Dolphins wide receiver Brandon Marshall took umbrage to comments made on the NFL Network about his supposed lack of effort at the end of last week's Sunday Night Football loss to the Jets. He said that one of his criticizers, Sterling Sharpe was not an elite player or a Hall of Famer. Clearly Marshall is ill informed about how good Sharpe was before injuries forced him out of the league. If only Dennis Hopper were around, he could let Marshall know about the freight train. It is inexcusable for players now to not know recent history of the game or even distant history. Pick up your iPhone, Droid, Blackberry, or what have you and google the name, stats, and career of a man before you go and insult him. Information is now more readily available to us than at any other time in our current age of civilization yet the stupidity to generalize about it remains ever present. It also never hurts to reminisce about these great Hopper NFL/referee commercials. I don't know where Hopper is now that he's no longer with us, but wherever he is I do know he's not getting caught watching the paint dry.
Friday, October 1
It's a Sometimes You Forget Friday
Tuesday, July 20
Sometimes You Forget: Shawn Kemp
When people say Shawn Kemp's name nowadays the image of a bloated, substance-abusing, reproducing man with legal troubles is what comes to mind. However, I prefer to think of Shawn in his glory days, as the Reign Man in Seattle. Sadly, much like the NBA in Seattle, Shawn has faded away. As is our duty now and then, we remind you of something in the sports world you may have forgotten. This is what Shawn was at his best:
Fitting that the video was set to another Seattle 90s mainstay, Pearl Jam. Shawn had a LeBron James physique. He was 6'10", 240 pounds at his peak and his athletic ability was off the charts. It allowed him to be able to handle the ball coast to coast, block balls way above the rim, and dunk with absolute ferocity. I have stated before I believe Dominique to be the best in-game dunker of all-time and I believe Shawn is right behind him. He finished second to Dee Brown in the 1991 Dunk Contest because Brown wowed everyone by pumping up his Reeboks. Kemp did a dunk from one step inside the free-throw line with his leg cocked up almost touching his elbow and only got a 48. Kemp won that contest. Kemp would regularly dangle from the rim like he was hanging from a chandelier after being lobbed a pass from Gary Payton that either originated 5 feet away or the halfcourt line. His dunks had an attitude, you could hear the rim wail in pain when he threw it down, as poor Arnold Lister found out in number 1 in the below top ten.
Shawn's performance in the Sonic years was not only solid during the season (around 17.5 and 10) but he played even better in the playoffs. The Sonics had many crushing playoff defeats during their impressive run but rarely could the brunt of that be laid on Kemp. In 1996, the 64-win Sonics made the Finals, but unfortunately ran into the 72-win Chicago Bulls that are the often considered the greatest team of all-time. The Sonics pushed the Bulls to 6 games but could not do the impossible. Kemp averaged 23.3 points per game and was in double figure in rebounds 4 of the 6 games. Kemp even had a nice present for Scottie Pippen.
After the luster of the Finals wore off, Kemp was discouraged by his paltry salary compared to other perennial All-Stars. When Jim McIlvaine is making more than you, it gets under your skin. Kemp of course handled it in the manner of a man who lived on the edge and was about to fall off it: he refused to play. He was traded to the Cavs in their era of the blue and black swirley uniforms. Kemp averaged 18.7, 20.5, 17.8 in his three seasons in Cleveland but his problems were beginning to mount. It was beginning of the end. Yet like a woman who was smoking in her 20s and loses her looks in her 30s due to body neglect, late-night partying, child births, and the slow decline of the genetic amino acid sequences, I prefer to look upon Shawn as his days of glory.
Thursday, April 29
Sometimes You Forget: GUTS
Nickelodeon was a refuge for many adolescents such as myself in the early 1990s. The network produced outstanding programming during that era: Pete and Pete, Salute your Shorts, Ren and Stimpy, and many more. While some of its shows had athletic themes to it, the creation of GUTS in 1992 was the first Nick show centered around athletic competition. Double Dare had physical challenges but was more about trivia and making a mess (neither of which is a bad thing), Finders Keepers was not phyisically demanding enough, Nick Arcade was more about video games and mastering a green screen and Legends of the Hidden Temple was athletically challenging but also included a history lesson from a large caricature of an Aztec statue.
GUTS was based on the premise that you could take awkward young teens and make them perform athletic stunts that were awesome in theory yet rarely rewarded the viewer with the artful display of biomechanics. Still many impressionable young minds tuned in and dreamed of having a chance to compete in the Extreme Arena and take home a glowing piece of the Aggro Crag.
