The Silver Boot

This weekend brings us interleague play in Major League Baseball. With that, comes the annual renewal of the battle for the Silver Boot, between the Texas Rangers and the Houston Astros.

The Rangers and Astros did not play each other in the regular season in the first four years of interleague play, because the Rangers were in the American League West, and the Astros are in the National League Central. Major League Baseball adjusted some schedules to allow the teams to play every year. Of course, the Rangers were promised the opportunity to move to the American League Central, but Tom Hicks chose not to hold baseball to that, and to remain in the American League West..I guess he doesn't mind staying up until 9:30 to watch his team play road games..but I digress. Anyway, the teams play three games this weekend in Houston, and will play three more later this season in Arlington. The Rangers won Friday night's game, 7-4.

The teams have played for the Silver Boot trophy for the last six years. It sounds and looks kinda silly, but if the owners like it, then we'll roll with it. Each team has won the Silver Boot three times. If the teams split the series, the boot goes to the team with the most total runs in the series. Ironically, the Rangers won the Silver Boot in 2005. The Astros went on to the World Series. I think the Rangers would rather go to the World Series than win a little trophy. Last year, the Astros won the trophy.

Though I now live in Houston, my loyalties are still with the Rangers. They may be forever mediocre, but they're still my team. Let's go win that Silver Boot!

What Is Up In The East?

The NBA Eastern Conference playoffs, just a few days ago, were looking like a two-team race. Both Detroit and Cleveland had swept their first round series, and had taken 3-0 leads in their second round series. They were on a collision course for a rematch of their playoff series from last year.

But, something happened on the way to DET vs. CLE. First, the Chicago Bulls won game 4 in Chicago, then surprised the Pistons last night in game 5 at the Palace. Then, the New Jersey Nets did the same thing to the Cavs, whipping the Fighting LeBrons in game 5 at the Q in Cleveland.

Something weird is going on in the East. The Bulls and the Nets aren't done yet.

Turn Back The Clock-More Cheesy Music

I had posted this briefly last week, but took it down, because I was unable to embed the Youtube video into the blog.

ABC carried NBA games up until 1974. There is a clip of their opening from 1973, with B.J. Thomas (or someone that sounds like him) singing this cheesy theme song, ending in "Timeout for the NBA Game Of The Week", with video of such NBA greats as Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (with Milwaukee), Wilt Chamberlain, and Jerry West.

The owner of the video does not allow embedding, but he still has the video posted on YouTube. It is cheesier than a Kraft dinner.

NBA Game of the Week

He has other great video posted there, as well.

Good stuff...

BCS History At A Glance

We're still a long way from another college football season. And, the BCS is still a bunch of B.S. Nonetheless, it has become an even higher level of bowl game, and the prestige has increased along with the payouts. The upcoming season will be the 10th season of the BCS. Some interesting things I uncovered, while researching at College Football Data Warehouse:

The BCS has existed for 9 years.

38 different schools have been involved in BCS bowl games.

Nine different schools have won BCS national championships in the nine years of the BCS: Tennessee, Florida State, Oklahoma, Miami, Ohio State, LSU, USC, Texas, and Florida.

Florida State has appeared in the most BCS bowls, with six. The Seminoles have only won one of those bowl games.

USC and Ohio State have won the most BCS bowls, with four wins each.

Florida State has lost the most BCS bowls, with five. Hey, at least they got there.

Three schools from outside BCS conferences have appeared in BCS bowls. Notre Dame has a special deal with the BCS. They have appeared in, and been spanked in, three different BCS games. Can you say not ready for prime time? On the other hand, Utah and Boise State have both capped undefeated seasons with victories in the Fiesta Bowl.

The following schools have appeared in the BCS:
ACC: Florida State, Miami, Virginia Tech, Maryland, Wake Forest
Big East: Syracuse, Pittsburgh, West Virginia, Louisville
Big Ten: Ohio State, Michigan, Wisconsin, Penn State, Purdue, Iowa, Illinois
Big XII: Oklahoma, Texas, Nebraska, Texas A&M, Colorado, Kansas State
SEC: Florida, LSU, Tennessee, Georgia, Auburn, Alabama
Pac-10: USC, Oregon, Oregon State, Washington, Washington State, UCLA, Stanford
Notre Dame
Non-BCS: Utah, Boise State

The BCS is a poor imitation of a playoff, but it's all we have at this time.

