A vacation tour goes off track
There were quite a few amazing sights during my recent vacation cruise that included a stop in Belize.
While in Belize, I hiked through a lush rain forest and took an innertube cruise down a spring-fed river that wound through a network of caves. I ate local fare and even caught a distant glimpse of one of the Belizian keys that inspired Madonna to write the song ''Isla Bonita.''
Great place, Belize. It's an up and coming tourist destination.
There are plenty of things I was told to expect in Belize: Around 60 different varieties of snakes (only six or so of which are poisonous), monkeys, Toucans and the fast-food presence of Subway (but not KFC, McDonald's or Burger King). I did not, however, expect to find a monument to a disgraced American sports celebrity.
But there it was on the side of the highway leading out of Belize City: The Marion Jones Sports Complex.
There's even a silhouette of Jones in motion on the billboard perched alongside the road.
Jones, the American sprinter who won five medals at the 2000 Sydney Olympics, possesses dual citizenship. Her mother is a native of Belize. After Jones went crazy winning medals in Sydney, she made a goodwill tour to Belize and local officials renamed the 7,500-seat National Stadium in her honor.
It's not much to look at, but the locals make the most of the site. There are bleachers on one side, facing a soccer pitch. The field is encircled by a track used for running and cycling events.
Having covered Jones at the 2000 Olympics, it didn't surprise me that there were artifacts of her career in one off the countries that claims her as a citizen. But with Jones serving a six-month prison sentence after pleading guilty to lying to federal agents in the BALCO investigation, I thought most would have been well-hidden.
Jones' legacy has acquired a coating of tarnish in the last year. She's been stripped of her world and Olympic medals for doping offenses and, earlier this week, confessed steroids dealer Angel Heredia testified in federal court that her former coach, Trevor Graham, told him he wanted to administer a banned substances cocktail to Jones before the 2000 Summer Games.
According to the San Francisco Chronicle, Heredia testified that Graham wanted to pump human growth hormone, insulin and the blood-doping drug EPO into Jones' system befor the Olympics.
When I took notice of the Marion Jones Sports Complex, I happened to be on a bus bound for the rain forest and innertube cave cruise. I asked our guide about the complex and whether Jones' recent troubles had changed the way she's viewed in Belize.
The country hasn't made any plans to re-name its national sports stadium, which sort of goes along with what the guide told me. Most Belizians don't mind counting Jones as one of their own, partly because of the visibility she brought the nation in 2000.
For a nation so small and so hungry to boost its tourist appeal, any level recognition can't hurt.
Thursday, May 29, 2008
Monday, May 26, 2008
Return of the delinquent blogger
You may have noticed that Troy’s Noise was uncharacteristically quiet for the last week or so, but there was a good reason for it.
Or at least I found it to be a good reason anyway.
I've been on vacation.
Just got back from a weeklong cruise that took the wife and I to Cozumel, Mexico, Roatan Island, Honduras, Belize and the Bahamas. I'm a little short of opinions regarding the happenings of the sports world right now because I've been out of touch. It's hard to keep up with the Atlanta Braves or the Indy 500 when you're climbing Mayan ruins, innertubing down a river that runs through a rain forest and a network of caves in Belize or developing sunburn on a beach in Freeport.
While I feel like I've been out of the loop for the last two weeks, it was nice to cut the umbilical cord that so often keeps me tied to a cell phone and computer.
I highly recommend doing so, even if you don't have access to Mayan ruins, a Belizian rain forest or the beaches of the Bahamas.
You may have noticed that Troy’s Noise was uncharacteristically quiet for the last week or so, but there was a good reason for it.
Or at least I found it to be a good reason anyway.
I've been on vacation.
Just got back from a weeklong cruise that took the wife and I to Cozumel, Mexico, Roatan Island, Honduras, Belize and the Bahamas. I'm a little short of opinions regarding the happenings of the sports world right now because I've been out of touch. It's hard to keep up with the Atlanta Braves or the Indy 500 when you're climbing Mayan ruins, innertubing down a river that runs through a rain forest and a network of caves in Belize or developing sunburn on a beach in Freeport.
While I feel like I've been out of the loop for the last two weeks, it was nice to cut the umbilical cord that so often keeps me tied to a cell phone and computer.
I highly recommend doing so, even if you don't have access to Mayan ruins, a Belizian rain forest or the beaches of the Bahamas.
