LEGACY TALK: STOP THE NON-SENSE

Few people are as obsessed with "legacies" as those in the sports media. After someone
retires, makes a clutch play, or self-destructs on the field or in life, the talking heads and
computer geeks with a press pass always seem to want to pose the question, "How will
they be remembered?" Or, "How will this effect his legacy?"

This was never more apparent than during Super Bowl week when many were asking
how  a loss by the Patriots would change the legacy of Tom Brady and Bill Belichick,
who were  3-1 in Super Bowls before last Sunday. If it wasn't Belichick/Brady, it was
how a win would effect the legacies of  Eli Manning/Tom Coughlin. If they get their
second Super Bowl victory, would they be considered Hall of Famers?

I have one big question. S-E-R-I-O-U-S-L-Y? This legacy stuff while athletes and
coaches are still competing is ridiculous. I mean, who really cares and what does it matter?
What was Tiger Woods' legacy after he won his 12th major and what was it after he slept
with half the woman in the free world?

It just doesn't happen with sports figures, either. What if we etched George Bush's legacy
in stone after he landed  on an aircraft carrier on May 1, 2003 and proclaimed that it
was "Mission Accomplished" concerning the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan? Those two
wars ended eight years later. When Bush touched down on the USS Abraham Lincoln,
American casualties stood at 139 killed and 542 wounded. That was over 4,000 US fatalities
ago.

Chris Matthews on MSNBC called Bush a “hero” and enthusiastically stated, “He won
the war. He was an effective commander. Everybody recognizes that, I believe, except
a few critics.” I wonder what Matthews would say if he re-evaluated things today.

There is a start and finish to every athlete, coach, and even politician's career. Why do
people waste time trying to write it long before they are over? Should the sports world
have set John Elway's career in stone after he was on the losing end of his first three Super
Bowls? He won his last two, so what's his "legacy?" Does it really matter?  Who does it
really matter to that Dan Marino never won a Super Bowl? Is he less of quarterback than
Elway because the Bronco legend won two of them?

Don Shula, considered one of the greatest coaches of all-time, had a record of 2-4 in Super
Bowls. Did that really effect his legacy? Hell, no. He's in the Hall of Fame and considered
one of the best ever leaders of a football team. Belichick and Brady won their first three
Super Bowl appearances, but have lost their last two. Will that effect their entry into the
Hall of Fame? Doubt it.

I get it. I realize that because of PTI, SportsCenter, Talk Radio, Twitter, and Facebook, there
are platforms to debate, rage, and vent. It drives the numbers and moves the needle. I get it.
But this "legacy" stuff long before a career ends, is somewhat laughable.

Perhaps, Lou Holtz, the former college football coach and current ESPN analyst summed it
up best when he said, "Who cares about legacy? People forget about you five minutes after
your buried."

LANCE ARMSTRONG WINS AGAIN

When Tyler Hamilton, a cyclist, who failed numerous drug tests and surrendered
an Olympic Gold medal because of them, appeared on "60 Minutes" back in May
accusing Lance Armstrong of using performance-enhancing drugs, the court of
public opinion damned the 7-time Tour de France winner and cancer survivor as
a "fraud", "cheat", and "liar." They said he must be guilty if Hamilton testified
under oath that he saw Armstrong with his own two eyes, get injected with PED's.

On Friday, Federal prosecutors announced they were ending their two-year
investigation of Armstrong for not only PED's, but fraud. Armstrong had been
accused of misusing funds given to the team he was riding on by its sponsor, the
U.S. Postal Service. The government spent two whole years and millions
of dollars trying to take down Armstrong and what'd they get? Nothing.

Super agent Jeff Novitzky tried to do the same thing to Barry Bonds and Roger
Clemens, and just like in the case of Armstrong, he got nothing. Oh, sure, Bonds was
sentenced to 30 days of house arrest and Clemens has another trial coming up, but
for all the testimony of snitches like Hamilton, (a convicted liar and cheat) and Floyd
Landis, (a convicted liar and cheat), and a massive witch hunt, they got nothing.

