would hope.

The lone obstacle in what used to be a double-digit rated Finals is ABC, who is covering less games than ever. (Assuming they don't land a Game 7) They are airing just four games out of the entire two-week first round. They are airing just three semi-final games and only one conference final game. Remember when NBC would air all but a few of the conference final games and how their ratings were really good? Well, ABC does the direct opposite and their ratings are really really bad. But then again, why should they care? June reruns of Ugly Betty and weekend paid programming are clearly more important than a Pistons-Celtics finals.

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10/22/2006 - The Gambler cheats

Detroit's only win in the 2006 World Series came in Game 2 when Kenny Rogers threw 8 innings of shutout ball, striking out five and allowing two hits. Suspicion arose after the game when enhanced images revealed a brown smudge located on Rogers' throwing hand. Rogers said it was merely a mixture of rosin and dirt. Major League Baseball bought it while the public wasn't so gullible. Photographs of previous games he had pitched in also showed the same brown smudge, as seen here and here.

The substance Rogers was using is a matter of debate, but there's no question he was doctoring the baseball. Pitchers are extremely fastidious with what is on their throwing hand; there's no way a 200-win pitcher such as Rogers would allow dirt to interfere with his pitching, let alone on three separate games. Gamesmanship cheating is as old as baseball itself and isn't loathed the way steroids are. Still, it's hard to appreciate the 8 scoreless innings when you know it wasn't done genuinely.

The Dirt on Kenny Rogers

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Bad losses kept Warriors from playoffs

There are several reasons why the Warriors missed the playoffs despite winning nearly 50 games. Trading 20-point scorer Jason Richardson for a rookie who hardly played at all is one factor, the injuries and suspensions of Mickael Pietrus and Stephen Jackson are another, as is the vanishing of Matt Barnes and the overload of minutes given to the starters.

But what really cost Golden State was the bad losses they suffered to extremely beatable teams. The following is a list of games that got away from them, games that if won would've had the Dubs in the postseason:

December 3: vs. Orlando - the Warriors blow a three-point lead with 18 seconds left, thanks to four Magic free throws and a missed freebie by Monta Ellis. Baron Davis fouls out in the closing seconds of regulation, leaving GS without their best player in the overtime period. Orlando wins 123-117 in OT, ending the Warriors' six-game winning streak.

December 22: @ New Jersey - After trailing for much of the game, Golden State takes a 95-92 lead with 3:12 remaining in the 4th. They finished the game missing their final six shots and turning it over three times. The Nets won 100-95.

January 16: @ Indiana - Meltdown city Indiana. The Warriors set a record with 12 steals in the first quarter, and made the Pacers look like a Division III team. The held a 17-point lead late in the 3rd quarter and led by 14 coming into the 4th. Then... disaster. The scrubs the Warriors traded the year before staged a furious comeback. The Pacers scored 46 in the final period and won the game by 8. Nat Thurman was rolling over in his grave.

January 21: vs. Minnesota - Maybe the worst loss of the year. The T'Wolves carried a 16-game road-losing streak and had the worst record in the league. But Ryan Gomes had a career-high 35 points and McCants and Telfair chipped in with 15 apiece. Matt Barnes' best game of the year goes for naught, as he is taken out in the closing minutes for D-League call-up C.J. Watson. Baron Davis misses a last-second layup and Minnesota wins 109-108.

February 7: vs. Chicago - Chris Webber's second stint in Oakland begins with a whimper. The Bulls were without Luol Deng, Kirk Henrich, AND Ben Gordon. Without any primary scorers, Chicago gets by with 27 from Joe Smith and 25 from Chris Duhon. Chicago wins 114-108.

February 22: vs. Atlanta - Two days after beating the Celtics without Stephen Jackson, the W's struggled with him and Andris Biedrins out of the lineup. Pietrus went scoreless in 26 minutes, Webber scored 4, and Harrington was 0-7 from three-point range. Not even 33 bench points and 61 from Davis and Ellis were enough to stop Atlanta; the Hawks won 117-110.

March 5: @ Charlotte - The Warriors score 38 in the first quarter and appear well on their way to an easy win. However, ex-Warrior Jason Richardson scores 42 points for Charlotte. The Bobcats finish the game on a 13-3 run, and the Warriors lose to the lowly Bobcats 118-109.

