TICKETS:

Stubbhub or ebay is probably the best route and depending on who is playing tickets will fluctuate.

PARKING:

I didn’t park around the stadium b/c it costs $15-20. If you drive to downtown after 5:00 PM, parking is typically $5.00 so if you don’t mind walking just a tiny bit, save the $$$

CONCESSIONS:

If you are visiting Pittsburgh you have to stop at Primantis inside the CEC! Other interesting fare includes kielbasa grinders, we were surprised had arena had higher end food and things like Caesar Salads

There is a place on the second concourse called The Smokehouse that seems very nice.  Here one can get a brisket sandwich, a BBQ pork or chicken sandwich and kielbasa.  They actually have a person carving the meat right there.

WHERE TO EAT NEARBY:

Seviche:  930 Penn Avenue, Pittsburgh www.seviche.com Many visit here several times per year and am rarely disappointed in the fabulous presentation and service. I recommend the chef’s tasting menu to get the full experience, and always a pitcher of sangria.

COMMENTS

We loved this place. The chorizo-wrapped scallops and the filet mignon are worth a try. Fun atmosphere and great service.

The food here is outstanding. I have had ceviche in a number of countries and cities and this is by far the best. Definitely worth a visit if you are in town.

SPORTSBAR:

Tailgaters Sportsbar & Grill  1420 Centre Avenue  washingtonplaza.com… The food was great. The food menu had a great selection to choose from. I ordered the breaded buffalo chicken sandwich with fries and it was…..great!!

COMMENTS

Tucked away in the corner of Washington Plaza, yep that’s the giant white building with the big red “W” on it, right above the new Consol Energy Center is…….. Tailgaters…….our newest find…

WHERE TO STAY:

Marriot Pittsburgh City Center 112 Washington Place,  www.marriott.com/hotels/travel/p…

COMMNENTS

I have stayed here before but had the chance to spend another night this week and found the room very clean, the staff very courteous and helpful, the view spectacular, and the stay rewarding. The name of the hotel may be misleading since the only thing really near is the hockey arena, and perhaps Duquesne University, but there is a hotel shuttle which will take you wherever you want. If you want to be near quaint shops, stay at the Sheraton at Station Square. If you want to be in the center of the city, stay at the Omni William Penn. But if you can get a comparable price and want a quiet, comfortable place with a fine restaurant and a good track record, I recommend this place.

TICKETS:

One of the more difficult, if not the most difficult ticket to obtain in baseball.  At $52 a pop, the infield grandstand seats are one the better bargains in the game, given the proximity to the field.

Ebay is another potential option to purchasing Red Sox tickets.  Expect to pay 25% more than face value for weekday games (except Yankees), and at least 50% more for weekend games.  You can expect to pay triple face value for Yankee games.

PARKING:

If you miss the meters, just east of Evans Way is Wentworth Tech and there is parking on the south side of the Campus that will run about $15, probably the cheapest you’ll find.  15 minute walk to Fenway.

CONCESSIONS:

Fenway – Legal’s Clam Chowder – Not exactly ballpark fare, but one of the more appetizing items on the menu that won’t guarantee a trip to Walgreens. If you didn’t manage to fill up before coming in, the Premio’s Italian Sausage is worthy contender to anything offered around Fenway, but your pockebook will feel a little lighter. As for Fenway Franks – Don’t bother unless its just to say you tried them.

EATS NEAR THE PARK:

The Best Sandwich in Boston? Ask Sam Lagassa, 44 Province Street Boston, samlagrassas.com he makes 1300 sandwiches a day. How does pastrami and clam chowder sound?

COMMENTS:

All the other reviewers are spot on. The sandwiches are amazing and you cannot go wrong with anything on the menu. All the employees seem to have been there forever and they are all business which makes the long line move quickly but it is worth whatever wait you might have… As some other people have alluded to, it can be pricey for just a sandwich but it is worth it from time to time. Be warned, they are only open from for lunch Monday through Friday.

This place was great. We found it on the diner, drivin’s and dives website and we were very impressed huge sandwiches and if we weren’t only here for a few days we would be going back HIGHLY recommended

Mr. Bartley’s Burgers, the king of Harvard SQ.  1246 Massachusetts Ave.Cambridge  mrbartley.com Wow, one burger here and you understand the real reason kids wanna go to Harvard.

