Mailbag - February Edition
Note: Sorry for the week-long delay. If I was an athlete, what I came down with could best be described as "flu-like symptoms." Don't worry, I didn't strain my oblique or have a sports hernia.
Thank you to Charlie for reminding me that I owe you all a Mailbag. A lot of good topics to discuss. Thank you again to everybody who sent some mail my way. I'll try and do as many as I can. Sorry to my sister, Genna, who sent in a question referring to an embarrassing family video from our youth. Family video emails will not be answered here. Pretty much everything else will, so without anything further . . .
Q: You really were right on with your last few picks in the NFL Playoffs. But you were even more spot on with calling out Eli Manning. He's not really good. Plaxico's being gone exposed him. (Johnny from New York, NY)
A: Ok, I made that one up. I just wanted to make sure my New Yorkers were paying attention early. On to the real emails.
Q: What do you think the biggest story of the Super Bowl was? Ben showing up or Larry Fitzgerald's performance coming up short? (Matt from Los Angeles, CA)
A: I'm actually going to give you a different one. I know I've already talked about the Super Bowl but I'd like to throw in a story that I found intriguing and that's Santonio Holmes' emergence as a top-flight wide-out. I know that's a lot of hyphens but Santonio earned them. This is the same guy that burned more holes on more fantasy squads this year than . . . well, something with a lot of holes. I was more confident in Barack Obama's getting politicians to stop partisan politics than I was in Santonio Holmes' showing up in the playoffs (I think I would have rather Obama's coming through early than Santonio's showing up. Did he honestly believe that Republican Senators would just say, "oh, you want your $900 billion package to get through because you say so? Yes sir, Mr. President." Attention Mr. President: Guilt trips don't work with politicians). But seriously, where did Santonio come from? I didn't really think too much about it until I watched the miked up special that NFL Network did. Santonio was a positive force the entire game. Then, when Arizona took the lead late in the fourth he said, "time to be great. Who wants to be great? I want to be great." I'm pretty sure that in the fourth quarter of a Super Bowl that guys aren't cognizant of hidden mikes. This is the guy's personality. Then, after he took the team down to the six yard line, he went up to Big Ben during the timeout. Roethlisberger was kind of staring off into nowhere and Santonio went up to him and said, "hey, I want the ball." Big Ben didn't really acknowledge him so Santonio raised his voice this time. "Hey, I WANT the ball." Ok then. I'm not sure if that was before or after the first down drop, but either way, I haven't seen a guy use those words in a last minute drive since Keanu Reeves in The Replacements. Santonio Holmes had a breakout party in the playoffs. I think that edged out the "Fitzgerald is the best wide-receiver in the NFL . . . by far" story. As for Ben, he's still not going to get his due. Oh well. He'll have to feel slighted with his multi-million dollar contract and his late night gigs.
Q: You talk about boxing a lot, but what about MMA? (about half a dozen people sent me this question in one form or another)
A: I'm just not an MMA guy. I love the sweet science (boxing for you non-fight fans) and MMA looks like a bar fight gone wrong once those guys hit the ground. I'm not going to pretend that boxing is non-violent and that guys don't get seriously hurt, but they're not pummeled once they hit the ground in boxing. I also love the angles that boxers throw from and the clashes of styles (i.e. brawlers facing great counter-punchers). On a boxing note, I got my question answered in Dan Rafael's chatroom today regarding Puerto Rico's Juan Manuel Lopez ever facing Israel Vazquez or Rafa Marquez. Dan Rafael of ESPN believes that JuanMa would beat either today because they took too much out of each other in their trilogy. But getting back to the boxing vs. MMA, I grew up around boxing with my Grandpa acting as the Assistant President of the World Boxing Council. MMA just isn't my style.
Q: With Pat Summitt's 1,000th win coming up, is she the best basketball coach of all time regardless of gender? (Dan from Santa Monica, CA)
A: The guys on 1st and 10 today were talking about whether Pat Summitt could coach mens NCAA ball. They both said she could but their answers smelled a little bit of political correctness. Obviously Summitt is a great motivator and has a great basketball IQ, but would a bunch of 18-21 year old boys listen to her when she barked at them to sprint? When first confronted with the idea I thought it was ludicrous. But then I thought about all of the female teachers, principals, etc. that we have when we're growing up and it's not like we have a problem answering to them then. I think the first female coach would have a tough task on her hands just as it is when any social barrier is broken, but I think that we'll see a female NCAA mens coach in the next few decades.
