Random Sports Musings, or, Santa Came a Couple Days Late This Year

Some random thoughts as I sit poolside in sunny Naples, Florida . . .

Wow, what a weekend. The Mountaineers dominated, the Cowboys got throttled, the NY Bretts are done, and the arrogant New England fans were denied a playoff spot. Awesome.

Some of you may have read my blog regarding Ohio State’s destruction at the hands of West Virginia, and I got the sense that some people weren’t too happy about it. Why, you ask? Well, I got a couple “How the hell can you root against the Buckeyes?” themed emails over the past couple of days. Look, it’s like this. I’ve been a life-long Ohio State football fan, big fan of Tressell, my son goes to OSU, blah-blah-blah. Ohio State basketball? Not so much. Yeah, the Buckeyes used to be my primary college hoops team. I loved the Bucks of Fred Taylor and yes, even Eldon Miller. Gary Williams brought an exciting brand of basketball to St. John’s as well. Man, I wish he’d stayed. After Gary things started to turn ugly for me. Randy Ayers teams were unsettling to watch, sort of out of control most of the time. Jim O’Brien had a notoriously low bar recruiting-wise, and as a result everybody usually had better athletes than OSU did. I think Obie liked it that way. He always enjoyed being the underdog, and that never played well with the fans at The Ohio State University. Hey, it’s Ohio State. You should always get the best athletes there, regardless of the sport, right? Enter Thad Matta, who as a recruiter is fantastic but as a game coach is, in my humble opinion, very limited. Oh, he’s very theatrical on the sideline, but I’m never quite sure what all the yelling is about. And maybe I’m not smart enough to figure it out, but other than the “penetrate and kick” offense I usually have no idea what the hell they’re trying to accomplish out there. Plus, defensively they’re, uh, how you say . . . soft. Anyway, long story short, combine all that with my longtime friendships with Huggins and Hahn at West Virginia and it’s a no brainer for me. G-o-o-o-o-o-o Mountaineers!

Who Dey....!!!! Hell, Yeah....

Once again, Mike "The Great Redeemer" Brown has us right where he wants us. 4-11-1...a 3-game winning streak to end the season...a defense not unlike the '85 Bears in said winning streak...the #6 overall pick in the 2009 NFL Draft...24 players on IR...no pesky buyouts on coaching salaries. We're headed in the right direction, kicking ass & taking names, by golly. The timeless cliche's "headed in the right direction," "ending on a positive note," and "votes of confidence" all apply here. And The Great Redeemer knows his seats will be full come next fall...this season could not have worked out any better for the cheapest bastard in professional sports.

So now that all is hunky-dory in The Jungle with Marvin Lewis still in the fold & no recent off-the-field dramas to deal with, what will the Bengals do with all their free time? Do they hire a full-time GM & scouting department to bolster the already taxed roster in the off-season? Nah. Do they work a trade into the top 3 to get the top-rated left tackle (Alabama's Andre Smith)? Are you kidding, they got burnt by Ki-Jana Carter a decade ago. Do they put the franchise tag on T.J. Housh-a-mazilli? What? And risk his personal safety for fear of suicide? Do they overpay for Ryan Fitzpatrick as a backup QB, much like the Patriots might have to for Matt Cassell? Not likely, but we'll see. The Pats proved you can pick up any 2nd stringer out of college & mold him into an NFL starter (chin up, Todd Boeckman!)
This is shaping up to be a very intriguing off-season, even without an Ocho Cinco meltdown or C-Henry arrest. The rest of the country awaits with baited breath (and canned laughter). Somehow, these "mock" drafts we'll see from now until April will haunt every Bengal fan, knowing they'll end up with more WR's from places like Coastal Carolina (which is a very fine school in a great locale - I wish I had gone). Who dey...?

Mountaineer Massacre: West Virginia 76, Ohio State 48

The 13th ranked and undefeated Ohio State Buckeyes, owners of the nation's longest winning streak, found out what pressure defense is all about Saturday afternoon as they suffered a beatdown by the Bob Huggin's coached West Virginia Moutaineers, 76-48.

19,049 fans at The Schott witnessed the Buckeyes jumping to an early 8-3 lead, only to see the Mountaineers score 11-straight points enroute to a 35-28 halftime advantage. The second half was all West Virginia, as the Mountaineers outhustled and outplayed the Buckeyes to the tune of a 41-20 score.

