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 yourself with a mind numbing flash game at the same time. It’s a win-win situation.
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 through the airport like a 6-year-old on a sugar-high? It’s just the kind of thing that could make players seek Serbian citizenship. As it turned out, the whole thing was just a “misunderstanding.”
A statement from the CFF said a misunderstanding arose as Mr Srebric was buying newspapers but then noticed his team enter the airport building. He hurried to organise them through airport control but police thought he was trying to avoid paying for the papers.
In the end it ended up being a pretty good trip for Srebric. Croatia won the game 3-2 and they got to see David Beckham play…for free!!
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.
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.
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 the scalpers are going wild. This week the Missouri Attorney General even had to place a restraining order on GoTickets Inc. to prevent it from scalping tickets. You know a company is bad news when it’s already in trouble for scalping tickets to a Hannah Montana concert.
For now we’ll just have to hope none of this affects the game, and that on Saturday Kansas and Missouri play with a passion you can only expect from two teams who never imagined being in the national championship picture.
In closing…Todd Reesing for Heisman!! Tell your congressman.
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.
From the meaningless unmathematical viewpoint of a sports fan, I’d have to say the conclusion of the paper sounds right. If a goalie stays in the middle of the goal it looks like he can still cover 35%-45% of the net. When a goalie chooses a side he is immediately giving up at least 2/3 of the net. If any 8-10 year olds want the secret to dominating their rec leagues, this is it. (Professional soccer players should also be paying attention.)
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.
The most interesting coaching predicament on Sunday fell to Tony Dungy. With the score tied at 10 the Colts had 4th and 1 from the Chiefs 3-yard line with under two minutes left in the game. Rather than kick a field goal and trust his defense to stop the Chiefs, Dungy went for it so he could bleed the rest of the clock. Fortunately for Dungy, the move ended up paying off—the Colts got the first down and only three seconds remained on the clock when the Chiefs got the ball back. Brodie Croyle better remember this game—Dungy going for it because he feared what Croyle would do is probably going to be the highlight of young Brodie’s NFL career.
Idea #2,493 For Stopping the Patriots
What about playing a physical bump-and-run man-to-man defense with two safeties deep and a linebacker in the middle of the field? It’s worth a shot. On Sunday night the Bills almost exclusively dropped back into a zone or ran a zone blitz. That’s not going to get it done. Brady and Patriots offensive line are just too good for that. It was like taking candy from a really really weak baby. When the Bills defense did everything right they still gave up and easy 7-yard gain underneath.
Most teams are terrified to play man-to-man (because of screen passes, quarterback scrambles, double moves etc.), but there’s no chance of stopping the Pats with a zone. At least playing bump-and-run and man-to-man can throw off the Pats timing. It can prevent Brady from knowing who will be open before the ball is even snapped. It can take away the quick throws and can get the Pats offense out of rhythm. It might just be crazy enough to work.
Brian Billick is Not Very Pleased
The Ravens coach was not too gracious in his post game comments about Phil Dawson’s game tying field goal. Apparently the fact that the refs got the call right didn’t matter to Billick. He’s a firm believer that when a man thinks he’s won a football game, he gosh darn deserves to win that game. On the other hand I am willing to forgive Billick for being a bit crass—If I was 4-5 and my season rested in the hands of Kyle Boller, I would want any win I can get.
And Byron Leftwich Takes an Insurmountable Lead…
…in the contest to be the Falcons most atrocious quarterback!! Even though Joey Heisman led the team to two straight wins, Bobby Petrino decided to start Byron Leftwich. All it took was zero points and five turnovers for Petrino to realize that decision might have been a mistake. Here’s my advice for Petrino. Your team sucks. Next time you win two games in a row, stick with whatever you’re doing. Don’t try and win “better.” Take any win you can get.
The 49ers Ineptitude Is Scrambling Mike Nolan’s Brain
Every Sunday night I sit down and write a bunch of stuff criticizing the poor decision making of various NFL coaches. Usually it comes easy to me, but for the last hour I haven’t been able to figure out how to put into words the idiocy of Mike Nolan’s 4th quarter decisions. Now I’m finally ready to give it a try.
With under two minutes left in the game the 49ers held all three timeouts, trailed by 7, and had 4th and 10 from the Rams 29-yard-line. The key here is “trailed by 7.” The 49ers needed a touchdown. For some reason (most likely to pad Joe Nedney’s stats) Nolan decided to kick a difficult field goal.
Can you remember the last time a team trailed by 7 in the last two minutes and kicked a field goal? It wasn’t even like is was 4th and 29. It was only 4th and 10. Going for it was a no-brainer. Even if they missed, the 49ers still had enough timeouts to force a three and out and get the ball back with about 1:30 on the clock.
Ok, now lets move on. Nolan got the three points. The next move is too kick it deep, force a three and out, and get the ball back in good field position, right? Wrong. Nolan attempted an onside kick, a move that can’t be described as anything other than insane.
