Usually my Warriors posts are on the bright spots with the team, but there’s so much negativity in the organization over the past few seasons, I can’t resist NOT talking about their shortcomings. Sadly, the Warriors are one of the worst run franchises of all time. They still don’t qualify on my list as a top 5 worst all time franchise, because they’ve had some success albeit mostly before I was born. The past 17 years have had as many bright spots as I can count on one hand. With a .374 winning percentage letting numerous stars go just to save a few bucks only to watch them do great elsewhere would have any fan fed up. It feels like over the past few seasons that most of Warriors nation has finally had enough. The most recent news of the Warriors inability to make a good choices was cutting Speedy Claxton’s $5.2 million expiring contract. I can’t even pretend to understand how this helps us, since there are teams drooling worse than Homer Simpson over doughnuts to get some expiring contracts for the 2010 free agent class, so why are we dumping the contracts that seem to have so much value going into the trade deadline? We probably could’ve gotten something of value for the expiring contract we got in the Crawford deal over the summer right? I don’t have an answer for either of those questions and I’m sure management doesn’t either, but it did inspire this great website which I urge all our readers to click the red button in support of the fans vs. Cohan! This move just sums up many years of bad decisions by the front office, and truly shows they don’t care about the team winning. If they tell you it’s to get the team better, they must be breaking into those Marijuana clubs in SF and eating all the cookies. There is no conceivable reason to do this before the trade deadline. If they waited for the deadline to come and go and then cut him, I’d understand. This post is dedicated to what went wrong, and the only real way to fix them is to have a new owner! Continue reading
One Sad Franchise, and One Sad Warriors Fan…
Top 10 Reasons the Colts Lost
I don’t always like Dave or his top ten lists, but I found this one pretty comical. I just wish he threw one more on this list about Peyton leaving without shaking Brees and Shawn Payton’s hands! Maybe next time…
NFL HOF Induction is a Joke… For Some of the Players At least…
The day before the Super Bowl we were made aware of the players that were going to be enshrined into Football’s Hall of Fame. Obviously there were two of the best offensive players of all-time in Emmit and Jerry that were a lock to get in. It was pretty cool to see how choked up they got when they were named to the HOF! You could truly tell that they were genuinely honored by the induction from their interviews, and the anti-Jordan speech will surely come at the ceremony. I’m a huge fan of the professionalism that Emmit and Jerry showed on and off the field, getting it done without being pre-madonnas. I have to admit I didn’t like Jerry for much of his hayday in a Niners uniform. Mostly because I was surrounded by Niners fans, and was constantly reminded of how good he was. Not to say that I liked the Cowboys or Emmit, but since they did shut up the Niners fans up here and there, I didn’t mind them nearly as much! All that changed when Rice went to the Raiders and helped us get to the playoffs. Too bad his work ethic and love for the game didn’t rub of our young guys like Jerry Porter, but oh well.
The thing that gets me about the Football Hall of Fame, is the voting. I’m not sure exactly what the selection process is, but I feel like there’s a ton of guys on the ballot that are as deserved as the guys that got in. I understand if you don’t let a guy like Tim Brown in, because it’s his first year of eligibility, but if he doesn’t make it next year that’s NOT cool. If for some reason Chris Carter and Tim Brown don’t get in, I won’t feel the HOF is a valid achievement. They were easily top 10 recievers of all time, and if they didn’t play in the same era as Rice, they would be close to the top all time receiver. So here’s my list of guys that should have gotten in over Rickey Jackson who wasn’t even the best linebacker on those late 80’s Saints teams; Tim Brown, Chris Carter, Charles Haley, Eddie George, Shannon Sharpe, and Kevin Greene. I’d say one of the biggest snubs was Haley, since they seemed to pick out of a hat on who to let in. The guy was flat out dominant for the Niners and Cowboys and has five rings!?! He was an integral part of the defenses that won those Super Bowl’s, and I feel that he was better than John Randle that DID make it in. I’d say that Dick Labeau and Floyd Little shouldn’t have made it in, but I never really saw them play since their careers ended before I was born. Based solely on their numbers I wouldn’t have voted for them, if I had actually had a vote. I guess you could give Labeau some credit for his coaching career after playing, and built up the Steelers defense to the way it is today. I think the NFL needs to make an eligibility length like there is with baseball’s HOF, because if these guys haven’t made it in on their first 20 tries, they shouldn’t be elected in. Seems like a fair rule to me, especially because I made it up. Another thing that bugs me about the NFL enshrinement, is that they are required to elect 5-7 guys each year. Instead of just picking out of a hat, they should consider just allowing the best to get in no matter how few or many guys it happens to be. I feel like some of these inductions are rendered meaningless, since they weren’t even the cream of the crop in their era!