Mike and Mo
The host was Mike O'Malley. His Wikipedia page lets you know he is of Irish decent. If you needed further confirmation on that his kids' names are Fiona, Seamus, and Declan. It also states that this was O'Malley's first big break into television. After GUTS he had his spot as "The Rick", a hapless Boston sports enthusiast. Unfortunately I could not find the classic "They're not dolls, they're figurines" spot. Bear in mind this was the late 1990s, when Boston had no attained the level of annoying unbearable persona that enjoy now. Up until this point, they were hokey annoying fans that had teams that they claimed never won anything, even though their teams had enjoyed success in the past. Speaking of late 90s ESPN cartoons involving Boston, how great was the Cam Neely spot for when ESPN News first came out.
O'Malley did the job well as host, injecting enthusiasm and doing his best to create drama within the events. At some points his narration of the action in the arena rose to Gus Johnsonsian levels. Mike never broke character, even when a kid failed horribly, he never put the kid down or gave an indication to the audience that it was a pathetic display of non-athleticism. It's amazing considering his work after GUTS was almost all based on his low-key sarcastic humor. He had his longest run in the sitcom Yes,Dear which I have never seen. Lately I see him in commercials for Time-Warner Cable. His character in the commercials resemble what the Rick would be like if he grew up, got married, and moved out of his small apartment.
Next we have the indelible Moira Quirk. Affectionately(?) known as "Mo", she was co-host and "official" for the show. I put official in quotations because she really did not do any officiating for the show. The only thing that remotely made her resemble an official was the striped shirt she donned faithfully each episode. She did not rule on any of the events, just a conduit of information. While O'Malley used the standard hand-held microphone Mo was on the cutting edge of technology, utilizing the Madonna-style head microphone. I'm guessing that Mo was hired more for her voice than anything, not that she was hard on the eyes. If you look at her work, it is mostly her voice being used. She did some other projects for Nick but aside from her voice acting, GUTS was her time to shine on TV. Now many people are fans of Mo and I have nothing against her, but he place on the show was rather superfluous. When a game began Mike, who was perfectly capable of explaining a game would "toss if over to Mo for the rules!" at which time she would explain the game. After O'Malley finished doing commentary on the event it was "let's get the official results from Mo!". I never understood why they tried to make her an "official" instead of just a regular co-host. She was probably not the first but definitely not the last in a long line of female commentators inserted into game shows to gender balance the field. A Moira tribute can be seen here, and damned if I don't sense some sexual tension between Mo and Mike.
The Game
The show existed during the genesis of "extreme" sports in America. The country suddenly thought they had a notion that the old roll the ball out there sports were not enough. It had to be "to the extreme!" like Poochy used to say. Basketball is not good enough, let's attach a bungee! Swimming in a pool is not crazy enough, here's a paddle and a raft! Try running on this track...sideways in the air!!! Almost every event involved hanging from a bungee and jumping off a platform.
This line of thinking led to many of the neon fashion crazes of the 90s, Dan Cortese and surfer talk becoming popular. In the next step of this evolution MTV's Sandblast(Summer Sanders, mmmmm) took what GUTS did and MTV'd it and used older, college age kids. The show came to being a few years after American Gladiators and was crafted in that form, but of course without the brute force. The results were somewhat more desirable and now in present day we have Survivor, Road Rules/Real World Challenge, and Wipeout. The problem again with GUTS was that these were awkward teens who were usually all elbows and knees working on bungee apparatuses that only made them more gangly and austistic-spider like. Once in awhile there would be a kid who was just naturally athletically gifted, and when that happened it was over. The other competitors looked like ostriches with sprained ankles while the good kid breezed through the competition and made the games look silly.
The Competitors
An interesting factor guys and girls competed together. A friend of mine once referred to that as purpling, because of the mixing of blue(boys) and red(girls). Oddly enough the 3 colors for the contenders were blue(really teal, remember this was the 90s!), red and purple. Since girls mature physically faster than boys (it's science!), some of the time the girls did win. In fact, some of the more dominating performances came from the girls side and when it did, you could see the humiliation and the expectation of the taunting to come by the male counterparts.
The best part of the hokey nature of the show were the "Spill your guts" segments. Each competitor would give themselves a nickname. Now for me this would be the toughest part of the show. Do I go with an alliterative animal in relation to my name? A generic use of the words awesome, crush, radical, or power? O'Malley would dutifully refer to each player as their nickname throughout the show. At first, the profile would just list the player's age, hobbies, and nickname but after awhile it became a short video segment filled with early TV production value. Slow motion chops and great voice overs while the contestant performed a physical activity on camera. The international kids did it even better, because of the accents. All it was missing was a few star wipes.
GUTS goes Global
After awhile on the air, Nick must have decided the show was growing stale. They then unveiled a Global GUTS competition which pitted kids from 8* countries against each other in GUTS competition. Perhaps they were trying to catch the wave of the coming Atlanta Olympics. In a horrible home-field display, the United State finished 3rd in the medal count, behind Mexico and the winner United Kingdom. That's right, we let those limey bastards come across the pond and take the glowing piece of the rock away from us. They had 8 golds overall. The finish to each episode contestants were put on the podium like they always were but in Global had the winning national anthem played.