March 18: @ Sacramento - Monta Ellis went 3-9, Harrington went 3-9, Jackson went 3-15, and the Warriors got hammered by a team they beat three times. Kevin Martin scored 34, Ron Artest scored 26, and the Kings won 122-105.

The Warriors had a really tough April schedule, and relinquished their playoff spot after losing to Denver on April 10th. Iverson, Anthony, and J.R. Smith combined for 82 points, and the Warriors lack of defense cost them again. A subsequent loss in Phoenix gave Denver the #8 seed.

Oh, and none of this "Golden State should be in because they're better than Atlanta" crap. They're the 9th best team in the West, that's the breaks. They had plenty of chances, as the list above demonstrates. The Browns won more games than the Redskins last year, they didn't get in. The Tigers won more than the Cubs, they didn't get in. Hillary Clinton is a major presidential candidate, she might not even get out of the primaries.

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11/23/1991 - Hello Heisman

Desmond Howard was well on his way to winning the Heisman when his Michigan team faced arch-rival Ohio State. Michigan crushed the Buckeyes 31-3 and Howard notched another achievement with a 93-yard punt return. On the play, he eluded defenders and was by himself as he entered the end zone. In perfect harmony with Keith Jackson's call of "Hello Heisman," Howard struck a perfect pose of the Heisman trophy.

The national spotlight elevated his campaign and he'd eventually win with 85% of the votes, a record at the time. Howard's NFL career didn't quite live up to his collegial tenure; his best moment came in Super Bowl XXXI when he was the MVP.

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The D-Backs are really good

Last year, the Arizona Diamondbacks were the most inexplicable team in all of baseball. They somehow made it all the way to the NLCS, even though they didn't have a single .300 hitter; their regular season opponents actually outscored them; and that young talent that everyone said they had, well they all had horrendous batting averages (Chris Snyder: .252, Stephen Drew: .238, Chris Young: .231, Scott Hairston: .222, Carlos Quentin: .214, Justin Upton: .221).

Last year, they may have been the flukiest team to ever get to second round of the playoffs. This year, they're a serious contender. Brandon Webb, Dan Haren, and Micah Owings are 7-0. If Randy Johnson can shed his back problems, and Doug Davis can return from cancer treatment, this team will have an awesome pitching rotation. Thus far, their hitting has been even better. Young, Upton, and Reynolds are all at the top of the NL in homers, RBI, and hits. Upton is a star in the making: he's only 20 and he already looks like the best hitter on the team.

If the D-backs made it to the NLCS last year with mediocre hitting and so-so pitching, who knows how far they could go with a superior team this year.

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7/14/1970 - Rose barrels over Fosse

The 1970 All-Star Game featured one of the most memorable bang-bang plays in baseball history. With the score tied at 4 with two outs in the bottom of the 12th, Pete Rose was on second base when John Hickman came to the plate. Hickman lined a single to center field and Rose made the turn for home. Amos Otis made a strong throw to catcher Ray Fosse who was blocking the plate. Rose slammed head-first into Fosse and pried the ball loose. As Fosse hunched over in pain, Rose touched home plate to give the NL the win.

Fosse was never the same after the play. The collision separated his left shoulder and in the era of one-year contracts, Fosse never gave it enough time to heal. "I still feel it,'' Fosse said in 1999. "From time to time, I wake up and it's killing me.''

Some praised Rose for his determination to win the game, while others considered taking out the catcher exuberant for an All-Star Game. "I just want to get to that plate as quickly as I can," Rose said. "Besides, nobody told me they changed it to girls' softball between third and home."

"Probably the thing that was most upsetting is he was quoted as saying that he did it intentionally," Fosse said "I would like to think it just happened, it was a clean, aggressive play. The quote was basically, 'If I didn't hit him the way I did, I couldn't talk to my father afterward.' When I initially saw the replay, I thought he was going to slide. Then I read where he said he did it on purpose. I don't know.''

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10/30/2001 - MJ returns in a Wizards jersey

Three and a half years after calling it quits, Michael Jordan returned to the court in a Washington Wizards jersey. The ex-Bull retired at the capable age of 35, and had shaken off thoughts of a comeback for three years. Jordan consistently noted that the odds of him staying retired were at 99.9 percent, and answered questions on coming back every single day.

