What has happened to the Mike Tysons, Evander Holyfields and Lennox Lewises that paved the way for boxing greatness in the world? Simple: they got old, and the weight class got old.
When your greatest champions are the Klitschkos, two men who just win, but make no fun for the fans, something's terribly wrong.
I can remember the better days -- Tyson was the best fighter in the world, pound-for-pound, and fighters like Riddick Bowe and Lewis were top-notch competition. Nowadays, I don't know who in the world could even resemble an attractive fighter in the division. A lot of it has to do with more Russian and European fighters taking the stage and dominating the American hitters.
I don't even watch heavyweight boxing anymore because there truly isn't anything worth ordering. Watching Wladimir Klitschko or his brother Vitali fight is as entertaining as a San Antonio Spurs NBA Finals game. Low ratings, low interest and slow, far-from-dramatic competition. The welterweight and middleweight divisions have dominated since the downfalls of Tyson and Lewis, and even those divisions (with Floyd Mayweather "taking time off" to be a professional actor/wrestler) are declining. Somebody get Winky Wright into some weight gain diet programs. Someone push Kelly Pavlik into the 200-pound range. Somebody please save heavyweight boxing, because the only knockout it has given in the six or seven years has been to itself.
Thursday, February 28, 2008
Tuesday, February 19, 2008
Barry Bonds case is the reinvention of O.J. Simpson
This court controversy with Barry Bonds has been all too familiar.
The allegations, the interrogations and the denials remind me so much of the adventures of O.J. Simpson, a fall-and-can’t-get-up type of celebrity whose not-so-great escape from his murder case has done nothing but bring him further down into publicity hell.
How ironic that another man of athletic greatness takes a disappointing fall. Bonds, who is the reigning home-run leader with 762, has already lost his personal integrity to the mass media. He is about to lose his legacy in America’s favorite pastime, much like Simpson having lost his reputation as a role model. Although Simpson is under far more scrutiny in his Nicole Simpson murder case and his current armed robbery debacle, Bonds has publicly made himself the primary scapegoat for one of the nation’s biggest controversies — steroids. But the most notable thing is that both of these once-promising individuals have taken serious turns for the worst, and Bonds’ problems only stir up the memories of Simpson’s problems.
O.J. Simpson is one of the greatest football players of all time. He has been a famous actor, spokesman and broadcaster, but he has never been the best at dodging the criminal courts. Bonds is like a brother to O.J. when it comes to staying under the public scope. He has maintained his “ums,” “I guesses” and “well, what do you thinks,” and will never stay away from his patented “no comments.” All of those catchy two-word exit moves couldn’t convince a child that he has not been around steroids. Nobody is fooled by his turnaround strategy, blaming the media for his struggling reputation. O.J.’s frantic search for his “belongings” in Las Vegas is just as comparable. I can delve into the looking glass and predict that both of these former impact players could be bunking together soon.
Both of their current cases have been held up because of confusion, but Mike Tyson’s cases always seem to go as quick as his TKOs. The longer a case goes, the more tortuous it can be for the lawyers, litigants and judges. But it can more hellacious for Simpson and Bonds in their respective cases because we all know what do, but only they know what they have really done.
Bonds should quit while he’s behind. Simpson should just quit, period. Either way, I see no differences in two men who are now famous for being infamous.
The allegations, the interrogations and the denials remind me so much of the adventures of O.J. Simpson, a fall-and-can’t-get-up type of celebrity whose not-so-great escape from his murder case has done nothing but bring him further down into publicity hell.
How ironic that another man of athletic greatness takes a disappointing fall. Bonds, who is the reigning home-run leader with 762, has already lost his personal integrity to the mass media. He is about to lose his legacy in America’s favorite pastime, much like Simpson having lost his reputation as a role model. Although Simpson is under far more scrutiny in his Nicole Simpson murder case and his current armed robbery debacle, Bonds has publicly made himself the primary scapegoat for one of the nation’s biggest controversies — steroids. But the most notable thing is that both of these once-promising individuals have taken serious turns for the worst, and Bonds’ problems only stir up the memories of Simpson’s problems.