*one country was the Commonwealth of Independent States and included Russia, Ukraine, Georgia, and Kazakhstan(very nice..). Just like communism though, they failed and finished last. They did not even land a single gold medal.
The Aggro Crag
At the conclusion of each episode, the contestants had to tackle the Aggro Crag. The Crag was basically a fabricated mountain that contained a winding path to a flag of your color at the top. During your trek you had to hit 6 "actuators" before you could hit the final one at the top, all the while dealing with snow(falling glitter), nuclear flying crystals(yes, really, in the form of confetti), avalanches(paper mache rocks), and lighting(flashing studio lights). Some conquered the task easily while others got lost in the mayhem. Players could get eliminated for a wide variety of reasons and sometimes did. The good thing was that if you had a sizeable lead there was no way you could lose as long as you finished, which was not always the case in American Gladiators if the reverse treadmill or handbike ate you up. 
After a few seasons the Crag became known as the Mega Crag and in Global GUTS it was the Super Aggro Crag. I can just see the meeting room for that one:
"So what should we name the Crag now?"
"We have to go beyond Mega Crag."
"A tough task to be sure, we really have to make the Aggro Crag stand out, what do you think Chad?"
"Umm, Super Aggro Crag?"
"By golly that's it, give yourself a raise!"
"Sweet, more coin for O-town hookers and blow!"
/high fives
The other unique feature for the winner is that you would not just get a gold medal, but a glowing piece of the rock as well. This rock always intrigued me and was my main motivation for the desire to compete on the show. What was it made of? It couldn't be that heavy because the winners could hoist it over their heads. What made it glow? What was the shelf life of the glow? If I ever meet someone who has a piece of the Crag I would bow down to them and buy them a shot.
Well Known Contestants
Some famous stars got their start in Extreme Arena, the most notable of which may be A.J. McLean of the Backstreet Boys. His nickname was A.J. "Mean" McLean. Quite crafty my young lad, however young AJ was no match for Jamie "The Jackal" Mendelsohn. That's right, A.J. lost to a girl. This might explain his alcohol and drug addiction later in life. Just kidding A.J., you were always our favorite Backstreet Boy.
Other notables include a stuntwoman named Anna Mercedes Morris, who I have never heard of but she was born in Charlotte and is America Ferrera's stunt double in Ugly Betty. She used the nickname "Roadrunner" and also won the show, beating out a guy who despite his ultimate humiliation had a sweet nickname: Paul "Running Man" Battson. What happened to Buzzsaw? He had to split.
Actor Mike Vogel of Poseidon, Cloverfield, Texas Chainsaw Massacre, and Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants fame came in second in his run. His nickname was "Flea". I wonder if it was a tribute to the bassist.
Houston Dynamo(it's an MLS team[MLS is Major League Soccer]) defender Bobby Boswell competed as "Lightning" and also finished second...against two girls. Clearly the girls who went on this show were not messing around.
Now for the interesting one. Ashley Drane, an actress won the silver in her episode. She nicknamed herself "The Face", and I have no earthly idea why. She has had small roles in a bunch of different flim-flam, but the real eye-opener is that she is married to...David Eckstein, 2006 World Series MVP and current San Diego Padre. I guess you could say Eckstein got her "in the face"(/shows self out).
Legacy
GUTS had a revival in 2008 with a family version hosted by Ben Lyons. It was a tournament format and they redid the Crag like American Gladiators where your lead in points gave you a timed head start.
A SNES GUTS video game was created.
Especially with the ability to look back on GUTS now, the show was hardly a paragon of athletic achievement, but it captured the attention of many young kids of the 90s who dreamed of glory in Extreme Arena. That was what Nickelodeon was successful at during this era; it took ideas and concepts that young people aspired to and presented them in a healthy and intriguing manner. Though I never was fortunate enough to race up the Aggro Crag, I would like to think I could answer the question posed at the start and close of each show. Do I have them and by them meaning guts? I believe I do, I believe I do.
Wednesday, March 17
Sometimes You Forget: The Coaches of the 1990 NCAA Tournament
It was 20 years ago today Sergeant Pepper taught the band to play, but also the 1990 NCAA tournament was in its 3rd day of competition. Sports greatness when viewed in hindsight is always given more credit than in its current state. There are dozens of coaching greats in this year's tournament. However, looking at the coaching list from the '90 affair, it is most impressive.
First, let's look back at some memorable moments from that tournament.
Rick Fox, before he married Vanessa Williams or co-starred on Oz, hit this game-winner over number 1 seed Oklahoma in the 2nd round of the tourney. Things to note in this video: Hubert Davis rockin' the box and a very happy Pete Chilcutt.