COMMENTS:

I have been eating burgers at Bartley’s since I was a college student many years ago, and hope to do so for many more. The taste is completely dependable– freshly ground beef makes a huge difference– and prices have gone up very little, especially considering how expensive everything else in Harvard Square has become. This is also the only burger joint in the galaxy where the cooks really understand the difference between rare, medium-rare, and medium. But make sure to order your burger from the blackboard– much cheaper than the fancier versions on the menu– and expect a lot of noise when the place is crowded.

If there would be a heaven for burgers, that would have been this one!

Mr. Bartley’s is one of Boston’s landmarks since 1960. Located in Cambridge, right in front of Harvard campus, it is well known for its seven ounces of choice beef burgers.?Bartely’s siblings, Joe and Joan, took over a small store facing Harvard yard with a simple plan in mind: perfect the quintessential American sandwich, commonly the so called hamburger.?Handmade burgers are served with a choice of French fries or fried onion rings. Burgers’ names reflect the choice of collecting and serving a real American taste with food, that is why it will be easy to read on the menu names reminding of the American culture, such as the people’s republic of Cambridge, the Tom Brady, the Republican, the Democrat, the Ted Kennedy or the Bill Clinton… Simply and tasty frappes or lime Rickey’s can accompany your meal.

SPORTS BARS :

The Cask ‘n Flagon – It’s an institution around these parts.  We hope you are going to the game, but in case you are left without tickets, this might be the second best place to be.  With wall to wall TVs, free wifi (although I’m not sure why you would have your laptop with you), a good menu (make sure you try the Fighting Irish Sweet Potato fries), and voted the #2 baseball bar in the nation by ESPN, there are more than a few reasons to land here.  Not to mention it’s about 25 feet from the entrance to Fenway.

COMMENTS:

I was a little skeptical of anything that ESPN callsthe #1 baseball bar in America. However, they nailed this one. It is within spitting distance of Fenway Park and the gameday atmosphere was incredible. The place was full of baseball fans young and old and they have tons of TV’s with nothing but sports. No Oprah or Fox News. Very good beer selection on tap and in bottles, excellent food, and great service.

WHERE TO STAY:

Crown Plaza Newton/Boston -320 Washington Street Newton,www.crowneplaza.com Located on the edge of Boston proper, this hotel is pretty much a bargain if you aren’t a light sleeper.  That’s because this building was literally built right on top of the Mass turnpike.  Just an extra set of earplugs and you should be alright.

Howard Johnson Fenway – 1271 Boylston Street Boston  www.howardjohnsonboston.com There is no such thing as a cheap hotel in Boston, but this is about as cheap as it’s going to get.  And if the equation for you is location,location,location, and you don’t mind a tired and basic hotel, than this is the one for you.  Rooms can be had for

]]> http://sportsruckus.net/2012/01/have-you-seen-a-green-monster/feed/ 0 http://sportsruckus.net/2012/01/buffalo-sports-trip-absoutlely/ http://sportsruckus.net/2012/01/buffalo-sports-trip-absoutlely/#comments Thu, 26 Jan 2012 00:21:32 +0000 sandro http://sportsruckus.net/?p=989 Why go to Buffalo for a road trip….first, it is a great sports town with  a real fan atmosphere at their venues. This time of the year the Sabre fans are rocking and the tickets are reasonable. Here are some tips and links for you to use in planning your trip and remember, you may get a bonus snow storm to extend your visit and miss a day of work !

TICKETS :

Keep your eyes on ebay.  Recently sighted several pairs at considerably less than cost.  In fact, one pair at lower centre ice sold for half of face value.

CONCESSIONS :

Actually above average options, the focus is on local flavor. Wings, Beef on a Weck, Fried Bologna and Onions.Try the ‘Pour Man’s Aud Club’ station, behind section 111, for the best experience. Plus you can grab an ice cream or Sundae for dessert.

EATING AROUND THE ARENA:

Blackthorn Rest/Pub -2134 Seneca St. blackthornrestaurant.com Great portions, great flavor! Try the buffalo standard Beef on a weck (a kimmelweck roll, a funky bun with a caraway top). Or the Big Guy special a massive sandwich that you’ll have knife and fork it.

Comments:

“Beer and cheddar soup was to die for. So were the prices. Very reasonable. Stuffed peppers were awesome as well. Great service too. If you want to be boring, go to denny’s, if you want to discover something new, come here. “

“We love watching Diners, Drive ins and Dives on The Food Network and wanted to try a place in Buffalo, NY. Blackthorn came highly recommended.