O.J. Simpson is one of the greatest football players of all time. He has been a famous actor, spokesman and broadcaster, but he has never been the best at dodging the criminal courts. Bonds is like a brother to O.J. when it comes to staying under the public scope. He has maintained his “ums,” “I guesses” and “well, what do you thinks,” and will never stay away from his patented “no comments.” All of those catchy two-word exit moves couldn’t convince a child that he has not been around steroids. Nobody is fooled by his turnaround strategy, blaming the media for his struggling reputation. O.J.’s frantic search for his “belongings” in Las Vegas is just as comparable. I can delve into the looking glass and predict that both of these former impact players could be bunking together soon.
Both of their current cases have been held up because of confusion, but Mike Tyson’s cases always seem to go as quick as his TKOs. The longer a case goes, the more tortuous it can be for the lawyers, litigants and judges. But it can more hellacious for Simpson and Bonds in their respective cases because we all know what do, but only they know what they have really done.
Bonds should quit while he’s behind. Simpson should just quit, period. Either way, I see no differences in two men who are now famous for being infamous.
Monday, February 11, 2008
Best in the west means least for the east
The trades for Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen to the Boston Celtics seem like an afterthought with the way transactions are being made in the Western Conference.
Danny Ainge’s inspiring business move has prompted other teams – most in the west – to step up their game and acquire big-time performers. The Los Angeles Lakers’ trade for former Memphis Grizzly Pau Gasol has been the steal of this season. Any talented big man playing alongside Kobe Bryant is flat-out robbery, but what sealed the fate of the already-weakened Eastern Conference is The Big Aristotle’s move back to the Pacific Division.
Just not for the Lakers.
Shaquille O’Neal’s trade to the Suns just about does it for the Western Conference established dominance over its little brother conference. The Eastern Conference, despite Miami getting a franchise-type player in Shawn Marion, has lost an edge that has been out of its grasp since the Detroit Pistons fell out of the NBA Finals scene two years ago.
Shaq is not the same man he was when he was in Los Angeles, but he still makes a huge difference in games. His presence and on-court savvy gives Phoenix a presumed advantage over many teams out east, including the Celtics and Pistons, the latter having problems defending in previous years.
And when you consider the Lakers’ young core of promising contributors, adding an young, primed Gasol to a lineup featuring the best player in basketball creates what was once in Los Angeles – a Shaq/Kobe inside and out dominance of three years. Now Gasol is definitely not O’Neal, but Kobe can make him that good. Gasol was already a great player in Memphis, but he was counted on too much to lead the team. He is not a franchise player who can single-handedly change the way a team will be approached, that’s Kobe Bryant’s job. Gasol is in a comfort zone as a Laker, and his on-court intelligence matches head coach Phil Jackson’s strategies almost completely.
The San Antonio Spurs are still the class of the NBA, but with rising talents like the New Orleans Hornets, Utah Jazz and Golden State Warriors, the Western Conference Finals is now the NBA Finals, with little offense to the Pistons and Celtics.
Boston and Detroit are the best in the Eastern Conference, but that is where it stops. LeBron James’ Cleveland Cavaliers don’t have the firepower to make a comeback bid for the NBA Finals this year, and I am not sold on the Orlando Magic. This team is a winning squad battling with inconsistency night-in and night-out. Add this to pessimism – the Eastern Conference only has five teams with winning records. The Washington Wizards, at 24-26, are sixth in the conference. The Spurs, at 33-17, are sixth in the Western Conference.
Picking an Eastern Conference team to win the NBA Finals is like picking Mike Tyson to be a spokesman against drug abuse. He has no chance of qualifying, much like the Pistons and Celtics have little to no chance of besting one of five top Western Conference teams. Kyle Korver got the idea quick and was traded to the Jazz.
The balance of power has made a home in the Western Conference, while the Eastern Conference remains without a guiding light to shine on its chances.