Next we have Dennis Scott, 3-D himself putting eventual Final Four team Georgia Tech ahead of LSU in the 2nd round.
Then, we have the 1st round buzzer beater by Maurice Newby to put Northern Iowa past Mizzou. Could the Panthers experience similar magic this year? Well they were a 14 seed in 1990 and are a 9 seed this year but they will face Kansas if they get past UNLV. Things to note in this video: the cheerleader hair, my lord look at hose bangs.
Of course the most memorable shots from this tournament featured UConn on both sides of the buzzer. The Tate George turn around with 1 second left with the heave by Scott Burrell (Elden Campbell gaurding the inbound pass!). Forward to 2:00 on the vid for the shot.
In the next game, Christian Laettner would squash the Huskies run. The only video I could find of the shot was here, and it is sped up for some reason. UConn did not guard the inbounds passer, who was Laettner.
UNLV ended up winning the whole thing, trouncing Duke by 30 in the title game.
Now to the coaches.
In the East Region: I broke the coaches into legends and memorable names. Team and seed unmber follow in parantheses. Bolded coach and team won the region.
Legendary: Jim Calhoun(UConn - 1), Roy Williams(Kansas - 2), Mike Krzyzewski(Duke - 3), Lou Carnesecca(St. John's - 6), Bob Knight(Indiana - 8), John Chaney(Temple - 11)
Memorable: Cliff Ellis(Clemson - 5), Jim Harrick(UCLA - 7), Mike Jarvis(Boston University- 16)
It's amusing that all 3 coaches in the memorable category left schools under suspicious practices under NCAA investigation. The legendary group is damn legendary but outside of Lou and perhaps Roy seem a awfully crusty bunch.
Midwest Region:
Legendary: Billy Tubbs(Oklahoma - 1), Gene Keady(Purdue -2), John Thompson(Georgetown - 3), Nolan Richardson(Arkansas - 4), Lou Henson(Illinois - 5), Hugh Durham(Georgia - 7), Dean Smith(North Carolina - 8), Pete Caril(Princeton - 13)
Memorable: Pete Gillen(Xavier - 6), Charlie Spoonhour(SW Missouri St - 9), Tom Penders(Texas - 10), Lon Kruger(Kansas State - 11), Jim O'Brien(Dayton - 12)
So pretty much all but 3 coaches are legends in their own right or recognizable names. Just look at that basketball brainpower in the first category.
Southeast Region:
Legendary: Jud Heathcoat(Michigan State - 1), Jim Boeheim(Syracuse - 2), Norm Stewart(Missouri - 3), Bobby Cremins(Georgia Tech - 4), Dale Brown(LSU - 5), Digger Phelps(Notre Dame - 10), Don Haskins(UTEP - 11), Rollie Massimino(Villanova - 12)
Memorable: Clem Haskins(Minnesota - 6), Terry Holland(Virgina - 7), Les Robinson(East Tenn. St - 13)
Come to think of it, more often than not these coaches ran into NCAA problems.
West Region:
Legendary: Jerry Tarkanian(UNLV - 1), Lute Olson(Arizona - 2), Denny Crum(Lousiville - 4)
Memorable: Steve Fisher(Michigan - 3), Randy Ayers(Ohio State - 8), Rick Barnes(Providence - 9), Paul Westhead(Loyola Marymount - 10)
I decided to not put Fisher in the legends category. He doesn't have 400 wins yet and although he reached the Final Four 3 times(once according to the NCAA) I don't think he is there yet.
Tuesday, January 12
Sometimes You Forget: Grandma Ma
Today there was news of a former UNLV player auctioning their 1990 Championship ring on Ebay. The player has yet to be named, and it is doubtful that it is Larry Johnson but the mention of his name brought back a lot of memories for someone who grew up in Charlotte. I can still smell the aroma of nachos and popcorn in the Charlotte Coliseum.
LJ was the first round pick of the Hornets in 1991 and was the catalyst for their run of success in the 1990s. The next year the Hornets picked Alonzo Mourning second which created one of the best tandems of the decade in the NBA and in NBA Jam. Johnson won Rookie of the Year and became the Hornets' first All-Star in 1993.
The Hornets, who were known for their tremendous home crowds and at the time trendy teal and purple colors, became one of the more popular teams in the league. In 1993 the Hornets made the playoffs and faced the Celtics, the old guard. In a series that marked a true contrast of teams, and the unfortunate end of Reggie Lewis's career(rest assured Johnny Newman is still guarding him), the Hornets pulled out the series with a Alonzo Mourning winner with .4 seconds left in game 4.
So many epic things in that video, the least of which was the Hornet dancers, the Honeybees, running out to join the midcourt celebration or Alan Bristow's hair. Charlotte fell to the New York Knicks in the next series.