Senior Alex Ruoff (pictured) led the Mountaineers with 17 points and was all over sophomore Jon Diebler, holding him to 5-points. Junior Da'Sean Butler added 16, and was followed by freshman Truck Bryant with 11 and freshman Devin Ebanks with 10. Wellington Smith added 9 and southern Ohio's own Cam Thoroughman pitched in with 6. Thoroughman played well all over the floor, at one point nearly boxing-out OSU's Dallas Lauderdale completely off the floor.

The Player's Coach and Texas Toast: A Cautionary Tale

Ah, the “player’s coach.” The guy who treats his players “like men.“ You know him. He usually comes in after the coach who has “disrespected” too many spoiled millionaires. Think Flip Saunders. That mean old Larry Brown had barged into Detroit, held everybody accountable, yelled a lot, and generally stepped on a lot of size 15 toes and hurt a lot of feelings. He was a mean person, that Larry. Oh, he won an NBA Championship in the process, but the players weren’t “having fun,” which is after all the most important thing, right? (Note: I always thought winning was where the fun came in.) Anyway, Flip came in, coddled the players, everyone was having fun again, nobody’s feelings got hurt, and the team generally eroded over time. Oh yeah, they were good for a year or so, riding the culture that Brown had brought to the team, but eventually they became ordinary again in the grand tradition of Detroit sports.

Does this scenario ring a bell? Remember the Marty Schottenheimer Chargers of 2-years ago? Yeah, Marty was a tough guy, wasn’t everybody’s buddy, didn’t smile a lot. Warm and fuzzy he wasn’t. He also went 14-2. Marty pissed off a lot of people, including the owner, and was axed in favor of “player’s coach” Norv Turner. That’s worked out well, huh? It happens every time. The new guy rides the coattails of the hard-ass for a year or so and then things start to catch up and go sour.

Mountaineers Roll: WV 82, Miami (OH) 46

The boys from WV went to 8-2 today with an 82-46 beatdown of Miami of Ohio. This was the same Miami team that played UCLA close on the road earlier this year. Da'Sean Butler played great (28-points), but I was most impressed with the play of freshman Daryl "Truck" Bryant. The kid from Brooklyn is improving every game. He was 6-9 from the floor and 4-5 from 3-point range in only 24-minutes. Alex Ruoff kicked in with 15 (he's been hurt) and freshman Kevin Jones added 8. Another great freshman, Devin Ebanks, was in the doghouse today but he's going to be a good one. Joe Mazzula sat out again with a shoulder injury.

Remember, the Mountaineers dress 8-freshmen, just 1-senior, and boast the #4 ranked recruiting class in the nation. Look out. The Ohio State University is up next (on the 27th). Game time is 4:00 PM.

On a related note, Billy Hahn is having a beer at Bugsy's as we speak.

Brett Favre is thinking of not returning next season, and I'm thinking of slitting my wrists.

For the love of God, can't this man shut the hell up? I'm sitting in a bar south of Columbus, Ohio, minding my own business, and I see the headline on ESPN. Gawd. How much more of a media whore can one guy be? Here he is, he's got a team fighting for a playoff spot (Playoffs? PLAYOFFS?) and he's drawing attention to himself by saying he may retire after the season. Again.

Sigh.

How one man can command so much attention from the World Wide Leader in sports is beyond my comprehension. ESPN's infatuation with Brettfavre (and it IS Brettfavre, right? That's how he's always referred to) is so beyond the pale that it sickens me. I'm pretty sure Tony Kornheiser has a Brettfavre tattoo on his ass. John Madden? Brettfavre has given him more boners than his wife has in the past 30-years.

KG, I hardly know ye.

You know, I used to love Kevin Garnett. Sure, I was all set to hate the guy when he came out of high school. It was straight to the pros for KG, and I figured, like most players not named LeBron, that he'd have a ton of trouble adjusting to all that wealth and everything else that goes with being a young NBA superstar. Still, the kid showed a quiet maturity that impressed the hell out of me. In Minnesota he toiled away on some pretty bad teams but rarely complained, even as the T-Wolves brass failed miserably in trying to surround him with a sufficient supporting cast. He handled the criticism that came with his playoff failures with class and dignity. Hell, I remember watching the game in which Karl Malone broke some sort of scoring milestone, and when the zombie-like Minnesota crowd didn't react, KG implored them to recognize The Mailman's achievement, raising his arms and getting the home crowd to stand up and cheer. He appreciated the significance of that moment as well as the history of the game.