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      Did rust contribute to the Magic’s poor play?

      January 23, 2009 /

      The Magic lost last night, 90-80, at home to the Celtics, who were in the second night of a back-to-back. Doug Collins mentioned that the Magic may have been “rusty” because their last game was on Saturday.

      Far be it for me to disagree with Doug Collins, but I’m going to disagree with Doug Collins. While the Magic may have been out of the normal rhythm of the NBA season, they did get four days of rest and recovery, which is never a bad thing. The Celtics had played the night before, and historically speaking, that’s more difficult to do than play after a long break. (At least Vegas thinks so.)

      The Magic lost last night because the Celtics are just a better defensive team right now. They made things difficult on Orlando’s three-point shooters (32%) and held the Magic to 38% from the field on the night. For the most part, they were successful in keeping Dwight Howard off the block when he caught the ball, which allowed Kendrick Perkins and Glen Davis to play him one-on-one instead of forcing the Celtics to double-team. Howard was limited to 11 points, and since there were few double-teams, the Magic were forced to take a number of contested three-pointers, resulting in the lower accuracy from behind the arc. Orlando was also incapable of finishing at the rim much of the night, which only compounded the problem.

      In the fourth quarter, Jameer Nelson got hot and Orlando tried to make a run, but Davis and Kevin Garnett hit jumper after jumper to keep the Magic at bay. The Celtics look like they’re rolling again, but I wouldn’t say that the Magic are out of their league. This was just one game.

      NBA, NBA Finals

      Tony Romo will never be a leader

      January 23, 2009 /

      Or so says Cedric Golden of Statesman.com:

      Tony RomoRomo’s not a leader. Never has been. Never will be.

      Leaders don’t develop. They are born. It’s something in the DNA. You either have it, or you don’t. After showing little interest in leadership his first couple of seasons, Romo is talking about becoming a better leader now. In this case, talk isn’t cheap — Romo signed a $67.5 million contract extension during the season — but it’s still just talk.

      He’s singing a different tune from the one he sang after the 44-6 drubbing at Philadelphia, which dropped his career record as a starter in December to 5-8. Minutes after his team collapsed on the field, he collapsed in the shower from a rib injury, then offered this explanation of how he dealt with the loss:

      “If this is the worst thing that ever happens to me,” Romo said, “then I’ll have lived a pretty good life.”
      He might as well have been one of those talentless clowns who audition for “American Idol.” It was comical and hurt the ears.

      That’s what separates Romo from guys such as Aikman, Peyton Manning and Tom Brady. They live the game. Losses eat at their intestines for entire offseasons. Romo’s comments suggested he was already over the loss.

      Aikman offered up no excuses when the Cowboys went 1-15 with him as the starter. And he didn’t morph into a superhero when the Cowboys were winning Super Bowls. He was the same hard-playing, accountable dude during good times and bad times. Romo’s not Aikman. Not even close. And while it’s probably not fair to compare the two, Romo opened up the door when he played the leadership card.
      Even a defensive player like Ray Lewis, who had off-field problems early in his career, is 10 times the leader Romo is. He doesn’t have to make any pronouncements about leadership, because his actions make it clear who’s running things in the Baltimore Ravens’ locker room.

      Ray Lewis is 10 times the leader Tony Romo is? Gee, way to make a prophetic statement there, Cedric.

      He may never be the guy that runs up and down the sidelines like Tim Tebow does or have the gonads to get into the face of his offensive linemen on the bench like Tom Brady, but Romo can lead by example. If he wins, his teammates will follow because in the end, winning speaks louder than any sideline speech that he can give.

      Will he ever be Brady, Lewis or Aikman in terms of being a leader? Probably not, but then again, it takes a special man to lead like those guys do/did. What Romo can do is focus more in practice, be more dedicated to the game that has treated him very well the past couple years and start producing in December. If he does those things, people will take notice.

      NFL

      Does Kurt Warner get enough respect?

      January 23, 2009 /

      John Lavallo of Takeoutmag.com writes that Cardinals’ veteran signal caller Kurt Warner gets no respect and delves into the discussion of whether or not he’s Hall of Fame-worthy (which many media members as Lavallo points out, do not believe so).

      Kurt Warner“Not a singular player in his era”.This is laughable. Let’s assume Warner’s “era” is the late 90’s and early 00’s (that’s sort of an era, I guess). In that time, what did our man do? Threw for nearly 14,000 yards (and another 15,000 yards since), completed nearly 70% of his passes, lead his team to three 500+ point seasons, made 4 Pro-Bowls, won 2 MVP’s, lead his team to 2 Super Bowls, won a championship, along with throwing 400+ yards and collecting an MVP trophy for Super Bowl XXXIV. Warner had the best 3-year stretch of any QB in NFL history. And since 1999 is smack dab in his era, let’s take specific notice of that year. Warner had the best single season of any QB in NFL history, not only because of eye-popping stats (41 TD’s, 4,300+ yards) but also because, unlike Dan Marino in 1984 and Tom Brady in 2007 (both of whom had technically superior seasons, stat-wise), Warner actually ended up winning his last game. In fact, he is only NFL quarterback to throw 40 touchdowns and win a Super Bowl in the same season. Remarkable stats AND a Super Bowl ring? Show me one other QB in one other year, or ANY era, that had a better season than Kurt Warner in 1999. I defy you. And I think Kurt’s era has a part 2 called the ‘late 00’s’, in which he has been the best QB in the NFL over the past 2 seasons (project out his stats from 2007, in which he only started 10 games yet threw for nearly 3,000 yards and add that to a 4,500+ yard 2008 season. Oh, and he led his team to the Super Bowl.