The next year the Hornets won 50 games in 1994-95 and faced the Jordan-No.45 edition Bulls in the first round. The 3-1 series defeat was the end of the Hornets as we knew them. LJ signed the most lucrative contract in the league at the time, a 12-year, $84 million contract. This contract was only part of the schism that developed between LJ and Alonzo and Hornets management. Mourning wanted to be the big dog and the Hornets refused to pay him like one; he was traded to the Miami Heat after the 1995 season for Glenn Rice and Matt Geiger. Johnson soon developed back problems and never recovered his former explosive form. In 1996 he was traded to the Knicks for Anthony Mason and the juggernaut that was Brad LoHaus. In two years the Hornets rose up as the Young Guns of the NBA but egos, money, and a bad back tore it all down.
LJ became a fan favorite on the Knicks but never was able to put up his All-Star numbers. He got in a tiff with Bill Walton, hit a memorable 4-pointer, and even settled some unfinished business with Alonzo in the playoffs.
LJ retired in 2001 but in the minds of Charlotte Hornets fans he will always be remembered for his time in the Queen City and his Grandma Ma persona. Johnson has been mostly absent from the public eye but he will never be forgotten by Hornets fans, or fans of Urkel.
Monday, January 4
Sometime You Forget: Big Monday Is Almost Here
Football is in full post-season mode. The BcS bowls will be more than halfway home after tonight's Fiesta Bowl. The NFL playoffs start this weekend and a month from now people will be going through withdrawal. For college basketball fans, the early non-conference games gave us a chance to see how far teams had to go and who could be players in March. Big Monday is on the horizon and besides the great basketball, Big Monday reminds me of one thing: Robert Goulet. This was Goulet back before Will Ferrell had his crack at him. These commercials were pure gold. The way the early SC commercials were good for their hokey and random nature. Tonight ESPN starts its run of Monday night match-ups with Pitt playing at the Shoe against Cincinnati. Both teams are 2-0 in the Big East scoring wins over Syracuse and UCONN respectively. that will give us the best of college basketball until March. Will I be watching? No, since the Fiesta Bowl take priority and my commercial filler will likely be the return of Brett Hart to the WWE. However, the college hardwood is in my mind and I am looking forward to getting immersed in it once football dwindles away.
By the way, I know I swore off WWE months ago, but bringing a stroke-ridden Brett is enough to make me give a glance. Brett was always my favorite as a kid. Anyway, here is another Goulet special that was one of my favorites, back when Pitino was coaching the Cats.
Special shout-out to the Concierge on the Goulet commercials, Mrs. Hutchinson's class FTW.
Tuesday, September 22
Sometimes You Forget: Andre and Pete
One of the events of last week while we were in blackout mode was the U.S. Open final between Roger Federer and Juan Martin Del Potro. Del Potro beat Rafael Nadal and Federer in consecutive matches to win the U.S. Open title handing Roger his first loss in New York since 2003. Federer had chances to close out the match but the younger Del Potro had a motor and a hefty forehand. At one point Roger was even reduced to swearing at the official for allowing what he thought was a late challenge.
Another year, another failure to get Federer and Nadal in a Grand Slam finals. This year, it seems injuries have caught up with Nadal. If it is not his knee, it is an abdominal injury. Last year when Nadal could not keep up in the U.S. Open after winning the French, Wimbledon, and an Olympic medal Catfish ruminated as to whether Nadal was tennis' version of D-Wade. The man pushes himself so hard so often that maybe Nadal will use a different approach entering next year's Grand Slam run.
It has been well over a year since one of the greatest matches ever and we have yet to see another Grand Slam final between to two titans of tennis. We may not see another; with Nadal's injuries and Federer approaching 30, perhaps we will not be that lucky. This got me thinking about the greatest tennis rivalry of the previous generation, Sampras-Agassi. While Nadal and Federer have met 7 times for a Grand Slam title compared to Pete and Andre's 5, the latter had the ability to capture the nation because they were Americans and prevalent in the landscape of sports during the 90s and early 2000s. It is unfortunate that no American has risen up to challenge these Nadal or Federer or that they are not as appreciated for their accomplishments because they are not American.
Besides their nationalities, Pete and Andre had everything you could want in a sports rivalry. They had distinctly polar personalities; Andre was always outgoing and loved the attention even after he dropped the "image is everything" label while Pete was more shy and retiring. Pete is arguably the game's best server ever not only because of his power but his accuracy and timing. Andre is just about undisputed in his title of best returner of all-time. Their rivalry began back when they were just kids training to become greats and lasted throughout their careers. Sampras won the most majors and 20-14 over Andre including 4-1 in Slam finals yet Andre had more fans and completed the career slam. Below are the highlights from one of their best matches, the 2001 quarterfinal final which went to four straight tie-breakers while neither man was broken on serve.
