http://www.realclearsports.com/ en Copyright 2008 Fri, 20 Nov 2009 04:50:53 -0600 http://www.sixapart.com/movabletype/?v=3.33 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss LOS ANGELES -- The question came from the man who the past few days had been hearing too many of them. This one, however, wasn't about how to repair a humbled football team, his team, USC. Instead, it dealt with how we might repair a damaged society. "Why should we care?'' asked Pete Carroll rhetorically. Then he answered. "Because, we can change the culture.'' The culture doesn't mean the woes of intercollegiate athletes, or even the woes of USC, having its worst season of the past eight, not that a 7-3 record is awful - unless you're a Trojan... http://www1.realclearsports.com/articles/2009/11/20/pete_carroll_cares_and_proves_it_96542.html http://www1.realclearsports.com/articles/2009/11/20/pete_carroll_cares_and_proves_it_96542.html Art Spander Art Spander 2009/11 11/20/2009/00/00/00 Fri, 20 Nov 2009 04:50:49 -0600 Wake up and smell the powder, New York. LeBron's not coming. It's hard to blame Knicks fans for clinging to hope. The most sophisticated basketball clientele in America has been saddled with a team that's richly embarrassing. The toxic remnants from the Isiah era remain in the form of mismatched players, empty seats, and the stench that comes with a 2-10 record. Donnie Walsh has performed a miracle in clearing enough cap space to have room for a big free agent in the coming offseason. Mike D'Antoni coaches a style players love, one that lets them run the floor and make... http://www1.realclearsports.com/articles/2009/11/18/puncturing_the_lebron-new_york_bubble_96541.html http://www1.realclearsports.com/articles/2009/11/18/puncturing_the_lebron-new_york_bubble_96541.html Jeff Neuman Jeff Neuman 2009/11 11/18/2009/00/00/00 Wed, 18 Nov 2009 22:57:31 -0600 SAN FRANCISCO - So here was Jim Harbaugh, who tried to tell us he didn't want to take chances, going for a two-point conversion with his Stanford team far ahead, being linked to Bill Belichick, who as we know took one very large chance. Harbaugh, the guy who just got an extension to stay at Stanford, and why not, since he proved kids who study are kids who can play, was about to step to the microphone in a bayside sports bar/brewery/dining establishment called Gordon Biersch. It was hype time for the Big Game, Stanford vs. Cal, 112 years of insults and bent trombones. But virtually the... http://www1.realclearsports.com/articles/2009/11/17/belichick_and_harbaugh_deserve_our_thanks_96540.html http://www1.realclearsports.com/articles/2009/11/17/belichick_and_harbaugh_deserve_our_thanks_96540.html Art Spander Art Spander 2009/11 11/17/2009/00/00/00 Tue, 17 Nov 2009 23:34:17 -0600 We're past the halfway point of the NFL season, and the year still felt somewhat unformed as it headed into Week 10. Fortunately, the schedule provided a number of intriguing, defining matchups (funny how that happens as we enter TV's sweeps month), and the hierarchy of the league is beginning to take a firmer shape. Northern Exposure, Part I: There's a new beast in the AFC North. If Cincinnati can stay awake through its November 29 matchup with the Cleveland Browns, it will sweep the division for the first time ever. The Bengals' 18-12 victory over Pittsburgh gave them... http://www1.realclearsports.com/articles/2009/11/16/what_do_we_know_after_another_football_sunday_96539.html http://www1.realclearsports.com/articles/2009/11/16/what_do_we_know_after_another_football_sunday_96539.html Jeff Neuman Jeff Neuman 2009/11 11/16/2009/00/00/00 Mon, 16 Nov 2009 04:25:09 -0600 Dear Readers: We're pleased to announce the launching of the RCS Blog Network, a collection of over 50 blogs covering topics ranging from the New York Yankees, Los Angeles Lakers to golf, tennis, even cricket. While RealClearSports has always been the leading aggregator of sports news and commentary from around the world, we now will also serve as a place that generates high quality original content. Our network will only grow over time, with more topics, sports, leagues and teams to be covered in the near future. With print media continuing to be beset by a financial - even existential... http://www1.realclearsports.com/articles/2009/11/15/introducing_the_rcs_blog_network_96538.html http://www1.realclearsports.com/articles/2009/11/15/introducing_the_rcs_blog_network_96538.html Samuel Chi Samuel Chi 2009/11 11/15/2009/00/00/00 Mon, 16 Nov 2009 10:57:02 -0600 Out time back at .500 proved fleeting. After finally putting together a winning week, we're back in the red again, going 6-7 to drop below .500 for the season (43-44-1) once again. We're getting there, though. At least we're there until the bitter end with every pick. Sooner or later, we should be back on the winning track, the kind of hot streak that we began the season with. But if this sounds like ground hog day to you ... we don't blame you. We thought we'd turn it around sooner than this. Stay with us. This week is gonna be good. We just know it: Chicago (+3.5)... http://www1.realclearsports.com/articles/2009/11/15/snapping_out_of_500_doldrums_96536.html http://www1.realclearsports.com/articles/2009/11/15/snapping_out_of_500_doldrums_96536.html RealClearSports Staff RealClearSports Staff 2009/11 11/15/2009/00/00/00 Sun, 15 Nov 2009 00:23:18 -0600 With baseball season's annual