Once in a while, you hear someone calling the play-by-play on television or the radio that stops you in your tracks. Wherever you are, your ears force you to tilt your head and listen. Harry Carry had it. Ray Christianson had it. And one of today's best voices on the air it that of Dick Bremer.
The television voice of the Minnesota Twins blends conversation with excitement seamlessly, creating the perfect level of drama for each baseball game. He's not overboard, like so many are today (i.e. Kevin Harlan), nor is he drab, like the Westwood One radio crew that called the AFC championship football game. The radio voice of the Twins, John Gordon, also has a rich voice and a knowledge of the game. And his "Touch 'em all, Kirby Puckett" will ring through the Metrodome forever. But even he, with his explosions of excitement in completely random places, could learn a thing or two from Bremer.
Although I'm a big fan of Paul Allan as well, the radio voice of the Vikings tries a little too hard to make the listener think he knows the x's and o's of the game. As a result, he's often contradicted by his coworkers in the studio. Bremer is almost never contradicted, because he sticks to the job he is most qualified for.
I'm not going to say Bremer is the best play-by-play announcer in the nation. Jon Miller holds that distinction in my opinion. But having a guy like Bremer around makes the Twins season just a touch more enjoyable. Since Victory Sports won't block the early-season games this year, Bremer's hypnotic chords will sing through thousands of houses across the region. Even though it's only January, I can't wait for it to start. Play ball!
I often tell people that when I first saw Doug Mientkiewicz play first base for Florida State in the college world series, I instantly fell in love with his high-socks, no-batting-gloves style of play. But it only took one interview with him to have that image shattered. Dougy Baseball's behavior concerning the Red Sox World Series championship baseball reiterates the point I try to make.
For the clinching out of the World Series, Keith Faulke tossed the ball to Mientkiewicz. It ended the Red Sox 86-year championship drought. After catching the ball, Mientkiewicz was sure to hang on to that ball--a good move because of its significance. But then he did something really stupid. He refused to give it to the team when they asked for it.
Why Mientkiewicz thinks he has any right to that ball is beyond me. He caught it for the last out, that's it. Maybe if David Ortiz or Pedro Martinez had wanted to keep it I could at least understand their thinking. They had a lot to do with the Sox winning the series. But Mientkiewicz? He wasn't even a regular in the line-up. He's such a liability at the plate that the only time he saw the playing field was pre-game batting practice and as an occasional late-inning defensive replacement. And he thinks he deserves it?
Obviously, I don't think anyone is dense enough to believe that. Which leaves only the possibility that Mientkiewicz thinks he has legal rights to the ball because it was in his glove when the last out was recorded. And he's adopted the childish thinking along the lines of "If I don't get my way, I'll sue you" or "Finders keepers, losers weepers." Not only does he have no rational, mature thinking about the situation, but he has no legal grounds either.
You can't just take whatever you want. He didn't supply the ball, major league baseball did. The league owns the ball. If it goes into the stands, it is out of play and the fan who catches it can keep it. But when it's in the field of play, it belongs to the league. Not Mientkiewicz, not even the Red Sox. The league. If Bud Selig, as much as I despise the guy, wants to take it from the Sox to display it in Cooperstown, he would have every right to do that.
The league owns it. The Red Sox are second in line. One of the superstars on the team is next. Mientkiewicz? He's not even on the chart. He shouldn't be compensated for giving it back. After the way he's acted, he shouldn't even be thanked. Dougy Baseball needs to get in touch with reality and simply give the ball to its rightful owner....Major League Baseball.
In December, Eagles wide receiver Terrell Owens had surgery on his injured ankle. The doctor put in plates, screws...the whole works. He has since warned Owens not to try to play in the Super Bowl, refusing to give him medical clearance. If T.O. does try to play, he could seriously damage the ankle in a moment that could only be compared to Roy Hobbs in The Natural. So what should Owens do? Play, of course.
It has been ingrained in the minds of coaches, players and fans that an athlete should always listen to the doctors orders. He should keep his future firmly in mind and not take any chances. In almost every instance, this is solid advice. But not this time.
Owens is 31-years old. He's been in the NFL for 9 years and is known as one of the top three or four receivers in the game. He has nearly 10,000 yards of career receiving yards and is approaching 100 touchdown catches. He has accomplished all there is to accomplish. Except for one thing. He's never won a Super Bowl.
When an athlete gets to the twilight of his career, the way he looks at things has to change along with his age. Owens no longer has anything to be cautious about. There is no reason for him to be on the sidelines if he can help his team, no matter what the risk to his ankle. If it were his heart that could fail, things would be dramatically different. But it's not. It's his ankle. He can tear it to shreds and live a perfectly happy and productive life before dying in his sleep at 105-years old. But if he sits this one out, he will likely never have another chance at a Super Bowl.
This isn't just another game. This is the goal of every football player from the day he first picks up the pigskin. In my opinion, it's worth the price of a 31-year old ankle.
After winning 38 straight games on their home court, the Wisconsin Badgers finally lost at the Kohl Center. The 75-65 loss to Illinois ends the longest home winning streak in the nation. It also brings to light just how impressive this Illinois squad is.
The top ranked Illini improved to 20-0 after last night's victory. There are only a handful of teams in the history of college basketball that have started a season with more wins. But there is more to this Illinois team than a perfect record. This accumulation of talent has what it takes to ride it out. After seeing them last night, they are my pick to be this year's national champs.