In 2000, Jordan became the president of the Wizards and assumed control of their day-to-day operations. "It is a new challenge. I don't get to play. I don't get to wear a Wizards' uniform," Jordan said in a news conference. "But I will have influence with the players who wear the uniform...I'm going to try to have my imprint and footprints all over this place."

In 2001, the Wizards hired Doug Collins -- who coached Jordan in Chicago before Phil Jackson -- to coach the team. Reports surfaced that Jordan was working out and was trying to lose weight. His comeback was all but assured, and sure enough he announced his return to the league on September 26, 2001.

Jordan's immense popularity should have gravitated word of his return to a national scale, like it had when he first came back in 1995. But the country was concentrated on the recent attacks of the World Trade Center and Pentagon, and his comeback flew under the radar. Making matters worse, Jordan's debut game on October 30th had to compete with game 3 of the World Series, which had been pushed back due to the attacks.

So while George W. Bush prepared to deliver the first pitch in Yankee Stadium, Jordan was lacing it up in Madison Square Garden, where many of his finest moments had occurred. A packed house watched as 38 year-old Michael Jordan went 7-21, scoring 19 points in a 93-91 loss to the Knicks. He missed a crucial three with 18 seconds left that would've tied the game and redeemed what was an overall lackluster debut.

''I guess the biggest difference is I'm a little bit older than I was the last time I shot the ball,'' Jordan said with a smile. ''My game's a little bit different. My teammates are a little bit different. Obviously, the outcome tonight was a little different than I wanted.''

Jordan spent two whole seasons on the Wizards roster and, by many accounts, tarnished the legacy that he had built in Chicago. However, there was just as much good as there was bad.

He turned the Wizards, who won only 19 games in 2001, into a 37-win team in 2002 and 2003. He breathed life into a bottom-dwelling franchise that had been irrelevant since the late 70's. The Wizards sold out every home game and led the NBA in attendance in his two years with the team.

In his first year, Jordan had the team above .500 midway through the season and was considered a serious MVP candidate. Then injuries took over and he was forced to end his season early. The "air" part of Jordan's game had left him and he was reduced to a jump shooter, albeit a great one for someone his age.

In the 02-03 season, Jordan surrounded himself with a rather odd cast of characters. Bryon Russell, who was forever posterized by Jordan in the '98 Finals, joined the team and played 70 games. Charles Oakley, who was MJ's teammate all the way back in 1985, added his name to the roster. Also joining the team was Jerry Stackhouse, who once bragged about besting Jordan in practices and was then schooled by Jordan when they next played each other.

Jordan turned 40 that year and became the first ever to score 40 or 50 in a game at that age. He became just the third player in NBA history to reach 30,000 career points and averaged over 20 points per game in both seasons in Washington.

However, many of his moves in the front office had adverse results. His decision to draft Kwame Brown with the number one pick is considered one of the worst selections in league history. In acquiring Stackhouse, Michael traded Richard Hamilton, who went on to become a star with the Detroit Pistons.

His comeback also took a bite out of many of his statistical accomplishments. In his thirteen years with the Chicago Bulls, Jordan scored under double-digits just one time and scored in double-digits in 842 consecutive games. In Washington, Jordan scored in single-digits a dozen times and lowered his career low from eight points to two points. Taking a huge hit was his regular season scoring average. After his years with the Bulls, Jordan's career scoring average was 31.5, a solid gap over Wilt Chamberlain's 30.1 PPG. Yet, Jordan's twenty-point pace with the Wizards nearly cost him the record, as it dipped all the way down to 30.12 a game.

The biggest dent that the comeback took out of his legacy was the way it ended. Jordan had finished his storybook career on the game-winning shot over Bryon Russell in Game 6 of the Finals. It was the perfect ending, and his stint with the Wizards replaced it with a weaker (but still affectionate) one in Philadelphia. In a 107-87 loss to the Sixers, the crowd chanted "We want Mike! We want Mike!" in the 4th quarter, with Jordan resting on the bench. Collins pleaded with him to go in and he eventually did, much to the approval of the fans. Eric Snow immediately fouled Jordan, as requested by 76ers coach Larry Brown. Jordan's final, final, final shot was a made free throw.



At the end of the day, I disagree with most sportswriters that his comeback was a bust. He played better at 40 than anyone else in history and had the Wizards on national television every other week. His legacy remains the same because he didn't do anything to ruin his image. Isiah Thomas on the other hand, now there's someone who has tarnished his image.