fadeout complete for two weeks now, fans of the sport are left to "face the fall alone" as the late commissioner Bart Giamatti stated. Devotees of the former national pastime can still get their sports urge sated by football, the current holder of the national pastime title (there is indeed only one month - March - without a regular season or playoff game contested in either baseball or football). But football is only a weekly excitement, like a much anticipated date or concert, that is equal parts apprehension and contemplation for a precise,... http://www1.realclearsports.com/articles/2009/11/15/the_knicks_and_red_storm_need_to_win_--_new_york_needs_it_96537.html http://www1.realclearsports.com/articles/2009/11/15/the_knicks_and_red_storm_need_to_win_--_new_york_needs_it_96537.html Tim Joyce Tim Joyce 2009/11 11/15/2009/00/00/00 Sun, 15 Nov 2009 00:54:19 -0600 As we get closer to the finish line, it seems like amateur hour all over the web. All sorts of people who have as strong a grasp on college football as they do on grammar are coming out with incredibly nonsensical scenarios. At the risk of spreading baseless speculations, take a look at this one: National Championship - TCU vs. Boise State Rose Bowl - Oregon State vs. Wisconsin Orange Bowl - Pittsburgh vs. Duke Sugar Bowl - LSU vs. Georgia Tech Fiesta Bowl - Kansas State vs. Alabama First of all, Wisconsin cannot win the Big Ten. It's not unlikely, but impossible, per the Big... http://www1.realclearsports.com/articles/2009/11/14/might_tcu_get_to_play_for_th_bcs_title_96535.html http://www1.realclearsports.com/articles/2009/11/14/might_tcu_get_to_play_for_th_bcs_title_96535.html Samuel Chi Samuel Chi 2009/11 11/14/2009/00/00/00 Sat, 14 Nov 2009 01:37:46 -0600 SAN FRANCISCO - In the future we're destined to have pro football eight days a week. It's unavoidable, like death and taxes. Fumbles, interceptions, holding penalties by the hour. But right now it's only Sunday, Monday and, had we forgotten, Thursday night, that series now restarted to the delight of NFL Network if not the game's purists. The San Francisco 49ers and Chicago Bears each played, and lost, Sunday, and then four days later, they were forced to face each other by the side of San Francisco Bay, two not very good teams offering a lot of not very good football. The... http://www1.realclearsports.com/articles/2009/11/13/cutler_turns_over_a_victory_to_the_49ers_96534.html http://www1.realclearsports.com/articles/2009/11/13/cutler_turns_over_a_victory_to_the_49ers_96534.html Art Spander Art Spander 2009/11 11/13/2009/00/00/00 Fri, 13 Nov 2009 07:09:42 -0600 College football decides its champion in a unique way that has become somewhat controversial because every other major sport in America uses a playoff. Over time, the sizes of those playoff systems have expanded, making college football stand in ever sharper contrast. College football crowns its Bowl Championship Series (BCS) champion after pairing the top-ranked two teams in a single game. The top teams are determined largely by expert polls with some input from computer algorithms. The team ranked third often has a semi-legitimate case that it deserved an opportunity to play in the... http://www1.realclearsports.com/articles/2009/11/12/would_a_college_football_playoff_be_fair_96533.html http://www1.realclearsports.com/articles/2009/11/12/would_a_college_football_playoff_be_fair_96533.html Michael Davis & Tim Kane Michael Davis & Tim Kane 2009/11 11/12/2009/00/00/00 Thu, 12 Nov 2009 21:06:54 -0600 It was the great Jim Brown, arguably the finest of running backs, who when asked from the distance of retirement to analyze his career said a person should be occupied by things other than trying to judge his own importance. Brown was of a different era, a different time, when sport and humility were interwoven. He ran for a touchdown, handed the ball to an official and moved to the sideline, without self-promotional gyrations. He performed. We cheered. Andre Agassi was born in 1970, five years after Brown left the NFL, and the connection is that there's a disconnection, even if Agassi... http://www1.realclearsports.com/articles/2009/11/11/agassi_becomes_an_open_book_96532.html http://www1.realclearsports.com/articles/2009/11/11/agassi_becomes_an_open_book_96532.html Art Spander Art Spander 2009/11 11/11/2009/00/00/00 Wed, 11 Nov 2009 01:28:50 -0600 Upon finishing Andre Agassi's autobiography "Open" my first thought was that, like with so many biographies, most readers would yearn for such an existence that the writer describes in such vivid detail. Even with the emotional torment, the physical toll that tennis has taken on the native Las Vegan's naturally unathletic body and the brutal upbringing under his dictatorial and unforgiving father, he has nonetheless lived a full life. And very few of us truly live a complete life - one of significant triumphs, sins, acute sadness and rare glory. So many would just love the... http://www1.realclearsports.com/articles/2009/11/09/agassi_cowardice_loyalty_and_love_96531.html http://www1.realclearsports.com/articles/2009/11/09/agassi_cowardice_loyalty_and_love_96531.html Tim Joyce Tim Joyce 2009/11 11/09/2009/00/00/00 Mon, 09 Nov 2009 01:57:26 -0600 STANFORD, Calif - Stanford didn't as much play football as endure it. It was a place kids went so they could get into medical school or create Google, not