My husband ordered the Triple D. He loved it. The beer chedder soup was very rich in flavor! The portion was perfect for lunch!?I order the Chicken Quesadillas, they were amazing! Spicy, full of flavor.?The service was great, really nice people. The restaurant has a lot of character. It was a really nice meal! Would definately go back.”

Pearl Street Grill – 320 Pearl st  thecenturygrill.com This for a pre-game meal. They have a $15 all-you-can-eat pre-game buffet. Wings, Pizza, Weck, Pasta and more. Too, they also brew their own beer.

Comments:

Having eaten there several times we decided to have our son and daughter-in-laws wedding reception held here. What a great experience for our families, our guests and ourselves! The food was great as usual (if you eat here you must try their Pot Roast) and the staff was spot-on with its service.

I just love Pearl Street. The brews are fantastic! They even serve beer in large tubes with a spicket so that your party can share and drink up. The food is always good and the prices are very reasonable. Pearl Street is located in the heart of downtown in a building built in th 1800s. It features several floors with a bar on each floor. They also feature an outdoor patio on the second floor. During the summer it offers a beautiful view of the sunset. A definite must stop place to eat and drink when in Buffalo.

SPORTS BARS TO WATCH BEFORE OR AFTER GAME:

The Anchor Bar 1047 Main st anchorbar.com This is an institution around these parts and is well worth a visit as the locale that started America’s love affair with Buffalo Wings.  The wings are huge and and there may be a wait, but what’s a trip to Buffalo without at least one visit to this place.  P.S.  The Pizza is pretty good too.  P.S.S.  Be prepared for long waits at times.  P.S.S.S. Unless you are sitting at the bar – there are no TVs.

Comments:

This restaurant is known world wide as the original and best chicken wings. The pizza is also to die for. Although it is a thin crust it still has the integrity and chewiness of thicker crust. The smell of the crust is as fresh as can be. We like to have green and black olives on ours it really compliments the hot wings. We love this place and make it an annual trek!

Waited 10 years to get there for the wings and was not let down. Worth the trip despite Buffalo’s desolate feeling. The one and only original needs to be experienced.

Duffs Famous Wings at 3651 Sheridn dr originally opened in Amherst and has been serving wings since 1969.  It has become so popular that folks north of the border opened it’s doors to a Duffs in Toronto in 1985.  I guess Toronto gets Duffs and Buffalo gets Tim Hortons.  Seems like a fair trade.

Comments:

My wife’s family is from Buffalo, and when they want wings – they go to Duff’s. I recently visited Buffalo with my son’s 20 player hockey team for a tournament. We (including parents) went to Duffs and ordered a variety of wings – from the mild to the classic to the hottest. Service was great – they managed to get all of us sat and fed quickly. And the wings were as terrific as I am used to getting there. Everyone left happy, and happy they had Duffs wings. We got there early (11:30 AM Saturday), and when we left there was a line going out the door. Go to The Anchor Bar for the history, but go to Duffs for the wings!

WHERE TO STAY:

The Mansion On Delaware Hotel www.mansionondelaware.com top notch service, close ride to the arena, starting at 195/night

Comments:

This is a gorgeous building with beautiful touches inside and out. We live very close by but my husband surprised me and brought me here for the night for my birthday. There’s a great happy hour with complementary wine and cocktails and a lovely breakfast in the morning. We had dinner reservations at a pricey restaurant nearby but instead opted to enjoy the hotel more by ordering sushi from one of our favorite places. The hotel staff took care of everything. They brought a table into the room while we were enjoying happy hour and set up the sushi on beautiful plates. Everything looked so nice. They even turned on music and left us with some chocolate covered strawberries. A great experience- I’m looking forward to staying here again!

On their own, Donaghy’s actions while officiating could be explained and even to a degree, understood.  Society has come to the realization that gambling is a serious illness and the extent to which inveterate gamblers will go to satisfy their habit is limitless.  The well-documented case of former NFL and Ohio State quarterback Art Schleister is familiar to all sports fans and points to the powerlessness that addicts feel under the weight of their disease and the completeness of their self-destructive behaviour.  But where Donaghy’s actions really cross a previously unapproached line is in his odious claims that the entire roster of officials in the NBA –and by extension, all professional sports- is corrupt.  Donaghy claims that fellow refs regularly influenced the outcome of games because of pre-existing grudges and personality clashes with players and coaches.  He claims to be able to predict the outcome of “80% of NBA games” just by knowing the identity of the crew working any particular game.  The implication is that the outcome of the vast majority of games is pre-determined by the officials.  