Monday, July 27
Sometimes You Forget: The 1993 Blue Jays
While lifting yesterday I was listening to the radio and heard an interview with pitcher Dave Stewart talking about his lifelong friend Rickey Henderson entering the Hall of Fame. Henderson is baseball's all-time leader in lead-off home runs, walks, and runs scored and although he had a reputation as a third-person talker, his induction speech was very elegant. Dave Stewart grew up with Rickey but they also played together and during the course of this particular interview their time in Toronto was discussed. That got me thinking about that team, which participated in one of the more memorable World Series of my youth if not of all-time.
When you step back and look at this team's roster, it is no wonder they were as successful as they were. Much of the team was back from their 1992 World Series victory over the Atlanta Braves but in the off-season they added Paul Molitor and Dave Stewart. Then over the course of the season they traded for shortstop Tony Fernandez and added Rickey Henderson at the trade deadline.
Starting at the top, they were managed by Cito Gaston from 89-97 and is currently their manager. He has over 700 victories in his career and a .529 career post-season win percentage.
The Pitching rotation was headed by Pat Hentgen, who would go 19-9 in '93 and be selected to the all-star game. He would eventually win the 1996 Cy Young award with the Jays. They also had the Jheri Curl wonder before Pedro let his soul glow, Juan Guzman. Many may not remember Juan as he only went 91-79 in his career, but from the early to mid-90s, he was one of the best in baseball. In '93 he went 14-3. The rest of the rotation was Todd Stottlemyre, Stewart, and former World Series MVP Jack Morris. The Jays also had Al Leiter coming out of the pen, and he actually won game 1 of the World Series in '93. Leiter was just coming off arm surgery but contributed. In the closer role, Duane Ward replaced famed closer Tom Henke that year after being his set-up man and saved 45 games.
While the pitching was experienced, it was the offense of Toronto that was so formidable. Jon Olerud and Roberto Alomar were the right side of the infield and hit .363 and .323 respectively. Joe Carter was lead the team in home runs (33) and RBI (121). The acquisition of Paul Molitor did not disappoint as he hit .332 for the Jays. Add speedster Devon White to the top of the lineup and the Blue Jays had a potent scoring machine that was only shut-out once in the regular season. By the time the post-season came around and they had Fernandez and Henderson, it was a difficult line-up to handle. Henderson is the undisputed greatest lead-off hitter of all-time.
It all came together October 23 at the Skydome when the Phillies held a 6-5 ninth inning lead trying to bring the series to seven games. Phillies closer Mitch Williams had to face Henderson, White, Molitor and Carter. Williams, known as "Wild Thing" walked Henderson and then tried to slide step to prevent Rickey from stealing. He got White to fly out but then gave up a single to Molitor(his 12th hit of the series) and the walk-off to Joe Carter. Video of the 9th inning is here, the Carter home run is at 15:30 but the footage of the aftermath is great including the men in early-90s mullets in jubilation, an interview with Phillies manager Jim Fregosi by Jim Gray(lulz) and a melancholic Curt Schilling on the Philly bench. The Blue Jays are the only team besides the Yankees to win back-to-back World Series titles since 1976.
Wednesday, April 29
Sometimes You Forget: Kareem's Goggles
Yesterday as I was running errands I came across a man crossing the street to get to the grocery store. He was wearing a suit and sunglasses, not an unusual combination but upon another cusory glance I saw he was wearing croakies. Really dude? I am by no means a connoisseur of fashion, but what is the purpose of croakies while wearing a suit? They are not even your actual glasses, they are just sunglasses. Totally acceptable on the beach, can let it slide if your rocking them on the court or field, but cannot see a reason why you would need them while wearing a suit. You have such an action packed day at the office, your sunglasses might fly off during a barrel roll? You sir, are living the high life.
While ruminating about said douche in the suit, I suddenly thought about Kareem. But Kareem really didn't rock the glasses per se, but he had the big purple croakie for a time on the back of the goggles. Jabbar is the all-time leading scorer in the NBA, has six rings, six MVPs, two finals MVPs, 19 All-star selections, and is 3rd all-time in blocks even though they were not recognized as a stat until his 4th year in the league. As XM would say, "he was good." [Update via The Love of Sports, Kareem is trying to trademark the term "sky hook". Had no idea about it when writing the post, interesting.] 
Ha, look at Danny Ainge in that picture, but seriously get well Danny. The thought of Kareem in the goggles made me think about his role in Airplane! where he plays the pilot Roger Murdoc. When he passes out and they remove him from the co-pilot chair he has the Laker gear on as well as the goggles. Of course, his shining moment from that film was this scene here:
I've seen plenty of gladiator movies in my day but I've never been in a Turkish prison. Of course, we cannot let a post about goggles go on without this classic.
Please promote appropriate croakie use in your community.
