However, nothing beats what’s bin goin’ down with the French.  I have a lot of respect for a lot of players of the French team. Thierry Henry played for my all time favorite team: FC Barcelona.  Franck Ribery plays for the best coach in the world: Louis van Gaal.  Yoann Gourcuff, a truely talented player who deserves to play at a higher level than where he currently is.  And one of the bad boys from modern day football: Nicolas Anelka.

During the break of the match versus Mexico,  Nicolas Anelka apparently called parting coach Raymond Domenech a son of a bitch. And that’s where trouble started for the French team in this World Cup.

Nicolas Anelka refused to apologize to the coach and was sent home. The players threatened to not show up at all for the final match versus South Africa. That’s mutiny. Domenech really lost control in the dressing room and showed his true colors after the match versus South Africa. He refused to shake hands with Southafrican coach Parreira. It showed his weakness as a person.

I am sorry to say this but I am going to miss France.  No, I am going to miss the soap revolving the French camp at the World Cup 2010.  I am not going to miss the French at all. Anelka promised to give his version of what happened after the World Cup. I can’t wait to read that.

– Lyrics from “Old Man River,” performed by Paul Robeson

The first verse of this classic African-American spiritual embodies the career of Glencoffe “The Road Warrior” Johnson (49-13-2, 33 KOs). This Road Warrior is nowhere near as popular as Mel Gibson’s Mad Max persona, but he’s been nearly as resilient over his 17-year career. And don’t let the 13 losses fool you. Probably only a handful were legitimate.

This Friday, the “41-years young” Johnson faces off against the much younger, 30-year old Yusaf Mack (28-2-2, 17 KOs) in an IBF title eliminator. But as Bernard Hopkins has proven, getting old in the 175 pound division is not necessarily a bad thing. Ironically, Mack, like Hopkins, is a tough Philadelphia fighter. And like Hopkins did nearly 13 years ago, Mack will be looking to lay a “not-so-Brotherly Love” beat-down on Johnson.

Mack has a problem though. He’s not Bernard Hopkins circa ’97. Even worse, he’s facing Glen Johnson 2.0, an upgrade on its previous installation. Look for the “new Johnson” to use his familiar tactics of pressure and powerful right hands to wear Mack down on the way to a 10th round stoppage.

He keeps on rollin’ along … like old man river.

An all-round player, Baugh could play defense back and punt – he holds the sing season record for longest punt average with 51.4. He also possessed wicked passing abilities made him one of the all-time great QB’s despite playing in an era where the running game ruled. He still holds the Redskins records for most career TD’s with 187. He led the NFL in passing six times. In one of those seasons in 1945 his completion percentage was 70.3 which is one of the highest in league history only eclipsed by Ken Anderson in 1982.

Slingin’ Sammy played his entire career with the Redskins from 1937 to 1952.

Here’s to you Mr. Baugh.

Making sense of firing epidemic

By Jeff Sack

Le basketbawl

Sacramento Kings-Reggie Theus: Should survive the season, if only because of the Maloof brothers caving in to Tru-Warrior. When Joe and Gavin Maloof, allowed Ron Artest to go to Houston in the fire sale that happened during the Summer, the franchise lost any hopes of contending this season. Theus deserves a Mulligan for the campaign.

Who Could Be Next? Evaluating The Longevity Of The Association’s Coaches

Apparently Sacramento Kings Team Owners Joe and Gavin Maloof did not agree with my assessment. The “Sacramento Bee” reported Monday that the Sacramento Kings have become the sixth NBA team this season to fire their head coach. According to the report, the Kings have fired head coach Reggie Theus 24 games into his second season as the Sacramento bench boss. The report also states that assistant coach Chuck “The Rifleman” Person has also been terminated. The Kings Media Relations Department have verified the dismissals, and have stated that assistant coach Kenny Natt has been named interim head coach.

The Kings have gotten off to a lackluster start in the 2008-2009 campaign, as they have a record of 6-18 mired in last place in the NBA Pacific Division. Sacramento has lost 14-16, and they were humiliated on Saturday as they were blown out by the New York Knickerbockers 114-90. The team was 39-43 last season under Theus. He joins Maurice Cheeks, P.J. Carlesimo, Eddie Jordan, Randy Wittman, and Sam Mitchell, all previously dismissed.