So You’re Tellin Me There’s a Chance!
One of my favorite players in the NBA is Brandon Roy, and I hope he rests through the break to completely heal from his injury. Not just because he’s one of the dominant fourth quarter scorers or because I happen to have him on my fantasy team, but for a new reason that came to light today. Roy is just one of those guys that wants to win, and will take a lesser role to enable his team to succeed when they are healthy. He does step it up when they are injury riddled, like they have been the past two years, and shows why he is such a good player. The recent news out of Portland is that he’s had set backs with that hammy that’s been bothering him. For some strange reason he still isn’t IR eligible in fantasy (screw you ESPN!). Anyways, they are saying that if he doesn’t play in a regular team game before the All-Star exhibition game, he will rest, opposed to possibly injuring the hammy further in the All-Star game. This will open the door for the first Warriors player since 1997 to get into the mid-season classic. Monta Ellis was the runner up to Chauncey Billups to replace CP3 in the game, so if Roy is held out of the game, Ellis should be the guy to get in there. Granted to most people this is about as exciting as me watching Lakers games hoping for them to lose, but to Warriors fans it might be the one bright spot in a horrific year, filled with injuries and dysfunction. That is, unless, Curry somehow takes the ROY award away from Tyreke or the team gets sold to Larry Ellison. If the Warriors ended up getting sold to Ellison, that would be the best thing to happen to the franchise in over two decades. For now, the possibility of Monta being named to the All-Star game would be the only highlight to our season thus far!
Is Mel Gibson and Allen Covert the Same Person?
Mel Gibson is back in the news. What’s ironic is he got upset that the interviewer was talking about his screw ups and Mel was pissed off that he was bringing up the past. Thankfully, Mel gave us another gem when he called the reporter an asshole before they cut off the feed. Mel Gibson is fast approaching trainwreck status, because although this particular incident wasn’t that bad, I’m more concerned with his demeanor. Either that’s his 6th cup of coffee, or Mel’s on one. It looks like he killed a 12 pack and downed a shot of Tom Arnold before the interview. My main conspiracy theory, though, is that Mel Gibson is really a character portrayed by Allen Covert, of Grandma’s Boy fame. Since Gibson was obviously around long before Covert burst on the scene, there’s only one possible scenario…. Mel Gibson did in fact die in that car crash years ago, and Covert assumed his identity.
Doin the Super Bowl Line
New Orleans (+5) Over Indianapolis
By now we’ve heard about all there is to say about the match up through every media outlet possible. The Super Bowl always wears on me a little leading up to it, but having the two number one seeds has me a little excited. I feel like I’m tired of the game before the game is even played, but when it finally goes on you can count on me watching. Media day is probably the most pointless sound bite day of all time. At one point it was cool and fun, but nowadays I could care less about what people think the outcome of an arm wrestling match between Brees and Manning. I mean seriously, is this the top story!?! Anyways, I’m declaring the Saints the home team in this one, since numerous people in New Orleans are being given the whole week off to travel to Miami, and support the team. It’s a scenario I’ve never heard of before, as the whole city seems to be closed down just to root for a sports team, and even schools are closing down for this big game! Are they more than a team to this city? Probably, and that’s why this will have the feel of a Saints home game. Not that there won’t be Colts fans there, I’m sure there will, but you can bet they will be in the minority. We all know about how good these QB’s are, so I’m going to try and breakdown the other things in this game that I see being the biggest factors.