Friday, April 17
Sometimes You Forget: Young Mike Tyson
Last night as Xtra Medium was playing Street Fighter II and NBA Hangtime on his new laptop I found myself switching between playoff hockey and TWWL's collection of Mike Tyson's knockouts. These were the young Tyson, before jail and insanity took over. It truly took us back to see the way Tyson dominated early in his career. He was solid force of nature and anything that got in his way he destroyed. Catfish was of course quick to point out that most of the guys he was fighting were not exactly top caliber pugilists. One of them, John Alderson who is featured in the clip below was a coal miner from West Virginia. XM and I theorized that big John used to get into fistacuffs at the local tavern after a long day in the dark mines and would win so people naturally told him, "Hey you should box professionally!".
Even taking into account some of the competition being sub-par, Tyson dominated in a way few, if ever, have seen. The young Mike was in control thanks to his training team, mainly his caretaker Cus D'Amato and Kevin Rooney. Watching Tyson in these young fights, he was using the 'peak-a-boo' style effectively and had you never seen what he turned into afterwards, you would have thought he was a mentally stable person. He was gracious in defeat and even offered help get them to their feet and good wishes to his opponents after defeat. There were signs of the troubles ahead though during the program. After one fight, one of the first people into the ring was Louis Farrakhan. The last shot in the clip below is one of Don King hoisting Tyson up after a win. D'Amato died in late 1985 and many saw that as the beginning of the problems for Tyson. Later he went on to fire Rooney and after that his fighting ability turned from sweet science to knockout-seeking brawler.
I was at this point that the bloodsuckers and remoras attached themselves to Tyson and led the chain of events that began with the Buster Douglas knockout and ended with how we know him today: broke and an easy target of mockery. From looking at Tyson's background it is not hard to beleive that he had mental problems from the beginning and when ex-wife Robine Givens shared her opinion that Mike was bi-polar. If he had had the proper guidance of people like D'Amato and Rooney, perhaps things would have turned out different, but if you look at the way he dominated in these early matches, it was only a matter of time before he was given ungodly amounts of money and made to feel impermeable. Perhaps it was inevitable that Mike would fade into "bolivion". At least we can reminisce below about his young years when he was Kid Dynamite' and how we all enojoyed playing Punch-Out.
Friday, March 6
Sometimes You Forget: When T.O. Wasn't a Punk
In the aftermath of Terrell Owens being cut from the Dallas Cowboys, we revist the moment when he became a superstar wide receiver. Watching this video really sends you into another era of the NFL. One were a young T.O. was trying to simply make a name for himself in the league, Steve Young was still slinging passes for the Niners, instant replay was not around to fix (some) blown calls, Brett Farve had not hampered his reputation, and San Francisco was a hosting a playoff game.
Some things of note in this one. Pat Summerall and John Madden had the call for FOX; this was before Summerall was ushered out and Madden became completely hurtful to the ears. When he was with Pat, I never really minded hearing John engulf his words in his own gullet. Also, enjoy small FOX on-screen This was the ending of Mike Holmgren reign in Green Bay, they had won the Super Bowl two years ago and barely lost the previous one to the Broncos. Holmgren bolted for Seattle after the next season. Brett Farve would continue to make the playoffs in Green Bay but fail to make the Super Bowl like he did with Holmgren. This season was truly the beginning of the end for Jerry Rice as he tore his ACL early even though he did play in this game and made a crucial fumble a few plays before this one in which he was ruled down but replay showed he clearly fumbled. Instant replay was not around back then, and this play was a catalyst for instituting it back into the league. Rice moved onto Oakland in 2000 after Owens shoved himself into the forefront as the alpha dog in San Fran. Rice was productive in Oakland for a few years because of the John Gruden offense and because he is Jerry Rice. Owens eventually blew up that entire team: Steve Mariucci was fired, Jeff Garcia was eventually run out of town after he took over for Young, and Rice skedaddled across the bay. I love how Mooch and the coaching staff are so adamant about the team going for 1. Coaches in general love thrusting that single finger up after a big score, I guess it is their way of calming themselves down. "I'm excited as hell, but look I'm still coaching!"
Not only did the Packers blow this playoff game but also remember the 4th and 26 in 2003 in Philadelphia.
Also of note was that Owens had several key drops in this game before he was able to hold onto the game-winner and then proceeded to cry like someone just insulted Tony Romo.
Friday, February 13
Sometimes You Forget: Philadelphia Charles Barkley
While discussing the '92 Dream Team a co-worker and I got on the subject of Charles Barkley. Strictly discussing his playing days and avoiding the subjects of his unabashed statements, right guard commercials, tossing of people threw bar windows, spitting on little girls, getting DUIs, insightful work on TNT, or his gambling problem, our quandry focused on which team Sir Charles we associate him with. While my slightly older co-worker (just a few years) sees him always as a 76er, my memory is more etched from his 92-93 campaign with the Suns when he won the MVP and led Phoenix to the finals where they lost to Chicago in 6. In truth Barkley was in Philly for a longer time and was a great player for what amounted to some horrible teams. My co-worker referenced the NBA Superstars video highlights from Barkley in Philadelphia with his short, tight shorts, and sure enough, YouTube did not let me down. Below is the magic that is the ornery round mound of rebound in his 76er glory days.