If you’re going to gamble with an onside kick, why would you not gamble on a much easier 4th and 10? It’s like Nolan kicked a field goal just so he could get a crack at the 49ers secret weapon, the onside kick. Even if the 49ers recovered they would have been 30 yards behind where they were on 4th down. Nolan made his decisions like the team had a better chance to recover an onside kick than convert a 4th and 10.
At the very least kicking it deep would have given the 49ers a chance if they got a three and out. Instead, when the 49ers failed to recover the onside kick the game was basically over. Even though they forced a three and out, Trent Dilfer was left with 90 yards,1:28 on the clock, and no timeouts. That’s not a good scenario.
Bonehead Moves of the Week
Eric Mangini/Norv Turner/Joe Gibbs/Brad Childress
Coaches everywhere went kick happy in Week 11. With eight seconds left in the first half the Jets had 3rd and goal from the Steelers 1-yard line. Eric Mangini didn’t even attempt to run another play. He was content to take the 3 points. Would Bill Belichick have ever made that move? Definitely not.
Early in the second half the Chargers trailed by 7 and had 4th and 2 from the Jags 39. Norv Turner decided to punt, and Mike Scifres boomed a 26-yard kick. It took Jacksonville just 5 plays to go 88 yard for a touchdown. At this point Norv Turner should just pull a George Costanza and do the opposite of every one of his impulses.
With two minutes left in the game the Vikings led by 7 and had 4th and 1 from the Raiders 38. A first down would have ended the game. Instead Vikings coach Brad Childress decided to kick, and Chris Kluwe boomed a 21-yard punt. Now brace yourself for some math that proves Childress’ idiocy.
A first down would have won the game—so I’m going to say the Vikings had a 60% chance of winning with a first down, and then a 75% chance of stopping the Raiders if they failed to get the one yard. That’s a 90% chance of winning (60% + (75% of 40%)). After the punt (with those precious 21 yards), I’m going to say the Viking had about an 80% chance of stopping the Raiders. There you go Brad Childress. By punting you increased your team’s chances of losing by 10%. Hooray.
Finally, I’d like to welcome back Joe Gibbs to the “Bonehead Moves of the Week.” Early in the second quarter the Redskins had 4th and 1 from the Dallas 32-yard line. That 49-yard field goal is a tough kick. Much tougher than running the ball for one yard. But Joe Gibbs loves himself some Shaun Suisham. He sent his kicker out, and Suisham promptly hooked the kick wide left.
Quote O’ the Week
“We have to evaluate the video from today and see who gives us the best opportunity as a team to win the game”—Bobby Petrino, on who will start next week. Something tells me it will be Joey Harrington.
0-3. The Steelers record outside the states of Pennsylvania and Ohio
European Goal of the Week
Omer Golan scores in the 92th minute to give Israel a 2-1 victory over Russia in Saturday’s Euro 2008 qualifier. The win quieted conspiracy theorists who thought Israel would hand the match to Russia, and it kept alive England’s qualifying hopes.
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.
(Every week there are a number of stories slip through the cracks here at ShakedownSports. These 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 (the Cardinals were forced to replace Duke with Indiana State). So basically, for the first time ever, a school is angry they won’t get to play an opponent as good as Duke. This might be the greatest Duke football moment of the last 15 years.
–British soccer star Steven Gerrard is backing calls to institute a quota on foreign players in the Premier League. It sounds harsh, but that kind of thing is fairly common in sports. David Stern has a quota on the wnumber of referees who can have gambling problems, and the Yankees have a loose quota on the number of players who are allowed to be paid twice what they’re worth.
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 whole thing takes a lot of balls from Salmons. It’s not like he replaced Richard Hamilton for a few games and is angry about losing his starting job. This is Ron Artest we’re talking about. He’s one of the craziest athletes of all time, and in a way Salmons is publicly showing him up. The good news is that Ron-Ron is handling the situation like a wise, stable, confident athlete. What were the chances of that?
Meanwhile, over in Phoenix there seems to be a feud developing between Mike D’Antoni and Suns fans. D’Antoni is upset the crowd has booed and shown a lack of enthusiasm in certain games.
Mike D’Antoni made it clear he didn’t appreciate the crowd’s lack of enthusiasm after Tuesday’s win against New York. He said he thought the Suns were sluggish and the fans were even worse. The Suns coach didn’t apologize after Wednesday’s practice. The fans deserved it, he said. They boo us; we’ll boo them.
“The whole atmosphere - us, them, everybody - was just kind of down and blah,” D’Antoni said.
I love it. Calling out the fans. Fighting fire with fire. D’Antoni is a genius. If he sticks with it this could change everything. He could even start a blog critiquing the crowd for every single home game. After all, why should fans not have to give their best effort every night? Oh right, they’re paying to enter the building instead of being paid to enter. Still, I’m a big fan of what D’Antoni is doing.
Meanwhile, over in Phoenix there seems to be a 