I’m not going to pretend that there’s a lot of new information to enlighten you readers on since you’ve probably been following along on the daily coverage, unless of course you somehow missed that Freeney was injured, and the big fallout of the ankle injury, was that the Vegas line shifted a half point. It’s been pretty much the huge story of the Super Bowl this year, and although it looks like he might play the question now becomes will he be healthy enough to be effective. There really isn’t anyone on the Colts D that you gameplan for more than Freeney. If there is, let me know, because I’m unaware of that player at the moment. I’m wondering if this is karma kicking in, as the Colts should still be going for the perfect season, but instead opted to rest their starters at the end of the year. Now that they aren’t at full strength, I wonder if any of them are regretting not going for the perfect season and could have avoided playing the Jets in the AFC Championship game where Freeney got hurt. I’m also surprised how many people are picking the Colts to blow out the Saints. Sure they blew out Joe Flacco and Mark Sanchez, but can they blow out Drew Brees? I don’t think I need to say this, but I will anyways. Drew Brees is in another league compared to the guys the Colts have beat in the playoffs so far! I have no doubt that the Colts can keep up on the scoreboard with them, but will their defense be able to stop the Saints like they did with the Ravens and Jets? The Saints are actually a balanced offense with an underrated running game, so it will be a lot tougher for the Colts to figure out what they are doing opposed to run, run, run like their last two opponents. I also think the Freeney injury will give Brees a ton of time in the pocket, and will make Mathis much less effective, since they will be able to double him every play. I think if the Saints get a good running game going that could be their best defense (keeping Peyton Manning off the field). The Colts are the more experienced team, and while I’m sure that will help them, I think the Saints are the team of destiny.
The Saints are the inexperienced team, and only have four guys that have ever played in a Super Bowl. For some reason I don’t think they will be nervous or fall victim to the bright lights of the big stage. I don’t see them falling behind by a couple TD’s early in the game like many seem to think will happen. They’ve had luck on their side all season, and seem to catch the big break every time you start to doubt them. The Saints have been putting pressure on QB’s all postseason. I think beating down Favre and Warner was much more impressive than the QB’s that the Colts D has stopped. Not that I’m overly confident in the Saints D stopping Peyton, I just think their playoff resume shows they are capable of slowing down big name QB’s. One thing do they have working for them is the fact that the Colts don’t run the ball. The Saints have one of the worst rushing defenses in the league, 21st in the regular season, and have given up over 125 yards on the ground per game. They weren’t exactly good at stopping the passing game either, but they did have the third most turnovers forced in the league. I see a couple turnovers happening in this game, and think whoever ends up winning that battle will most likely win the game. I don’t see Peyton turning the ball over, but he does have some rookies out there that could easily lay the ball down like Garcon, Collie, and Brown. One last note, remember how the Colts seem to always have a tough time against the Chargers in the playoffs? This Saints team reminds me A LOT of the Chargers teams that knocked the Colts out of the playoffs in years past. Great QB, check. Solid receiving core, check. Solid running game to keep Peyton off the field, check. A defense that puts pressure on QB’s, check. A swarming defense that creates turnovers, check. Here’s to hoping for a shootout, and going waaay over the 56.5 point over under, Saints 49, Colts 42.
This Gay Shot Keeps Making Me Laugh
Last night we all heard about Kobe passing Jerry West on the all time scoring list for the Lakers. We heard about the groans from Phil and Pau after the game. To me the best part of this game wasn’t that the Lakers lost. The entertaining part came early in Rudy Gay’s time conscious play at the end of the first quarter. There were 7 seconds left and he threw up a half quarter. I guess his mental time clock moves a little faster than most, but he made sure they at least got one shot off! I think I’ve watched this five times already, and it’s not getting old. Enjoy!