Through all of this, we learned three things. One, Lance Armstrong and Bonds are
bullet proof. Two, the government and their "experts" are inept. And three, people
should stop giving any credibility to liars and cheats like Hamilton and Landis. The
latter doesn't really shock me because in our society, people have a penchant for
believing everything they read and hear. It all goes back to the gossip groups in the
high school cafeterias, people believe the rumors without finding out for themselves or
asking what kind of agenda the accuser has.

In the case of Armstrong, the agenda of Hamilton and Landis was as clear as the
amount of synthetic testosterone showed up in their urine samples. These cyclists failed
tests, were stripped of titles and had their reputations smeared forever. They felt if
they were going to be embarrassed and ruined by being outed forusing PED's, then
Armstrong should suffer the same fate. It didn't matter thatArmstrong was the most
tested person in cycling and never failed a test. The gossip hounds and "believers"
will say that Armstrong was just better as masking his PED's. Perhaps so, but unless
there is a failed test, all those people can cry and moan all they want to, but Armstrong
will never suffer the same fate as Hamilton, Landis, or even Alberto Contador, who
did fail tests.

Plus, Armstrong has done more to raise money for cancer research than anyone in
the history of sports. People like him. They don't like squealers like Hamilton and
Landis. Did I think Armstrong used PED's to dominate a sport filled with liars and
cheats. Perhaps. But why did the most tested athlete in his sport never fail a single
test? Was he a chemist? Did he know when to get off PED "cycles" better?

There isn't a smoking gun anywhere. A two-year investigation by the government
would've turned up something. All that baloney that he failed tests in Europe but
they got contaminated, is pure garbage. Oh, the haters will be on hating Armstrong
and the rumors will follow him, but there is a big difference between failing a test
and being rumored to have flunked one. Just ask Landis. Just ask Hamilton. Armstrong
has won his last race and there is no one who will ever catch him, ever.

THE MAN BEHIND THE SIGNING DAY SHOWS

The first Wednesday in February is one of the biggest days in college football, even though
nobody is putting on the pads or throwing a pass. It's National Signing Day, a time when
high school studs across the country put pen to paper and make their college choice official.
After months and years of the recruiting process which included thousands upon thousands
of letters, calls, e-mails, texts, tweets, and probably some under the table cash, the next wave
of  stars put their signature on a letter-of-intent.

How big has this day become? Check out the cover pages of ESPN.com, CNNSI.com and
manypapers throughout the country. There will be television shows across many sports
networks dedicated to telling college football fans which 5-star players are going to their
favorite school or alma mater.

The man behind these shows is now a professional sports agent, but a long time ago, Scott Alexander put together a program that became the model for which all others followed. You
know when the players put a number of hats, each representing a school that was heavily
recruiting their services, in front of them and then carefully and dramatically picks one out
to the cheers of family, friends, not to mention fans and college coaches?  That was all
Alexander's creation. So are the live talk backs with college coaches and recruiting "experts".

Everything you see on these recruiting shows were the ideas of Alexander who was the
producer of "Countdown To Signing Day" on Fox Sports Net South, which began running
the show in the late 90's, long before ESPN, Comcast SportsNet, and CSTV, now CBS
Sports Network, even thought about producing one.

"Countdown To Signing Day" was the signature program of Fox Sports Net South for
many years, an Emmy-award winning program  the network hung its hat on. But they didn't
just do it on National Signing Day, they did it every week for the four months leading up
to the climax of the recruiting process. Alexander was the main cog in the machine. He was
a mini Mel Kiper, Jr., who knew every stat, every time in the 40-yard dash, every pound
of a recruits bench-press, and every school in the country that was recruiting him. Alexander
was way before his time when it came to knowing how to make a recruiting show purr.