Tuesday, May 13, 2008
No blockbuster here
Given the hype and hysteria on the NFL Network and ESPN earlier today, you'd have thought NFL commissioner Roger Goodell was reviewing the Zapruder film with the expectation of finding indisputable evidence of a second gunman.
The TV talking heads postulated on what, if any, competitive advantage the Patriots could have gained from illegally videotaping an opponent's walkthrough and what else Matt Walsh could possibly have left to show and tell the commish.
So after three months of waiting, wondering and anticipating, Goodell emerged from a meeting Tuesday with a relieved look on his face and a posture that conveyed the following message about Spygate:
Show's over. Nothing to see here. Move along, people.
Basically, Goodell said that the Patriots and their head coach, Bill Belichick, have been punished enough already for their covert camerawork and that there were no blockbuster films hidden in their screening room.
Walsh claims that he didn't film the St. Louis Rams' walkthrough before the 2002 Super Bowl and didn't have knowledge of anyone who did. At the same time, however, ESPN's Sal Paolantonio reported that Walsh told the coaching staff about some of what he personally observed at what was supposed to have been a closed walkthrough.
Goodell penalized the Patriots for illegal videotapes made during the end of the 2006 season and the early portion of the 2007 season, but you have to wonder whether the league wanted to start rummaging through New England's DVD collection. Supposedly, the Patriots' secretive video taping has been going on since 2000.
With that in mind, do you think the NFL really wanted to find more dirt on its most successful franchise?
Given the hype and hysteria on the NFL Network and ESPN earlier today, you'd have thought NFL commissioner Roger Goodell was reviewing the Zapruder film with the expectation of finding indisputable evidence of a second gunman.
The TV talking heads postulated on what, if any, competitive advantage the Patriots could have gained from illegally videotaping an opponent's walkthrough and what else Matt Walsh could possibly have left to show and tell the commish.
So after three months of waiting, wondering and anticipating, Goodell emerged from a meeting Tuesday with a relieved look on his face and a posture that conveyed the following message about Spygate:
Show's over. Nothing to see here. Move along, people.
Basically, Goodell said that the Patriots and their head coach, Bill Belichick, have been punished enough already for their covert camerawork and that there were no blockbuster films hidden in their screening room.
Walsh claims that he didn't film the St. Louis Rams' walkthrough before the 2002 Super Bowl and didn't have knowledge of anyone who did. At the same time, however, ESPN's Sal Paolantonio reported that Walsh told the coaching staff about some of what he personally observed at what was supposed to have been a closed walkthrough.
Goodell penalized the Patriots for illegal videotapes made during the end of the 2006 season and the early portion of the 2007 season, but you have to wonder whether the league wanted to start rummaging through New England's DVD collection. Supposedly, the Patriots' secretive video taping has been going on since 2000.
With that in mind, do you think the NFL really wanted to find more dirt on its most successful franchise?
Thursday, May 08, 2008
Crunching numbers
Some interesting facts and figures gleaned from the news wires and blogosphere:
* According to the Columbia (S.C.) State, one South Carolina football fan transacted a seriously sweet real estate deal with Gamecocks coach Steve Spurrier.
The newspaper reported that Spurrier sold a two-bedroom, two-bath, 1,206-square foot condo at CarolinaWalk, located across the street from Williams-Brice Stadium, to a business run by South Carolina businessman Roger Huskey. The sale price was $275,000, but it seems Huskey received quite a break. Other condos of the same size in the complex have sold for around $425,000, the newspaper reported.
* Michael Vick owes the Royal Bank of Canada a cool $2.5 million, a district court ruled Thursday.
The U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia granted a motion for summary judgment against Vick for defaulting on a loan.
With Vick serving a 23-month federal prison sentence for dogfighting, it may be a while before the check is in the mail.
* Bill Hargrove, whom the United States Bowling Congress dubbed ''the oldest league bowler ever,'' died in Gainesville, Ga., Thursday a mere four days shy of his 107th birthday.
Hargrove received national attention last year after participating in a league after turning 106.
As for me, I bowled a 106 once.
Some interesting facts and figures gleaned from the news wires and blogosphere:
* According to the Columbia (S.C.) State, one South Carolina football fan transacted a seriously sweet real estate deal with Gamecocks coach Steve Spurrier.