get into the NFL. There was a reason it was nicknamed Harvard of the West, besides the academics. Then a coach named Jim Harbaugh arrived a couple of years ago with the stubborn idea kids who had brains could also be kids who had athletic ability. He was going to recruit people who not only could score on the SATs but also on the field. Harbaugh got his players. And Saturday, Stanford got another major upset, beating Oregon, 51-42,... http://www1.realclearsports.com/articles/2009/11/08/harbaugh_turns_stanford_into_a_winner_96530.html http://www1.realclearsports.com/articles/2009/11/08/harbaugh_turns_stanford_into_a_winner_96530.html Art Spander Art Spander 2009/11 11/08/2009/00/00/00 Sun, 08 Nov 2009 06:41:52 -0600 Baby steps. Baby steps. We ended our two-week losing streak last week, going 7-6 last week and pulling our season record back to .500 at 37-37-1. That's not good enough to actually win money, but after two weeks of having everything going against us, we'll take that. Remember, it's a long season, and we're just getting to the halfway point. But since we're about halfway through the season, that also means the statistics are more meaningful, with more context. We hope this means our system will be able to carry the day from this point and on. So here are our fearless... http://www1.realclearsports.com/articles/2009/11/07/rediscovering_our_winning_ways_96529.html http://www1.realclearsports.com/articles/2009/11/07/rediscovering_our_winning_ways_96529.html RealClearSports Staff RealClearSports Staff 2009/11 11/07/2009/00/00/00 Sat, 07 Nov 2009 21:57:04 -0600 With five weeks still to go in the regular season, and seven teams still remain unbeaten, the BCS bowl picture is far from clear. But there's enough to at least take a stab at. So here it is: BCS National Championship Game Florida/Alabama winner vs. Texas Other contenders (in order of likelihood): Iowa, TCU, Cincinnati, LSU, Boise State, Oregon. Comment: Florida and Alabama are on a collision course for the conference title game. If neither team stumbles, the winner of that game will be representing the SEC in the BCS title game for the fourth straight season. Texas has a clear sailing... http://www1.realclearsports.com/articles/2009/11/07/the_seasons_first_bcs_bowl_forecast_96528.html http://www1.realclearsports.com/articles/2009/11/07/the_seasons_first_bcs_bowl_forecast_96528.html Samuel Chi Samuel Chi 2009/11 11/07/2009/00/00/00 Fri, 06 Nov 2009 23:40:31 -0600 OAKLAND - No one's ever judged this region by what might be called normal standards. The Bay Area, Northern California, was settled by Spanish missionaries, who were pushed out by pioneers looking for gold, with a lot of frontier justice on the side. The edge of the continent may have put a limitation on movement - this is as far west as you can go without a ship or a surfboard --, but there never has been any limitation on ideas, no matter how irrational or unpopular. Almost anything is acceptable. Almost. This situation with the man who coaches the Oakland Raiders has all but reached a... http://www1.realclearsports.com/articles/2009/11/06/cables_troubles_becoming_unacceptable_96527.html http://www1.realclearsports.com/articles/2009/11/06/cables_troubles_becoming_unacceptable_96527.html Art Spander Art Spander 2009/11 11/06/2009/00/00/00 Fri, 06 Nov 2009 03:07:54 -0600 They're teachers. That's how coaches describe themselves. They take pride in helping the youth of the country, instructing them in how to become better players, become better citizens. We're always hearing about the second part, how what a coach wants most is to prepare a kid for life after sports. Do something wrong, you get punished. "Coach Suspends Halfback,'' is the headline. Unless he's too valuable. Then, well, as we're often reminded, discipline will be private. Or virtually non-existent. Urban Meyer, the Florida coach, has his own ideas about... http://www1.realclearsports.com/articles/2009/11/04/urban_meyer_teaches_a_bad_lesson_96526.html http://www1.realclearsports.com/articles/2009/11/04/urban_meyer_teaches_a_bad_lesson_96526.html Art Spander Art Spander 2009/11 11/04/2009/00/00/00 Wed, 04 Nov 2009 03:41:34 -0600 Even after the Yankees' 8-6 loss to the Phillies on Monday night, a game in which the Bronx Bombers had the early lead and blew a chance to close out the series in five games, there was a palpable sense of calm among players and fans alike as the series headed back to Gotham via Amtrak. It's almost as if this series was destined to close out at the new Yankee Stadium. And for good reason. It's not just because the Yankees want to christen their overpriced luxury liner of a stadium with a world championship in its inaugural season. And it's not just because Andy Pettitte,... http://www1.realclearsports.com/articles/2009/11/04/pedro_pitching_again_96525.html http://www1.realclearsports.com/articles/2009/11/04/pedro_pitching_again_96525.html Tim Joyce Tim Joyce 2009/11 11/04/2009/00/00/00 Wed, 04 Nov 2009 01:03:14 -0600 Charlie, Charlie, can we talk? I know, the last thing you want to do is listen to me. Or anybody. You know what you're doing. You've won four division titles in eight years of managing, two league pennants and one World Series. I've watched and thought about more baseball games than ninety-nine percent of all American men; you've watched and thought about four or five times as many as I have. I know what you're thinking. I understand why you'd think it. You've gotten your team this far. Let me take it from here. So let's talk about your... http://www1.realclearsports.com/articles/2009/11/03/charlie_can_we_talk_about_your_pitching_plans_96524.html http://www1.realclearsports.com/articles/2009/11/03/charlie_can_we_talk_about_your_pitching_plans_96524.html Jeff Neuman Jeff Neuman 2009/11 11/03/2009/00/00/00 Tue, 03 Nov 2009 22:27:42 -0600 "Don't f***ing talk to me! Knock it off!"