Alexander would get video on every important player in the country, which meant calling
television stations in cities you've never heard of, much less can pronounce. With a shoe-string budget, he had to use the power of persuasion to get these sports directors and photographers
to not only shoot the video, but package it up and send it as well. And on their dime. That's
no easy feat in the world of television.

The LSU grad had every big-time coach in the country on speed-dial and he'd get them
on the show. Nick Saban, Lou Holtz, Bobby Bowden, if they were big in college football, Alexander would get them to appear on his program. "Countdown to Signing Day" was
shown weekly  in the the south, the hot bed of college football and recruiting.

People in that rabid college football state wanted any type of information on players who
could possibly be signing with their school, and Alexander would always give it to them
every Saturday during the season, and in a 2-hour special on recruiting day. But he not
only did it for football, but basketball, as well. And he'd get high school phenoms like
Lebron James and J.J. Reddick to come on the show live and talk about where they
were being recruiting.

Alexander coaxed LeBron to fly down to Atlanta from Akron with nothing but a plane
ticket. King James complained that his tickets weren't first class, but "Scotty A" just laughed
and said, "You won't have to worry about that next year." Alexander had a way with players, coaches, and parents. He could get anyone on the show. Didn't matter how big they were
or how far they'd have to travel, they'd come to Atlanta just to be on "Countdown To Signing Day."

For some reason, Fox Sports Net South dropped the program five years ago. They cancelled
a show that many in the south were simply addicted to. Just as every other network in the
country was following the model that Alexander had established, Fox Sports Net South dropped
the show like it was piping hot. And it was. It's akin to Mark Zuckerberg investing hours
upon hours on Facebook and then saying, "Eh, I'm done. Too much work."

Alexander has moved on to being a successful professional sports agent, but when you see all
the recruiting shows on television today, remember who  made them what they
are.

THINGS I COULD'VE DONE DURING NADAL-DJOKOVIC MATCH

Every once in awhile there is a sporting event that makes you go, "wow, holy cow, that
was unbelievable. If you're as old as me, you might've said that the night the U.S beat
the Soviets in hockey during the 1980 Winter Olympics. I was at Game 6 of the 1986
World Series when Bill Buckner did his thing as the Mets pulled off an amazing
comeback. Or it could've  been a game like Super Bowl XXXXII where the Giants
upset the Patriots to ruin New England's perfect season that had you breathless.

Saturday/Sunday's epic final between Novak Djokovic and Rafeal Nadal earned, "Oh, my
god, are you kidding me" status. The match lasted 5 hours and 53 minutes, the longest
Grand Slam final in tennis history. Imagine running back and forth, side-to-side, stopping
and starting, serving and volleying for six hours? That was insane. Almost six hours of
tennis. It got me thinking to the things I could've done during the tennis match.

Half-Ironman triathlon. In September, I did an event that consisted of a 1.2 mile swim,
56 miles bike, and a 13.1 mile run. I'm considered a Clydesdale (slow, white guys over 200lbs)
and I finished in 6:02:15, which means I could've started just as the match opened and finished
just as Djokivic was hoisting the trophy in his sweat-stained attire.

Driven from New Canaan, CT to Washington D.C. When I used to drive from home to college
in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. I used to mark the nation's capital as my half-way point. Roughly
300 miles. I used to make it D.C, with traffic, tolls, and potty-breaks in 5 hours plus. With a stop
off for McDonald's for a Big Mac and Dairy Queen for a blizzard, it would come out to six hours.


NHL All-Star Game-Red Sox/Yankees (rewind)
I could've watched the NHL all-star game, booed Tim Thomas, then watched a replay of any
Yankees/Red Sox game (pick one, they always take about 4 hours to play.)

Watched "60 Minutes" six times in a row.  Give me the best of Andy Rooney for that long and
I'd be happy guy.