Danny Ainge’s inspiring business move has prompted other teams – most in the west – to step up their game and acquire big-time performers. The Los Angeles Lakers’ trade for former Memphis Grizzly Pau Gasol has been the steal of this season. Any talented big man playing alongside Kobe Bryant is flat-out robbery, but what sealed the fate of the already-weakened Eastern Conference is The Big Aristotle’s move back to the Pacific Division.
Just not for the Lakers.
Shaquille O’Neal’s trade to the Suns just about does it for the Western Conference established dominance over its little brother conference. The Eastern Conference, despite Miami getting a franchise-type player in Shawn Marion, has lost an edge that has been out of its grasp since the Detroit Pistons fell out of the NBA Finals scene two years ago.
Shaq is not the same man he was when he was in Los Angeles, but he still makes a huge difference in games. His presence and on-court savvy gives Phoenix a presumed advantage over many teams out east, including the Celtics and Pistons, the latter having problems defending in previous years.
And when you consider the Lakers’ young core of promising contributors, adding an young, primed Gasol to a lineup featuring the best player in basketball creates what was once in Los Angeles – a Shaq/Kobe inside and out dominance of three years. Now Gasol is definitely not O’Neal, but Kobe can make him that good. Gasol was already a great player in Memphis, but he was counted on too much to lead the team. He is not a franchise player who can single-handedly change the way a team will be approached, that’s Kobe Bryant’s job. Gasol is in a comfort zone as a Laker, and his on-court intelligence matches head coach Phil Jackson’s strategies almost completely.
The San Antonio Spurs are still the class of the NBA, but with rising talents like the New Orleans Hornets, Utah Jazz and Golden State Warriors, the Western Conference Finals is now the NBA Finals, with little offense to the Pistons and Celtics.
Boston and Detroit are the best in the Eastern Conference, but that is where it stops. LeBron James’ Cleveland Cavaliers don’t have the firepower to make a comeback bid for the NBA Finals this year, and I am not sold on the Orlando Magic. This team is a winning squad battling with inconsistency night-in and night-out. Add this to pessimism – the Eastern Conference only has five teams with winning records. The Washington Wizards, at 24-26, are sixth in the conference. The Spurs, at 33-17, are sixth in the Western Conference.
Picking an Eastern Conference team to win the NBA Finals is like picking Mike Tyson to be a spokesman against drug abuse. He has no chance of qualifying, much like the Pistons and Celtics have little to no chance of besting one of five top Western Conference teams. Kyle Korver got the idea quick and was traded to the Jazz.
The balance of power has made a home in the Western Conference, while the Eastern Conference remains without a guiding light to shine on its chances.
Monday, February 4, 2008
Super Bowl XLII -- Death of a dynasty, rise of a new one
The New England Patriots became victims of their own history after Super Bowl XLII.
The last team to win a Super Bowl (prior to Super Bowl XLII) after being 10-plus point underdogs was — ironically — the New England Patriots. The Giants were 12-point underdogs in this Super Bowl and pulled off an upset far greater than New England’s surprise triumph over the St. Louis Rams in 2003. History comes back to everyone, and New England — as special as it was this season — was just another Goliath that was finally taken down by an up-and-coming David.
It was they who were upended Sunday by three points, something that they did to three other teams in three past Super Bowls. It was they who were physically manhandled throughout the championship contest, something they seemingly did to the St. Louis Rams in Super Bowl XXXVI, Carolina Panthers in XXXVIII and Philadelphia Eagles in XXXIX. It was Tom Brady left in defeat, a feeling he gave then-Rams quarterback Kurt Warner, Panthers quarterback Jake Delhomme and Eagles quarterback Donovan McNabb.
What the previously undefeated Patriots succumbed to was football’s evolution. Nobody stays at the top forever, and it took both Mannings to prove that if something bleeds, it can be killed. The Patriots entered Glendale, Ariz. as football’s immortals and suffered the worst death any football team could possibly take — losing in the Super Bowl.