At first blush, Donaghy’s outrageous claims can be dismissed as the delusional ravings of a man determined to justify his own criminal behaviour.  But the problem is that they plant a seed of doubt and are subtle enough to be unable to completely disprove.  In a sport like basketball or football, most of the decisions of the officials come down to judgment and we inherently accept the objectivity of the men and women who make those decisions. The sport of figure skating was recently rocked by a similar set of accusations, that judging was pre-determined and outcomes assured in advance.  But in that sport, national allegiances were the obvious motivators and we could rationalize the pressure that the judges were under to “fix” the results.  What is the motive Donaghy is suggesting here? It’s not money, as the disgraced ref acknowledges that he knows of no other officials that are involved in gambling. Donaghy is trying to make the case that simple pique is driving this process.  Grown men are making decisions because their feelings were hurt or they are angry at one or more of the participants.  By eliminating from the equation qualities such as integrity, pride and professionalism –traits that are held in high esteem by officials in all sports- Donaghy is making the simple mistake of projecting his own failings and lack of moral character onto his colleagues.  It is the most pathetic aspect of this whole, tawdry mess.  There is also a practical element here that is being missed by those who tend to accept Donaghy’s shocking story.  It is estimated that basketball officials make between 7 and 10,000 individual judgments over the course of any one game!  These decisions are therefore happening in a fraction of a second and are described by all top officials as being instinctive and reactionary.  There simply is no time when adjudicating a tough block/charge call to factor in the personal histories of the players or teams involved and it is in hundreds of these decisions that any effect the officials have on the game are felt.  The best officials get these calls right at a staggeringly-high percentage.

At the start of this NBA pre-season, the regular officials were on the sidelines and replacement refs worked the game.  Ostensibly, this was the result of a Collective-Bargaining impasse that came down to a dispute over pension contributions and accessibility.  There was even the suggestion that Commissioner David Stern was taking a “hard-line” with the officials to send a message to the players that the economy of the NBA has taken a hit and to be prepared to make concessions when their deal ends after next season.  What was really at work was Stern re-establishing his authority over the officials in the wake of this scandal and the fact that the officials effectively caved under the pressure and accepted the NBA’s offer is an indication of the lack of leverage they now have.  They now work under the shadow of the accusations being made by one of their own and this has made an already incredibly difficult task almost impossible.  Donaghy’s motives are clear, he is trying to sell books and he has sold his soul in the process.  The effects of his actions are being felt in all sports and have called into question men and women striving in one of the last pure aspects of professional sports.  For that most of all, shame on Tim Donaghy.

 This was the scene of one of the most exciting Superbowls ever played, at the very least certainly the most exciting 4th quarter of a championship game that we’ve seen in quite some time. To me, the Superbowl is the worst day of the year, when the sport I most enjoy watching is coming to it’s finality for another year.  Watching college basketball just isn’t the same and waiting for the Masters and the draft in April just takes too long.  I actually start getting depressed right after the Conference championship games are played because I have to wait 2 weeks for the big game. When it does come, it hardly ever lives up to the hype and then I have to wait 6 months for my next diet of Football !! Oh brother !!

 This year however, was different.  This Superbowl actually made me smile for weeks after and when your favorite sport lives up to it’s hype (as it has these last 2 years) then the world (and my family and friends who only watch the big game so they can eat everything in sight and call it  “a party” )  gets to see why the NFL is justifiably King of The Sports Castle.

This was no ordinary game this time, no sireee, a classic from every angle.  This game had comebacks, heroes, more comebacks more heroes and a fantastic finish.  What more could even the most demanding football fan ask for ? Truly a game for the ages !

 As I mentioned from the start, I hate Super Bowl week and right after the game , some mild form of depression certainly sets in, but after this game, it took a lot longer for the winter doldrums to come and I wish to thank the Arizona Cardinals and the Pittsburgh Steelers for that !