Flown from New York's LaGuardia to Atlanta...and back. It would've given me the perfect
opportunity to fly to my old home in the ATL, check on my condo, say hello to the tenants,
fix their microwave oven and fly back home. And Nadal STILL would've been trying to beat
Djokovic.

 Watched the re-run of NFL championship Sunday. The Patriots/Ravens AFC game took
three hours. The Giants/49ers went just a bit longer, but I didn't need to see Lawrence Tynes'
chip shot field goal. It was a gimme. Ooops, that's what Ravens fans were saying about Billy
Cundiff's attempt.

Read the transcripts of Tiger's text messages to all his women. I didn't see Tiger choke in
his first tournament because I was sleeping and it was somewhere in Abi Dhabi, something or
other. But I did find some piece of fine literature in the book store about all his text messages.
It said the average reading time would be 5:53 minutes. Right on the button!

Could've watched the re-run of the Kim Kardashian-Kris Humprhies made for television 
wedding. That piece of garbage was four hours, so in reality, you could've watched that entire
show then checked out the "Bachelor" and "Bachelorette", had time to throw up, then seen
the ending to the greatest tennis match in history. There is a rumor that Kim texted Nadal
after the match and asked him on a date. He said, "nada".

Gone to church and confession. One hour praising the lord, then the rest of the time in
the sin bin asking for forgiveness. It's been a long time, I'd take a knee and grab a snickers.

NEVER QUIT, NEVER QUIT BELIEVING

Sterling Moore. Unless you are part of Sterling Moore's family or happen to be Mel Kiper, Jr. in disguise., you probably never heard of him until Sunday. In the final minute of the AFC championship when New England's paper thin defense was getting carved up by the immortal Joe Flacco, Moore made the biggest play of the season for the Pats. Sterling Moore, a guy few had ever heard of, coming through to help the Brady Bunch get back to the Super Bowl. Unreal.

To appreciate what Moore did, one has to understand where he came from and the road he took just to get into a Patriots uniform, much less star in the AFC title game. Moore didn't play football until he was a senior in high school. He went on to play at SMU, not exactly Alabama, in terms of a football school (It was when they were paying guys like Eric Dickerson to go there), and wasn't drafted out of college. The Raiders took a flyer on him, but they cut him in September, then signed him the next day to the practice squad. Then they cut him from the practice squad, which is like being released from the kick-ball team during recess in middle school The Patriots, in need of a warm body for a defense backfield that was porous at best, signed him to their practice squad. They promoted him to the big team, but cut-him a few weeks later. Bill Belichick was so desperate, he had guys like receiver Julian Edelman, who had NEVER played defensive back, covering guys big-play receivers, he brought Moore back again. This time he stuck.

With under a minute to go in the game and trailing by three, Lee Evans, an established and experienced receiver, beat the rookie misfit and cast-off in the end zone. Moore was about to be posterized like the weak and feeble ones who used to gawk at Michael Jordan as he finished off a dunk. Moore was about to become a "Buckner" in the New England. He was clearly beaten, clearly toast. But he didn't quit. He didn't give up on the play, didn't 'quit the ship' like the captain of the Costa Concordia. Moore didn't quit until the referee signaled touchdown. He never would. Moore hacked Evans like NBA thugs used to molest Shaq to send him to the line to make him earn his points. Moore slashed Evans with one desperate attempt to save his job and save the Patriots season. He struck the pigskin flush, and the ball came out and  hit the ground before the two feet of Evans could touch the ground. Incomplete.

However, the game wasn't over. The Ravens went right back at Moore and he deflected another pass to force Baltimore into attempting a game-tying field goal. It was attempted and not made. Patriots are in the Super Bowl, thanks to a player who refused to give up, or refused to pack it in.

The New York Giants are going back to the Super Bowl because a quarterback believed in himself when others didn't. Before the season started, Eli Manning, who already has a Super Bowl ring on his finger, felt that he was in the same class as Tom Brady. Many people thought that was absurd, like Rex Ryan predicting a Super Bowl victory for a third straight year. Even the so-called experts thought their was a big gulf between Brady and Eli Manning. Who is laughing now?