In the offseason, Abe Pollin abruptly fired a stunned Jordan, who assumed he would maintain control of the team. Jordan has since became part-owner of the Charlotte Bobcats, and is still searching for the success he achieved on the court to translate to the front office.

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Optimism is a two-way street

The Detroit Tigers have easily the most formidable lineup in all of baseball (Curtis Granderson, Placido Polanco, Gary Sheffield, Magglio Ordonez, Miguel Cabrera, Edgar Renteria, Ivan Rodriguez, and Carlos Guillen). But they're dead last in the standings. Coming into Wednesday, Detroit is 0-7 and five games behind the White Sox in the AL Central. No team has ever made the playoffs after starting 0-7.

On one hand, I have every reason to believe that Detroit will dig themselves out of the bog they're in. They have 155 games to make up 5 games. In 2006, the Twins made up a 12.5 game deficit with 114 games to go and won the division. And the Yankees had a bad stretch at the beginning of last year too, so there's no reason for a team with a lineup this great to worry.

However... the Miami Heat are a reminder that that optimism isn't always valid. Remember at the beginning of the year, Shaq was talking about the Heat turning it around and flipping that proverbial switch. Well it never happened, and they really were the worst team in the NBA. The Tigers are from that, but in a division with the White Sox, Indians, and Royals (who are off to their best start in forever), it's not surreal to think they could miss the playoffs. It's just unlikely.

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I'm skeptical of the 'Alexa Rodriguez' story

A couple days ago, a hawk swooped down and grazed the face of a girl at Fenway Park. The girl was fine, and the hawk's nest was removed. What makes the story interesting is that the girl's name is "Alexa Rodriguez," which is eerily similar to Yankee-fiend Alex Rodriguez, and she is 13 years old, 13 being A-Rod's number. Was the hawk carrying out some sort of Red Sox Nation duty by attacking the Yankee-sound-alike, or was it just an amazing coincidence?

The improbable odds of this story happening make me think the story is fabricated in some way. Call me crazy, but it's just too unlikely.

First of all, what are the odds that the Boston Globe photographer was taking photos of the girl before the attack actually happened? As you can tell from this link, there's a photo of them sort of sitting there with the bird in frame before the bird even cuts her. Then there's her name and age similarities; it's just too much for me believe. I bet what really happened was the Globe took notice of Rays' phenom "Evan Longoria," and how he almost sounds like Eva Longoria. Then they were handed this so-so hawk story, and they decided to play up the girl's name. But hey, that's just me.

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7/04/2007 - Chestnut restores American values

Can competitive eating be considered a sport? That depends- when you see a 400-pound guy riding in one of those scooters at the mall, do you say "Damn, that guy is athletic"? For most of us the answer is no. So then why do we get behind the Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest? Easy: because it's the most American thing we've got. We watch fellow Americans gorge themselves on the most American of foods, hot dogs, and the winner gets to be draped in the American flag.

But a dark storm had fallen on this illustrious competition. An outsider from the land of the rising sun named Takeru Kobayashi had stolen the championship mantle away from America for six consecutive years. We had already suffered defeats in the World Baseball Classic, basketball championships, and Winter Olympics, now we were losing in an eating contest. If the fattest country in the world couldn't produce a single person to out-eat a skinny Japanese guy, what hope did we have for humanity?

Luckily for us, an apply-named man named Joey Chestnut rose to the occasion. He had recently broken Kobayashi's world-record with 59.5 hot dogs during the Nathan's qualifier. Chestnut had eaten 52 hot dogs the previous two Nathans competitions and many were thinking that this was his year. The Chestnut bandwagon got even bigger on June 25th when Kobayashi announced that he had an arthritic jaw. The severity of his injury was to be disputed, as Kobayashi showed up on July 4th in top form.

The two combatants battled until the very end; both eclipsed the previous hot dog eating record with minutes to go. With 12 seconds left, the score was knotted 62-62. Chestnut and Kobayashi tried to cram in as much mush as their mouths would allow. Kobayashi, desperately trying to cling to his hot dog dynasty, vomited when his esophagus couldn't handle anymore. In one of the grossest moments in television history, Kobayashi tried to corral the puke still in his hands back into his mouth. ESPN decided to edit the "reversal" (as it’s referred to in hot dog terms) out of the competition's replays.

