Joey Harrington Is A Genius

There hasn’t been too many times that you could say the above about Joey Harrington since he entered the NFL as the third pick of the Detroit Lions in the 2002 NFL Draft. He has been a resounding disappointment for his entire career. But, his decision to sign with Miami makes him look at least somewhat savvy since he is the current starter over Miami’s other off-season quarterback acquisition, Daunte Culpepper. This brilliant decision making has gone unnoticed for far too long and I am here to bring attention to it. Although, it’s not like he is really tearing it up as a starter in Miami.

While in Detroit, Harrington had a career record as a starter of 18-37, more interceptions than touchdowns and a fairly low passer rating. Because of this ineptitude Detroit traded him to the Miami Dolphins during the 2006 off-season. These certainly aren’t numbers that could win him a starting job in the NFL and he knew it. There were a number of teams (Cincinnati, Denver and Miami) he could have signed with but he would have been a backup at each team. However, he determined that his best chance to win back a starting role (presuming that is what he wanted) would be in Miami behind Culpepper. So, for once in his career Harrington has made the correct read, although he "won" the starting job after Culpepper was benched with an injury, and let's praise him for it.

By the way, what the hell is up with the new hair-do for Harrington? He kinda has a Keanu Reeves look going on.

Neil Everett The Poet

Yesterday, incredibly tragic news came out of Coral Gables, Miami. Senior Miami defensive end Brian Pata was shot and killed in a presumed homicide. Awful, just awful news. So, I watched the 11 p.m. Pacific SportsCenter and Neil Everett leads off with this.

Brian Pata was shot in the head.
And, now he's dead.

You stay classy, Neil Everett. Seriously, couldn't he come up with something that didn't rhyme and was maybe a bit more, uh, respectful?

Vegas, Baby! Vegas!

SI.com writer Ian Thomsen wrote an interesting article full of all sorts of NBA goodies, particularly the following little story about Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman lobbying the NBA for a Vegas franchise:

The Las Legas mayor, a former mob lawyer, is intent on recruiting a pro sports
franchise. Goodman recently returned from a tour of the NBA's preseason training
camps in Europe -- accompanied by a pair of Vegas showgirls named Pam and
Porsche -- where he lobbied Stern and NBA deputy commissioner Adam Silver,
informing them that he has commissioned an arena study that is expected to recommend by year's end a site (probably in downtown Las Vegas) for a new building. (emphasis added)

So that's how they do it? At least the Mayor is upfront about what he is willing to do for the Commissioner to get a team. There is no beating around the bush, so-to-speak.

Coach Fight!

In Sunday's Arsenal - West Ham United match, Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger and West Ham manager Alan Pardew had a little dust-up after West Ham went up 1-0 in the 89th minute. I could understand Wenger being upset because of losing to lowly West Ham, but a physical altercation? That's awesome! Predictably, the two didn't shake hands after the match. But, Pardew has extended an apology to Wenger. (The fight is at about the 1:00 minute mark.)

This Is One Euro Fad I Hope Doesn't Catch On

On Tuesday in the UEFA Champions League Liverpool defeated Bordeaux 3-0. It was a great match for Liverpool but it was marred with an ugly incident. Bordeaux's Brazilian midfielder Fernando Menegazzo headbutted Liverpool's Norwegian international John Arne Riise. This was worse than the Zidane headbutt in the World Cup final because Menegazzo went head-to-head with Riise and drew blood. If this is the latest craze in European sports, then I hope it doesn't come to the U.S.

Highlights from the match are below and the headbutt is at the 1:15 mark.

NBA Season Already?

The Blazers season opener against Seattle is tonight and it is the first time in several years that I am looking forward to the season, although it will probably end up as a losing season. The reason for this optimism? Well, it boils down to what I perceive as a change in direction of the franchise. It was hoped that this change had started several seasons ago but the front office seemed to bungle all the chances it had with poor draft choices and foolishly overpaying players like Darius Miles and Zach Randolph.

Although Miles and Randolph are still on the team, the rest of squad appears to be made of good character and a willingness to put the team before itself. Rookie Brandon Roy is also a light of hope because he appears to be a legitimate Rookie of the Year candidate, a team player and a high character guy. LaMarcus Aldridge, another rookie, seems to be in the same mold. Second year players Jarrett Jack and Martell Webster also give me hope for a brighter future because they have improved their game in the offseason.

Finally, although I am loathe to admit it, Zach Randolph may actually be a bright spot for the team. Maybe with Miles out indefinitely with a knee injury and ZBo being the only real scoring threat Randolph can show that he can be a good character and that he is fully recovered from his microfracture surgery. His teammates seem to believe in him this year and have voted him co-captain with Pryzbilla.