Manning believed it and he's now going to his second Super Bowl, the same number as his older and gifted brother who many thought was ahead of Brady before this season. Eli didn't say he WAS Tom Brady, just that he was in the same class as him. It's funny how we're all taught to BELIEVE in ourselves, yet when somebody else actually does, we laugh or criticize them. We all want to believe in ourselves, don't we? Sometimes it's not a  bad thing to try to trick our minds. All the great ones believe in themselves and because Manning did and came through in big game after big game, the doubters and critics are silent, and that is a great thing.

10 NAMES I'D LIKE TO SWIPE FOR A DAY

If you played for the Cleveland Indians, you'd probably want to change your identity
like Fausto Carmona did. But the veteran pitcher may have gone a little too far.
He was arrested in the Dominican last February while trying to get his visa to come
to the United States in time for spring training.

Authorities said that Carmona's real name is Roberto Hernandez Heredia and that
he's 31-years old, not 28, as the Indians media guide states. A Dominican or
Venezuelan fudging his age? No, way! That NEVER happens. (Wink, wink. See
Miquel Tejada and about 100 other players.)

I will give Roberto Hernandez Heredia credit for being creative. You just can't pull
the name Fausto Carmona out of a hat. It takes a real imagination to come up with
a name like that.

This could be the biggest identity theft since Michael Vick used the name, Ron Mexico,
to pick up his order of medication for herpes.

I'll never forget the sight of people walking around Atlanta with number 7 Falcon jerseys
with the name, "Mexico"on the back. Classic. How did Vick come up with the name, Ron
Mexico?

If I could steal ten names for one day, here are the ones I'd pick:

10. BUSTER CRABBE. Former Olympic gold medalist
      in swimming, who was also an actor. Played the original
      Flash Gordon.

      
  9. DINN MANN. Editor-in-Chief and brains of MLB.com.
      Great guy with a name that has perfect balance. Four letters
      and two n's in each name.

      
  8. I.M. HIPP. Played running back at Nebraska when they
      were dominant. He was also big on the local bar scene,
      telling the ladies, "I.M. HIPP". He was also money.

  7. FRENCHY FUQUA. Former defensive back on the great
      Steelers teams in the '70's. He was so cool, he used to
      wear clear elevator shoes with live goldfish in them.

      

  6.  JOHN "BLUE MOON" ODOM.  Former pitcher
       with the Oakland A's in 70's.

  5.  WAVE RYDER. Defensive back for Navy. His
       parents must have been surfers in Cali, dropping
       some serious acid to come up with this name. Or
       have the stones to, anyway.

  4.  BRONCO NAGURSKI. This names oooozes with
       toughness. What else would he be besides a hall
       of fame football player.

       
  3.  COCO CRISP.  Well, it'd be great at parties and
       for a good laugh.

  2.  JARVIS REDWINE. He came after I.M. Hipp
       at Nebraska and also played running back.

  1.  FABIAN ASSMAN. Soccer player in Europe and
       burden with two bad names that somehow come
       together. "Hi, I'm Fabian Assman". Excuse me?
       You're Mr. Assman?

 

     

TOP 10 PLAYERS WHO 'QUIT THE SHIP'.

10. VINCE YOUNG. In November of 2010, Vince Young was
      quarterback of the Tennesse Titans. After an overtime loss against
      the Redskins where he was booed off the field and threw his
      shoulder pads into the stands, VY, now the unofficial captain of
      the "Dream Team" in Philadelphia, got into a verbal tiff with then
      head coach, Jeff Fisher. Fisher told Young not to quit on the team,
      Young responded by saying, "I'm not running out on the team, I'm
      running out on you." Young never played for the Titans again.