Tuesday, February 10
Sometimes You Forget: The Baron Davis Dunk
Last night the Charlotte Bobcats dispatched of the Clippers and their intrepid point guard Baron Davis 94-73. Sometimes I do forget that the Beard Baron was once a member of the Charlotte Hornets. Catfish and I were privileged enough to be at this game where Davis had one of the best dunks I have ever seen in person on then Minnesota Timberwolf Kevin Garnett. Perhaps this is where KG got his anything is possible inspiration. One of the greatest parts of this event was that there was a group of Minnesota fans a few rows ahead of us and they were making quite a scene about how great they were and how legendary KG was. After this dunk though, they resigned themselves to solemn clapping when the T-Wolves did anything positive.
The video footage is below and although it is fuzzier than the Zapruder film, you get the feel for the dunk. Anything relating to the Charlotte Hornets always brings back the memories from that special little place inside like seeing the old Coliseum and the bee trail flowing out from center court. Throw it down, Baron, throw it down.
Friday, February 6
Sometimes You Forget: Barry Sanders
Our good friend Tom came to visit us last month and it was great to catch up on old times. Tom also happens to be a Detroit Lions fan, which now strangley carries with it some measure of a badge of honor. The Lions have been through a lot in their history and perhaps the greatest example of their ineptitude was losing Barry Sanders. Number 20 has to be the greatest source of pride and dissapointment as any player can be to a franchise. It has been 10 seasons since Sanders took the field which might lend some to forget the totality of the greatness that he ran the ball with. Below is a tribute to the man, the myth and the legend. One of my favorite traits about Barry was that he probably ran for more negative yardage than any back in history yet ended up 3rd all-time, he was not afraid to fail. I will also remember his touchdown celebrations in that he never had them, a quick toss of the ball to the ref. Tom will still say Sanders' early retirement would not have happened if Wayne Fontes was never fired.
Tuesday, January 13
Sometimes You Forget: The '96 Bulls
With the reality of Boston firmly not going to break the record for wins in a season, 'Sometimes You Forget' today focuses on the team that does hold the record, the 1995-1996 Bulls who finished 72-10. Of course we know MJ was leading this crusade of basketball being played at its highest level. Jordan led the league with 30.4 ppg on his way to 8th scoring title and the MVP. Jordan also won the All-Star game MVP and the Finals MVP, his 4th which was a record. MJ was not the whole show, however, as Chicago added Dennis Rodman in a trade for Will Perdue. Rodman won his 5th rebounding title and together with Jordan meant that the Bulls had arguably the game's all-time scorer and rebounder on the same team. As always Scottie Pippen was there as Kato to Jordan's Green Hornet, Luc Longley was in the middle and Ron Harper was alongside Jordan. Off the bench were Toni Kukoc and Steve Kerr, and Bill Weddington and his goatee who were fantastic as role players. The Bulls won in 6 over the Sonics(sorry Seattle to bring up a sore subject) after they jumped up 3-0 but the Sonics team which set a franchise record for wins with 64 put up a good fight but there was no beating the Bulls. I still remember getting my Sports Illustrated before the finals and seeing Defensive Player of the Year Gary Payton's picture on the front with the words "Mission: Impossible" in reference to stopping number 23. Shawn Kemp was also on that team, before he turned into the Hindenburg, along with Sam Perkins, Detlef Schrempf, Hersey Hawkins and a hobbled Nate McMillan. The video of the Bulls introduction of that historic line-up. The music and the crecsendo that rises when Jordan is announced still gives me chills.
Thursday, November 20
Sometimes You Forget: Hakeem Olajuwon
As time passes, "Sometimes You Forget" is a phrase we use to remind each other and friends that we don't always remember just how good some old players were. Although, MJ was the original impetus of the phrase, tonight we're featuring Hakeem "The Dream" Olajuwon. At the beginning of the 1995 Western Conference Finals David Robinson received his MVP trophy, but after that ceremony there was very little for the Admiral to smile about. Hakeem averaged over 35 points and 12 rebounds for the series and went on to win the Finals MVP award when they swept the Magic.
During his career Hakeem averaged over twenty points for thirteen straight seasons (21.8 career avg), double digit rebounds for twelve years (11.1 career), and averaged 3.1 blocks for his career. Complete resume HERE.
Other things we YouTube'd this week: Final Countdown, Novemeber Rain, Givin Him the Business and Where Amazing Happens.