Reggie Theus may or may not be a good NBA coach, that question has not been answered. Whether he will get another chance to coach again in the Association, remains to be seen. He certainly did nothing to distinguish himself during his tenure, however he also did nothing to harm his reputation. No one will win with the way the Kings are presently constituted, and by the end of the campaign chances are great that Kenny Natt will no longer be part of the organization. Theus may not have done any thing to prevent his being fired, but he deserved more of a shot to show what he could do.

Sloppy Public Speaking

Dallas Stars (for now) forward Sean Avery strikes me as one of those guys who is probably a decent guy off the ice.

But I can’t judge him on that. I can only comment on his actions on the ice and with the media.

And there’s plenty to comment and  talk about. Avery is basically a clown much like Plaxico Burress – but for different reasons. That’s pretty much the consensus among bloggers, journalists, fans and even his colleagues.

Nonetheless, his most recent brain-dead public outburst and the reaction to it leaves me scratching my head. No doubt, his past behavior plays a role on how the public views him. It’s hard to feel sorry for him. After all, we’re all accountable for our actions – and when it’s premeditated consequences usually and rightly follow.

And this is what happened.

Avery pushes the proverbial envelope. The more he does it the more he draws penalties and the more he gets media attention. Ah yes, the “moi?” media.

I love whenever something like this happens how the media goes off on a moral crusade as if they had no role to play in it. They loved it when Avery pulled his stunts and now that he went overboard they look on in horror. Please.

It’s all part of the same hypocrisy machine.

The other things that’s irksome is how the NHL decided to suspend him for six games. I don’t know how much of this is related to his past, protecting Avery from Dion Phaneuf (to whom the insult was indirectly aimed at) and towards protecting the integrity of the game. If it’s the latter then the NHL messed this one up badly.

Seriously. How can they nab Avery for a few disgusting words when disrespectful and dirty assholes still litter the ice? How many dirty plays have we seen these past few years that went off with basically a slap on the wrist? Moreover, the league always tolerated the Dale Hunter’s, Ken Linseman’s, Ulf Samuelsson’s, Bryan Marchment’s and Claude Lemieux’s of this world. Look at how Jarkko Ruutu, Steve Ott and Ryan Holwegg play in today’s game.

True, none go over the top like Avery (Ruutu comes pretty close for cowardly play) but I find it a tad absurd the NHL suspends a guy (and gives him anger management!) for six games over a few insensitive and classless words but needs convincing to sit someone for a violent dirty play.

This is why some consider the NHL a banana league. Spare us all the moral gesturing and go after violent players free of any excuses that sometimes come with dangerous acts.

I wonder what Alex Rodriguez thinks about all this.

Conversely, communication between Canadian sports teams doesn’t seem to be a priority.

Take this week-end coming up. The Toronto Maple Leafs are set to honor the immensely popular Wendel Clark on Saturday night. At the same time, the Montreal Canadiens will be retiring Patrick Roy’s number.

Huh? Couldn’t they have chosen different nights?

Clark is a sentimental hometown favorite but he’s not one of the all-time great NHL players. Roy, on the other hand, is. In fact, some argue he’s the greatest goalie ever. I don’t think he is but he’s certainly among the greatest.

One would think a communique would be sent out to the league about the respective intentions. If they did and it was ignored this is a shame.

It doesn’t stop there. I still can’t figure out how the Canadiens could permit themselves to retire a number on the same week-end as the Grey Cup. Already the Alouettes play second fiddle to the Habs in the city and reaching the Grey Cup final (against the Calgary Stampeders) should have meant all the attention going to the Als.

Instead, the Canadiens organization showed poor judgment, if not class, by knowingly (and I’m sure they knew) holding Roy’s ceremony on the same week-end.

They could and should have waited.

What’s done is done.

No Respect

GO ALS GO.

ESP inabilities aside, compelling arguments can be constructed for either team. The Rays probably have more depth from top to bottom in pitching. When you can hurl Matt Garza third in the rotation at your opponent things are pretty good for you. Although the Phillies probably have the best starter in Hamels (3-0 1.23 era) and closer in Lidge (five saves and 1.23 era).

Offensively, the Rays have a solid core of hitters in the middle of the line up. Upton (.304 avg., .826 slg.) and Longoria (.262/.762) have 13 home runs between them. One could argue they are due for a slump?