Going back to the prompt of Dan's question, I don't think Pat Summitt is the greatest coach of all-time. Yes, she has the most wins and 1,000 is a ridiculous number when you think about it. That's forty 25-win seasons. As Chazz Michael Michaels, would say, mind bottling yes, but G.O.A.T.? No. Womens basketball is nowhere near as tough to dominate in as mens basketball, and especially wasn't in Summitt's early days when there were very few good programs. Anytime there are the amount of dollars at stake that there are in mens basketball, you're going to have tremendously stiff competition. If the biggest womens program could charge over a hundred dollars a seat and get the TV money that mens programs do nowadays, I promise that there would not be a UConn stranglehold going on for over a decade in the sport. Pat Summitt is the greatest womens coach of all-time but it's apples and oranges comparing mens and womens achievements in NCAA basketball.
Q: Rivals.com rated UCLA's recruiting class #22! How do you feel about the incoming freshman football class? (D.J. from the Valley)
A: I guess as a UCLA fan I have to feel good about it. There was some buzz going around Pauley Wednesday night about the recruiting class and Neuheisel even came out at halftime and did his best televangelist impersonation. But here's what life's like as a UCLA fan. A friend of mine came up to me earlier in the week and said, "you excited for Wednesday?" I responded, "of course, I'll be at Pauley." To which she retorted, "oh, I meant college signing day." Yeah, see, here's the problem, my two favorite teams are UCLA and whoever's playing 'SC, which means odds are my favorite teams go 0-2 every week of the college football season. So what I'm trying to say is, sorry if I don't get all that excited over a football team that I don't think has a shot against our hated rival this season. I'm just happy it's basketball season.
Q: How about them Lakers, err, Bruins, err, Lakers, err, Bruins, err, ok.... how about both of them? What are you more excited for March (Madness) or May (NBA playoffs)? (Charlie from Los Angeles, CA)
A: As far as my level of excitement, March Madness wins the contest, hands down. Nothing gets me more excited than March Madness, especially when the Bruins have a chance at a run. As to which team's prospects I'm higher on, again, that's a no contest as well. Kobe is being Kobe. Pau may still be the stereotypical Euro-wuss but Lamar's Mr. Hyde emerged in that Celtics game. The turnaround in the Lakers' season happened when Odom sarcastically slapped KG's backside then stayed right in KG's grill and said, "What the **** you gonna do" to the most intimidating figure in the NBA, twice. The Lakers have only one team that can remotely challenge them in the Western Conference and that's San Antonio. And even then, the Lake Show will have home court advantage and should have no problem getting to the Finals (Vegas has the Lakers as better than even money to reach the Finals). The Lakers should also either sweep the first two rounds or at worst take them in 5. Once they get to the Finals they should be much more well-rested than either Boston or Cleveland. If the Lakers can take care of business and secure home court, then I'd have to say I'm ready to announce the Lakers as my favorite to win it all, even sans Bynum. If the Lakers do not secure home court then I'm not 100% confident in that assessment. I think they will still struggle to beat Boston, in Boston. Don't forget that there is not a semblance of a chance that KG fouls out in a playoff game against the Lakers. We'll see Chris Mihm in an NBA Finals game before we see that happen. As to UCLA's chances, see below.
Q: Will you watch the Pro Bowl? (Andrew from Los Angeles, CA)
A: No. I don't understand why they even wear pads in the game. May as well just play touch football. And is it really an all-star game if Kerry Collins and Eli Manning are there? They should just play three flies up and let us all watch Larry Fitzgerald for an hour. That'd be better.
Q: If you haven't seen or heard check this out:
http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball/blog/the_dagger/post/Please-note-that-Chase-Budinger-s-face-is-not-a-?urn=ncaab,136602
At the time of the incident the score was Houston 63 Arizona
51...Arizona went on to win in overtime 96-90. (Danny from Ann Arbor, Michigan)
A: Wow. That's easily the youtube sports highlight of my year. Not to get all lawyery on everybody, but this is the kind of thing that ends up being a lawsuit. He clearly sees Budinger and steps on his face, then celebrates afterward. One-game suspension? Yeah, that'll teach him. Way to set a precedent there. Although it was Chase Budinger. Still. Face stepping is a new one by me. I don't think they even allow that in the WWE.
Q: Are you afraid to watch to watch March Madness this year because of how poorly UCLA has been playing? Do you think they'll rise to the challenge or will they be the same old UCLA inconsistent team? No one likes rooting for a losing team... (Lauren from Los Angeles, CA)
A: This comes from my angry sister right after UCLA's loss to Washington. My how two weeks can change things. Before I get to the question, my sister goes to the University of Redlands, so I almost put "Lauren from Redlands, CA" but then I realized that there aren't any Jews allowed in Redlands so I didn't want to alert the authorities to her presence. She's kind of like Brendan Fraser in School Ties.