Looking forward to the next BCS National Championship game next January in the Big Easy...

Rumor of the Day

There is a rumor out there that Shaquille O'Neal will be traded to the Mavericks.

Shaq to Dallas?

This would be cool. Shaq doesn't feel like busting it for an 82-game regular season. The Mavs don't need him for that. However, they can sure use Shaq, even if it's 36-year old Shaq in the twilight of his career, in the playoffs.

If nothing else, it would make for good radio, as Shaq would be united with his friend Corby from The Ticket.

Turn Back The Clock: Moody Madness Edition

The Dallas Mavericks' season may be over prematurely, but the Mavs live on, thanks to YouTube.

The Mavs made their first playoff appearance in 1984, against the Seattle Supersonics. The teams were tied at 2-2 in a best-of-5 series, when the series moved back to Dallas. Reunion Arena was booked, as the Mavs were not expected to still be playing. So, the series shifted to Moody Coliseum at SMU. Moody is an old, underrated pit of an arena where the fans are on top of the action. 10,000 fans packed into the old barn to watch the Mavs defeat the Sonics, 105-104 in overtime. This was their first win in a playoff series.

This is a CBS recap of the series, highlighted by a review of the deciding Game 5.

UUOTD-Thursday

Nike has thrown some really hideous uniforms out there in the last few years. Perhaps their most infamous unis were worn on only one weekend in 2005.

Both Florida and Virginia Tech wore orange on one shoulder of these home jerseys. These met with such outrage that neither school dared to wear them again. Nike was so embarrassed that they did not dare to try this with any other school.

These are awful. Eye-gouge rating: Two

(note: the VT player being pile-driven by guys from the "U" is no relation to the author of this blog)

Ugly Uniform of the Day

This will make another appearance during football season, but this one is so bad, it deserves mention now.

The Philadelphia Eagles are entering their 75th season in 2007. In honor of the occasion, they will, for one game, wear these replicas of their 1933 uniforms. The Eagles will wear them on September 23 against the Detroit Lions.

Jevon Kearse is shown modeling these fine pieces of high fashion. They look like something UCLA would have worn.

Blech.

Turning Back The Clock Again

More classic video from the folks at CBS and YouTube...

This is the opening of Game 5 of the 1976 NBA World Championship Series, between the Boston Celtics and the Phoenix Suns. The Celtics were heavy favorites, but had lost two games in Phoenix, and were tied 2-2 with the upstart Suns. This game is regarded by many as the greatest game in the history of the league, with the Celtics winning in triple overtime. The Celtics then went out to Phoenix and closed out the Suns in Game 6.

Some things to notice:

1) Young Brent Musburger.
2) Rick Barry. Now better known as Jon and Brent's dad, he was a great player in his own right. On this night, however, he appears on CBS with a toupee, and with this baby blue leisure suit, unbuttoned, with a huge cross hanging around his neck. Classic.
3) CBS had an ex-ref doing commentary, in Mendy Rudolph. Imagine if ABC/ESPN hired say, Joey Crawford, to do commentary.
4) The red checked jackets Mendy Rudolph and Sonny Hill are wearing on camera. Nice.

Not on this clip: the sixth man for the Celtics, none other than Don Nelson.

Good stuff.

Guess Who Else Is On Vacation

How do you lose Game 7 at home? That's what the Houston Rockets did tonight. Therefore, one side of the Western Conference playoffs is between the Utah Jazz and the Golden State Warriors. Bizarre.

As a Dallas Mavericks fan, I can say: At least Houston had a Game 7.

Looking forward to that series between San Antonio and Phoenix...

Turn Back the Clock

From the archives of CBS, ESPN Classic, and YouTube...

This is the intro to Game 7 of the 1975 Western Conference Finals, between the Chicago Bulls and the Golden State Warriors. This is a long time before hip-hop and the NBA became intertwined with each other. Heck, this is even slightly before disco. Some things to notice:

1) The cheesy opening intro music, complete with lyrics and 70's-style silhouette animation. "You'll see the best in basketball, when you watch the NBA..when you watch the NBA on CBS.."
2) A young Brent Musburger, when he was becoming the voice of EVERYTHING for CBS. He was better then, before his ego got in the way. He's now been with ABC/ESPN longer than he was with CBS, but ESPN has cheapened him by placing him on those spare Tuesday night Big Ten games, among other things. He is, however, filling the shoes of the once-great Keith Jackson on college football, and is the subject of a drinking game.
3) The Bulls in the Western Conference? Yes, they were. The Bulls and Milwaukee were in the Western Conference until 1980, when the Dallas Mavericks came into the league. When the Mavs came into the NBA, Houston and San Antonio moved to the West with them, and the Bulls and Bucks went east.

