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Week 12 Monday Afternoon TPS Report
2007-11-26 08:17:00
A.J. Feeley….yes…yes…yes& hellip;noooo!!! And the Patriots are still undefeated—but at least I’m slightly less angry about it. Now let’s move onto the good stuff. Deion vs. Tom Jackson—NFL Gameday vs. NFL Primetime In the good old days of NFL Primetime, whenever a Hail Mary went up in the air Tom Jackson and Chris Berman would yell their refrain of “Knock it down!!.” On NFL Gameday last night Deion Sanders criticized the 49ers defenders who allowed Larry Fitzgerald to catch a Hail Mary by saying they should have caught the ball instead of trying to knock it down. Sorry Deion–I know you would have gone for the interception there (because int=$$$), but the right play is to knock it down. Stephen Jackson Wants the Music Fixed One reason for the Rams struggles? They’re not playing good music in the Edward Jones Dome. Stephen Jackson wants some hip hop. Uh, Stephen…it’s Missouri. The closest you’l...
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The Weekly Shakedown
2007-11-23 20:10:00
(Every week there are a number of that stories slip through the cracks here at Shakedown Sports. Here are just a few of them.) –The Patriots will enter Sunday night’s game against the Eagles as the most heavily favored team in more than 30 years. Even a drunk Joe Namath wouldn’t give the Eagles a chance of winning. –Scott Skiles apologized to Tyrus Thomas for the harsh criticism he levied on the 2nd year forward. On Tuesday Skiles said “We ask him to sprint the floor. To my knowledge in his career he hasn’t done it one time. Not one time.” Skiles now says he’s not unhappy about how Thomas runs the floor, he’s unhappy Thomas’ hasn’t made enough flashy highlights to con the Lakers into trading Kobe Bryant for him. –A group of Pennsylvania high school football players who shaved their heads into mohawks as a show of unity have been told they will be suspended if they don’t get rid of them. Apparently it&rs...
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It’s Thanksgiving Time
2007-11-22 14:57:00
In honor of Thanksgiving , I’d just like to relive one of my [least] favorite NFL memories—Phil Luckett and Jerome Bettis botching the overtime coin toss in the 1998 Steelers-Lions Thanksgiving game. To this day that coin toss is a reminder that no matter how simple something might be, the NFL will still find a way to screw it up. I’ll never forget the look on Bettis’ face as he pleaded with Luckett to change the call. A miscommunication hadn’t gone that badly for Bettis since the time he ordered three Double Whoppers at a Burger King and was accidentally given three Whopper Jrs. It was rough. On another note, if you’re too lazy or apathetic to get off your ass and help the less fortunate this week (because apparently that’s what people do during holidays) Campbell’s Soup is here to help you out. By taking part in the company’s “Click For Cans” promotion you can help donate cans to the needy and entertain yours...
More About: Time , Hank

