Maddux Sports Blog

A few things occupying my thoughts:

Monday Night Football is just a couple of hours away. I am torn in the game. The big thing that stops me from backing New Orleans enthusiastically is the loss of Sedrick Ellis. I have no idea what the impact of his absence will be, but I am very curious to find out. He’s really coming into his own, and he would have made it much harder for Minnesota to run. Since they can’t really pass, that would have been important. This isn’t going to be a classic game, but it is certainly an interesting one to consider. Talented but terribly flawed teams.

As I write this the Rays are running away from Chicago and look to be heading to the second round. I really can’t wait for their series against Boston. The home field will be huge for them, and I like their chances of going on. I wonder what kind of odds you could have gotten before the season started on a Rays-Dodgers series. Strange, but true.

I just read that Brian Westbrook has two broken ribs to go with his bum ankle. That’s a big blow for the Eagles. In my mind that puts them in the drivers seat to become the one NFC East team that doesn’t make the playoffs.

I laugh at Plaxico Burress. I’ve always thought he was a big baby, and that last game, with him out on suspension, sure didn’t do much to reinforce the myth of his irreplacability.

Rich Rodriguez ripped his Michigan offense for their inept play over the last three quarters, and the lack of desire they showed. Good job, Rich. That was embarrassing.

Mark Sanchez doesn’t have any structural damage in his knee. That’s good news. He’s sitting out of practice today and maybe longer, though, and he’s day-to-day for Saturday. I will be very interested to watch the line movement as things get closer to kickoff if his position is still unclear. As it is, a 25.5 point line against Arizona State seems pretty hefty. Think of how it would look with Mitch Mustain under center.

I don’t know what it is tonight, but I am feeling testy. Annoyed. Short fused. I had a lot of vegetables with dinner. Maybe that’s the problem. Whatever it is, as I have been browsing through the sports betting news tonight a few things as stuck out to me as particularly grating:

Tony Dungy - The Colts’ coach said today that his star QB will be ready for the regular season opener. He may even be ready to play in the preseason. There’s nothing wrong with that specifically, and it may even be true. It’s just that Dungy drives me absolutely nuts, and it especially annoys me that he has been elevated to such a position by the media that I can’t dislike him without being a truly awful guy.

Marvin Lewis - This guy is easily the worst coach who has never been fired. Today he came out and ‘emphatically’ stated that the Bengals wouldn’t welcome Chris Henry back to the team. That’s fine - Henry is probably more trouble than it’s worth. It’s just that Lewis was so self-righteous about it when under his watch his entire team has been arrested about six times each, and he has wasted more offensive talent than most coaches ever see in their lives. Lewis is so bad that if he had any shame at all he would give Chris Henry his job and go get himself a job as a waiter at Olive Garden.

The Favre debacle - There were more developments on the Brett Favre front today. I just don’t know what they were. I am so sick of the whole thing that I just want to puke. The whole ridiculous Packers’ organization should thank there lucky stars that I am not the President, because if I had an air force I swear that I would blow the whole city of Green Bay off the map, and have my boys drop their left over bombs in Mississippi just to be sure.

Plaxico Burress - Burress is upset because the Giants won’t pay him more. He has three years left on a six year deal, but he wants more. He now says that he will come to camp, but that he isn’t going to be happy about it. What a moron. The deal he signed was good enough when he signed it, and the guys who are getting big deals now have one thing in common - they are all better than Burress. I’d rather that Burress just hold out and go away then show up and whine to anyone who will listen that he’s grossly disrespected because he only makes $4 million a year.

I love sports more than almost everything (I say almost because my wife occasionally reads this). That being said, a lot of what goes on in sports these days drives me insane. I can’t handle all of the peripheral scandals and issues that surround sports these days. I long for a time when we can just sit down and watch sports without having to worry about everything else surrounding the sports. Sports are supposed to be a way to escape obnoxious issues, but now obnoxious issues are overrunning sports. Changing that would be difficult (probably impossible) but here are 10 guys that could help my cause if they would just go away:

Tim Donaghy - You’re a scum referee who made all sorts of bad decisions. You’re not going to save yourself or earn respect by pointing fingers at other officials. Everyone who has watched more than one NBA game in their life knows that the refereeing stinks and favors better teams and players, and that it is kinder to the home game, and changes from the beginning of a game to the end. You have told us nothing we didn’t know, and all you have done is distracted the attention from an interesting and tradition-filled finals.