- Ryan Leaf to San Diego Tribune's Jay Posner It was the defining moment and the epithet on Ryan Leaf's unfulfilled NFL career. It was replayed on TV, over and over again, even a decade later, long after Leaf has departed the scene, having moved on to the coaching staff of West Texas A&M and perhaps, jail, in the near future. By all accounts, Leaf is the gold standard of pro football busts. Drafted in 1998 by the San Diego Chargers with the No. 2 overall pick, he was supposed to compete with Peyton Manning on the... http://www1.realclearsports.com/articles/2009/11/03/top_10_nfl_quarterback_busts_96523.html http://www1.realclearsports.com/articles/2009/11/03/top_10_nfl_quarterback_busts_96523.html Samuel Chi Samuel Chi 2009/11 11/03/2009/00/00/00 Tue, 03 Nov 2009 17:38:39 -0600 As most everybody has surely heard by now Andre Agassi, in excerpts from his soon to be released autobiography, admitted to using the drug crystal meth on many occasions in 1997 during a particularly troubling chapter in a career that had an unorthodox and discordant trajectory, yet which was ultimately fulfilling and glorious. In addition to his use of the recreational drug, the now 39 year old revealed that he also lied about his frequent use of the substance after he failed a mandatory drug test. Agassi's excuse that he mistakenly drank from his assistant's soda which had been... http://www1.realclearsports.com/articles/2009/11/01/navratiloa_is_wrong_about_agassi_96522.html http://www1.realclearsports.com/articles/2009/11/01/navratiloa_is_wrong_about_agassi_96522.html Tim Joyce Tim Joyce 2009/11 11/01/2009/00/00/00 Sun, 01 Nov 2009 21:15:27 -0600 Well, we're now officially in a hole, and dadgum it, we're gonna dig ourselves out of this ... starting now! Another awful week, going 3-10-1, puts us under .500 for the first time this season (36-37-1). We have hit a stretch where every close game has gone against our pick, especially those we thought were easily in the bag. Take last week's Miami-New Orleans game for example. We took the Dolphins, playing at home and getting seven points. This one was in the bank, as Miami jumped out to a 24-3 lead. The 'Fins weren't just going to cover. They were going to win... http://www1.realclearsports.com/articles/2009/11/01/time_to_end_this_losing_streak_96521.html http://www1.realclearsports.com/articles/2009/11/01/time_to_end_this_losing_streak_96521.html RealClearSports Staff RealClearSports Staff 2009/11 11/01/2009/00/00/00 Sun, 01 Nov 2009 09:58:48 -0600 Mike Gundy may be a man now (at least he thinks so), but part of his everyday challenge is very much the burden foisted upon every boy the world over - making his daddy proud. Gundy's daddy, metaphorically speaking, of course, is T. Boone Pickens, a Texas oil man. A man who's given over a quarter of a billion bucks to the Oklahoma State athletic program. A man whose name graces the Cowboys' brand-spanking new stadium. And Gundy has no better opportunity to please his (sugar) daddy than this week. Oklahoma State's football program, thanks to the largess of Pickens, is... http://www1.realclearsports.com/articles/2009/10/31/whos_your_sugar_daddy_96520.html http://www1.realclearsports.com/articles/2009/10/31/whos_your_sugar_daddy_96520.html Samuel Chi Samuel Chi 2009/10 10/31/2009/00/00/00 Fri, 30 Oct 2009 23:38:29 -0500 In 1981, after having successful division and championship series, Dave Winfield notoriously struggled in the World Series, notching only one hit in 22 at-bats. From that point forward in his tense tenure with the Yankees under the not-so-kind-and-gentle rule of George Steinbrenner, Winfield became known as someone not to be relied on in the clutch. It reached new heights in late 1985 when after a particularly difficult offensive stretch for the superstar outfielder against the Toronto Blue Jays, who the Yankees were chasing for the division title; Steinbrenner slung his infamous and unfair... http://www1.realclearsports.com/articles/2009/10/30/a-rods_struggles_mirror_winfield_in_1981_96519.html http://www1.realclearsports.com/articles/2009/10/30/a-rods_struggles_mirror_winfield_in_1981_96519.html Tim Joyce Tim Joyce 2009/10 10/30/2009/00/00/00 Fri, 30 Oct 2009 11:30:06 -0500 The game died years ago. Isn't that what we were told? Baseball was the echo of another time, men in baggy flannel standing around while the world sped past. It didn't work on television, trying to cram that huge expanse onto a small screen. And kids who weren't playing video games supposedly were playing soccer, on baseball fields. But here are the Yankees and Phillies going at it in this World Series in October 2009 as they did in the World Series in October 1950, and Alex Rodriguez and Ryan Howard are being given space in the sports pages equal that of Brett Favre journeying... http://www1.realclearsports.com/articles/2009/10/30/baseball_defies_predictions_of_doom_96518.html