The newspaper reported that Spurrier sold a two-bedroom, two-bath, 1,206-square foot condo at CarolinaWalk, located across the street from Williams-Brice Stadium, to a business run by South Carolina businessman Roger Huskey. The sale price was $275,000, but it seems Huskey received quite a break. Other condos of the same size in the complex have sold for around $425,000, the newspaper reported.
* Michael Vick owes the Royal Bank of Canada a cool $2.5 million, a district court ruled Thursday.
The U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia granted a motion for summary judgment against Vick for defaulting on a loan.
With Vick serving a 23-month federal prison sentence for dogfighting, it may be a while before the check is in the mail.
* Bill Hargrove, whom the United States Bowling Congress dubbed ''the oldest league bowler ever,'' died in Gainesville, Ga., Thursday a mere four days shy of his 107th birthday.
Hargrove received national attention last year after participating in a league after turning 106.
As for me, I bowled a 106 once.
Stinging the Hornets
No wonder the NCAA needed five years to conclude its investigation of the Alabama State University athletic department.
Given the accusations leveled by the organization this week, the NCAA must have needed to field army of accountants and buy a battery of computers to calculate the grand total of alleged violations.
The NCAA sent ASU a notice of allegations that accused the school of -- get ready for this -- at least 668 violations in four different sports.
That's not a misprint.
If that sounds like a lot, well, it is. It's believed to be the largest naughty list ever unfurled. Florida A&M was once charged with 196 violations. According to a story in the Montgomery Advertiser, nearly 500 violations stemmed from ineligible football players being allowed to work out in the offseason. The NCAA also cited 40 instances in which the grades of football players were changed without the knowledge of their instructors.
If that's the case, then ASU's Academic Percentage Rating should have ranked right up there with Brown and Yale this week.
It didn't.
ASU will have until June 27 to respond to the NCAA's allegations, the most serious of which is the always ominous ''lack of institutional control.''
No wonder the NCAA needed five years to conclude its investigation of the Alabama State University athletic department.
Given the accusations leveled by the organization this week, the NCAA must have needed to field army of accountants and buy a battery of computers to calculate the grand total of alleged violations.
The NCAA sent ASU a notice of allegations that accused the school of -- get ready for this -- at least 668 violations in four different sports.
That's not a misprint.
If that sounds like a lot, well, it is. It's believed to be the largest naughty list ever unfurled. Florida A&M was once charged with 196 violations. According to a story in the Montgomery Advertiser, nearly 500 violations stemmed from ineligible football players being allowed to work out in the offseason. The NCAA also cited 40 instances in which the grades of football players were changed without the knowledge of their instructors.
If that's the case, then ASU's Academic Percentage Rating should have ranked right up there with Brown and Yale this week.
It didn't.
ASU will have until June 27 to respond to the NCAA's allegations, the most serious of which is the always ominous ''lack of institutional control.''
Tuesday, May 06, 2008
Nick Saban interview transcript
Before Monday, I'd only dealt with Alabama football coach Nick Saban in group settings. It's pretty much impossible to have anything resembling a one-on-one conversation with him in Tuscaloosa because people are absolutely loco about Alabama football around there. You show up for their weekly press conference and there are generally upwards of 100 TV and newspaper reporters seated in an auditorium.
It's a different culture.
At Georgia or Auburn, for instance, it’s easy to have a conversation with Mark Richt or Tommy Tuberville because there are fewer layers of insolation between the head coaches and the folks who cover their teams.
Saban has always been viewed as the sort of guy who doesn't enjoy dealing with the press or gladhanding his fans on the chicken dinner circuit. The funny part, of course, is that the writers I know who cover him on a daily basis say he’s not an ogre away from the practice field and press conference podium. The man can be side-splittingly funny, but he's more loose and accomodating when it’s not football season. The competitive tunnel vision kind of subsides for an instant and you see the regular guy in him.
So I showed up Monday to cover the SEC Celebrity Golf Classic at the Country Club of Columbus not really knowing which Nick Saban we'd get. Would he agree to an interview or try to run over me with his golf cart? The man was, understandably, in a bit of a hurry once he got done playing in the afternoon. This time of the year is hectic for college coaches even though practice doesn't resume until August. In addition to trying to make recruiting inroads during the spring evaluation period, they're traveling to various speaking engagements and such.