An embarrassing loss for the NFL’s supposed perfect team? I think not. Patriots head coach Bill Belichick could not run off the field fast enough to realize that his quarterback could not withstand the ongoing pressure of the New York Giants’ front four, Randy Moss was neutralized for a good portion of the game and the defense could not take down Giants quarterback and Super Bowl XLII MVP Eli Manning. In short, the Giants were the better team and could possibly have been the better team in the last game of the season, which the Patriots won 38-35.
The Giants had the Patriots on their heels in Week 17, leading by 13 in the third quarter, the Patriots’ biggest deficit during the season. In Super Bowl XLII, New England was wobbling badly. A season-high five sacks to Brady had the Patriots cornered, and not even the late-game heroics of No. 12 could get New England back on its feet.
Brady, who was 24 years old in 2003, sidestepped veteran quarterback Kurt Warner [the 2001 regular season MVP] in his first Super Bowl to become the game’s new premier quarterback. History surely repeats itself six years later, and Brady, the regular season MVP was tripped up by young, brash Eli Manning (27 years old). Manning, who played his first Super Bowl, has now come into his own as one of the game’s most dynamic quarterbacks, a moniker Brady earned at his first big game.
Belichick’s rise to fame — or infamy (see Spygate) — began in 2002 as well. He was an unproven head coach with an unproven quarterback, a title that Giants head coach Tom Coughlin held before entering this year’s Super Bowl. Six years later, Belichick is the NFL’s best head coach, leading his Patriots to three Super Bowl titles in five years. Not enough can be said about Coughlin’s mental toughness as a head coach, especially when times were hard and his job was in jeopardy during a disappointing 0-2 start to this past season.
When Super Bowl XLII came to a close, a lesson was learned for all critics and viewers of America’s most watched game. The Patriots spent the last three Super Bowls pushing their opponents around with little to no response. But what goes around will always come back around.
As for the Giants, a dynasty was born, and it definitely was not in New York. Remember when Eli watched his older brother Peyton Manning win his first Super Bowl in Miami last year? The brothers switched roles this year, but something even bigger has happened. With two Super Bowl titles and two Super Bowl MVP quarterbacks, the Manning family has become the dynasty that critics have pondered on since the early days of Archie Manning.
When I saw Eli Manning complete one of the gutsiest plays in Super Bowl history, a 32-yard desperation heave to receiver David Tyree after miraculously escaping a vicious swarm of Patriot defensive tackles and ends on the Giants’ game-winning drive, I knew that the Giants deserved to win this game. But I also believed that the Manning family deserved the recognition that has been out of its reach in the football world.
When Eli completed that pass, it was almost as if Peyton and Archie were completing it with him. Eli’s game-winning 13-yard touchdown pass to receiver Plaxico Burress made me feel like all three heralded quarterbacks threw that ball. When Eli rose his hands in sheer joy and excitement after the score, I saw Peyton right next to him, pumping his fists in glory. I saw Archie right alongside them, maybe more excited than both combined.
Considering all the criticism that Eli has taken and all of the doubts that even I had for him when he was turnover-crazy in his last three seasons, Eli quieted the doubters. Eli quieted the San Diego Chargers, who he publicly refused to play for when the 2004 NFL Draft came along. Eli quieted Tiki Barber, who had harsh comments about his former quarterback’s leadership skills following retirement. Most of all, Eli quieted all who thought that the Manning legacy in football stopped with Peyton.
When both of these quarterbacks look back after their careers are done, they will remember that Manning and Super Bowl go hand-in-hand. Greatness in this profession and this family go hand-in-hand.
The last team to win a Super Bowl (prior to Super Bowl XLII) after being 10-plus point underdogs was — ironically — the New England Patriots. The Giants were 12-point underdogs in this Super Bowl and pulled off an upset far greater than New England’s surprise triumph over the St. Louis Rams in 2003. History comes back to everyone, and New England — as special as it was this season — was just another Goliath that was finally taken down by an up-and-coming David.
It was they who were upended Sunday by three points, something that they did to three other teams in three past Super Bowls. It was they who were physically manhandled throughout the championship contest, something they seemingly did to the St. Louis Rams in Super Bowl XXXVI, Carolina Panthers in XXXVIII and Philadelphia Eagles in XXXIX. It was Tom Brady left in defeat, a feeling he gave then-Rams quarterback Kurt Warner, Panthers quarterback Jake Delhomme and Eagles quarterback Donovan McNabb.