http://www1.realclearsports.com/articles/2009/10/30/baseball_defies_predictions_of_doom_96518.html Art Spander Art Spander 2009/10 10/30/2009/00/00/00 Fri, 30 Oct 2009 02:54:34 -0500 Pedro Martinez, tonight's starter in game two of the World Series, played the lead role, with a supporting part from Grady Little, in the third most disastrous moment in Red Sox history when he blew a 5-2 lead late in the seventh game of the 2003 American League Championship at Yankee Stadium before Aaron Boone's infamous upper deck shot (the top two most crushing Red Sox moments were the loss in game six against the Mets in the 1986 World Series and the Bucky F'ing Dent homerun in 1978). One has to wonder whether the memory of that moment is still all too close for the... http://www1.realclearsports.com/articles/2009/10/29/are_the_phillies_blowing_it_by_starting_pedro_tonight_96517.html http://www1.realclearsports.com/articles/2009/10/29/are_the_phillies_blowing_it_by_starting_pedro_tonight_96517.html Tim Joyce Tim Joyce 2009/10 10/29/2009/00/00/00 Thu, 29 Oct 2009 10:24:10 -0500 Twelve months ago, the Philadelphia Phillies won the World Series. Two months later, after committing a tidy $423 million to three players - on top of the gazillions already earmarked for Alex Rodriguez and sure to go to Derek Jeter - the New York Yankees became the prohibitive favorite to take the title in 2009. The two will meet beginning Wednesday night - weather permitting, two words that will be repeated often in the days to come - in what should be the most exciting World Series in a generation. The two teams are extremely well matched. Both have potent and deep lineups that can... http://www1.realclearsports.com/articles/2009/10/28/most_exciting_series_in_a_generation.html http://www1.realclearsports.com/articles/2009/10/28/most_exciting_series_in_a_generation.html Jeff Neuman Jeff Neuman 2009/10 10/28/2009/00/00/00 Wed, 28 Oct 2009 03:36:30 -0500 OAKLAND - He is emerging from the mist, rejoining society, rejoining baseball. Mark McGwire returns and where that could lead, dare we say Cooperstown, is yet to be determined. McGwire became a near recluse, wanted to stay as far as possible from another question, another interview, another critical story. He lived in a gated community in southern California's Orange Country, hung around with those who had the good sense not to be inquisitors and played as much golf as possible. The votes came in for the Hall of Fame, and McGwire who at one time, before the steroids, before the painful... http://www1.realclearsports.com/articles/2009/10/27/mcgwire_out_of_the_mist_and_back_in_baseball_96515.html http://www1.realclearsports.com/articles/2009/10/27/mcgwire_out_of_the_mist_and_back_in_baseball_96515.html Art Spander Art Spander 2009/10 10/27/2009/00/00/00 Wed, 28 Oct 2009 09:25:46 -0500 Part of the beauty of our great and singular nation is our elemental and seemingly innate ability to forgive and allow second - and sometimes multiple - chances. It is in fact a foundation of the American dream, the art of reinvention. This has been played out in serious ways with negative consequences affecting all the citizenry (see Nixon, Richard or Wall Street banks) as well as in more innocuous fashion (see Draper, Don from TV's Mad Men) with politicians, actors, parents, siblings, employees, artists and athletes all enjoying another shot at glory, redemption and success. It is,... http://www1.realclearsports.com/articles/2009/10/26/world_series_brings_stories_of_redemption_96514.html http://www1.realclearsports.com/articles/2009/10/26/world_series_brings_stories_of_redemption_96514.html Tim Joyce Tim Joyce 2009/10 10/26/2009/00/00/00 Mon, 26 Oct 2009 18:21:00 -0500 So we decided to take our picks public last week for the first time ... and we laid a giant egg. But that's the way sports betting goes, even the perfect system (and really, there is no such thing) will have a few bad weeks due to unforeseen circumstances. Last week, we went 4-10 against the spread, but two of the losses were by one point and another two turned against us in the final minute of the game. Overall, we're still comfortably ahead. On the season, we are 33-28, with a winning percentage of 57. Our week-by-week breakdown: - Week 3: 11-5 - Week 4: 8-6 - Week 5: 10-4 - Week... http://www1.realclearsports.com/articles/2009/10/25/getting_back_on_the_winning_track_96513.html http://www1.realclearsports.com/articles/2009/10/25/getting_back_on_the_winning_track_96513.html RealClearSports Staff RealClearSports Staff 2009/10 10/25/2009/00/00/00 Sun, 25 Oct 2009 09:27:23 -0500 This week may be the calm before the storm. On Halloween, some of this year's BCS title contenders will be facing virtual elimination games. This week, their goal will be to get by overmatched opponents in the so-called "trap games" without suffering any damage.Florida has the World's Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party next week (I know the schools now frown upon the moniker, but since when do I give a flying fig about the eggheads and their pusillanimous sensitivities?). Mind you, Georgia is more poodle than Bulldog this year, but the game in Jacksonville is always a big... http://www1.realclearsports.com/articles/2009/10/24/surving_trap_week_96512.html http://www1.realclearsports.com/articles/2009/10/24/surving_trap_week_96512.html Samuel Chi Samuel Chi 2009/10 