At Least Somebody Has Good Airport Security
2007-11-22 08:52:00
This week the Croatian soccer team found themselves as the center of the international soccer world. Having already advanced to the Euro 2008 round of 16, the Croatians entered Wednesday’s game against England with a chance to knock the Brits out of the tournament. With so much attention on the team, the most important thing was not to embarrass themselves. Oops. The head of the Croatian Football Federation (CFF) was arrested for shoplifting at London’s Gatwick Airport on the eve of his country’s crunch Euro 2008 qualifier with England. Zorislav Srebric, 67, was detained by police for questioning but was later released without charge. The official was held on Tuesday after allegedly being caught stealing stationery from WHSmith at Gatwick Airport’s South Terminal. He was taken away by police yelling and screaming as stunned Croatia players looked on. Can you imagine being a Croatian player and standing there as the head of your federation gets dragged thr...
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Lil’ Romeo’s Message
2007-11-21 09:54:00
Percy Romeo Miller, a.k.a Lil Romeo, has signed a letter of intent to play basketball at USC. Here is his go-to quote about the decision. This is the most important thing I’ve had to do and hopefully it sends a message to kids across the country that education is more important than money. Interesting. That’s not the message I get. The message I get is that NBA stars get better girls than hip hop stars.
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Leave Chad Alone
2007-11-21 08:43:00
It’s easy to criticize Chad Johnson for this photo. It was taken immediately after a costly Johnson fumble and it shows him sitting and stewing instead of trying to make the tackle. Yeah, there’s no excuse for not getting up, but in that instant Johnson showed why he’s the kind of guy you want on your football team. In that photo is a guy who wants to win so bad that when he screws up he can’t even move. He’s just frozen with anger and disappointment. If Johnson had been trying to deflect blame by arguing with the referee (like Kobe Bryant does after every missed shot), that would have been different. But he didn’t do that. He was mad because he knew he messed up and hurt his team.  That’s a fine reason to be mad.  The Bengals should be happy they have a player who’s so passionate. And crazy.
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Arrowhead is One Hot Ticket
2007-11-20 08:45:00
A pretty big football game is being played this weekend between Kansas and Missouri. Just as you might have predicted when you heard that two non-traditional football powers were meeting in a big-time NFL stadium, nobody involved seems prepared to handle it. First, there’s the Kansas athletic department. When students began camping out to buy tickets last week the athletic department allowed them to give their IDs to friends in the front of line. Some students showed up with dozens of IDs and they were permitted to buy tickets for themselves and dozens of their friends. In short, this screwed every other Kansas student hoping to buy tickets. I don’t understand what happened. Were the people who organize basketball ticket sales on vacation? The school has been through this before for big-time basketball games. It should be able to handle it for football. Some other people unprepared for the big game are the Missouri ticket scalping policing agencies. Right now th...
More About: Ticket , Tick

It’s Time For “Academic Paper” Tuesday
2007-11-20 07:19:00
Today’s paper comes from the October issue of the Journal of Economic Psychology. In it, the paper’s four authors argue that goaltenders move too much on penalty kicks. In soccer penalty kicks, goalkeepers choose their action before they can clearly observe the kick direction. An analysis of 286 penalty kicks in top leagues and championships worldwide shows that given the probability distribution of kick direction, the optimal strategy for goalkeepers is to stay in the goal’s center. Goalkeepers, however, almost always jump right or left….The seemingly biased decision making is particularly striking since the goalkeepers have huge incentives to make correct decisions, and it is a decision they encounter frequently. According to the abstract (I’m not paying to be a JEP subscriber) the paper eventually goes on to discuss how the bias in goalies can be used to examine how people manage investments, and how workers decide how long to stay at their jobs. F...
More About: Academic , Time , Paper , Tuesday

Week 11 Monday Afternoon TPS Report
2007-11-19 08:00:00
Week 11 is in the books and there’s one thought I can’t get out of my head: What would happen if Rex Grossman played for the 49ers? Think about that one for a second. Ok, now let’s move onto the good stuff. Don’t Miss… …The verbal sparring between John Kitna and Michael Strahan. …Tony Romo injuring his coach with a high five. …The Panthers giving up a ridiculous 94-yard TD return on a pooch punt because they only had 10 guys on the field. …Adrian Peterson taking the next step in his recovery…running underwater. …Roy Williams arbitrarily taking the blame for the Lions loss. …George H.W. Bush motivating the Texans. …Lovie Smith not being happy that Ron Turner forgot about Cedric Benson. …The Baltimore Sun’s account of the Phil Dawson field goal shadiness. …Brian Westbrook: The Eagles’ true most valuable player. …Lane Kiffin denying that JaMarcus Russell will star...
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Anthony Johnson Thinks He’s Stephon Marbury
2007-11-18 08:38:00
NBA coaches better watch out. Stephon Marbury ’s revolutionary tactics are spreading. On Friday Hawks guard Anthony Johnson pulled a “Marbury” after he and coach Mike Woodson failed to see eye to eye on certain matters. Johnson left Friday morning’s shootaround practice early after a disagreement with Hawks coach Mike Woodson. Johnson was later spotted walking out of Philips Arena 70 minutes before tipoff of Friday night’s game against Seattle. Woodson said it was an internal matter and that Johnson would accompany the team to Milwaukee for Saturday night’s game against the Bucks. There’s only one problem for Anthony Johnson: He’s not Stephon Marbury. When he ditches the team, nobody cares. Instead of forcing a trade to a better situation, he’ll end up finding himself in the NBDL.

