We pissed off Mother Nature

I am going to stray from sports in this post to talk about something much more serious and important. As most of you must know by now, hundreds of people died today when a brief but catastrophic 8.8 earthquake hit Chile.

According to the Richter Scale, earthquakes of this magnitude only happen once a year. The scale goes from Micro (less than 2.0, happens every day) to Epic (10.0+, hasn't happened YET). Chile had a "Great" earthquake, which only is said to happen once a year.

However, studies are done expecting some kind of trend and predictability, not what happened on Saturday, February 27. Besides the Chilean earthquake, there also was a 6.1 earthquake which lasted ten seconds in the Argentinean provinces of Salta, Jujuy and Tucuman. Keep in mind, Argentina is right next to Chile.

Japan also had an earthquake of its own, a 7.0. Fortunately, neither killed anybody or left structural damage. Meanwhile, Hawaii had to issue a tsunami warning because of the earthquake in Chile.

All of this comes on the heels of the earthquake that devastated Haiti on January 12 and the minor earthquake that hit Chicago on February 10. One or two quakes in a month and a half are the norm, three of them are an alarming trend, five of them(two of them major) should raise deep concern.

This aren't isolated incidents, these earthquakes are hitting all over the world as if waiting for us to get up only to knock us back down. Mother Nature is pissed at us, no doubt about it, but the most important question is what we can do about it. Earthquakes aren't like hurricanes, they don't give you a five-day notice to run away.

I am just a sportswriter, I don't claim to have the solution. All I'm hoping for is that the scientists that are studying this issue can come up with an explanation before something truly catastrophic happens and kills millions of innocent people.

Lies, Sex, and A Broken Player

(Bridge consoles Terry after being eliminated in the 2006 World Cup)

England's starting left defender Wayne Bridge quit the English national team just a couple of months after his now ex-girlfriend Vanessa Perroncel cheated on him with fellow English defender John Terry. To make things even worse, Perroncel got pregnant after being with Terry, who paid for the abortion.

Fabio Capello, England's head coach, made Terry give up England's captaincy, which in turn went to defender Rio Ferdinand.

Meanwhile, Bridge is understandably heartbroken and no longer willing to play alongside someone he once called a friend, so he gave up a soccer player's biggest dream and won't play in the World Cup.

The 29-year-old said that he quit for the good of the team so it could avoid distractions, and that his decision is irreversible. I hope that Bridge changes his mind, because he shouldn't go out like this. Terry already took his girlfriend away from him, and all Bridge is doing now is punishing himself even further by not going to South Africa. If anything, Terry is the one who should quit after what he did.

It is going to be interesting to see how this affects Terry on and off the field, because I can only imagine how guilty he must, and should, feel after everything that he did. Opposing players and fans will mercilessly provoke him during the entire World Cup, so I wouldn't put it past him to snap Zidane-style.

Bridge and Terry will be on the same field for opposing teams this Saturday, when Bridge's Manchester City faces Chelsea in the Premier League. I hope Bridge scores the winning goal with a header right over Terry's head in the 93rd minute, so he getting a standing ovation as he shows why he is not only a stand-up man, but a better player as well.

Books famous athletes should publish

Every athlete and actor thinks they can either rap, act, or have an autobiography of his own someday. Here are some ideas for what some of the most famous athletes, actors and TV personalities should write about.

Shaquille O'Neal: How to be Hated In Every City You Leave Behind (In Five Easy Steps).

Kobe Bryant: Life Outside Basketball (What is That?).

Peyton Manning: I Saw My Daddy Rooting For The Saints, And Then I Threw That Interception.

Tom Brady: I'm Better Looking Than You.

Jim Caldwell (Indianapolis Colts Head Coach): How to Look Like A Robot On The Sidelines.

Charles Barkley: I'm Fat, Therefore I'm Funny.

Stuart Scott (Sportscenter Anchor): A Brief History Of Boo-Yah!

Brett Favre: Mowing Grass in Mississippi as an Effective Offseason Workout.

Manny Ramirez: When You Say Nothing At All.

Derek Jeter: I'm a Yankee, Bitch.

Michael Phelps: I Got The Munchies(From Swimming).

Tiger Woods: The Tiger Sutra (40 exciting positions you can use at a Perkins Restaurant)

U.S Hockey could win gold medal

The game between the U.S and Canada hockey teams on Sunday night was everything that is right with sports. It was an exciting game that was in question until the Americans put it away in the last few seconds with an empty net goal, and most importantly it was a game that transcended just what was happening on the ice.

A friend of mine that is in Vancouver witnessing the Olympics told me that the Canadians were emotionally crushed by the loss, and I don't blame them.
They have an immense inferiority complex when it comes to playing sports against the United States.

However, Hockey is the one game that they thought they could count on, with Sidney Crosby on their side, there was no possible way they could lose, right? I mean, this is the one sport that they invented and ruled for so long. But Oh, Canada, you lost, and in a convincing manner to boot.

By failing to win the group, Canada gets no bye into the quarterfinals and has to beat Germany in order to have the pleasure of facing Alex Ovechkin and Russia in the quarters.