So, here's to the future and hopefully an entertaining season by Portland.

Tom Jackson: "Look, I can use big words, too!"

This Tiki Barber retirement story just keeps getting better and better. First, it is reported, kind of out of the blue, that Tiki will retire after the season. Then, Tom Jackson and Michael Irvin both say that this will be a distraction/won't help the Giants. Then, Tiki gets on his high horse and calls these two idiots and uses a big word that most NFL players would never use.

That includes Tom Jackson on ESPN. That includes the ultimate character guy, facetiously speaking of course, Michael Irvin (ESPN). Please get a clue on how to be a journalist.

Fantastic! I'm sure neither one of these guys likes to get called out like that, although Irvin might not know what facetiously means since he did attend Tha U (Univ. of Miami that is, lately better known for stomping on people than anything else). Tom Jackson decided that he had to
respond and try to look intelligent by using more big words.

"I was asked an opinion about a subject, just the way he is often asked an
opinion about a myriad of topics, a plethora of things," Jackson told The Post.

Way to go Tom! You know how to use a dictionary and look like an asshat too! You know, back in school, people who used big words just to show off their impressive vocabulary were still tools.

In Today's Least Surprising News...

FIFA revealed that, shockingly, soccer players were taking dives in the World Cup and feigning injuries.

'Fifty-eight per cent of the players who were treated on the pitch during the 2006 World Cup eventually turned out not to be injured,' confirmed FIFA in a statement.

Wow. I'm glad it only took them 4 months to do the research and compile a report saying this. I could have told you this after watching this Cristiano Ronaldo video below. This is an even better video but Youtube won't let me post it.

Hi. My name is The Fan’s Attic and I’m a Terrell Owens fan.

I’ve been sitting on this post for a while now but I recently had a little online discussion with Mr. Irrelevant regarding the best WRs of this generation and I thought I should post it after that. First, though, here is a little recap of what brought this about.

Mr. Irrelevant argued that Marvin Harrison and Torry Holt are the best and he excluded Terrell Owens, Randy Moss, Chad Johnson, and Steve Smith because they are either inconsistent or have had brief careers. I disagreed and said that Owens (and probably Moss) should be included in any discussion about the best WRs of this generation based on their stats and he responded. See here. Mister Irrelevant gave additional reasons for their exclusion: being bad teammates, missing games and having “clunker” seasons in their careers.

My brief (and probably inadequate) response to his rebuttal: Owens has produced 5 Pro Bowl seasons since 2000 (the year he really stopped being second fiddle to Jerry Rice) and if the Philadelphia situation had played out differently he would have had another one in 2005. Holt, Harrison, and Moss have 4, 7 and 7 respectively. So, there isn’t really a statistical clunker for Owens save last season’s debacle since early in his career. Over the course of his career Owens has missed 18 games, 9 of which came from the suspension last year, compared to 6, 2 and 3 for Harrison, Holt and Moss. By far the most but he is by far the most physical of these receivers and that has to play into the injury situation. And, as far as bad teammates go, I can’t really argue that because he obviously isn’t one of the best but at least he has a passion for the game.

So, that leads me to my explanation of why I am a Terrell Owens fan.

Quite simply, I love the way Owens plays football. I’ll admit his off-field antics are distracting but I don’t care about that. I like players who play with passion, make big plays, and will do the dirty work. Owens does this; he catches the ball, he is a deep threat, scores touchdowns, goes across the middle and is a good blocker for a wide receiver. Quite simply, he is the most complete receiver in the game and is the prototype for many of the receivers these days: big, fast and athletic.

Moreover, he has an extreme passion to win and you can see this in his sideline antics. He just wants to win. He is a big-play receiver and getting the ball to him will most likely only help you win. I admire this trait in him because I think at this point in many of the NFL players’ careers they don’t have the same desire as Owens.

Finally, the guy is tough as nails. Remember his recovery from a broken ankle to play in the Super Bowl? How about the fact that he is playing with a plate in his hand right now? He didn’t miss a game with a broken finger (thanks to the bye week). He just wants to be on the field and make plays. I can hang with that.

Now, I have admitted that I like Terrell Owens and there aren’t many of us in existence but I am ok with it.

He's The Eldest And Younger Brother At The Same Time?

The Winslow family suffered a great loss recently with HOF Tight End Kellen Winslow, Sr. lost his son Justin K.B. Winslow suddenly. The death is under investigation and I wish the Winslow family all the best in this hard time for them and I don't mean to make light of the situation but the SI.com article was a bit confusing.