This video clip is really good stuff. By the way, the Warriors went on to win this game, then won the championship in the next round by sweeping the Washington Bullets, four games to none.

Knee-Jerk

The Mavs are down 12 with 6:39 to go in the 3rd quarter. It doesn't look good.

When in the world are the Warriors going to stop hitting 3's? Everything they throw up goes in the hoop.

Ouch!

4th quarter update: Mavs still down 23. I'm going to bed.

Where's Dirk? He's sure not in Oakland tonight.

League Of Nations

Recent years have brought us the description of fan bases as (Your Team Here) Nation. These are not nations in the sovereign sense, but definitely every bit as tribal as any ethnic group. Many fans identify with teams deeply, just as they would with a country or ethnic group.

I do not know the origin of (Your Team Here) Nation. I first heard it in 1995, when new football coach Howard Schnellenberger referred to Oklahoma fans as the Sooner Nation. That was the only thing I liked about Howard's reign in Norman. Now, it seems there are more (Your Team Here) Nations than there are Native American tribes. Kentucky has the Big Blue Nation. Texas has Burnt Orange Nation. Virginia Tech has the Hokie Nation. Boston has Red Sox Nation. Florida uses Gator Nation as a marketing tool for its entire university, calling itself The Foundation for the Gator Nation, marketing itself to Florida residents and fans that never went to school there.

I think all of this is pretty funny. It reminds me of a guy I saw on a Kentucky message board, who is currently serving our country in Iraq. He used as a signature on his posts: "Fighting in Iraq for the Big Blue Nation. And, the United States, too".

As long as another civil war doesn't break out, it's pretty cool.

Stayin' Alive

Up 21 in the first half. Down 9 with less than 3 minutes to play. I can't handle the suspense any longer. Great 15-0 run by the Mavs to close it out. (or was it a meltdown by Golden State-those 3's aren't going to fall forever)

Back to California for Game 6..

Ugly Uniform of the Day

I caught these threads while watching this past weekend's coverage of the NFL Draft.

The University of Pittsburgh wore these all-gold threads last year in their season finale vs. Louisville. They played like puke, losing to the conference champion Cardinals, 48-24. Worse than that, they looked like puke in these uniforms. This combination just doesn't work. Yuck.

At least they didn't wear an all-gold version of the shade of gold they wore in the 70's and 80's. (Pictured is an autographed replica of Tony Dorsett's helmet) That would have looked like butterscotch candy.

Train Wreck

There is a train wreck of Biblical proportions occurring in the NBA playoffs.

The Dallas Mavericks, winners of 67 games in the regular season, are down 3 games to 1 in their first round playoff series with the eighth-seeded Golden State Warriors. Over the weekend, the Mavs lost two winnable games near the City by the Bay. I cannot describe how upset I am with them.

The Mavericks are on track to totally blow two entire seasons. Last season, they won the first two games in the NBA Finals against the Miami Heat, then blew a lead late in Game 3, as they lost the last four games of the series and the title to the Heat. While that was embarrassing and disheartening, the little Mavs bounced back to post the third best regular season record in the history of the league. At this point, though, that doesn't matter. They're getting their butts kicked by ex-coach Don Nelson and the Golden State Warriors. The window for a championship is closing, faster than the Road Runner can say, "Beep, Beep".

This series is not over. This team is capable of winning three games in a row, in spite of the matchup problems. After all, this team had a 17-game winning streak and two 12-game winning streaks.

But, it is so easy to knee-jerk over this thing, and that's what I'm doing here. If the Mavs blow this golden opportunity, where do they go from here? Does Mark Cuban fire Avery Johnson after winning 67 games? Do the Mavs trade Dirk Nowitzki after a possible MVP season? Heck, does Cuban get sick of it all, and cash out and sell the team?

This is bad. Really bad.

UUOTD-Saturday

Nike makes a good shoe. Their influence is worldwide. They didn't become the world's largest athletic shoe manufacturer by accident. They finance college athletic departments to the tune of millions of dollars per year.