Getting back to our Bruins, the past two weeks have been just amazing. I was sick all of last week but I didn't miss going to Pauley to catch the 'SC and Notre Dame games. I also caught the Cal game live the week before. I have to say, there's nothing more satisfying for me as a fan than UCLA basketball at its best. After the Arizona State and Washington games, I was picturing a March Madness bracket where I would put UCLA in the Sweet 16, knowing all too well that they'd be out in the first or second round. Now? Guaranteed Sweet 16 team and an outside shot at the Final Four.
The Bruins have stepped up their game on defense to the point where teams just can't run their usual sets. The weak side double team on opponents' posts has been spot on with great rotation and as a result the Bruins are holding their opponents to meager FG% totals. But more importantly, Howland has taken the handcuffs off of the guys on offense. The seniors met with Howland after the Washington game. He asked them to increase their efforts. They asked for more motion and freedom on offense. I'd say both sides were right and we, the fans, are the beneficiaries. The Bruins are attacking teams in transition. They're attacking early in the clock when they see good percentage openings. Nikola Dragovic has the green light to shoot from the Santa Monica Pier if he's feeling it and Howland is also trusting the freshmen with more minutes, giving the seniors some rest, and ensuring a frenetic pace that very few teams can keep up with. By "frenetic pace" I mean a high pressure game, not necessarily an up and down, free-flowing, North Carolina attack. All in all, I'm now very much looking forward to another run for the Bruins in March. I still think that Jrue Holiday needs to be getting more touches and should see some time at the point. Other than that, I'm all smiles. A few weeks ago I had a list of about twenty teams that would run us out of the gym with our lax defense and inept offense. Now, the only teams I'm legitimately afraid of are UConn, UNC, and Pitt. Everyone else I'll be at least hopeful, if not confident. Pauley Pavilion has been a very fun place to be as of late. Way better than Redlands.
I got some steroids questions with the A-Rod revelations, but I want to make that its own column. I also got some fantasy baseball questions, but that's going to be its own mega-column as well. I love Fantasy Baseball. Thanks again to everybody who wrote win. I hope you're not having a case of the Mondays.
Thank you to Charlie for reminding me that I owe you all a Mailbag. A lot of good topics to discuss. Thank you again to everybody who sent some mail my way. I'll try and do as many as I can. Sorry to my sister, Genna, who sent in a question referring to an embarrassing family video from our youth. Family video emails will not be answered here. Pretty much everything else will, so without anything further . . .
Q: You really were right on with your last few picks in the NFL Playoffs. But you were even more spot on with calling out Eli Manning. He's not really good. Plaxico's being gone exposed him. (Johnny from New York, NY)
A: Ok, I made that one up. I just wanted to make sure my New Yorkers were paying attention early. On to the real emails.
Q: What do you think the biggest story of the Super Bowl was? Ben showing up or Larry Fitzgerald's performance coming up short? (Matt from Los Angeles, CA)
A: I'm actually going to give you a different one. I know I've already talked about the Super Bowl but I'd like to throw in a story that I found intriguing and that's Santonio Holmes' emergence as a top-flight wide-out. I know that's a lot of hyphens but Santonio earned them. This is the same guy that burned more holes on more fantasy squads this year than . . . well, something with a lot of holes. I was more confident in Barack Obama's getting politicians to stop partisan politics than I was in Santonio Holmes' showing up in the playoffs (I think I would have rather Obama's coming through early than Santonio's showing up. Did he honestly believe that Republican Senators would just say, "oh, you want your $900 billion package to get through because you say so? Yes sir, Mr. President." Attention Mr. President: Guilt trips don't work with politicians). But seriously, where did Santonio come from? I didn't really think too much about it until I watched the miked up special that NFL Network did. Santonio was a positive force the entire game. Then, when Arizona took the lead late in the fourth he said, "time to be great. Who wants to be great? I want to be great." I'm pretty sure that in the fourth quarter of a Super Bowl that guys aren't cognizant of hidden mikes. This is the guy's personality. Then, after he took the team down to the six yard line, he went up to Big Ben during the timeout. Roethlisberger was kind of staring off into nowhere and Santonio went up to him and said, "hey, I want the ball." Big Ben didn't really acknowledge him so Santonio raised his voice this time. "Hey, I WANT the ball." Ok then. I'm not sure if that was before or after the first down drop, but either way, I haven't seen a guy use those words in a last minute drive since Keanu Reeves in The Replacements. Santonio Holmes had a breakout party in the playoffs. I think that edged out the "Fitzgerald is the best wide-receiver in the NFL . . . by far" story. As for Ben, he's still not going to get his due. Oh well. He'll have to feel slighted with his multi-million dollar contract and his late night gigs.