When the scorers came back from deliberation, they confirmed the hopes and dreams of millions of kids: Chestnut had won, 66-63. Kobayashi was gracious in his defeat to the new champion. In fairness, Kobayashi should still be considered the superior eater -- he did win six times after all.

ESPN didn't cover the Hot Dog Eating Contest in a Snakes On A Plane haha-it's-stupid-but-we’re-rolling-with-it way. No, they were treating this heavy. It led off SportsCenter and analysts were brought on to dissect Chestnut's eating performance. The play-by-play announcer took it more seriously than anyone, producing some wonderful quotes during the telecast:

"This will be the greatest moment in the history of American sports."
"This…this could be what this country needs to get back on the right track: the yellow belt coming home to America."
My favorite though: "If he can hang on, google 'hero' tomorrow -- you're going to get Abe Lincoln, Neil Armstrong, Taylor Hicks, and Joey Chestnut."

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Denver loses back-to-back; we can believe again

That extra loss that Golden State needed from Denver in order to get into the playoffs? Well they got it. Marcus Camby is a great defensive player, but his impact on the team clearly isn't that big. Last night, Denver lost 151-147 in double overtime... to the Sonics! Kevin Durant: 37 points, Luke Ridnour: 19 points, Earl Watson: 16 points, Nick Collison: 19 points, Jeff Green: 14-21 with 35 points.

If the Nuggets don't make the playoffs, I don't want to hear any complaining that "Denver should be in because they'd have home court if they were in the East." That's no excuse. This team just played a back-to-back with the 36-win Kings and the 18-win Sonics. If they win both those games, they're ahead of the Warriors by two games with the tiebreaker, with five games to play. If this team can't handle Jeff Green and Mikki Moore, how are they going to stop Kobe Bryant and Pau Gasol?

Now for the Warriors, they really need Mickael Pietrus back. The whole reason they went out and signed Chris Webber was because this team has no depth at all. Pietrus was playing great before getting injured, and without him the W's have pretty much become the Phoenix Suns. Against the Hornets, Golden State only played six people. That's not enough bodies to make it through April.

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Nuggets loss to Kings gives Warriors a chance

With the Jason Richardson-less, Matt Barnes-less, Mickael Pietrus-less, Warriors playing in New Orleans today, Denver had a real opportunity to gain some breathing room in the Western Conference. They hold the tiebreaker over #9 Golden State, and a win over the Kings would've given them a 1-game advantage with six games to play.

However they lost last night, 118-115, and it might be all the Warriors need to break into the playoffs. Carmelo Anthony scored 47 points and the Nuggets finished with 100+ points for the seventeenth consecutive game. But this team can't stop anybody, and I mean anybody. They allowed Francisco Garcia, Mikki Moore, and Kevin Martin to score 88 points. Ron Artest and Brad Miller weren't even playing and they still lost.

The Nuggets final six games are in Seattle, at the Clippers, at Golden State, at Utah, versus Houston, and versus Memphis. Now let's say they don't beat the Warriors, and they don't beat Utah, and they beat everyone else: they finish 50-32.

The Warriors final six games are in New Orleans, against Sacramento, against the Nuggets, against the Clippers, in Phoenix, and versus Seattle. If they lose their two road games against Phoenix and New Orleans, they finish 50-32.

Because the Warriors division record isn't as good as Denver's, the Nuggets hold the tiebreak. If the Warriors are going to get in, they need to either exceed 50 wins or hope Denver falters somewhere and finishes with 49. Last year, the Clippers lost late in the season to Sacramento and it gave the Warriors the advantage in the standings to make the playoffs. Golden State will need that fortune again if they hope to get in.

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1/18/2006 - Davis enters crowd to protect wife

When the New York Knicks visited the Chicago Bulls in January 2006, the hype was centered on Eddy Curry's return to the Windy City. After the game, all anyone could talk about was Antonio Davis.

During a timeout break in the final minutes of the game, the Knicks forward climbed over the scorers' table and into the stands of the United Center. Davis walked ten rows up before reaching the area where his wife, Kendra, and two kids were sitting. The intermission was extended as a crowd of gawkers, officials, and security surrounded the area. Davis did not take a swing or do anything at all hostile. He shortly returned to the court and was automatically ejected for entering the stands.