The Weekly Shakedown
2007-11-16 22:11:00
(Every week there are a number of that stories slip through the cracks here at Shakedown Sports. Here are just a few of them.) –Michael Jordan’s son, Jeff, made his debut for the University of Illinois earlier this week. The walk-on got finally got off the bench late in the second half and missed his only shot of the game. While it wasn’t a very Jordan-like performance on the court, after the game Jeff did manage to call Kwame Brown a “fag” a bunch of times. –The Detroit Red Wings managed to escape injury when their team plane slipped off a runway at St. Louis Downtown Airport and got stuck in the mud. Hey, it’s just like when Gus Frerotte quarterbacks the Rams’ offense. –The University of Louisville is suing Duke for canceling three football games the two schools had agreed to play. The amazing thing is that one of the reasons Louisville seeks damages is that the cancellation cost them an opponent from a quality conference (...
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Ron Artest and Mike D’Antoni Stir the Pot
2007-11-16 05:18:00
Ron Artest is once again causing locker room problems, but this time it’s actually not his fault. Artest returned to the lineup on Wednesday night and it did not go over very over well with John Salmons. With Artest out Salmons averaged 20 ppg as a starter, but he had just four points coming off the bench in Artest’s debut. After the game Salmons showed his displeasure. John Salmons exited the locker room long before it was time to leave, storming past reporters and pacing down the Target Center hallway while none other than Ron Artest was close behind. As if it wasn’t evident enough in the Kings’ 108-103 loss to Minnesota that the return of “Ron-Ron” didn’t exactly go smoothly Wednesday night, the tension-filled postgame scene made it official. Artest – still wearing his jersey but sans sneakers – was playing the part of peacemaker, trying to corral the teammate whose frustration overflowed inside the locker room. Ill be hones. That...
More About: Mike , Ron Artest

Suckers and Their Punches
2007-11-15 08:54:00
Take a look at the Coyotes’ Nick Boynton sucker punching Steve Bernier and drawing him into a fight. Boynton was suspended for one game and his coach (somebody named Wayne Gretzky) was fined $10,000 for sending his brawler onto the iced in the final minutes of a blowout. This kind of thing drives me crazy because it makes NHL fighting look so bad. The truth is (and I’ve only come around recently) NHL fights are a great thing. In the NFL, if a guy has been hitting you after the play or blocking dirty there’s nothing you can do. The same goes for an MLB hitter who just had a fastball whiz by his head or an NBA player who’s had his kidney’s tenderized by an opponents’ elbows. Any retaliation will cost their team dearly. That’s not the case in the NHL. If a guy has been getting facewashed after every whistle or slashed all night long, he can drop the gloves and slug it out without hurting his team. It’s really quite awesome when you ...
More About: Suckers , Punches

There’s One Less Illegal Gambling Ring
2007-11-15 07:37:00
Guess what? Illegal gambling rings can function even without the involvement of Rich Tocchet and Janet Gretzky. For the last 20 months an illegal ring was being run out of the Borgata poker room…until this week. An illegal sports gambling ring run out of a high-stakes poker room in a posh Atlantic City casino was busted Wednesday and 23 people were charged, including four with alleged mob ties and six casino employees. Since March 2006, the ring took in $22 million in bets on college and professional football and basketball in the poker room of the Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa, said New Jersey Attorney General Anne Milgram. The off-the-books exchanges of cash and casino chips were only unraveled when an informant told authorities what to look for using the casino’s eye-in-the-sky surveillance cameras, Milgram said. This is exactly the kind of dangerous thing that happens when the government clamps down on internet gambling. Do you see this Congress!? This is all you...
More About: Gambling , Ring