Gary Bettman, in an illustrative way, is mom of the year! His children are all of the U.S. market NHL teams and in his eyes they can do no wrong. They can have poor attendance and he will defend them by recording the attendance figures by what was sold not who was actually at the game . They can lose millions and he will bail them out with the other teams money (their siblings) and on top of all this he still is looking to adopt more needy U.S cities to put a hockey team in. His latest “child” to get into trouble, the Phoenix Coyotes, have no reason to remain in that city. The team makes no money, has poor attendance and can’t even make a success of it with the greatest player to ever play the game as their coach and architect. The poor owner who has lost millions and tried to make it work had an opportunity to gain back some of his loses when a rich Canadian buyer, Jim Balsillie, agreed to buy the team on the understanding that he would move it to Canada, a place where fans love the game, provide the league with home grown talent (can’t see kids playing hockey in Arizona) and where the economy has NOT been compared to the Titanic. Yet to mother Bettman, this was like forcing him to give up his child to adoption, which even a real mother would do if she saw her child suffering from malnutrition.  Gary  Bettman year in and year out ( especially this past year ) continues to ignore just how unstable the NHL has become and how much brighter the future could be if he wasn’t so territorial. This is not to say that the NHL should abandon the game below the 48th Parallel and put teams in remote Canadian outposts like Yellowknife and Thunder Bay.  There are many great hockey markets in the US that have traditionally supported the game.  Just look at last year’s aforementioned Cup final as the Pengiuins from Pittsburgh won it in game 7 over Detroit, two cities that have consistently supported hockey and have great fan bases. When Pittsburgh was in trouble, Bettman rightfully stepped in to provide help for awhile because the game had a history of success in southwestern Pennsylvania, but unless Bettman can find 12 more Crosbys then the same turn around will not happen in Phoneix, Tampa, Miami, Columbus and the many other U.S. NHL cities losing money. Gary also cannot hide all the other teams problems behind one exciting 7 game series as two weeks doesn’t make up for 6 months of half empty seats in non- traditional hockey markets where bowling is more popular that hockey.

Mr. Bettman please do us hockey fans a favor next year, Be a Man, not a mommy and stop babying these teams. Move them to Canadian markets that desperately want the game, where they will fill the seats, they have the money and they maintain the foundation of the sport. For those of you that need an example of the difference between a traditional hockey market and a Sun-belt pretender, check out the World Junior Hockey Championships going on right now in Saskatoon.  The population of Saskatoon is just over 200,000 or about 5% the size of the Phoenix market and yet the arena will be full and rocking for every significant game there.  A tournament mind you involving 18 year old kids!  

The situation in Phoenix is playing out as expected.  By rejecting Balsillie as a prospective owner, the League has doomed the franchise to continue to lose millions of dollars per year by staying in the Phoenix area.  The negative publicity and unseemly haggling has cost the team whatever limited support they had in the region.  All this despite the team having it’s most succesful year in a decade as they find themselves in the hunt for the division lead and are sure to make the playoffs.  They deserve more than to be the “red-haired step-child” of the Phoenix sports scene, begging for crumbs from one of the wealthiest markets in the country.  They deserve to be somewhere that the fans support and appreciate their efforts and if Mr. Bettman wakes up from his dream, he’ll realize that place is in the Great White North.

The first one only took a few seconds, to be exact it was 9.58. Usain Bolt finished the job he had started last year when he ran the most memorable 60 yards in history followed by an equally memorable 40 yard jog, and still finished 5 car lengths ahead of his nearest competitor. This year’s domination in August was equally spectacular, save that it was totally expected. We all felt like we knew if he ‘remembered’ that he was supposed to run the full 100m, that this would happen. It doesn’t diminish the accomplishment but it felt slightly anti-climactic.

Which is why I have another ‘Best of the Year’. To me the greatness of Roger Federer’s year was just as historically important as the aforementioned Bolt’s Blast. This was a different kind of year for Federer. For the first time in five years he wasn’t viewed as the best, how would he respond? Quite honestly through the years of his dominance we were never sure how great his competitiveness was, how resilient he was or how much of a fighter he was. It had been years since anyone could beat him when it mattered, other than in the finals at Roland Garros each year. He had spent a record 237 weeks in a row as the #1 ranked player in the world, that’s 4 1/2 yrs! He had been to a record 10 straight Grand Slam finals. By most he was already known as the greatest tennis player of all time. For Federer, 2008 was a difficult year.  He started it off losing in the Australian Open semi’s. He was shortly thereafter diagnosed with mono. While not life threatening mono is debilitating to an elite athlete who relies so heavily on training and practice. That setback no doubt affected him in the French Open where again he met Nadal in the finals at Roland Garros.  In recent years he had been making headway into Nadal’s dominance on clay.  While Roger owned the grass and hardcourts he was merely second best on clay. In the finals though he took a beating from Nadal, and again couldn’t complete his career grandslam. Then on to Wimbledon where it was just assumed that Roger at 75% could beat anyone on grass. Again, this year was different. In the “best match I’ve ever watched”, according to analyst John McEnroe, Roger couldn’t match the brute physicality and will of Nadal. Then he flamed out in the singles in the Olympics as well. It seemed to be the end for Federer atop the tennis world.  He would no longer be ranked #1 and he no longer owned tennis.  Even his seeming return to form in his convincing win at the US Open, while  salvaging an otherwise difficult year did little to quell the doubts that the end was near.