The NBA Needs To Share It’s Revenue!
It’s a shame that in the NBA, or as Bill Simmons calls it, the No Benjamin’s Association that the rich do in fact get richer. No, this isn’t a rant on how the Lakers will probably land some stud at the trade deadline for a poo poo platter of expiring contracts or practice squad guys. This is about how the league is structured. Looking around it’s immediately obvious that teams stuck in small markets are going to lose money. Being a good team is supposed to raise you from financial destitute, but in a league strapped for cash, this isn’t happening anytime soon. With 40% of teams losing money last season, and the economy looking unlikey to turn around the NBA does have the most financial problems of all the major sports. Unless you count NBC, the NBA is probably the next closest organization in need of a Heidi Montag style face-lift.
It’s troubling to see how many NBA organizations are struggling to stay afloat without some good form of revenue sharing in place. It’s a travesty that teams like the Clippers, Knicks, and yes my Warriors make ten-million plus dollars profit each year, and field teams that would have a tough time beating the Washington Generals. Yes, these are the teams that I deem the greediest in terms of giving back to their fans. They do relatively nothing to improve their rosters, and they have plenty of income that could be spent to improve their respective teams. I don’t mind some of the teams atop the list, since the Lakers do deserve to make more money, because they do always put a good team on the court, but I feel that a teams revenue should be more driven by their ability to win. It’s been quite awhile since I broke down some financial situation, and most of this post is derived from Forbes numbers that they released on the teams earnings from last year. Continue reading
Great Sports Games I Attended, Part 1
This is the first post of a series I’d like to call, “Great Sports Games I Attended.” Last night’s big upset of Gonzaga for USF inspired me to think about some great games I witnessed over the years. Tonight’s installment features one of the greatest college basketball upsets ever. Now, it doesn’t include any teams I’m particularly attached to, but a couple of years ago, I made the trip up to Reno, Nevada to catch the Nevada Wolfpack take on the then #2 Kansas Jayhawks. I went up there with a friend of mine who was a huge Jayhawks fan. I, however, had a lot of friends from high school attending UNR at the time. The Wolfpack, led by future fugitive, Kirk Snyder, pulled off a huge upset of Wayne Simien and the second ranked Kansas Jayhawks in 2003. Kansas not only had Simien, but also Keith Langford, Aaron Miles, JR Giddens, and Reno native David Padgett. Padgett caught a lot of heat for going to play for Kansas instead of Nevada, which didn’t sit well with the local fans. He struggled to a six point finish, and the Wolfpack won by a final score of 75-61. It was a definitely a thrilling game to watch from the stands. Ultimately, because my friend was a Kansas fan, it led to a big falling out between the two of us, as the loss put him in a terrible mood. Nonetheless, it was a great game that I’ll never forget.
Kirk Snyder, where are they now? Nevermind.
The REAL USF Shocks Gonzaga!!!
Sorry, no recap or analysis – I missed the game. Since 75% of Doin Work is USF alumni, we had to honor the Dons huge upset of #13 Gonzaga last night in San Francisco. What’s funny is I didn’t even bother checking the score at any point last night. I’ll typically check scores for just about every other WCC opponent, but Gonzaga I usually don’t bother. I didn’t find out until this morning when I logged into Facebook and someone had posted a comment that said “Congrats on the win.” I got that immediate adrenaline rush like when you realize you’ve won the lottery. Actually, I don’t know what that feels like, but you know the “no way, that couldn’t have happened!” feeling. The loss was just the fourth for Gonzaga this season. The list reads like a who’s who of basketball powerhouse programs: Michigan State, Wake Forest, Duke, San Francisco. Okay, so maybe the fourth program doesn’t really belong anymore, but we’ll always have the mid-50s. We also still have more national championships than any school in California besides UCLA as well, but who’s counting. Senior forward Dior Lowhorn led the way for USF with 22 points and 9 rebounds.