On the flip side, Howard has to explode at some point. Hitting .258 and a limp .323 slugging, Howard has zero home runs this post season. One has to figure he’s the ace in the Phillies sleeve. Same with Utley who has but one home run and is hitting .250. His slugging is around .438. If the Phils are to have a chance they need more production from both. Either can be an MVP candidate in the finals.

Is that an MVP in the sky?

In the brain center known as the dug out, both have great managers and each organization has built remarkably balanced baseball teams.

Who says you need to buy a World Series when you can develop from the bottom up? Then again, that would take too much time, effort and patience. In a me-first, give me everything now type world, sound principles to create a winning organization and environment is usually the first casualty.

It’s almost a shame only one can win, but seriously, this has been a successful season for the Rays and Phillies no matter what.

Indeed money is a major factor into deciding if a player goes over but on the heels of the tragic death of Alexei Cherepanov there is another issue to consider. Namely, the role of health.

Specifically, if adequate facilities, doctors and medical measures are in place at arenas in Russia and how far are hospitals from the arenas. Let’s look at it another way, if Clint Malarchuk, Jiri Fischer, Richard Zednik and Trent McCleary had all been injured in Russia would they be alive today?

Watching Cherepanov be amateurishly whisked away as he did was surreal and sad. True, given his condition, maybe nothing could have been done. However, an ambulance should always be present at a sporting event. Always.

Sometimes in life it’s more than just about money. Maybe the Russian Superleague can splash money to attract some players but it has a long way to go to be considered world class on the scale of the NHL.

An inquiry into Cherepanov’s death has been announced.

Cherepanov played for the Avangard Omsk and  was a first round draft pick for the New York Rangers. He was 19 years old.

1) The Falcons beat the Lions 34-21. I guess this was a surprise to some but was it really? I’ll tell you what surprised me. This: Atlanta rushed the ball 42 times for 318 yards. That’s 7.57 yards per carry. Amazing. Michael Turner accounted for 220 yards on 22 carries or 11 yards per carry. Awesome. So. How bad is the Lions rush defense? Or does Atlanta have a strong running game? Let’s chalk this up to “one of those things.”

2) Seattle did what they do best: Lose on the road. 34-10 to Buffalo. The Seahawks simply suck on the road while the Bills finally match their home field advantage reputation. The Bills seem to play an awful lot of tight home games in which they ultimately end up losing in the end.

3) Many questions for Donovan “I Civil Rights” McNabb going into this season. Some were probably answered as the Eagles collected 522 total yards – of which 361 came of a McNabb pass – in a 38-3 smashing of the St.Louis Rams. The Iggles “out first downed” the Rams 28-8 while holding the ball 11 more minutes than the Rams. The only ramming the Rams took was in the ass from a team looking to go to the Super Bowl.

4) You had to be happy for Green Bay Packers QB Aaron Rodgers right? He sure did look good doing the Lambeau Leap in a 24-19 win over the Minnesota Vikings. Ah yes, the Vikings: one of the best teams every year…on paper. The Pack look like a contender that’s for sure. They both are. We’ll see who has the mojo to go farther in the playoffs.

5) I really didn’t think the Panthers who hail from Carolina – those perennial over rated and under achieving Panthers – were going to go to San Diego and zap the Chargers in the last minute like they did to win 26-24. I guess Marty Shottenheimer wasn’t the problem after all. The Chargers strike me as a finesse team. I could be wrong but aren’t they operating in a league where systems and hard hitting prevails?

6) Tom Brady. What more can I say? What a bummer. Brady went down with a knee injury against the Kansas City Chiefs – a game the New England Patriots hung on to win 17-10 – I was hoping to see the Patriots redeem themselves under the leadership of Brady. With what is rumored to be a torn ACL, Brady is done for the season. I still wouldn’t count the Pats out. This team is so schemely and well coached, maybe someone can step up and just go with the flow – and succeed.

7) Yeah, yeah. Brett Favre won in his first game as a member of the New York Jets leading them to a 20-14 win over the Miami Dolphins. Favre went an ok 15-22 for 194 yards. Give credit to Dolphins QB Chad Pennington who threw for 251 yards and did make things interesting but it wasn’t enough.