Anyway, as Saban walked off the 18th green, I caught up with him and asked him a few questions. My esteemed colleagues from the local TV stations -- Andrew Wittenberg from WTVM and Jack Rogers from WRBL -- also joined us. Saban seemed to enjoy the day in general and didn't have us on the stop watch when we interviewed him. Here's a transcript of my conversation with him:
Question: How often do you get to play in events like these and how did you hit it today?
Saban: ‘‘Not very many. ... It depends on what your definition (of success) is. To me, if I hit it airborne, that's a good shot. I'm not disappointed because I hit one ground ball all day.''
Q: You guys are obviously getting together for charitable causes (the foundations of former Alabama player Jeremiah Castille, former Auburn player Joe Cribbs and former Georgia player David Pollack), but does it feel strange at all partnering up with folks from your in-state rival?
Saban: ‘‘I think it's great. At Michigan State, we had a lot of these kinds of events. Bo (Schembechler) had a thing for adrenal cancer at Michigan. The cause we're out here for today is much greater than the competition. Just because you compete doesn't mean you can't do the right things when it comes to supporting great causes. I'm glad to be here to support it.
Q: With the NCAA banning coaches from visiting high school campuses in the spring, people are talking about your use of a webcam to communicate with prospects. How long have you used it and why is it advantageous?
Saban: ‘‘It came from our medical staff in Miami (with the Dolphins). We're kind of in an age where most of these guys don't read books. They watch videos. Any time you can be visual ... I feel like any time you're sitting there in a video conference talking to a coach or a player, it's almost like you're there. It's much better than a phone call. That's just something that we've used in the past that we've used a little bit this year in recruiting. Since we can't go out and visit the coaches and see the players practice, this has worked out good. I enjoy it. I don't know if they enjoy it. The biggest thing I struggle with, I guess it's the pro ball guy in me, you watch a guy on film, you go to the (NFL) combine and watch him work out, then you go work a player it. It's kind of a crosscheck. I never went out as much (recruiting in the spring) at Michigan State because they didn't have spring ball there, but the fact that all these guys are playing in most of the states that we recruit, I used to go see the best five or six players at every position. It was a great crosscheck.
‘‘You always kind of knew the guy in Mississippi compared to the guy in Georgia compared to the guy in Alabama. That was a great evaluation tool for all of us.’’
Q: Since you can't go visit the campuses now, how are you using your time? What else can you focus on?
Saban: ‘‘Because there's no travel involved, we've tried to do a little bit more with relationship building. The first 16 months we were at Alabama, we worked hard at trying to get our program right and make inroads in recruiting.’’
Q: You guys have had 80,000 to 90,000 fans at the last two spring games and you're mobbed at Crimson Caravan events. Does that kind of underscore what fans expect from you?
Saban: ‘‘I think that positive energy is the most important thing in trying to accomplish any goal. I know our players appreciate what our fans have done in terms of supporting our program and what we're trying to do. That positive energy they've demonstrated helps us in recruiting and in a lot of ways. One thing our fans have done is be extremely supportive.’’
Q: (From Andrew Wittenberg of WTVM) Do you feel like the program is ahead of where it was at this time last year?
Saban: ‘‘I can't make comparisons. The two things we didn't do last year that we need to improve on -- we didn't play with enough consistency. We got ahead in games and let people come back. We played up to the good teams and didn't play as well in some of the other games. We didn't finish. We didn't finish the season. We didn't finish certain games. We didn't play to the standard of excellence we were capable of on a consistent basis. I think we made some progress in this offseason and in this spring practice. Hopefully we'll show some improvement next year.’’
Q: Were the Auburn fans cool to you out there?
Saban: ‘‘Everybody was nice to me. I appreciate that. Glad to do something like that.’’
Q: (as Saban is preparing to get his golf clubs and head out) Heard they were having trouble finding a plane to get you home ... (Alabama booster Paul Bryant Jr. wound up sending his to Columbus to pick up Saban)
Saban (smiling): ‘‘I don't know. I've got to call the office. If they don't have one, they won't answer the phone.’’
Before Monday, I'd only dealt with Alabama football coach Nick Saban in group settings. It's pretty much impossible to have anything resembling a one-on-one conversation with him in Tuscaloosa because people are absolutely loco about Alabama football around there. You show up for their weekly press conference and there are generally upwards of 100 TV and newspaper reporters seated in an auditorium.