What the previously undefeated Patriots succumbed to was football’s evolution. Nobody stays at the top forever, and it took both Mannings to prove that if something bleeds, it can be killed. The Patriots entered Glendale, Ariz. as football’s immortals and suffered the worst death any football team could possibly take — losing in the Super Bowl.
An embarrassing loss for the NFL’s supposed perfect team? I think not. Patriots head coach Bill Belichick could not run off the field fast enough to realize that his quarterback could not withstand the ongoing pressure of the New York Giants’ front four, Randy Moss was neutralized for a good portion of the game and the defense could not take down Giants quarterback and Super Bowl XLII MVP Eli Manning. In short, the Giants were the better team and could possibly have been the better team in the last game of the season, which the Patriots won 38-35.
The Giants had the Patriots on their heels in Week 17, leading by 13 in the third quarter, the Patriots’ biggest deficit during the season. In Super Bowl XLII, New England was wobbling badly. A season-high five sacks to Brady had the Patriots cornered, and not even the late-game heroics of No. 12 could get New England back on its feet.
Brady, who was 24 years old in 2003, sidestepped veteran quarterback Kurt Warner [the 2001 regular season MVP] in his first Super Bowl to become the game’s new premier quarterback. History surely repeats itself six years later, and Brady, the regular season MVP was tripped up by young, brash Eli Manning (27 years old). Manning, who played his first Super Bowl, has now come into his own as one of the game’s most dynamic quarterbacks, a moniker Brady earned at his first big game.
Belichick’s rise to fame — or infamy (see Spygate) — began in 2002 as well. He was an unproven head coach with an unproven quarterback, a title that Giants head coach Tom Coughlin held before entering this year’s Super Bowl. Six years later, Belichick is the NFL’s best head coach, leading his Patriots to three Super Bowl titles in five years. Not enough can be said about Coughlin’s mental toughness as a head coach, especially when times were hard and his job was in jeopardy during a disappointing 0-2 start to this past season.
When Super Bowl XLII came to a close, a lesson was learned for all critics and viewers of America’s most watched game. The Patriots spent the last three Super Bowls pushing their opponents around with little to no response. But what goes around will always come back around.
As for the Giants, a dynasty was born, and it definitely was not in New York. Remember when Eli watched his older brother Peyton Manning win his first Super Bowl in Miami last year? The brothers switched roles this year, but something even bigger has happened. With two Super Bowl titles and two Super Bowl MVP quarterbacks, the Manning family has become the dynasty that critics have pondered on since the early days of Archie Manning.
When I saw Eli Manning complete one of the gutsiest plays in Super Bowl history, a 32-yard desperation heave to receiver David Tyree after miraculously escaping a vicious swarm of Patriot defensive tackles and ends on the Giants’ game-winning drive, I knew that the Giants deserved to win this game. But I also believed that the Manning family deserved the recognition that has been out of its reach in the football world.
When Eli completed that pass, it was almost as if Peyton and Archie were completing it with him. Eli’s game-winning 13-yard touchdown pass to receiver Plaxico Burress made me feel like all three heralded quarterbacks threw that ball. When Eli rose his hands in sheer joy and excitement after the score, I saw Peyton right next to him, pumping his fists in glory. I saw Archie right alongside them, maybe more excited than both combined.
Considering all the criticism that Eli has taken and all of the doubts that even I had for him when he was turnover-crazy in his last three seasons, Eli quieted the doubters. Eli quieted the San Diego Chargers, who he publicly refused to play for when the 2004 NFL Draft came along. Eli quieted Tiki Barber, who had harsh comments about his former quarterback’s leadership skills following retirement. Most of all, Eli quieted all who thought that the Manning legacy in football stopped with Peyton.
When both of these quarterbacks look back after their careers are done, they will remember that Manning and Super Bowl go hand-in-hand. Greatness in this profession and this family go hand-in-hand.
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