   
 9. JOHN DALY. He's picked up his ball in so many tournaments,
     I don't have an official number on the times Daly has packed his
     Marlboro's, Diet Cokes, ugly pants, and gone home. He usually
     leaves his bag on the course. One time, he pulled the Roy McIvoy
     and hit everyone of his Pro-V1's into the drink before calling it
     a tournament.

 8. LEBRON JAMES. Remember the playoffs against the Celtics
     in 2010? Hello? Lebron? Are you here tonight? The King pulled
     a vanishing act in the biggest game of the season. His heart wasn't
     in the game and he was clearly tanking it. Perhaps, he had just found
     out that teammate Delonte West was sleeping with his mother. Which
     come to think of it, would put a lot of players in a funk.

    
 7. MANNY RAMIREZ. After failing his second test for a female
     fertility drug and finding out he wasn't pregnant, the enigmatic
     baseball superstar, took his bat and went home for good. Rather
     than takes his 100-game suspension, Ramirez quit on the Tampa
     Bay Rays and went home to retire. Manny being Manny now wants
     to return to the game and says he'll be a role model. LOL.
   

   
 6. SCOTTIE PIPPEN. In the 1994 NBA playoffs, Phil Jackson drew
     up a play for the final shot. Michael Jordan was retired at the time
     and Pippen thought he was "the man" for the Chicago Bulls. The
     Zen Master was feeling it for Tony Kucoc and called his number.
     Pippen went all diva and said he wasn't going on the floor. No
     biggie, Kucoc sank the game winning-shot and the Bulls went home
     happy as Pippen was crying.

  5. RICKY WILLIAMS. The Zen Master of South Beach quit on
      the Miami Dolphins just a few days before the start of the 2004
      season. He totally sold out the Dolphins organization and his
      teammates. I think that was the year, Williams went to see the
      Dhali Lama or was it Cheech and Chong? I forget. Doesn't really
      matter. Talent rules in the NFL an the Dolphins welcomed him
      back to the team a couple of years later.

  4. JORGE POSADA. Last spring, the Yankees catcher was hitting
      the weight of one of my ex-girlfriends (.167) and manager Joe
      Girardi dropped him to 9th in the batting order for a Sunday Night
      game on ESPN against the Red Sox. How dare Girardi do that?
      I'm Jorge Posada! Hip-hip Hor-Hay! Posada got his panties in
      a bunch and said he needed to "clear his head". Oh, boy. That was
      the only nick on Posada's career, but it was unnecessary.
  

     
  3. INDIANPOLIS COLTS (2009) Peyton Manning and the Colts
      had a 14-0 record and chasing history. Playing the New York Jets
      with a lead, head coach Jim Caldwell took out Manning and the
      starters. The crowd booed and Peyton pleaded to go back in.
      No dice. Caldwell had his orders from President Bill Polian, The
      Colts laid down and the Jets won to end the dream season. They
      didn't win the Super Bowl. Polian got fired a few weeks ago,
      Caldwell got the ax today.
 

     
   2. JEFF TARANGO. WHO? Nobody really knew of Tarango
       in the tennis world until 1995. That was the year the 3-time
       all-american from Stanford quit his third round match against
       Alexaner Mrunz or something like that. Not important. Tarango,
       channeling his inner John McEnroe, who also played at Stanford,
       cried about every call. He said the umpire was "corrupt" and
       quit. Just walked off the court. That's something no player had
       done in the Open era. No more breakfast at Wimbledon for
       Tarango. Good tennis name, though.

      
   1. ROBERTO DURAN. In his welterweight match for the WBC
       championship against Sugar Ray Leonard, Duran uttered the two
       words that will haunt him forever: "No Mas". In the 8th round of
       his match against Leonard, Duran was tired of chasing Leonard
       around the ring and getting suckered by his antics. Duran, who
       was one of the great boxers of all-time, just threw up his hands
       and said, "No Mas". So every time somebody quits, it's "No, Mas".