As good as their shoes are, they have room for improvement in their uniform designs. The company is based in Oregon, and founder Phil Knight is a benefactor of his alma mater, the University of Oregon. UO has made multiple appearances in this blog for their ugly uniforms. Now, it's their archrival's turn.

Oregon State is rolling out these funky new uniforms next year. They don't have psychedelic helmets, but they have a lot of different combinations of orange and black with these. The orange jersey on the left is particularly glaring. With the stripes and font, these look weird. I read a message board where they were compared with bikinis.

The "Civil War" between UO and OSU-West will be interesting this year. Who knows what kind of uniform combinations will be rolled out that day. Deep within the bowels of Nike headquarters, there is a happy mad scientist.

Ugh.

The Ultimate Draft Geek

Today is one of my favorite days, the NFL draft. I purposely do not get into all of the pre-draft hype, as there is just way too much information to process. If I had more time to become a draft "expert", I would blog on it. I do enjoy, though, the wheeling and dealing that comes with draft day, and the spectacle that draft day has become. The draft is one of those things where the bang-to-hype ratio is not out of whack.

I cannot watch the draft without thinking about the late Joel Buchsbaum. I remember him most from his appearances on Norm Hitzges' show on KLIF radio in Dallas. He was a long-time regular on radio shows in St. Louis and Houston, and was a full-time draft analyst for Pro Football Weekly.

Buchsbaum was the unlikeliest of sources. He rarely left his Brooklyn apartment, except to work out at his local gym once per week. Manhattan was a long trip for him, much less Chicago or any other city. He never went to scouting combines, and never traveled out of New York City. He really only met his employers and sources personally at the draft. Nonetheless, many in the pro football community felt close to him. He was constantly on the phone with scouts, and reviewed an endless amount of tape in his apartment. He never married, and lived in an apartment next door to his parents in Brooklyn. He refused to have his picture published with his articles. He was a total recluse, yet was a fountain of information for NFL coaches and management.

He was most known for his encyclopedic knowledge of the NFL draft. Coaches, general managers, and scouts trusted his knowledge of players. If there was a third-string deep snapper from McNeese State, Buchsbaum knew something about him. He would go on radio shows and rattle off endless amounts of information on players and anyone remotely considered a prospect.

The great John McClain of the Houston Chronicle became close to Buchsbaum in his later years. He has some more great comments on him this week, here and here, including a rare photo from his draft lair in Brooklyn.

He passed away in 2002 at the age of 48. At the 2003 scouting combine, a memorial service was held for him, which was attended by a host of NFL coaches, general managers, scouts, and media. Among the speakers at the memorial was Patriots coach Bill Belichick, who considered him a close friend, though he never met him personally.

He is still missed. He unknowingly helped make the NFL draft what it is today.

My hat is off to anyone that can make a living from being a draft geek.

UUOTD

The Boston Red Sox have been wearing a green jersey with a green cap on St. Patrick's Day for a few years. This normally falls during spring training. Last week, the Red Sox decided to honor the passing of Celtics great Red Auerbach by wearing the green jerseys against the Yankees. The sentiments are appreciated, but this is just making a mockery of what was once Celtic Pride.

This look is just plain gross. The Celtics are green. The Red Sox are not. At least they didn't wear green socks.

Yuck.

Ugly Uniform of the Day

It's been a while since there's been a UUOTD, as last week was no time to be throwing any team under the bus. But, UUOTD returns with a vengeance today.

The Atlanta Hawks aren't playing right now. They don't play past the middle of April, because they only play in the pre-season and in the regular season. They don't play in the playoffs. We'll hear from them next in the draft lottery, when they hope to get lucky with a ping-pong ball and get one of the top two picks in the draft. The Hawks are one of the worst franchises in professional sports. They have not made the playoffs since the Clinton Administration. Don't totally give up, though, Atlanta. The Dallas Mavericks were once the laughing stock of the NBA.

With that said, the Hawks are gone right now, but not forgotten. Their third jersey is a mixture of Del Monte mustard and Heinz ketchup. That combination fits on a hot dog, but not on a uniform. Ugly, ugly, ugly. The only saving grace to this look is that it is not one of their primary uniforms.

Would you like some chips with that hot dog?

I'm glad I'm not an Oscar Mayer wiener.

Eye gouge rating: two