10/24/2009/00/00/00 Sat, 24 Oct 2009 09:45:26 -0500 In the latest development of "This Ain't No Fantasy League, Folks,'' the guy who currently owns the Los Angeles Dodgers - and we must wait to see how long that will continue - has fired the team's chief executive officer. Who happens to be his wife. His estranged wife. This following Steve Phillips, former major league GM, recent baseball analyst and oft-time Don Juan, being forced to take a leave of absence by ESPN for reasons that had nothing to do with the hit-or-take sign. We know the real world is out there, but how about allowing us a few unspoiled moments when... http://www1.realclearsports.com/articles/2009/10/23/for_dodgers_mccourts_its_going_to_get_ugly.html http://www1.realclearsports.com/articles/2009/10/23/for_dodgers_mccourts_its_going_to_get_ugly.html Art Spander Art Spander 2009/10 10/23/2009/00/00/00 Fri, 23 Oct 2009 13:13:14 -0500 Does this mean there's not going to be a Freeway World Series? Think of all the gas they'll save in Southern California. The kind that goes in the fuel tank, not the type C.C. Sabathia was throwing. No entertainment personalities. No inside info on the breakup of Jamie and Frank's marriage. No Tommy Lasorda anecdotes. No confusion whether they're the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, the Anaheim Angels of Los Angeles or Charlie's Angels. The Yankees are supposed to be that good, aren't they? A-Rod has the largest contract in history. Sabathia got enough to bail out... http://www1.realclearsports.com/articles/2009/10/21/yankees_on_road_to_series_96510.html http://www1.realclearsports.com/articles/2009/10/21/yankees_on_road_to_series_96510.html Art Spander Art Spander 2009/10 10/21/2009/00/00/00 Wed, 21 Oct 2009 03:37:04 -0500 Watching Game 3 of the ALCS I found myself transported back ten years to 1999 when the Yankees won eleven of twelve postseason games on their way to their third World Series title in four years. And for good reason. First of all, the Bombers swept through the Minnesota Twins with little difficulty. And consider the on-field happenings Monday night as the Yankees sought to take an insurmountable (well don't say that to the Red Sox) three games to none lead: Andy Pettitte was doing his usual playoff act of giving up a hit per inning but cruising along all the same; Derek Jeter led off the... http://www1.realclearsports.com/articles/2009/10/20/girardi_makes_mistake_not_relying_on_instincts.html http://www1.realclearsports.com/articles/2009/10/20/girardi_makes_mistake_not_relying_on_instincts.html Tim Joyce Tim Joyce 2009/10 10/20/2009/00/00/00 Tue, 20 Oct 2009 02:52:47 -0500 The way the point spread works, you have to win about 53 percent of your games to do better than break even. A successful NFL bettor usually achieves a winning percentage of about 58. So what if you can win 65 percent of your bets? It will make you richer beyond your dreams! Well, here at RealClearSports, someone may have cracked the code. We've tested our method over the last three weeks of the NFL season (Weeks 3-5) and our record, against the point-spread, is 29-15. That's right, a whopping 66 percent. This is how we did from week-to-week: - Week 3: 11-5 - Week 4: 8-6 - Week 5:... http://www1.realclearsports.com/articles/2009/10/17/spread_the_wealth_with_rcs_96508.html http://www1.realclearsports.com/articles/2009/10/17/spread_the_wealth_with_rcs_96508.html RealClearSports Staff RealClearSports Staff 2009/10 10/17/2009/00/00/00 Sat, 17 Oct 2009 21:23:52 -0500 Much has been made about Saturday's game being Charlie Weis' best chance to beat USC since the Bush Push Classic in 2005. The Irish, mired in a seven-year futility against the Trojans, might not get a better shot anytime soon if they don't somehow pull it off this year. The game is at home - they can let the grass grow. The Trojans have a freshman quarterback and a sputtering offense. Jimmy Clausen is a true Heisman candidate and can't wait to finally pick apart the USC defense. It all sounds nice and interesting. But it's all hype. The Irish ain't gonna beat the... http://www1.realclearsports.com/articles/2009/10/17/charlie_weis_last_chance_96507.html http://www1.realclearsports.com/articles/2009/10/17/charlie_weis_last_chance_96507.html Samuel Chi Samuel Chi 2009/10 10/17/2009/00/00/00 Sat, 17 Oct 2009 09:56:05 -0500 SAN FRANCISCO - Twenty years ago, Oct. 17, 1989. 5:04 p.m. PDT, Athletics vs. Giants, Game 3 of the Bay Bridge World Series, a festive time that in an instant would become a tragic one, "I didn't really feel the quake at first,'' Bob Welch said a while ago. He was in the visiting clubhouse, getting liniment rubbed on his shoulder. He was five minutes from walking to the bullpen to warm up, to prepare for his start. "I thought they were rolling barrels on the ramps above the clubhouse.'' On the other side, Dusty Baker, the Giants' batting coach at the... http://www1.realclearsports.com/articles/2009/10/16/no_forgetting_the_earthquake_world_series_96505.html http://www1.realclearsports.com/articles/2009/10/16/no_forgetting_the_earthquake_world_series_96505.html Art Spander Art Spander 2009/10 10/16/2009/00/00/00 Fri, 16 Oct 2009 13:04:22 -0500 The 2009 ALCS between the Yankees and Angels will be a battle of tangibles and intangibles. The on-field assets of these two teams are obvious; so, this year, are the more ephemeral ones. The