I would never claim to make a pick like that with any level of certainty. After all, it isn't called March Madness for nothing. But no team can match up with Illinois' explosive talent at every position. Luther Head, James Augustine and Dee Brown are the stars, and they will carry the club through most games. But like every winning team, the element that puts the Illini on a different level is intangible. If ever there is a time that the star players don't come through--whether it be an off night, foul trouble or injuries--someone on the bench will step it up. Last night it was Jack Ingram. The 6'10'' senior came off the bench and drilled two 3-pointers down the stretch to wrap up the "W". He averages four points per game and had hit two 3-pointers all season entering the contest. But for teams that possess that something extra, similar things happen all the time.
Also, the Illini have been through the close contests. Blowouts are great, but in March, when things will inevitably get tense, a team needs to have close-game experience. Illinois has won six of their 20 games by 15 points or less. They have won their last two by five and ten points respectively, and trailed late in both games.
This team has everything it takes to run the table. If I were a betting man, I'd put my money on the Illini.
This past weekend, Tiger Woods won the Buick Invitational. The golfing world seems to think he is on the way back. They say his "slump" is over. Although Tiger never admitted his inability to win was actually a slump, I'm sure he's still happy to be out of it.
This is the guy that won seven of 11 majors at one point. He ruled the golfing world. No one even held a candle to what this guy could do. But then somewhere along the line, Tiger changed coaches. He made "improvements" to his swing. Suddenly, he wasn't the golfer he used to be. And then the unthinkable happened. Vijay Singh unseated Tiger as the world's number one golfer.
People began to talk like Tiger was done. He was a flash in the pan. A very bright flash that lasted for quite some time, but still a flash. But what about now? Will he find the form that brought him 27 tour wins including seven majors from 1999 to 2002? Or will he fall back into the average play that only won him 12.1 million dollars over the past two years?
A lot depends on his new swing.
Changing a swing, especially after becoming the world's best with it, is a dangerous endeavor. You never really know if it's going to pay off or not. You have to stick with it through the learning curve and buy into it enough that you don't quit before you have the chance to really see it work. But the risk is that it will never work, and you have given up everything you had.
When you're in the position Tiger Woods found himself in three years ago, changing anything is a terrible decision, much less his entire swing. It was a risk, a gamble. And it didn't pay off. But maybe this Buick Invitational victory is the start of something new. Maybe five years from now we'll be talking about how brilliant and brave he was to make those changes.
Maybe. But I don't think so. If you are the best, stay the best. Don't be stupid. Don't change a thing.
When the play-by-play crew during the NFC championship game said only one African-American quarterback had won a Super Bowl ring, I just about spilled my beer. I honestly couldn't believe my ears. What an amazing statistic. I wouldn't have thought twice about it if this were 1964, but today? With all the amazing black quarterbacks out there, only one has ever won a Super Bowl? They play this thing every year right?
I decided to do some research on the topic and found that, unbelievably, Doug Williams of the 1987 Washington Redskins is the only black quarterback to win a Super Bowl. I vaguely remember watching that game. As a nine-year old, the significance of the event was completely lost on me, but I do remember the announcers making a big deal of it. I imagine they would have laughed in your face if you had told them it wouldn't happen again for the next 18 years...at least.
Think about all the great black quarterbacks today. Daunte Culpepper, the second-best in the game, Michael Vick, the most exciting player in football, and Donavan McNabb, who will now take a shot at becoming the second black quarterback to win a ring (as a side note, at least three other black quarterbacks have Super Bowl rings, they just didn't play in the game). They are everywhere.
Or maybe it just feels that way because we have a black quarterback here in Minnesota. Every time we watch a game on Sunday, it's Daunte Culpepper under center. He's been here for six years and before that, Randall Cunningham took us to the NFC championship game, throwing for more than 3,700 yards and 34 touchdowns that season. So it just seems like there should be as many black quarterbacks winning Super Bowls as white ones.
But the fact remains, Doug Williams is in exclusive company. You better believe Donavan McNabb knows this. And he has every intention of joining the club.
I'm not usually one to make predictions, nor am I generally a fan of those who make them often. I've always felt there is a reason you play the games and it doesn't matter what anyone is saying about anyone's else's chances until after the game is over. I'm especially annoyed by the phrase, "They have no chance." Come on. Everyone has a chance. Even if it's one in a million, there's always a chance.
Especially when you get to games like today's NFL conference championship games. The four teams still playing are all great teams. They have beaten great teams to get here and two of them will beat another great team today. So, although you may have a strong belief that one team or another will emerge victorious today, at least have the common sense to admit that you could be wrong.
That being said, here is my prediction.
In the NFC, look for a flashback to 1998. Our very own Minnesota Vikings were 15-1 in the regular season and the team to beat in the conference championship game. But somehow everyone overlooked a solid Atlanta team. Although no one is ignoring Michael Vick this season, the team is once again a second thought. But you combine a tough defense with the DVD factor (Dunn, Vick, Duckett), divide that by an injured T.O and the lack of a soft defensive secondary for the no-name Eagles receivers, and you get yet another "oh so close" season for the Eagles. I take Atlanta by 7.
In the AFC, the Patriots will start to get the respect and recognition they deserve after today. Brady will play another mistake-free game, leading the Pats to roughly 28 points against a pretty good Steeler defense. Big Ben Roethlisberger has had a fast start to what will be a great career, but another costly interception or two will seal the deal for the Patriots. I take New England by 3.
I also have thoughts on what will happen with Super Bowl XXXIX, but maybe we'll just see how this prediction stuff goes for me this week before things get too out of hand. Remember, I could be wrong.