That finally brings us to this year and the obvious questions that went with it.  Was Federer past his prime? Could he still catch Sampras’ record for Grand Slams? How would a guy who made it look so easy for so many years respond?

The year didn’t start well, he lost again in the Australian Open in 5 sets to Nadal. He struggled with lesser opponents as well and as the year continued pulled out of as many tournaments as he entered.  Then in Madrid on the clay his year turned around as he defeated Nadal in the final in straight sets. He then went into the French Open on a high and after struggling early in the tourney, he seemingly willed himself to the final against Soderling where he cemented his legacy completing the career Grand Slam, becoming only the 6th man to do so. From there he went to Wimbledon and shared in another  memorable finals.  Andy Roddick played the match of his life, in fact he dominated Federer on serve, not being broken until the pivotal last game of the match, but Federer refused to lose and finally willed himself to victory. With that he became the all time leader in Grand Slam victories, eclipsing Sampras’ 14. The Swiss master then completed his season by reaching the US Open finals, his 21st Grand Slam final (another record), where he lost in 5 sets to Del Potro. The first Grand Slam final he lost to someone not named Nadal.

Federer, while not having his best year had his most important year. Completing the career Slam, the Slam record and regaining his #1 ranking. It isn’t as effortless as it was a couple years ago but Federer has shown the grit, guts and heart that only the greatest have. While no longer at the apex of his career and with so many young guns on his heels, Federer has elevated himself from great to the greatest of them all.

NR

“Strike 3! Yer……back?”

One of the really remarkable comeback stories of the year was Alex Rodriguez of the New York Yankees.  A-Rod had to deal with not one, not two, but three setbacks this year and then arguably had his most successful season ever.  The year started badly for him as off-season hip surgery meant that he was going to miss the start of the season.  Some worried that the Yankees third-baseman would not make it back before the All-Star break.  While recuperating, he was hit by the news that someone at the Players Association had leaked the story that A-Rod had been among the 120 baseball players that tested positive for performance enhancing drugs earlier in the decade when he was a member of the Texas Rangers.  An embarrassing, nationally-televised interview followed in which Rodriguez looked so uncomfortable and guilty of something, that it appeared if he was hooked up to a lie-detector, he would have broken the needle.  More bad news followed as rumors linking him to an extra-marital relationship with Madonna led to the break-up of his marriage.  Despite all this, A-Rod came back earlier than expected from injury and though he missed all of training camp and the first month of the season still put up 30 home runs and drove in 100.  More amazing still, the normal playoff-freeze didn’t happen and Rodriguez led the Yankees to their 27th World Series victory by batting .365 in October with 6 dingers and 18 knocked in.

Turning Back the Clock

Golf had its share of comebacks this year including the return that probably saved the lives of countless Network TV bosses and PGA Commissioner Tim Finchem.  Tiger came back from serious knee surgery and promptly won at Bay Hill in just his third start of the season allowing the “brain trust” of golf to breath again.  He went on to win the FedEx Cup and once again assert his dominance in the sport.  But arguably the most intriguing and unexpected comeback in any sport came at The Open Championship in July when a 59 year old Tom Watson, came within an inch of becoming the oldest Major Championship winner in the modern-era of golf.  For 4 days Watson turned back time and stayed at or near the top of the leader board.  Getting to the 18th green and needing only a par for the win, Watson missed the 6 footer breaking the hearts of millions of cheering fans around the world.  One of the great fairy-tale endings was dashed when Watson went on to lose in a playoff to Stewart Cink.  Whatever the final result though, Watson showed that his golf skills have not waned to any great extent after years away from the spotlight of championship competition and the story was one of the year’s most compelling.