Steven Gray isn't on Rashad Green and Perris Blackwell's level. Seriously. Look at his feet.
Daly Calling it a Career… Once Again
Only Daly gets a breast massage mid-round
John Daly said for the umpteenth time that he is done with golf. Not sure how likely it will be for good, since he’s made comments like this before. Either way I’m sad to see him go. He’s been known to quit, and sometimes has quit in the middle of a round, but today he sounded pretty serious saying on the Golf Channel after his round “I’m done, I Just can’t play like I used to… I’m tired of embarrassing myself.”
Strong words from a guy who never really seemed to care what people thought of him. It’s not like he was a big factor on the PGA as it’s been nine years since his last victory, but for whatever personal reason something told him he had enough.
I have a feeling that his ultimate demise had something to do with his lap band surgery, and how he lost nearly 100 pounds in just a couple of months. He looked like a shell of his former self, literally after the weight loss. Since the surgery, he hasn’t been nearly as good on the course, and looked even worse health wise. I guess some of that could well be father time doing the damage plus all those millions of drinks and smokes he had on the course. I’ll always remember him for his Happy Gilmore like attitude that screamed I don’t give a f*** what you think of me! One of my favorite examples of this isn’t his mullet, but when he was beaten by his girl, and he could have withdrawn from the tourney, but he still showed up scratched face and all. Much more than I can say for Tiger, and his assault case… Have we even really seen a picture of Tiger since it all went down? Whatever, hopefully he’ll join the senior tour, so he’s not out of golf for good. I wrote a tribute to him awhile back, but felt I needed to dedicate one more post to one of my all time favorite golfers. He was one of the main reasons I even tried golf out when I was a kid. I guess I just liked the mullet!
MMA Arm Wrestling
I’m not sure why I’ve never seen this. It’s kinda old, but I would actually watch this show if I could find it on TV or even knew what channel sponsors Ripe TV. There’s no doubt that this is somewhat MMA inspired. Maybe one day ESPN 8 (the ocho), will air all these classic fights. Why you’d want to sign up for this is beyond me. I guess I could see a lot of the meat heads that I come across daily doing it. If Hershel Walker isn’t successful in MMA, maybe he should try this out.
Aparantly there are three ways to win these matches;
1. Knock your opponent out.
2. Put your opponent’s hand on the mat.
3. Force your opponent into submission.
Fight doesn’t start till the 1:00 mark…
Pebble Beach Stories Part I
With the dawn of a new PGA season upon us, I feel it’s only right to get my golf posts started up again. I’ve been putting this off for awhile, but I feel like I owed it to some people to put up some good stories from when I worked at Pebble Beach Golf Links. I was working there for two years and some change during college, and had a few interesting experiences along the way. I will try to continue this series for as many stories as I randomly remember! The main reason for this inspired series coming up now, is that, the 25th AT&T National Pro AM is fast approaching (Feb. 10-14), and the US Open is also being held at Pebble this year for the first time since Tiger dominated it in 2000. I’m pretty excited for the Open, so hopefully some of these posts will get you excited as well…
Every year the AT&T National Pro-Am is held at Pebble Beach in early to mid February the resort gears up for their biggest tournament of the year, which is a good thing for the employees. They always hire on so much extra help/volunteers for the tourney, we really don’t do anything during the day except drive golf carts around, watch the tourney, and help the players where we can, like shuttling them around. The inspiration for this first post is people hitting golf balls at people.