Is A-Rod On to Something?
2007-11-15 05:16:00
The news that A-Rod is talking to the Yankees without Scott Boras is flat out shocking, but when you think about it, not having an agent can actually be the best economical move. I’ve long wondered why free agents overwhelmingly sign with the team that offers them the most money, even when it means leaving teammates and uprooting families. Most athletes are already extremely wealthy, and so it doesn’t make sense that money is almost always the #1 factor. The explanation is that there is a difference between a players’ best interest and the agent’s best interest. For players, keeping their kids near their friends is important. Playing with teammates they like is important. Living in a city they like is important. All of these fringe benefits are crucial in determining their best contract offer. Unfortunately, these fringe benefits mean nothing to agents (not counting their desire for their clients to have true happiness). For most agents, the best contract...
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ESPN Is Hiring More Famous People
2007-11-14 07:04:00
The ESPN poaching machine is at it again. Mark Fainaru-Wada, the man who is 50% responsible for Barry Bonds’ stress-induced diarrhea, is leaving the San Francisco Chronicle to join ESPN. I assume the hiring is part of the network’s most recent attempt to take stab at “real” news (i.e., launching E-60). It’s obviously a good move for Fainaru-Wada (he gets to be on TV and suckle from the plentiful ESPN bosom), but I just don’t think it will pay real dividends for ESPN. Fainaru-Wada has already landed the greatest sports scoop of the last decade. There’s basically nowhere for him to go but down. It’s like hiring Woodward or Bernstein right after Watergate—there’s just no way Fainaru-Wada can live up to the expectations. In economic terms, instead of buying low (and selling high), ESPN is buying really, really, really high. Fainaru-Wada is still one of the better investigative sports journalists around, but much like Rick...
More About: People , Famous , Hiring , Espn

Who Did a Good Thing This Week?
2007-11-14 06:38:00
Thing That I Didn’t Like: The contract the Yankees gave Jorge Posada. Let me preface this by saying that the Yankees had to re-sign Jorge Posada. They didn’t have a choice. They’re losing A-Rod, the rest of their lineup is old, and Mariano Rivera might not be back. There would have been a riot if they didn’t sign Posada. With that said, the contract they gave him is horrible. Four years and $52 million? That’s absurd. The only good thing about it is that in two years it will have made people forget about Kei Igawa. The most important thing to remember is that Jorge Posada is a 36-year old catcher. Three years ago, when Jason Varitek was a 32-year old catcher, the Red Sox signed him to a 4-year, $40 million contract. Since then his average season has been a .260 batting average with 17 HRs and 64 RBIs. Right now Posada is four years older than Varitek was and he’s played in 600 more games than Varitek had played in at that point. That ...
More About: Week , Good , Thing

A Really Long Longshot
2007-11-14 06:07:00
Georgia Bay is a three-year old filly. Last week she entered a race as a 322-1 longshot…and won. A $2 win ticket paid $666.20. What I want to know is how in the world a horse that was such a longshot was even allowed in the race? And how could she be such a longshot? Was Shaq her jockey? Did she have only three legs? The odds on Georgia Bay winning were about the same as the Dolphins beating the Patriots in New England…twice in a row.  Just think about that for a second.  A goat seems like it would be better than 322-1 to win a horse race. Anyway, congratulation to Georgia Bay and her owners. You have the best terrible horse on the planet.
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Chris Paul is Back
2007-11-13 15:43:00
Remember back in 2005 when Chris Paul was the greatest thing since sliced bread? He was the next Jason Kidd. He was a guy with the Steve Nash-like ability to turn his team into a postseason threat no matter who was playing with him. He was a sure thing. Some people thought that by now he would already be the key to the Olympic team’s success. Then 2006 happened. Paul and many of his Hornets teammates were banged up and the team won only one more game than the year before. Meanwhile, over in Utah Deron Williams was shredding the Warriors “defense” and making everybody forget about the guy who was drafted one pick after him. The Chris Paul hype machine died down. But back is 2006 something else was happening. Paul was getting better. His sophomore numbers are improvements over his rookies stats in most categories. Now the Hornets are 6-2 and everybody remembers, “Hey, Chris Paul is awesome.” Of course he’s awesome. How could we forget. We...
More About: Back

A Brilliant Goal
2007-11-13 15:01:00
Take a look at Stuttgart’s Mario Gomez scoring against Bayern Munich last week. He doesn’t quite use his legs…or his head…or his shoulder…or his chest…but I guess there’s nothing illegal about how he scored. [Insert your own joke about soccer not being the only scoring that part of the body does]. The one thing I’m wondering  is if Gomez still thought it was worth it five hours later?
More About: Goal , Brilliant