Meanwhile, the U.S gets to sit back, have two days off, and then prepare for a hypothetical clash in the semis against the Czech Republic, provided they beat Belarus or Switzerland in the quarters.

I think that the Olympic final will pit the U.S vs Russia, and hockey will matter once again in America, at least for a few days.

How I would fix the NCAA Tournament

Hi! I'm back after one long week in Atlanta doing the World Cup preview for CNN. Long days, even longer hours, but it was all worth it. I won't divulge any more details about it, you will have to watch the show to find out. No air date was confirmed yet, but I will post it on here as soon as I find out.

Getting to the topic at hand, the NCAA Tournament is great, but it has one major flaw. Too many crappy teams make it to the big dance because they win their crappy conference tournaments. In the meantime, more competitive teams like UConn and Ole Miss get left out.

What I would do is, based on the results of the previous year, set a standard number of bids for each conference for the season.

For example, let's say the Big Ten has two teams in the Final Four this year. In that case, they would automatically get the most bids for next year since they were the best conference.
On the other hand, if a team like Chattanooga from the C-12 Conference loses by 35 to Duke in the first round, its conference automatically gets only one bid, regardless of what happens on its conference tournament.

It's not about equal opportunity for everyone, the NCAA Tournament should be about fielding the best 64 teams on the court.

Thoughts? Comments?

Things I Think I Don't Think (part deux)

(my yellow bikini muse)


Welcome back, my loyal readers (the five or six of you out there). Valentine's Day is almost here, and what would the most romantic weekend of the year be without some of my most important thoughts about the state of the sports world? That's right, it would greatly diminish in value for couples everywhere. On to my thoughts.

-I think I don't think that the NBA All-Star Celebrity game should be on ESPN, at least not on the main one. If they want to put it on ESPN "The Ocho", that's fine by me, but don't put it on prime time and make it seem like Chris Tucker and Michael Rappaport are legitimate athletes worthy of national prominence.

-The dunk contest still matters, it's tradition, but it's up to the players on it to the players on it to make it matter again. Gerald Wallace and DeMar DeRozan are good players, but they don't have the magnetism of Kobe Bryant and LeBron James. Pony up a million dollars for the winner of the dunk contest -half of it can go to charity or the Haiti relief effort- and I believe that the superstars of the league will follow the big green bone all the way to the top of the rim.

-I think I don't think I care about the Winter Olympics. I just don't. There is something about Olympic Curling that somehow doesn't appeal to me.


-Last but not least, I think I don't think Danica Patrick has "it" to truly transcend in NASCAR. She can have flashes of greatness, like when she led a lap in the Indy 500 five years ago, but I don't see the consistency necessary to be a force in NASCAR's grueling racing schedule.

Manning is one of the 3 best QB's ever

I don't think that Peyton Manning should be judged just by his postseason numbers, like many "experts" have suggested in the days and hours after the Super Bowl. Manning's 9-9 postseason record and one Super Bowl ring may pale against Patriots quarterback Tom Brady's three rings and 14-4 record, or Terry Bradshaw's five SB titles and 14-5 playoff record

I think Brady and Bradshaw are the two best QB's ever, but Manning comes in a close third.

How many Hall of Fame (or potential HOF)quarterbacks that are considered among the best ever have made over 15 playoff starts and have a record similar to Peyton's? Well, let's see..
-Brett Favre: 24 playoff starts, 13-11 record, 1 Super Bowl Title, 2 Super Bowls.
-Donovan McNabb: 16 playoff starts, 9-7, 1 Super Bowl, 0 titles.
-Jim Kelly: 17 playoff starts, 9-8, 4 Super Bowls, 0 titles.
-Dan Marino: 18 playoff starts, 8-10, 1 Super Bowl, 0 titles.

Only four, so there. Manning may not be THE best ever, but he certainly should be in the top three, because he has intimidated the hell out of opponents for the past decade without missing a single game.

Manning is more feared than Favre, more accomplished than Marino and Kelly, and a far better quarterback than Donovan McNabb.
And oh, by the way, he threw 49 TD passes in 2004, second most in NFL history. He also had the highest passer rating in NFL history that year, 121.1.

As for Drew Brees, the New Orleans Saints quarterback and reigning Super Bowl champion, he has a 4-2 playoff record (3-0 this season) and has won the only Super Bowl he has played in...so far.

Who Dat Say Dey Gonna beat Dem Saints? The Colts, that's who

Prediction: Colts win 35-24.

Why: Because Peyton Manning is in everyone's head right now. He has won a far more important game than the one on the field, the mental game. The Saints' offense will feel like it needs to score every time out and keep Manning off the field, that will in turn produce costly turnovers that will prove to be the difference in the game.

Why I might be wrong: New Orleans quarterback Drew Brees seems like he is on the verge of getting to the elite, "you don't EVER underestimate me" status. If that's the case, then watch out.

Trademark of sheer stupidity: Why would the NFL want to turn off its own fans by talking about a possible lockout in 2011 in the days prior to the Super Bowl? No one wants to hear millionaires bitch about the money they earn days before their biggest cash cow even of the year. Grow up, will you? Sometimes it seems like history only repeats itself for the most stupid, unnecessary things, not the good ones.