Yankees' winter spending spree was impossible to ignore. Reeling from the end of their thirteen-year postseason streak, they added starting pitchers C.C. Sabathia and A.J. Burnett and first baseman Mark Teixeira (from the Angels) as free agents, with outfielder Nick Swisher coming over in a lopsided trade. Has any team makeover ever worked as well? Sabathia was a horse, averaging nearly seven... http://www1.realclearsports.com/articles/2009/10/16/alcs_preview_96506.html http://www1.realclearsports.com/articles/2009/10/16/alcs_preview_96506.html Jeff Neuman Jeff Neuman 2009/10 10/16/2009/00/00/00 Fri, 16 Oct 2009 01:10:07 -0500 Plucky underdog stories are so last year. There are no Tampa Bays among baseball's final four this year. All the participants in the 2009 League Championship Series are solid members of the $100 million club, proud possessors of nine-figure payrolls. Such expenditures don't guarantee success - ask a Mets fan, if you can find one - but failing to make them helps you get an early start on your autumn vacation. Big markets don't always add up to big ratings, but this year's foursome offers something for every fan's taste: a defending champion with a patched-up rotation... http://www1.realclearsports.com/articles/2009/10/15/nlcs_preview_96504.html http://www1.realclearsports.com/articles/2009/10/15/nlcs_preview_96504.html Jeff Neuman Jeff Neuman 2009/10 10/15/2009/00/00/00 Thu, 15 Oct 2009 10:24:52 -0500 He couldn't win the big one. That was the criticism of John Wooden. Fifty years ago. Times change. Perceptions change. Integrity never changes. Couldn't win the big one. Wooden was in his formative years at UCLA, a team competent enough in the old Pacific Coast Conference and its successor, the AAWU. But in the tournament, there was USF with Bill Russell, or Santa Clara, with Ken Sears, and the Bruins were eliminated. Then they began to eliminate everybody else. Starting in 1964, UCLA won all the big ones, won 88 games in a row, won seven NCAA championships in a row, and John Wooden... http://www1.realclearsports.com/articles/2009/10/14/wooden_wins_a_big_one_no_99_96503.html http://www1.realclearsports.com/articles/2009/10/14/wooden_wins_a_big_one_no_99_96503.html Art Spander Art Spander 2009/10 10/14/2009/00/00/00 Wed, 14 Oct 2009 02:12:45 -0500 "Always toward absent lovers love's tide stronger flows." - Sextus Propertius The modern sports fan is an all-devouring, insatiable and utterly spoiled beast. But who can blame them. There is nary a dull moment in the year where he or she has to fret about not watching or attending a major sports event in this country. And if one is a follower of baseball and football, arguably the two most popular American sports, there is only one month in the calendar - March - without either of these sports contesting regular season or playoff games. But at least both of these national... http://www1.realclearsports.com/articles/2009/10/12/tennis_and_golf_need_longer_offseason.html http://www1.realclearsports.com/articles/2009/10/12/tennis_and_golf_need_longer_offseason.html Tim Joyce Tim Joyce 2009/10 10/12/2009/00/00/00 Mon, 12 Oct 2009 21:58:19 -0500 When Alex Rodriguez hit the most important home run of his career on Friday night - and in so doing, temporarily demolishing his plentiful postseason demons - tying the game in the bottom of the ninth inning against the overmatched Minnesota Twins, was the game's eventual outcome really ever in question? I doubt anyone in the stadium or watching on TV had any notion that the Yankees would not win the game, even Twins fans I'd hazard a guess. So when Mark Teixeira's line drive barely cleared the left field wall in the 11th, it seemed more a formality than anything else. The... http://www1.realclearsports.com/articles/2009/10/11/home_team_is_not_a_sure_things_but_its_pretty_close_96501.html http://www1.realclearsports.com/articles/2009/10/11/home_team_is_not_a_sure_things_but_its_pretty_close_96501.html Tim Joyce Tim Joyce 2009/10 10/11/2009/00/00/00 Mon, 12 Oct 2009 02:23:58 -0500 The SEC is a conference that doesn't lack in blood feuds. Florida-Georgia. Auburn-Georgia. Florida-Tennessee. Auburn-Alabama. ... OK, I don't have all day, but you get the drift. But a hot new rivalry is emerging. And for now anyway, it's the most important entanglement in the SEC, if not in all of college football. The reason that Florida-LSU is becoming college football's best new rivalry is excellence. Both programs have made quantum leaps in the dawn of the 21st century, becoming the only two schools with multiple BCS titles. This is how they fared against each other... http://www1.realclearsports.com/articles/2009/10/10/best_new_rivalry_in_college_football_96500.html http://www1.realclearsports.com/articles/2009/10/10/best_new_rivalry_in_college_football_96500.html Samuel Chi Samuel Chi 2009/10 10/10/2009/00/00/00 Sat, 10 Oct 2009 08:48:41 -0500 SAN FRANCISCO - This is a team event. This is when golf makes it "us'' against "them,'' country against country, or more specifically in the Presidents Cup, one country, the United States, against a group of them combined, Australia and Japan, South Africa and South America. And yet this four-day competition held at a muni course on the western edge of San Francisco, Harding Park, a muni course that is not very far from the San Andreas Fault and very near the Pacific Ocean is not much different