Q: You talk about boxing a lot, but what about MMA? (about half a dozen people sent me this question in one form or another)
A: I'm just not an MMA guy. I love the sweet science (boxing for you non-fight fans) and MMA looks like a bar fight gone wrong once those guys hit the ground. I'm not going to pretend that boxing is non-violent and that guys don't get seriously hurt, but they're not pummeled once they hit the ground in boxing. I also love the angles that boxers throw from and the clashes of styles (i.e. brawlers facing great counter-punchers). On a boxing note, I got my question answered in Dan Rafael's chatroom today regarding Puerto Rico's Juan Manuel Lopez ever facing Israel Vazquez or Rafa Marquez. Dan Rafael of ESPN believes that JuanMa would beat either today because they took too much out of each other in their trilogy. But getting back to the boxing vs. MMA, I grew up around boxing with my Grandpa acting as the Assistant President of the World Boxing Council. MMA just isn't my style.
Q: With Pat Summitt's 1,000th win coming up, is she the best basketball coach of all time regardless of gender? (Dan from Santa Monica, CA)
A: The guys on 1st and 10 today were talking about whether Pat Summitt could coach mens NCAA ball. They both said she could but their answers smelled a little bit of political correctness. Obviously Summitt is a great motivator and has a great basketball IQ, but would a bunch of 18-21 year old boys listen to her when she barked at them to sprint? When first confronted with the idea I thought it was ludicrous. But then I thought about all of the female teachers, principals, etc. that we have when we're growing up and it's not like we have a problem answering to them then. I think the first female coach would have a tough task on her hands just as it is when any social barrier is broken, but I think that we'll see a female NCAA mens coach in the next few decades.
Going back to the prompt of Dan's question, I don't think Pat Summitt is the greatest coach of all-time. Yes, she has the most wins and 1,000 is a ridiculous number when you think about it. That's forty 25-win seasons. As Chazz Michael Michaels, would say, mind bottling yes, but G.O.A.T.? No. Womens basketball is nowhere near as tough to dominate in as mens basketball, and especially wasn't in Summitt's early days when there were very few good programs. Anytime there are the amount of dollars at stake that there are in mens basketball, you're going to have tremendously stiff competition. If the biggest womens program could charge over a hundred dollars a seat and get the TV money that mens programs do nowadays, I promise that there would not be a UConn stranglehold going on for over a decade in the sport. Pat Summitt is the greatest womens coach of all-time but it's apples and oranges comparing mens and womens achievements in NCAA basketball.
Q: Rivals.com rated UCLA's recruiting class #22! How do you feel about the incoming freshman football class? (D.J. from the Valley)
A: I guess as a UCLA fan I have to feel good about it. There was some buzz going around Pauley Wednesday night about the recruiting class and Neuheisel even came out at halftime and did his best televangelist impersonation. But here's what life's like as a UCLA fan. A friend of mine came up to me earlier in the week and said, "you excited for Wednesday?" I responded, "of course, I'll be at Pauley." To which she retorted, "oh, I meant college signing day." Yeah, see, here's the problem, my two favorite teams are UCLA and whoever's playing 'SC, which means odds are my favorite teams go 0-2 every week of the college football season. So what I'm trying to say is, sorry if I don't get all that excited over a football team that I don't think has a shot against our hated rival this season. I'm just happy it's basketball season.
Q: How about them Lakers, err, Bruins, err, Lakers, err, Bruins, err, ok.... how about both of them? What are you more excited for March (Madness) or May (NBA playoffs)? (Charlie from Los Angeles, CA)
A: As far as my level of excitement, March Madness wins the contest, hands down. Nothing gets me more excited than March Madness, especially when the Bruins have a chance at a run. As to which team's prospects I'm higher on, again, that's a no contest as well. Kobe is being Kobe. Pau may still be the stereotypical Euro-wuss but Lamar's Mr. Hyde emerged in that Celtics game. The turnaround in the Lakers' season happened when Odom sarcastically slapped KG's backside then stayed right in KG's grill and said, "What the **** you gonna do" to the most intimidating figure in the NBA, twice. The Lakers have only one team that can remotely challenge them in the Western Conference and that's San Antonio. And even then, the Lake Show will have home court advantage and should have no problem getting to the Finals (Vegas has the Lakers as better than even money to reach the Finals). The Lakers should also either sweep the first two rounds or at worst take them in 5. Once they get to the Finals they should be much more well-rested than either Boston or Cleveland. If the Lakers can take care of business and secure home court, then I'd have to say I'm ready to announce the Lakers as my favorite to win it all, even sans Bynum. If the Lakers do not secure home court then I'm not 100% confident in that assessment. I think they will still struggle to beat Boston, in Boston. Don't forget that there is not a semblance of a chance that KG fouls out in a playoff game against the Lakers. We'll see Chris Mihm in an NBA Finals game before we see that happen. As to UCLA's chances, see below.