      Lavallo touched on all of the arguments against Warner being a Hall of Famer, so make sure to check out the entire article.

      I’ll chime in on this debate the same way I do all Hall of Fame discussions for active players: let’s wait until Warner’s done playing before we say whether he’s worthy of HOF consideration or not. That might be a cop-out, but he may win three more Super Bowls by the time his career is over with and then there wouldn’t much of a discussion, would there?

      Either way, Warner is going to be a special case because he came back into the NFL with the Rams in ’99, set the league on fire and then damn near fell off the map. Now he’s back setting the league on fire and that’s why you have so many detractors and supporters. Yeah, he’s numbers are outstanding in the years he played well, but injuries made him look like Ryan Leaf for all the years in between. So again, let’s see how his career finishes out when we have the full picture.

      NFL, Super Bowl

      Ladies and gentlemen, your 2009 NBA All-Star starters…

      January 22, 2009 /

      Nope, Devin Harris did NOT make the list.

      The results have been announced and here are the starters (as voted in by the fans):

      EAST

      Guard: Dwyane Wade, Heat
      Guard: Allen Iverson, Pistons
      Forward: LeBron James, Cavs
      Forward: Kevin Garnett, Celtics
      Center: Dwight Howard, Magic

      WEST

      Guard: Chris Paul, Hornets
      Guard: Kobe Bryant, Lakers
      Forward: Tim Duncan, Spurs
      Forward: Amare Stoudemire, Suns
      Center: Yao Ming, Rockets

      Well, the starters are a popularity contest and sometimes undeserving players are voted in. Such was the case with Allen Iverson, who isn’t having a very good year but is immensely popular with fans. In my picks, I didn’t even have AI on the roster, much less starting. Joe Johnson or Devin Harris should have gotten that spot. AI’s presence makes it unlikely that Tayshaun Prince will make the cut, since the Pistons don’t have a record that deserves two All-Star nods. The other four starters for the East are pretty much no-brainers, though China almost voted Yi Jianlian into the game. (Now that would have been a travesty.)

      Things were less controversial in the West. I chose Nowitzki over Stoudemire at forward, but had Amare on the roster, so no harm, no foul. Kobe, CP3, Duncan and Yao are pretty much no-brainers.

      Overall, the fans got 9/10 right…that’s a B+ in my book.

      NBA

      Mark McGwire’s estranged brother said Big Mac used steroids

      January 22, 2009 /

      Jay McGwire, the estranged brother of Mark McGwire, is claiming in a new book proposal that he introduced and injected the former baseball star with steroids.

      In the proposal, first reported Wednesday on Deadspin.com, Jay McGwire alleges that Mark used Deca-Durabolin and that he introduced Mark to performance-enhancing drugs in 1994.

      Jay McGwire writes in his proposal that his brother “began to use, but in low dosages so he wouldn’t lift his way out of baseball. Deca-Durabolin helped with his joint problems and recovery, while growth hormone helped his strength, making him leaner in the process. I became the first person to inject him, like most first-timers he couldn’t plunge in the needle himself. Later a girlfriend injected him.”

      Jose Canseco, in a book he wrote in 2005, claims he and McGwire, former Oakland A’s teammates, used performance-enhancing drugs as far back as 1988. Jay McGwire disputes that in the book proposal.

      The McGwire brothers reportedly haven’t spoken to each other for years.

      Jay McGwire claims in the proposal that Mark McGwire used androstenedione in 1998 to allow Mark “to avoid all the potential adverse side effects that could occur from using anabolic steroids, such as water retention, hair loss, and liver, heart, or kidney stress. In addition, he wouldn’t have cholesterol problems or testicular atrophy. And there were no problems with the law.”

      Jay McGwire, in the proposal, also says he wished his brother would have confessed at the famous congressional hearing, instead of saying he wasn’t going to talk about the past. Jay McGwire also writes that he doesn’t believe missing out on the Hall of Fame will affect his brother.

      “Mark is a man I think most would like to forgive because his reason wasn’t nefarious — it was for survival,” he wrote, according to the proposal. “My bringing the truth to surface about Mark is out of love. I want Mark to live in truth to see the light, to come to repentance so he can live in freedom — which is the only way to live.”

      Ah, so Jay’s book is “out of love” for his brother Mark…the same brother he’s using to get his 15 minutes of fame and a quick buck, and the one who he hasn’t talked to in years. Got it.

      If Jay introduced and injected Mark with steroids, then he should have evidence of doing so. If he doesn’t, then I don’t know why anyone should believe a word this clown says.

      MLB

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