than most tournaments. It's all about Tiger Woods. He's... http://www1.realclearsports.com/articles/2009/10/09/tiger_is_a_majority_of_one_96499.html http://www1.realclearsports.com/articles/2009/10/09/tiger_is_a_majority_of_one_96499.html Art Spander Art Spander 2009/10 10/09/2009/00/00/00 Fri, 09 Oct 2009 05:26:05 -0500 Instant, knee-jerk nostalgia and longing for times past is seemingly a birthright for many New Yorkers. The phrases, actually more like incantations, of "it was so much better back in the 70's" or "the city is just not the same" or "it's all about money now" and "Sex and the City is evil" are frequently uttered by those who declare themselves authentic Gotham denizens. I admit that I, on occasion, lapse into such behavior. And who's to judge the veracity of these sentiments? Perhaps they come from an irrational, overly emotional place... http://www1.realclearsports.com/articles/2009/10/08/yankeeland_aint_the_same_96498.html http://www1.realclearsports.com/articles/2009/10/08/yankeeland_aint_the_same_96498.html Tim Joyce Tim Joyce 2009/10 10/08/2009/00/00/00 Thu, 08 Oct 2009 12:50:49 -0500 A fun, eventful night can save a miserable day - but a great day cannot make good a terrible night that follows it... I have often utilized that self-guiding principle (which is basically a deeper, more personal restating of the "all's well that ends well" axiom) when analyzing a day's or week's activities, and I also apply the same when discussing sports. For instance, at September's US Open in New York, Juan Martin Del Potro and Roger Federer participated in a thrilling final that helped save a subpar tournament on the men's side. If the Open had been... http://www1.realclearsports.com/articles/2009/10/07/greatest_one-game_playoff_ever_96497.html http://www1.realclearsports.com/articles/2009/10/07/greatest_one-game_playoff_ever_96497.html Tim Joyce Tim Joyce 2009/10 10/07/2009/00/00/00 Wed, 07 Oct 2009 13:12:23 -0500 Don't put the Hefty Bag out by the curb just yet. Rinse out the Homer Hankies, and don't toss the ear plugs. The most ill-conceived park in major-league baseball lives for another few days. The Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome in Minneapolis opened for business the year after the 1981 strike shut down baseball for fifty-eight days. Its last baseball game was supposed to be three days ago, but like Michael Myers, Freddy Krueger, Rasputin, and Tom DeLay, it refuses to go away. A month ago, the Twins were seven games behind the Detroit Tigers. A week ago, they were two games back,... http://www1.realclearsports.com/articles/2009/10/07/the_dome_that_wouldnt_die_96496.html http://www1.realclearsports.com/articles/2009/10/07/the_dome_that_wouldnt_die_96496.html Jeff Neuman Jeff Neuman 2009/10 10/07/2009/00/00/00 Wed, 07 Oct 2009 01:42:49 -0500 So do you still think Brett Favre should have retired? Not a bad evening for the man. Too old? Too spectacular. We worry more about others more than about ourselves. We're always giving advice but rarely listening to advice. Maybe we should just shut up. That goes for sports journalists, writers, announcers, former players. The whole lot of us virtually demanded Favre give it up. Insisted he was making a fool of himself, was embarrassing the NFL. Favre didn't hurt anyone. If you don't include the Green Bay Packers. He's a football player who wants to play football.... http://www1.realclearsports.com/articles/2009/10/07/favres_too_old_too_spectacular_96495.html http://www1.realclearsports.com/articles/2009/10/07/favres_too_old_too_spectacular_96495.html Art Spander Art Spander 2009/10 10/07/2009/00/00/00 Wed, 07 Oct 2009 01:40:40 -0500 COPENHAGEN - There may be 76 reasons why Chicago did not get the 2016 Olympics. One for every vote it did not get from the International Olympic Committee in the one round it bothered to consider America's latest failed bid for the Games. But there is one thing the theories about the reasons have in common. Arrogance. Good ol' American arrogance. Instead of dedicating three days and nights working the IOC members, as we hear Tony Blair did for London in its successful bid for 2012, President Obama figured all he had to do was show up for a few minutes here at Bella Center after... http://www1.realclearsports.com/articles/2009/10/03/arrogance_dooms_olympic_dream_96494.html http://www1.realclearsports.com/articles/2009/10/03/arrogance_dooms_olympic_dream_96494.html Ron Flatter Ron Flatter 2009/10 10/03/2009/00/00/00 Sat, 03 Oct 2009 00:04:38 -0500 COPENHAGEN - The crowds could not wait to see the President and First Lady of the United States and the first lady of television. But despite nearly a week of red-carpet glitz starring Oprah Winfrey, some old-fashioned politicking by Michelle Obama and an 11th-hour cameo from President Obama, Chicago was a first-round knockout victim in the International Olympic Committee's vote to determine the host of the 2016 Olympics. Even the final awarding of the Games of the XXXI Olympiad to Rio de Janeiro seemed anticlimactic in the wake of America's colossal failure. Chicago polled only 18... http://www1.realclearsports.com/articles/2009/10/02/chicago_glitz_blitz_fails_to_win_games_96493.html http://www1.realclearsports.com/articles/2009/10/02/chicago_glitz_blitz_fails_to_win_games_96493.html Ron Flatter Ron Flatter 2009/10 10/02/2009/00/00/00 Fri, 02 Oct 2009 16:25:55 -0500