Week 10 Monday Afternoon TPS Report
2007-11-12 18:19:00
Week 10 is in the books. The Dolphins are alone at the bottom, the Patriots remain alone at the top, and Adam Viniateri is just plain alone. Now let’s get to the good stuff. Don’t Miss… …Steve McNair basically admitting the team should be starting Kyle Boller. …How a referee helped the Falcons score their game winning touchdown. …Jesse Chatman’s nerves causing him to lose his lunch. …The Dolphins talking an excessive amount of trash for an 0-8 team. …DeAngelo Hall’s touchback-inducing strip of Steve Smith. (:30 mark) …Tony Dungy taking responsibility for wasting a timeout his team would later need. In addition, Dungy might have iced his own kicker. It’s nice when coaches admit to doing something inexplicable and idiotic. …the Vikings terrible 4th down play-calling/decision making. …Justin Gage’s endzone juggling act. …How the Broncos purged themselves of their sins before th...
More About: Report , Week , Afternoon , Monday

The Weekly Shakedown
2007-11-09 08:48:00
(Every week there are a number of that stories slip through the cracks here at Shakedown Sports. Here are just a few of them.) –Chris Leak is returning to the football field. The former Florida quarterback says he will play in the brand new AAFL (All American Football League) this April. Leak spent training camp with the Chicago Bears, so playing in the AAFL should allow him to work with a much more talented offense. –Todd Bertuzzi has offered Steve Moore $350,000 to settle the $15 million lawsuit Moore filed against him for his on-ice attack. Yep, there’s nothing quite ending a guy’s career and then lowballing him with an offer that’s 3% of what he’s asking for. –Eric Lindros announced that he will retire.  The good news for Lindros is that now he will have much more time to spend on his favorite hobby of suffering from post-concussion syndrome. –Earlier this week middleweight boxing champion Kelly Pavlik severely cut his hands an...
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When the NBA Says Exclusive, it Means Exclusive
2007-11-09 07:03:00
A terrible referee gambling scandal. A broken playoff system. Serious legal issues for players. All of these things are small potatoes compared to the real problem facing the NBA: TV and radio stations that are not “official NBA stations” are promoting their pre-game and post-game shows. Media outlets without NBA licensing agreements can’t give away tickets, promote pre- and postgame shows, or engage in other activities that might violate those agreements. Simmons Media Group-owned radio station 1280 AM The Zone, which offers its own Jazz pre- and postgame shows, has been told by the NBA to stop promoting its shows. So basically, the NBA is trying to prevent interest in their league. I’m not an expert in business development, but I think unless your company is dumping oil in Alaskan baby seal homes, generally it’s not a good idea to prevent people from discussing your company and product. That’s not the only problem. If there are no unoff...
More About: Exclusive

Brian Urlacher’s “Blog”
2007-11-08 07:15:00
I’m surprised this hasn’t received more national attention, but Rick Morrisey of the Chicago Tribune has been writing a spoof blog in which he pretends to be Brian Urlacher. The blog is very KSK-esque to say the least, and it does not give a very flattering portrayal of Urlacher. Here’s a snippet. Many men in Chicago have said they would love to be me, so I thought I’d give you an idea of a typical day. First, I like to wake up. Jay Glazer, my home slice at foxsports.com, usually calls first thing to tell me how great I am. I got a little suspicious the one time when the phone rang and he said to me, “Osi, you’re great!” I said, not a little angrily, “This is Brian, not Osi Umenyiora of the New York Giants.” Jay had told me he has phone numbers for 1,500 NFL players, coaches and personnel men, so I was little worried he was doling out love in alphabetical order. Jay assured me he was completely my guy and tearfully said he&rsqu...
More About: Blog , Brian Urlacher

Stephen Ireland Thinks He’s Superman
2007-11-08 05:46:00
Manchester City midfielder Stephen Ireland was very excited about scoring a goal in Monday’s match against Sunderland. He was so excited there was only one thing he could do—take off his pants. Ireland received only a slap on the wrist for the incident—there was “no formal disciplinary action”, just a hint that it would be in his best interest never to do it again. Meanwhile, Chad Johnson lies in bed daydreaming about the things he could do if he played European football instead of American football.
More About: Superman