Q: Will you watch the Pro Bowl? (Andrew from Los Angeles, CA)
A: No. I don't understand why they even wear pads in the game. May as well just play touch football. And is it really an all-star game if Kerry Collins and Eli Manning are there? They should just play three flies up and let us all watch Larry Fitzgerald for an hour. That'd be better.
Q: If you haven't seen or heard check this out:
http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball/blog/the_dagger/post/Please-note-that-Chase-Budinger-s-face-is-not-a-?urn=ncaab,136602
At the time of the incident the score was Houston 63 Arizona
51...Arizona went on to win in overtime 96-90. (Danny from Ann Arbor, Michigan)
A: Wow. That's easily the youtube sports highlight of my year. Not to get all lawyery on everybody, but this is the kind of thing that ends up being a lawsuit. He clearly sees Budinger and steps on his face, then celebrates afterward. One-game suspension? Yeah, that'll teach him. Way to set a precedent there. Although it was Chase Budinger. Still. Face stepping is a new one by me. I don't think they even allow that in the WWE.
Q: Are you afraid to watch to watch March Madness this year because of how poorly UCLA has been playing? Do you think they'll rise to the challenge or will they be the same old UCLA inconsistent team? No one likes rooting for a losing team... (Lauren from Los Angeles, CA)
A: This comes from my angry sister right after UCLA's loss to Washington. My how two weeks can change things. Before I get to the question, my sister goes to the University of Redlands, so I almost put "Lauren from Redlands, CA" but then I realized that there aren't any Jews allowed in Redlands so I didn't want to alert the authorities to her presence. She's kind of like Brendan Fraser in School Ties.
Getting back to our Bruins, the past two weeks have been just amazing. I was sick all of last week but I didn't miss going to Pauley to catch the 'SC and Notre Dame games. I also caught the Cal game live the week before. I have to say, there's nothing more satisfying for me as a fan than UCLA basketball at its best. After the Arizona State and Washington games, I was picturing a March Madness bracket where I would put UCLA in the Sweet 16, knowing all too well that they'd be out in the first or second round. Now? Guaranteed Sweet 16 team and an outside shot at the Final Four.
The Bruins have stepped up their game on defense to the point where teams just can't run their usual sets. The weak side double team on opponents' posts has been spot on with great rotation and as a result the Bruins are holding their opponents to meager FG% totals. But more importantly, Howland has taken the handcuffs off of the guys on offense. The seniors met with Howland after the Washington game. He asked them to increase their efforts. They asked for more motion and freedom on offense. I'd say both sides were right and we, the fans, are the beneficiaries. The Bruins are attacking teams in transition. They're attacking early in the clock when they see good percentage openings. Nikola Dragovic has the green light to shoot from the Santa Monica Pier if he's feeling it and Howland is also trusting the freshmen with more minutes, giving the seniors some rest, and ensuring a frenetic pace that very few teams can keep up with. By "frenetic pace" I mean a high pressure game, not necessarily an up and down, free-flowing, North Carolina attack. All in all, I'm now very much looking forward to another run for the Bruins in March. I still think that Jrue Holiday needs to be getting more touches and should see some time at the point. Other than that, I'm all smiles. A few weeks ago I had a list of about twenty teams that would run us out of the gym with our lax defense and inept offense. Now, the only teams I'm legitimately afraid of are UConn, UNC, and Pitt. Everyone else I'll be at least hopeful, if not confident. Pauley Pavilion has been a very fun place to be as of late. Way better than Redlands.
I got some steroids questions with the A-Rod revelations, but I want to make that its own column. I also got some fantasy baseball questions, but that's going to be its own mega-column as well. I love Fantasy Baseball. Thanks again to everybody who wrote win. I hope you're not having a case of the Mondays.
Thanks Eric. You made Remedies a little more bearable. Can't wait for the next article.
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