It's a different culture.
At Georgia or Auburn, for instance, it’s easy to have a conversation with Mark Richt or Tommy Tuberville because there are fewer layers of insolation between the head coaches and the folks who cover their teams.
Saban has always been viewed as the sort of guy who doesn't enjoy dealing with the press or gladhanding his fans on the chicken dinner circuit. The funny part, of course, is that the writers I know who cover him on a daily basis say he’s not an ogre away from the practice field and press conference podium. The man can be side-splittingly funny, but he's more loose and accomodating when it’s not football season. The competitive tunnel vision kind of subsides for an instant and you see the regular guy in him.
So I showed up Monday to cover the SEC Celebrity Golf Classic at the Country Club of Columbus not really knowing which Nick Saban we'd get. Would he agree to an interview or try to run over me with his golf cart? The man was, understandably, in a bit of a hurry once he got done playing in the afternoon. This time of the year is hectic for college coaches even though practice doesn't resume until August. In addition to trying to make recruiting inroads during the spring evaluation period, they're traveling to various speaking engagements and such.
Anyway, as Saban walked off the 18th green, I caught up with him and asked him a few questions. My esteemed colleagues from the local TV stations -- Andrew Wittenberg from WTVM and Jack Rogers from WRBL -- also joined us. Saban seemed to enjoy the day in general and didn't have us on the stop watch when we interviewed him. Here's a transcript of my conversation with him:
Question: How often do you get to play in events like these and how did you hit it today?
Saban: ‘‘Not very many. ... It depends on what your definition (of success) is. To me, if I hit it airborne, that's a good shot. I'm not disappointed because I hit one ground ball all day.''
Q: You guys are obviously getting together for charitable causes (the foundations of former Alabama player Jeremiah Castille, former Auburn player Joe Cribbs and former Georgia player David Pollack), but does it feel strange at all partnering up with folks from your in-state rival?
Saban: ‘‘I think it's great. At Michigan State, we had a lot of these kinds of events. Bo (Schembechler) had a thing for adrenal cancer at Michigan. The cause we're out here for today is much greater than the competition. Just because you compete doesn't mean you can't do the right things when it comes to supporting great causes. I'm glad to be here to support it.
Q: With the NCAA banning coaches from visiting high school campuses in the spring, people are talking about your use of a webcam to communicate with prospects. How long have you used it and why is it advantageous?
Saban: ‘‘It came from our medical staff in Miami (with the Dolphins). We're kind of in an age where most of these guys don't read books. They watch videos. Any time you can be visual ... I feel like any time you're sitting there in a video conference talking to a coach or a player, it's almost like you're there. It's much better than a phone call. That's just something that we've used in the past that we've used a little bit this year in recruiting. Since we can't go out and visit the coaches and see the players practice, this has worked out good. I enjoy it. I don't know if they enjoy it. The biggest thing I struggle with, I guess it's the pro ball guy in me, you watch a guy on film, you go to the (NFL) combine and watch him work out, then you go work a player it. It's kind of a crosscheck. I never went out as much (recruiting in the spring) at Michigan State because they didn't have spring ball there, but the fact that all these guys are playing in most of the states that we recruit, I used to go see the best five or six players at every position. It was a great crosscheck.
‘‘You always kind of knew the guy in Mississippi compared to the guy in Georgia compared to the guy in Alabama. That was a great evaluation tool for all of us.’’
Q: Since you can't go visit the campuses now, how are you using your time? What else can you focus on?
Saban: ‘‘Because there's no travel involved, we've tried to do a little bit more with relationship building. The first 16 months we were at Alabama, we worked hard at trying to get our program right and make inroads in recruiting.’’
Q: You guys have had 80,000 to 90,000 fans at the last two spring games and you're mobbed at Crimson Caravan events. Does that kind of underscore what fans expect from you?
Saban: ‘‘I think that positive energy is the most important thing in trying to accomplish any goal. I know our players appreciate what our fans have done in terms of supporting our program and what we're trying to do. That positive energy they've demonstrated helps us in recruiting and in a lot of ways. One thing our fans have done is be extremely supportive.’’
Q: (From Andrew Wittenberg of WTVM) Do you feel like the program is ahead of where it was at this time last year?