"I witnessed my wife being threatened by a man that I learned later to be intoxicated," Davis stated in a written statement. "I saw him touch her, and I know I should not have acted the way I did, but I would have felt terrible if I didn't react. There was no time to call security. It happened too quickly."

Antonio made headlines because the NBA was only a year past the Pacers-Pistons brawl, where Ron Artest stormed into the stands to beat up a fan. In fact, Davis entered the seats on the same day that five Pacers involved in that brawl were sentenced to a year of probation.

Davis was suspended five games, which was a lighter punishment than it would have been for almost any other player. Davis was president of the NBA players' union and had built a crystal clear reputation. Some sportswriters thought it was reckless to jump into the seating area like that, however most thought it was admirable for him to have his wife's well being in mind.

The spectator in question was 22 year-old Michael Axelrod (the bald man in the leather jacket at the top of the photo), who happened to be the son of David Axelrod, who was an a consultant for Barack Obama's 2008 presidential campaign. Michael was involved in an argument with Kendra Davis that led to Antonio's cameo in the stands. He contended that he was not drunk at the time and that Kendra had been the instigator.

Michael claimed that Mrs. Davis came over to his seat after he loudly booed a call against the Bulls. She allegedly yelled, "Shut your goddamn mouth!" and began to harass him and scratch his face. Other fans hollered for her to sit down and she started to yell at another fan. Axelrod then motioned for security to come and defuse the situation. "I started trying to wave more security down, then I turned around and Antonio Davis was standing right there."

Axelrod's claim appeared to be entirely accurate. Footage showing Kendra approaching his seat and him waving for security was unearthed. One fan close to the action gave the same account and said that Kendra had done all the drinking. Other spectators agreed that if anyone was the aggressor, it was her. Davis lacked credibility in the matter, as she once engaged in a shouting match with Latrell Sprewell back in 2001.

Axelrod threatened to sue for $1 million, but eventually met with the Davises and came to an agreement (which is easier to do when your dad is a renowned political strategist). The whole crowd-entering thing totally overshadowed what was a really crazy basketball game. Besides Davis, there were a pair of ejections, a game-tying three and a game-winning shot in overtime. (So if you have the game, get on it).

Kendra Davis' Alternate Reality

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9/27/1996 - Alomar spits at Hirschbeck

Roberto Alomar is expected to be voted into the Hall of Fame in 2010. Over the course of his 17-year career, Alomar established himself as the best second baseman in baseball. He won 10 gold gloves, recorded 2724 hits, stole 474 bases, and was a 12-time All-Star. If he isn't voted in, it will be because of the lingering memories of one transgression he committed in 1996 -- an error that if not for a few labor agreements could've cancelled that year's postseason.

It was the first inning and his Baltimore Orioles were playing in Toronto. Umpire John Hirschbeck struck out Roberto on a called third strike. Alomar went ballistic, firing a series of brutal insults before manager Davey Johnson could interfere. Alomar, who was ejected by that point, suddenly spit right at Hirschbeck's face, prompting further bickering before the second baseman could be hauled away.

Alomar later said he was prompted to spit on Hirschbeck when the ump began using racial insults, particularly one about his mother. Hirschbeck denied this claim, saying that if he used any vulgar language it was after he was spit on, not before. Davey Johnson never divulged what he heard at home plate, only saying, ''I think they're both guilty."

Alomar instantly became a media pariah for spitting at an authority figure. His post-game comments incited even more criticism. ''I used to respect him a lot. He had a problem with his family when his son died -- I know that's something real tough in life -- but after that he just changed, personality-wise. He just got real bitter.''

Hirschbeck's eight-year old son, John Drew, died in 1993 from ALD, a rare condition that causes inflammation of the brain. His nine-year old son, Michael, was diagnosed with the same inflection. When Hirschbeck got wind of Alomar's comments the next day, he rushed into the Oriole's clubhouse shouting that he wanted to "kill" him. The other umpires had to race in and restrain him.

AL President Gene Budig suspended Alomar for five games, but Roberto appealed the suspension and was allowed to play in his team's final two regular season games. Hirschbeck took the next day off and watched in dismay as Alomar hit the game-winning home run in the tenth inning, officially giving Baltimore their first playoff berth in a dozen years.

