Posted: February 7th, 2010 | Filed under: Other Sports | 19 Comments »
More Stupid Stuff I Think About Before Super Bowl XLIV
The general feeling here seems to be that this could be a great Super Bowl. In fact, I cannot remember a Super Bowl game where people — media people, fans, everyone — seemed so HOPEFUL before a game.
This, of course, is just my feeling — but as I remember it, nobody seemed too jazzed before last year’s Steelers-Cardinals game, though it turned out to be a great game. Most seemed to believe the Patriots would annihilate the Giants the year before, and that the Colts were quite a lot better than the Bears the year before that. I think you have to go back to the Broncos-Packers game in 1998 to find a game that people honestly seemed to think, coming in, had a chance to be a classic. And people seem even more excited about this game.
I suppose this is because the feeling coming in is that neither team will be able to stop the other. The mind imagines something like that classic Dolphins-Chargers playoff game, the one where neither team had any chance of stopping the other, the one where San Diego tight end Kellen Winslow died four times during the game and still came back to make winning plays at the end.
Of course, it might not work out that way. The Saints might just be happy to be here. The Colts might suffer with a wounded Dwight Freeney. Turnovers could turn the game into an early rout. Who knows? But as Super Bowl XLIV begins, there are big hopes for something that everyone will remember.
Posted: February 7th, 2010 | Filed under: Pop Culture | 25 Comments »
Sitting here at the stadium several hours before the Super Bowl begins. In case you are wondering — and I’m sure you were — I will be live blogging the Super Bowl for SI.com and CNN. Links to follow.
In the meantime … what the heck am I doing? Right. I’m sitting here thinking about stupid things. And so , we offer the first installment of …
Stupid Stuff — I Think About — Before Super Bowl — XLIV
Read the rest of this entry »
Posted: February 5th, 2010 | Filed under: Other Sports | 33 Comments »
My iPhone buzzes every 28 seconds. This is not popularity. Obviously. This is the NFL emailing me another Super Bowl quote sheet. And another. And another. Remi Ayodele! Raheem Brock! Jeff Saturday! Queen Latifah!
Read the rest of this entry »
Posted: February 4th, 2010 | Filed under: Other Sports, Pop Culture | 87 Comments »
As this thing begins and winds around and rambles … you will wonder how we’re going to get to Halls of Fame. But we will get there eventually. Believe me, I’m not recommending you take the journey.
Read the rest of this entry »
Posted: February 4th, 2010 | Filed under: Other Sports | 50 Comments »
One of the things about getting older is that you get used to things. I’m not saying jaded. I’m a big believer that you have to try very hard in life to not get jaded. But you do get used to things. Take the Super Bowl. This is my 13th Super Bowl. I’ve had one more Super Bowl than wedding anniversary. Whatever that means.
Read the rest of this entry »
Posted: February 2nd, 2010 | Filed under: Other Sports, Pop Culture | 57 Comments »
The following is something new. It is a director’s cut story to accompany my Sports Illustrated column on Steve Sabol and NFL Films. Every week in the magazine, I write a column to kick off the Scorecard section. It’s a terrific honor and terrific space. It’s also 900 words and as my friend Buck O’Neil would say about himself “It takes me that long just to say ‘Hello.’” So, rather than just let all extra the stories and details die on the cutting room floor, many weeks I will write a longer story online to supplement the column. This is one of those weeks.
Read the rest of this entry »
Posted: February 1st, 2010 | Filed under: Other Sports, Pop Culture | 54 Comments »
Well, it should be no secret here that I love the Harlem Globetrotters. Well, more to the point, I love the Washington Generals,* the team that always loses to the Globetrotters, those players who game after game, year after year, decade after decade fall for the ball-on-the-string trick, search hopelessly for the ball under the shirt, and aimlessly chase the Globetrotters through their unstoppable weave offense.
*Or the New York Nationals or whatever they happen to be called that day.
Read the rest of this entry »
Posted: January 31st, 2010 | Filed under: Baseball | 169 Comments »
Several people have written in to say that they cannot find the blog post I wrote a couple of years ago about Stan Musial. So I am reposting that story here — this year Musial turns 90 — and, yes, I immodestly include a “Print This Post” link if you want to do such things. It’s certainly one of the favorite things I’ve ever written on this blog, especially because I had to rewrite it after spending hours and hours chasing down the authentic version of the story that appears at the top. Anyway, hope you enjoy.
Read the rest of this entry »
Posted: January 30th, 2010 | Filed under: Baseball | 76 Comments »
I’ll have a lengthier comment on this later in the week — for reasons that I think will become clear — but for now I would ask you to take a minute or two and read this Doug Tucker Associated Press story about the struggles of the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum in Kansas City.
I have avoided writing about the museum for more than a year now for very personal reasons. It has been heartbreaking watching the museum I loved — the museum, I should point out for ethical purposes, to which I dedicated many hours and many thousands of dollars — shift away from what I thought was its essence and focus and purpose. Reasonable minds can disagree about how a museum can tell its story. Reasonable minds will disagree about how a museum can stay viable and sustainable in this economic reality.
But the museum’s shift left away from Buck O’Neil and away from many of the people who had made it a magical place in the first place left me with the unshakeable belief that the people in charge had lost their way. The museum had lost it compass. And the place was doomed. I hoped I was wrong. I still do hope I’m wrong. Maybe this story will inspire change. Maybe it will rally people around the museum in the hopes of saving it. I hope so. But more than hope, I feel heartbreak. Like I say, I will write more on this in a few days.
Posted: January 29th, 2010 | Filed under: Pop Culture | 82 Comments »
I really like Conan O’Brien and I did not watch The Tonight Show. No. Not strong enough. How about this: I really like Conan O’Brien — I think he’s smart and funny and quirky — and I almost never watched The Tonight Show.
No, still not strong enough.
Read the rest of this entry »
Loading ...