Saban: ‘‘I can't make comparisons. The two things we didn't do last year that we need to improve on -- we didn't play with enough consistency. We got ahead in games and let people come back. We played up to the good teams and didn't play as well in some of the other games. We didn't finish. We didn't finish the season. We didn't finish certain games. We didn't play to the standard of excellence we were capable of on a consistent basis. I think we made some progress in this offseason and in this spring practice. Hopefully we'll show some improvement next year.’’
Q: Were the Auburn fans cool to you out there?
Saban: ‘‘Everybody was nice to me. I appreciate that. Glad to do something like that.’’
Q: (as Saban is preparing to get his golf clubs and head out) Heard they were having trouble finding a plane to get you home ... (Alabama booster Paul Bryant Jr. wound up sending his to Columbus to pick up Saban)
Saban (smiling): ‘‘I don't know. I've got to call the office. If they don't have one, they won't answer the phone.’’
Friday, May 02, 2008
Ryan's Hope extinguished
Defending national champion LSU may have trouble getting out of the starting blocks in the race for the 2008 Southeastern Conference championship.
LSU coach Les Miles announced Friday that quarterback Ryan Perrilloux has been kicked off the team for failing to ''fulfill his obligation as an LSU student-athlete.''
Frankly, this development is about as shocking as reports that Mardi Gras revelers are known to drink large quantities of alcohol. Perrilloux, who served as the backup to Matt Flynn last season, had repeated disciplinary run-ins throughout his college career. He was suspended last summer after being caught trying to enter a Baton Rouge casino with fake ID and was suspended again for skipping classes, missing a team meeting and being tardy to offseason workouts.
It took a fair amount of courage for Miles to make the move he did. Perrilloux can play. He completed 51 of 75 passes last season, including eight touchdowns and two interceptions. Had he not run afoul of Miles' rules, he would have had the inside track to being the starter for a sure-thing top-five team.
Defending national champion LSU may have trouble getting out of the starting blocks in the race for the 2008 Southeastern Conference championship.
LSU coach Les Miles announced Friday that quarterback Ryan Perrilloux has been kicked off the team for failing to ''fulfill his obligation as an LSU student-athlete.''
Frankly, this development is about as shocking as reports that Mardi Gras revelers are known to drink large quantities of alcohol. Perrilloux, who served as the backup to Matt Flynn last season, had repeated disciplinary run-ins throughout his college career. He was suspended last summer after being caught trying to enter a Baton Rouge casino with fake ID and was suspended again for skipping classes, missing a team meeting and being tardy to offseason workouts.
It took a fair amount of courage for Miles to make the move he did. Perrilloux can play. He completed 51 of 75 passes last season, including eight touchdowns and two interceptions. Had he not run afoul of Miles' rules, he would have had the inside track to being the starter for a sure-thing top-five team.
Thursday, May 01, 2008
Playoff fever in Atlanta
Hey, the Atlanta Hawks are still alive in the NBA playoffs.
Enjoy it while it lasts. That may no longer be the case in, oh, about 24 hours from now.
Give the Hawks credit for pushing the 66-win, star-laden Boston Celtics to a sixth game. It's a wonder the Hawks avoided a sweep, quite frankly, and it will be equally eyebrow-jacking if they force a seventh game. It's true that Kevin Garnett and Co. should have a prohibitive advantage in terms of talent heading into Friday night's game at Philips Arena, but Atlanta forwards Josh Smith and Al Horford have been impressive and who knows what Joe Johnson could do if he gets hot early in the game?
No, the problem might be the man on the bench, head coach Mike Woodson. He seems more than a little distracted right now and that can't be good for his team.
After Atlanta's last victory in the series, he spoke of his job situation almost in the past tense, as if he expected to get canned at the conclusion of his team's playoff joyride. These last few days, he's been answering and then doing his best to avoid questions of his job security. After all, the guy owns a record of 106-222 in four seasons. I've hung with him in his office before and he seems like a nice guy, but you have to wonder if the the members of the Atlanta Spirit ownership group (who can name all of them given the legal infighting) have grown impatient waiting for him to turn Marvin Williams' potential into production, etc.
In a recent radio interview, Woodson seemed to be making a belated effort at damage control.
"Personally, I think I've done an unbelievable job,'' he said.
Sounds a little like Dubya's endorsement of a certain former FEMA director.
Oh well.