Barry Melrose Is Not a Fan of Newark
2007-11-07 21:03:00
Hey, Barry Melrose is still around. Despite the fact that his ESPN appearances have dipped from twice a day to twice a month (NASCAR is now on ESPN, the NHL is not), Melrose is still doing things to stay relevant. Things such as insulting the entire metropolitan population of Newark. In a video segment posted on ESPN.com last week, Melrose described the recently opened arena as a “beautiful new building” but added, “Don’t go outside if you have a wallet or anything else, because the area around the arena is just horrible.” And…cue the apology. “I was trying to be funny and I’m sorry it didn’t come through that way,” he said by phone from St. Louis. “No excuse. When I talk I don’t want to offend anybody. I love hockey and I want Newark to be a success. I certainly never wanted to hurt the feelings of the people of Newark or the people of New Jersey. There was no malice on my part.” I don’t blame M...

One Clear-Cut Sign That You’re Overpaid
2007-11-07 07:17:00
I don’t think the U.S. has an official “sports minister”, but based on the recent comments of the UK’s Gerry Sutcliffe it sounds like it would be fun to have one. Last week Sutcliffe called Chelsea captain Jon Terry’s new contract “obscene”, and he criticized Manchester United for raising ticket prices…again. Sutcliffe said there was a danger of football losing touch with ordinary fans because of players’ sky-high salaries, and that clubs could price grass-roots supporters out of attending matches. “Good luck to John Terry but I think it is obscene to be on £150,000 a week,” he said. “People in the street cannot understand salaries like that. Chelsea are £250 million in the red and they may be able to cope with that but it’s not the real world. £250 million in the red is not sustainable. “This year Manchester United increased their season tickets by 13 percent and said fans have to buy automatic...
More About: Sign , Clear

Bud Selig Might Do Something Good
2007-11-07 05:13:00
Good news. It turns out 80% of MLB general managers are able to convince Bud Selig to stop being an idiot. Selig has long been a staunch opponent of instant replay, but after MLB GMs voted 25-5 in favor of exploring its use Selig says he will reconsider his stance. Well, that’s a start. Selig is still concerned about instant replay causing a lot of delays. Apparently he enjoys the delays that occur when managers come out of the dugout to argue calls that have no chance of being overturned, but he thinks the much shorter replay delays that actually accomplish something will ruin the game. If replay is eventually used, at the start it will only be for “boundary calls”—which basically means just for disputed home runs calls. Hopefully at some point “safe or out” calls will be added as well. All of this is good news because it’s insane that there still isn’t instant replay in baseball. What if there had been conclusive evidence that ...
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The Key to Joe Torre’s Success…
2007-11-06 07:04:00
…Is Bigelow Tea!!!! Now we know what would happen if Joe Torre and Phil Simms were forced to spend five minutes together talking with the president of a tea company. It’s Awwkkkwaaaarrd. Apparently Torre offends his Japanese players by not drinking the green tea they give him. Simms, on the other hand, is just a simple man who fantasizes about a decaf tea that will give him a tan. The highlight of the video comes at the 4:50 mark when Torre begins telling a completely random and arbitrary story based on a quote from the most recent Rocky movie. It doesn’t make much sense, but I guess if I had to motivate Kyle Farnsworth and Ron Villone to pitch better, at some point I would just give up and start spewing Rocky quotes. That’s probably why the Rocky thing was fresh in Torre’s mind.
More About: Success

When Ticket Giveaways Go Bad
2007-11-06 06:36:00
One would think that giving away free tickets has to lead to a win-win, positive PR, good feelings-all around kind of situation. That sort of thing is just hard to screw up. Nevertheless, the Toronto Argonauts were up for the challenge. The Argos, with sponsors such as Rogers Cable and 7-11, offered free tickets to the last four games of the season. According to the Argos, several thousand cashed them for earlier games. But many more apparently saved them for Saturday’s home finale against Winnipeg, overwhelming ticket sellers. “Unfortunately, because of capacity and attendance last game going over 40,000 we ran out of room,” said Argos spokesperson Beth Waldman. “There aren’t enough adjectives to register my disgust at the callous way that all of us were treated,” says Warren Dalton, one of an estimated 1,000 football fans holding free ticket vouchers that proved worthless Saturday. The team is calling it a “best-case worst-case scenario&rd...
More About: Giveaways , Ticket , Tick