Anyway, sorry "Who Dat Nation". You will have to wait another year for your ring. I truly hope I am wrong though, because I sympathize with the city of New Orleans and the way the Saints have managed to lift its spirits after Hurricane Katrina.

Can USF make the NCAA Tournament?

My heart says yes, my brain says maybe, and Joe Lunardi hasn't updated his "Bracketology" page on ESPN yet, so we don't know what he thinks about the Bulls yet.

The reality is that the USF Bulls might as well be called the USF Joneses, because guard Dominique Jones has been the catalyst and engine of a team that is riding a four-game winning streak that has vaulted them from 1-5 to 5-5 in the vaunted Big East conference.

Granted, role players like Jarrid Famous and Mike Mercer have been important in South Florida's surge, but when you have someone like Jones averaging 35 points per game in the past four games, there is no denying who is responsible for turning the Bulls from doormat to being a contender for the NCAA Tournament.

Let's look at USF's resume to see what their chances are of making it to the "Big Dance", shall we? Right now, the Bulls have a 15-7 overall record and a 5-5 record in the Big East, which has them in eighth place at the moment.

The NCAA always looks for trademark wins over top teams, and USF has two victories over Top 20 opponents (Pitt and Georgetown). A strong out of conference record is also important, and the Bulls are 10-2 in that department, including a nice win over Virginia, which is currently second in the ACC as of February 4. Last but not least, USF will need to go at least 4-4 in its last eight conference games before the Big East Tournament, where it will probably need to win a game or two to assure itself of a spot in the 64-team bracket.

Last year, seven teams from the Big East got bids into the tournament, so if we go by that standard then the Bulls would be on the outside looking in if the season ended today.

However...ESPN analyst Jay Bilas said that the NCAA may choose up to nine teams from the conference this year, since the Pac-10 is so god-awful and might only get one bid. That usually never happens to a major conference.

Looking at the remaining schedule, I see a win on the road over Notre Dame and wins at home over Cincy, St John's and Providence. That would bring USF to 9-9 in the conference, but what might push them over the top is the regular-season finale aganst Connecticut in Tampa.

Just thinking about the NCAA Tournament is something that nobody at USF thought was even possible just a couple of weeks ago, but now the team is on a roll and seems to be for real. Now it is up to Dominique Jones and his Joneses to convince the doubters and cement themselves in USF history with the university's first tournament bid since 1992.

Utterly ridiculous

Diego Armando Maradona, head coach of the Argentinean national soccer team, the pride of 40 million people, just earned a degree in "Natural Incompetence 101."

In advance of an upcoming friendly against Jamaica, Maradona first called four players from Estudiantes, the best team in South America right now. A half hour later, the coaching staff realized that those same players had to play the next day after the game with Jamaica as well, so they were off the list.

Maradona prides himself in giving players their first opportunity to wear the hallowed blue-and-white jersey, but to not be aware of the status of your own country's players is just pathetic.

To make things worse, and even sadder, one of the four replacements Maradona called underwent surgery last Tuesday, but the coaching staff didn't know that until after the fact and he had to be scratched as well.

The replacement's replacement, forward Claudio Bieler, has absolutely no chance to go to the World Cup. Only 23 players can be part of a World Cup roster, and yet Maradona has tried more than 100 in less than a year.
This isn't a recreational league, not every single player in the country deserves to play for the national team, so please for the love of God stick with a group of 35 players and go with it.

We are four months away from the World Cup, and this isn't the time for tryouts anymore. Argentina is not going anywhere as long as it has a coach that doesn't pay attention to detail and does a half-assed job with his players.

What drives the best to be the best

You wanna know what makes the truly great players in each sport stay on top for long periods of time, longer than most athletes would ever dream of? Well, if you ask Roger Federer, his main motivation is that he loves tennis.

For those of you that have been living under a rock for the past six years, Federer is quite possibly the best tennis player EVER. He has won 16 Grand Slams, the most ever, and has physically and mentally dominated the game since 2004.

The 28-year-old Swiss master won't ace you to death, he will just play a flawless, mistake-free game and then patiently wait until you try to force things and/or go out of your mind with frustration to systematically beat you into submission.

In an interview with the French newspaper L'Equipe, Federer said that what fuels his desire to win is reminding himself of why he has worked so hard durig the past few years, why he chose to play tennis as a kid, and asking himself what he loves about the game so much.
Federer said that the answer, and therefore his conclusion, is simple. Nobody loves tennis as much as he does.

Sometimes all it takes for him to get going is to remind himself of his track record against a certain opponent, like he did before this year's Australian Open final against Andy Murray. Murray had had success against him in recent matches in smaller stages, but Federer manhandled Murray in the biggest stage and disposed of him in three sets.

The man loves his job, period. Federer achieved what we all dream of at some point, which is to not only find a job, but a career and a vocation in which he excelled and became the best of all-time.

There is nothing more to dissect or analyze, because unlike many other greats such as Andre Agassi, Kim Clijsters or Serena Williams, Federer is genuinely happiest with a racket in his hand and a trophy on his mantle.