Two QBs – Two Comebacks

Two of the more unlikely comebacks of the year came from a sport and a position not known for them.  Generally when football careers end, they do so because of a devastating or debilitating injury and such is the level of competition and extreme physicality of the sport that comebacks are rare indeed.  At 40 years of age, Brett Favre had retired (yet again) after an injury plagued year with the New York Jets and Michael Vick whose outrageous involvement in a dog-fighting ring had justly ended his career and resulted in a Federal prison term, were incredibly both looking at making comebacks to the NFL in early August.  That both eventually did so, Favre with the Vikings and Vick with the Eagles, is a testament only to the lack of competent quarterbacks in the league.  The Vick saga was remarkable for a number of reasons.  The outpouring of vituperation from PETA and animal lovers across the States directed at the former Falcons player was so intense that it seemed unlikely any team would take a chance on a player that brought so much baggage with him.  When Team-Dysfunction, the Raiders, announced that they had no interest in signing him, the outcome seemed assured.  If Al Davis wouldn’t touch the player, who would be crazy enough to do so?  The answer when it came seemed as unlikely as the rest of the story.  Why the Philadelphia Eagles,  with an All-Pro incumbent in Donovan McNabb at quarterback,  a community and public-relations-savvy owner in Jeffrey Lauria and a legitimate chance to reach the Super Bowl, would take such a chance seemed preposterous.  But they did and after serving a four game suspension from the league, Vick made his return in week 3 versus the Chiefs and while his stats have been modest and his playing time limited, the mere fact he has been on the field this year has been remarkable.  Favre’s return has been even more shocking.  In August, he went back and forth with Minnesota so many times that it seemed more like Favre playing a practical joke on the Vikings than anything else.  At any moment it appeared likely that Aston Kutcher would jump out of a Gatorade jug at training camp and tell coach Brad Childress that he was being “punk’d”.  But eventually, just in time for the regular season, Favre put on the purple and white of the Packers fans arch-enemy and has not looked back.  Regaining the form not seen since his MVP seasons of the mid-90’s, number 4 seems determined to lead the Vikings where they have never been before, onto the podium to accept the Vince Lombardi trophy as Super Bowl winners.  If that happens, the Year of the Comeback will be truly complete.

Lance Armstrong, Tiger, Kobe Bryant & Michael Phelps.

It raises the question again are race car drivers, golfers and the like real athletes? To be completely accurate the word athlete according to Merriam Webster means ‘one who is trained or skilled in exercises, sports or games requiring physical strength, agility or stamina.’ So it’s a pretty loose, open-ended category. By that definition a jockey is an athlete or a bowler, a fantasy football player, ok maybe not.

My issue is that we are comparing apples and oranges.  To compare a race car driver to a basketball player or sprinter is ridiculous. Just because you do athletic things doesn’t make you an elite athlete. I’m not denying that guys like Jimnie Johnson or Tiger Woods are athletes, I’m just saying they aren’t in the same league as Usain Bolt. If you include everyone who does something athletic you would have to include the World Twister Champ or the World Logrolling Champ.

To be quite honest I’m not a fan of any of these cross-sports lists, its impossible to quantify greatness let alone compare it.  I guess that’s the appeal to many, the debate that follows. The thing is, if you are going to do a list like that, at least break it into tiers.

For instance:

1st tier- Sports that require elite athleticism. ie. Football, Basketball, Hockey, Swimming, Cycling, Tennis, Track etc

2nd tier-Sports that require great skill but don’t require a person to be athletically gifted. In fact these guys rely far more on mental toughness and superior focus than they do on athleticism. This in no way diminishes their skill or prowess, it’s just different. ie. Golf, Bowling, Snooker, Darts.

3rd tier – Sports where the athlete is only a portion of the equation or accomplishment.  ie. horse racing, race car driver. Again, I’m not taking anything away from these guys but any sport that requires almost complete reliance on a vehicle, makes it impossible to judge athleticism. There is no way of knowing how another driver or racer would do with the same horse or car/crew. How many championships would Johnson have if he raced for another team? There is no way to know and thus to name someone like that as athlete of the year is ridiculous.

Too, the fact that a driver won the award is either a testament to the mainstream popularity of Nascar or indicative of how boring the year in sports was.

Finally, if we insist on combining all sports and judging the whole, then give that to the ‘Sportsman of the Year’ and leave the Athlete of the Year’ to the real athletes.

Necessary Roughness