Following the regular season, the umpires' union threatened to strike. They were outraged by the paltry suspension Alomar had received, that he would be payed for all five games, and that his suspension wouldn't go into affect until next April. The Orioles' first divisional playoff game against the Indians was delayed seventeen minutes because the umpires refused to take the field. Alomar then dropped his appeal.

Major League Baseball, fearing that a strike could cancel the World Series for the second time in three years, sought an injunction from a federal judge. Judge Edmund Ludwig ruled that the umpires could not strike because it would violate the labor agreement they signed with MLB in May of 1995.

Baltimore beat the Indians in four games and faced the New York Yankees in the next round. Alomar had been ferociously booed by the fans in Toronto and Cleveland. New York mayor Rudy Giuliani pleaded the Yankee faithful to not boo Alomar, but to instead give him in the silent treatment. It didn't work. In the end, karma caught up with Alomar and the Orioles, as 12-year old Jeffrey Maier had a hand in defeating Baltimore four games to one.

Alomar apologized to Hirschbeck that October, and the two have since reconciled their differences. When they faced each other for the first time since the spitting incident, Alomar shook hands with Hirschbeck. The two now claim each other as friends. Michael Hirschbeck was a batboy with the Indians during Alomar's three-year stint with Cleveland, and Alomar has donated money to Hirschbeck's foundation dedicated to fighting ALD.

"If that's the worst thing Robbie ever does in his life, he'll lead a real good life," Hirschbeck said. "People make mistakes. You forgive, you forget and you move on."

Alomar, Hirschbeck now good friends 4 years later
Umpire's Rage, Father's Fight

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Get rid of rain postponements

A lot of the rules in Major League Baseball don't make a lot of sense. For instance if a catcher picked up a ground ball with his equipment, the runners would advance three bases. That seems pretty arbitrary considering the catcher could literally vault the ball into the stands and hit someone, yet he would only get ejected.

Likewise, they have these things in baseball called "rain postponements." Normally if something happens in the middle of a game that forces it to be postponed -- like the lights burning out -- the game picks up a couple days or weeks later at the same spot in the game.

Not with rain though. If a game stops in the third inning because it's raining, the game is replayed from the beginning. Every stat or moment that happened in those three innings is gone. On March 31, Albert Pujols hit a home run in the second inning against the Rockies (pictured above). In the bottom of the third, the Cards were leading 5-1 when the game came to a close. Pujols' home run and the Cards' five runs never existed because it was rained out. The game will have to be completely replayed.

How disingenuous is it to sell tickets to a game that people show up for that winds up never even existing. What about the players? What if at the end of the year, Pujols comes within one RBI of leading the National League. It's not his fault that the rain occurred. Why do his stats, the ones that happened when the game wasn't raining, have to be washed away?

This isn't college football. When I see a home run, I expect it to be in the box score the next day.

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8/23/2007 - Rangers score 30 runs

The most uncompetitive, lopsided game in the history of modern baseball was historically worth watching. The Texas Rangers piled 30 runs in the first game of a double-header against the Baltimore Orioles. It was the most runs ever by an American League team and was the first time in 110 years that a team put 30 on the scoreboard. The previous ocassion: June 29, 1897, when the Chicago Colts (who'd later become the Cubs) clobbered the Louisville Colonels 36-7.

No one watching the first part of this game could've dreamed that that many runs would be scored. Through three innings the Rangers trailed 3-0; they had only scored 5 coming into the sixth and would only score in four innings. A 9-run sixth followed by a 10-run eighth and 6-run ninth added up to the largest margin of victory since that Colts-Colonels game.

Texas' 29 hits were a modern record as well. They had already broken the modern mark for double-header runs before the second game even started (they would score 9 more in the second game). They hit two grand slams, they hit six home runs, and every batter got a hit. The number eight and nine hitters both went 4-6 with 7 RBI apiece. The amazing thing was that the Rangers weren't even a good offensive team. Their previous two games: 2 runs, 30 strikeouts.

Obviously there were a plethora of milestones and tidbits to come from this game, but three in particular stand out. Orioles interim manager Dave Trembley was given an extension prior to the game. Baltimore's AL rank in ERA went from 7th to 11th in one game. And finally, there was a save. In a 27-run game. Wes "trivia question" Littleton pitched the final three innings to secure the biggest blowout in 110 years.

Rangers 30, Orioles 3: Inside the numbers

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