For Atlanta to extend this series, it needs to arrive at Philips Arena with the same sort of energy as last Friday's occupant of the arena floor. The wife and I took in Bruce Springsteen's epic concert in Atlanta last week.
While I've long appreciated The Boss' music, I'd never before seen him live and am in no way represented of the uber-fan/borderline stalkers who bused and flew in from places like Hackensack, Perth Amboy and Paramus with their acid wash jeans and teased hair (in the case of the ladies) to see a Jersey guy who made good.
The Mrs. and I managed to score tickets that got us into the 500-person bullpen right in front of the stage. We were no more than 25-feet away from Bruce, Lil' Stevie and Clarence Clemons at various points during the show. As wonderful as the music was, I spent a fair portion of the show simply gawping at Bruce on stage and wondering how he could maintain his hyperkinetic stage presence as he closes in on his 58th birthday.
You have to figure that this guy has played most of his standards -- ''Born to Run,'' ''Brilliant Disguise,'' "Glory Days,'' etc. -- night after night on the road, probably upwards of 10,000 times apiece over the years. And yet, in Atlanta, he wore a smile on his face, engaged the crowd throughout, sponged gallons of sweat off his face, drank gallons of blue sports drink in between songs and sang every one of his songs with the sort of fervor and passion you would have expected to see during his first tour.
The Hawks need whatever Bruce brought to the stage last weekend, but I'm not sure that ingredient exists in mass quantities.
Hey, the Atlanta Hawks are still alive in the NBA playoffs.
Enjoy it while it lasts. That may no longer be the case in, oh, about 24 hours from now.
Give the Hawks credit for pushing the 66-win, star-laden Boston Celtics to a sixth game. It's a wonder the Hawks avoided a sweep, quite frankly, and it will be equally eyebrow-jacking if they force a seventh game. It's true that Kevin Garnett and Co. should have a prohibitive advantage in terms of talent heading into Friday night's game at Philips Arena, but Atlanta forwards Josh Smith and Al Horford have been impressive and who knows what Joe Johnson could do if he gets hot early in the game?
No, the problem might be the man on the bench, head coach Mike Woodson. He seems more than a little distracted right now and that can't be good for his team.
After Atlanta's last victory in the series, he spoke of his job situation almost in the past tense, as if he expected to get canned at the conclusion of his team's playoff joyride. These last few days, he's been answering and then doing his best to avoid questions of his job security. After all, the guy owns a record of 106-222 in four seasons. I've hung with him in his office before and he seems like a nice guy, but you have to wonder if the the members of the Atlanta Spirit ownership group (who can name all of them given the legal infighting) have grown impatient waiting for him to turn Marvin Williams' potential into production, etc.
In a recent radio interview, Woodson seemed to be making a belated effort at damage control.
"Personally, I think I've done an unbelievable job,'' he said.
Sounds a little like Dubya's endorsement of a certain former FEMA director.
Oh well.
For Atlanta to extend this series, it needs to arrive at Philips Arena with the same sort of energy as last Friday's occupant of the arena floor. The wife and I took in Bruce Springsteen's epic concert in Atlanta last week.
While I've long appreciated The Boss' music, I'd never before seen him live and am in no way represented of the uber-fan/borderline stalkers who bused and flew in from places like Hackensack, Perth Amboy and Paramus with their acid wash jeans and teased hair (in the case of the ladies) to see a Jersey guy who made good.
The Mrs. and I managed to score tickets that got us into the 500-person bullpen right in front of the stage. We were no more than 25-feet away from Bruce, Lil' Stevie and Clarence Clemons at various points during the show. As wonderful as the music was, I spent a fair portion of the show simply gawping at Bruce on stage and wondering how he could maintain his hyperkinetic stage presence as he closes in on his 58th birthday.
You have to figure that this guy has played most of his standards -- ''Born to Run,'' ''Brilliant Disguise,'' "Glory Days,'' etc. -- night after night on the road, probably upwards of 10,000 times apiece over the years. And yet, in Atlanta, he wore a smile on his face, engaged the crowd throughout, sponged gallons of sweat off his face, drank gallons of blue sports drink in between songs and sang every one of his songs with the sort of fervor and passion you would have expected to see during his first tour.
The Hawks need whatever Bruce brought to the stage last weekend, but I'm not sure that ingredient exists in mass quantities.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)