The Fijian Bastard
On a Wednesday before the tournament started in 2005, we were closing down the range, and Vijay was the last guy there. It was getting dark, and he was the only guy out there for the past half hour. I guess this isn’t an uncommon thing as Vijay usually practices longer than a lot of guys, so my boss says. My coworker told him he needed to wrap it up, because we needed to clean up and get out of there. He told him to finish off the balls he had, and that was it. Vijay finished the balls in his trey and sent his caddy to get more balls. His caddy took them from one of the barrels that we just picked up off the range. My boss went over to him, and said that he had to go because we were closed, but let him hit the ones that he had just put on his trey. After he had hit those ones, he still didn’t leave. Instead, he pulled out his own balls and started firing them from the range tees over to where me and another employee were cleaning up the chipping green area. He almost hit the gardener that was about to cut the lawn. Biggest dick move I’ve ever seen from a professional golfer. I could see if he wanted to practice deep into Saturday night, if he was in the hunt for a win, but this Wednesday before the tourney even started. He played the tough guy I’m a star card, and refused to stop practicing. This is the main reason I will never root for him. He’s a selfish bastard that thinks he can do whatever he wants. Anyways, the gardener got in his face, and Vijay finally left the range an hour after everybody else that was practicing. The best part was that he didn’t come close to winning the tourney, and he didn’t even make the cut! Karma is a bitch!
Swami Nails the Family Jewels
Chris Berman or “the Swami” gets invited to the pro am each year, and is always super excited. He’s a great guy to talk to, full of energy non-surprisingly to many. Anyways, one tourney he was right on the cut line, and was waiting in the clubhouse to see if he made it. When the third to last group bogeyed 18 he jumped up and down hugged a few people in the pro shop saying “I made it!” over and over. It was like he won the tournament or something, but I guess being a broadcaster you have to feel like you belong to the athletes your always talking about. Anyways this story of the Swami takes place on the 14th hole, and quite possibly the hardest hole on the course (easily the hardest par 5). It’s a long dog leg right, that is uphill after the tee shot, and takes most at least four to get on the green. I was standing with a co-worker watching a few groups go by, and Berman was one of them. His tee shot was a shank, and heading for us/the crowd through the dog leg. The ball came within about five feet of us hit the cart path and went directly into some guy’s nuts like it had a heat seeking lock on them. Me and my friend were both wearing our work clothes, but couldn’t help from cracking up. I’ve always found it amazing that people don’t pay attention during this tourney or any tourney there are amateurs at. Don’t they know that amateur means not that good? Shanks are going to happen on the regular! By the time Berman got to his ball, it’s pretty doubtful that he even knew what happened, except for the fact that his ball was saved from going to the 8th fairway.
Look for Part II coming soon, on the baseball players!
Holy Sheets! The A’s Locked Him Up!
A lot of moves have gone down this off season within the AL West, and for the most part the Oakland A’s weren’t a part of them. Sitting on more money than a lot of clubs, I guess they are being somewhat selective with their signings. Last year they took awhile to get into the market, but found great value in some of the players that hadn’t been signed yet. There’s still plenty of time to add more players to the mix and make a splash, but today they signed free agent Ben Sheets to a one year $10 million contract, with the chance at more if he hits some incentives. Now we have a two headed monster at the beginning of the rotation in Duscherer and Sheets. Last year we didn’t have a clear Ace and now we have two. Pairing these two vets with Brett Anderson (last year’s most impressive rookie starter) and Trevor Cahill looks to be a solid rotation.
Sheets is reportedly still hitting the mid-90’s on the radar gun when he worked out for interested teams, and looks completely recovered from the elbow surgery that sidelined him all of last year. If he ends up being his old self (2008 All-Star), he will be worth the money. I wouldn’t be surprised to see him traded away at the mid-July deadline if he’s doing well, for some always coveted prospects to put in the system, but hopefully we will be in the playoff hunt when that time rolls around and stick with him! Even if the fragile Sheets ends up getting hurt along the line, which isn’t out of the question, he will be able to help out the very young an inexperienced pitchers currently on the roster. Last year they had basically no guidance from any veterans, so all the nuances of the game they can absorb from Sheets will be great for them on and off the field. If this gamble on a injury prone player doesn’t work out, I won’t blame them for at least trying to get someone that can compete with the Felix and Cliff of the Mariners. Here’s to wishing Ben good health in 2010!
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