Plaxico Burress - You’re a decent receiver. You are getting old. You will make $3.5 million a year for the next three years. You are not hard done by or disrespected by that. Shut up and start practicing.

Chad Johnson - You are one of the best in the league when you want to be. Your celebrations are mostly hilarious. Your whining is ridiculous. You only get to whine when your team doesn’t suck, so quit sucking and then we’ll be happy to hear anything you have to say.

Milton Bradley - The guy can hit, but he’s a menace. In his latest outburst he heard something he didn’t like from a Royals TV color commentator, so he stormed out of the dressing room to try to find the guy and beat the hell out of him. I like the guy as a player, but no player is worth as much drama and ridiculousness as Bradley demands.

The Steinbrenner family - Your team sucks because you have managed it badly. Look at teams that win - they all have very good pitching. You used to have a great rotation. You won then. You don’t now. You lose. Shut up and figure it out.

Jim Tressel - This is just a personal thing. I hate Ohio State, I hate that stupid sweater vest, I hate that Michigan seems to have forgotten how to kick Buckeye butt, and I hate that his team keeps embarrassing the best conference in college football in bowl season.

Joe Dumars - Self-awareness is the key to success in life. You need to look in the mirror, Joe. You have had several of the best coaches in basketball at the helm of your team. None have been good enough for you. Maybe it’s you.

Curt Schilling - You’re an injured, washed up geezer who was once a decent pitcher. You do lots of good things for charity, but why in the world do you think that we should care what you think about everything? Just shut up and get healthy.

Cedric Benson - If you are dumb enough to screw up multiple times and throw away a golden opportunity which is handed to you on a silver platter then I don’t care about you. I picked on Benson here, but there are a disturbing number of guy, mostly but not exclusively in football, who could just as easily have been here in his place.

Danilo Gallinari - This is the Italian punk who has said he will only play in the NBA if he is drafted by a team in New York or New Jersey. I am sick to death of young kids who have proven nothing and may turn into nothing holding teams for ransom. Danilo, Eli, and the rest of you can all go away.

The Cards are solidly in charge of the NL wild card race right now, but their chances suffered a significant setback today. He is expected to miss at least three weeks after tests confirmed that he had strained his calf. He hurt it chasing down a ground ball last night in Cincinnati, and at first the team feared it was torn, so it could have been worse. Still, the team already has injury woes, and Pujols is obviously key to everything they do.

Plaxico Burress refuses to practice without a new contract, even though he has three years remaining on a deal that will pay him $3.5 million a year. The Super Bowl swollen head curse strikes again. It’s not a wonder that it is so hard for a team to stay at the top once they get there.

All eyes are on Rajon Rondo’s ankle after he twisted it last night in game three. The Boston point guard has a bone bruise, and he says that he is 50 percent. He missed practice today, but he says he will play on Thursday. On one hand, this isn’t a big problem either way because they have Eddie House and Sam Cassell as backups. On the other hand, game three showed that the Lakers are more than a handful if they playing well, and the Celtics really need to have all of their tools in place. He could be a major factor in the ultimate outcome of the series.

Portugal beat the Czech Republic 3-1 today at Euro 2008, and cemented their position among the elite of the tournament. Cristian Ronaldo was impressive, and the team played a flowing offensive style that was alternately aggressive and patient as the situation demanded. They have already clinched the top spot in group A, and their inevitable match against Germany in the semi-finals has the potential to be the best game in the tournament and quite possibly the one that will produce the ultimate winner.

I was interested to see that the powers that be with USA Basketball have decided not to have a tryout camp for the next version of the Dream Team. Instead, they will choose the 12 players themselves before the team gets together the first time. Interesting. It means that they can get right down to practicing, but it has the potential to backfire if the roster doesn’t perform as well as it should.