Cleveland Browns tight end Kellen Winslow Jr. attended a funeral on Tuesday for his younger brother, Justin K.B. Winslow, who died suddenly last week in Kansas City, Mo. He was 23. The eldest son of Hall of Fame tight end Kellen Winslow Sr. was found unconscious on Oct. 12 by his mother, Dawnn Wimes O'Bannon.

So, Justin was Kellen Winslow, Jr.'s "younger brother" and the "eldest son" of Kellen Winslow, Sr.? How does that work? Methinks the editor messed up.

'Boom Goes The Dynamite' Goes Mainstream

In this little insular world of sports blogging there are many inside jokes that take a long time to explain to others and are usually not as funny to those receiving the explanation. Consequently, it is probably better not to explain and not include them on the joke. But, every once in a while, if we are lucky, the inside joke escapes the blogging bubble and hits the so-called 'mainstream' and may require some explanation. Recently, one of these moments occurred on the teen show "Veronica Mars" on the CW and I had to give an explanation as to why I was keeled over with laughter.

Before you watch the clip, I suggest checking out the classically bad amateur sports broadcaster who originated the "boom goes the dynamite" phrase, here, especially if you're not familiar with the reference.

Now, see it, in the mainstream below. Big thanks to Deadspin commenter Scotty_Cooper for pointing me to this clip.

John Terry: Chelsea's New Netminder

This past weekend Chelsea played Reading in a Premiership match, which Chelski won 1-0. It was an incredibly strange game for Chelsea that ended with the English skipper minding net in the dying minutes of the match. Here's the video story of how Terry became keeper:

1. Keeper stud Petr Cech suffers a serious injury--a depressed skull fracture that Jose Mourinho believed almost killed Cech. Hopefully, Cech will make a full recovery.


2. Backup goalie Carlo Cudicini gets knocked out in injury time. It is questionable whether Cudicini will be ready for the massive Champions League tilt against Barcelona on Wednesday.


3. John Terry fills in and wraps up the victory.

Euro Club Roundup #9

Still alive. I've just been really busy recently. Just some quick hits here for each of my teams:

Liverpool--the team still is really inconsistent, sitting mid-table and 8 points back of leaders Chelsea and ManU. Benitez really needs to get a good line-up and stick with it rather than constantly tinkering.
Hertha--the squad lost to Bayern Munich this weekend and tumbled from the top of the table to 7th, but that is only 3 points back. Hertha also crashed out of the UEFA Cup tournament recently. That means the squad only has Bundesliga to worry about now.
AS Roma--Still atop Serie A but recently lost to Valencia in the Champions League group play.
Valencia--the Ches were in first in La Liga, but a loss to mid-table Celta Vigo today and a likely win by Barca over Sevilla will drop the to second or third.

Randy Moss, You Could Learn Something From Joey Barton

Randy Moss could learn a thing or two from Manchester City player, Joey Barton, who showed Everton fans his pasty white ass this past weekend. Barton could face suspension for his actions, I hope it was worth it.

Tiger Woods, Bandwagon Fan?

Let me just get this out there up front, I am a Tiger Woods fan and will always be one, but, as a sports fan I question his sports "fandom." Recently, Tiger has been spotted supporting some high profile athletes and teams. He was seen in Roger Federer's tennis box at the U.S. Open, while Federer was battling American Andy Roddick. Tiger was also the personal guest of Andriy Shevchenko at a recent Chelsea soccer match. Both Chelsea and Federer are teams/athletes at the pinnacle of their respective sports. Federer has 9 of 12 grand slam events and Chelsea has won the last two Premiership titles. Frankly, I don't think Tiger is a big fan of tennis and certainly not soccer after his recent comments and being seen at these events opens him to criticism as bandwagon fan. Ultimately, I think Tiger's ability to be a sports fan is a result of his personal make-up and he may not be able to help it, but it is subject to criticism. (Although, I will allow that Tiger could say he has always been a fan but I would skeptical.) Let me explain.

First, Tiger is one of, if not the, greatest golfers of all time and one of the most talented athletes ever. If he is not already deserving, Tiger will soon be in the pantheon of all-time greats where his peers will be Jordan, Ali, Nicklaus and others. Because of this, Tiger might have difficulty being a fan of anybody who is not at the pinnacle of performance in their sports.

Second, during his career Tiger has proven himself to be the ultimate frontrunner. He always wins the majors with a 54-hole lead. In spite of, or maybe because of, this, he hasn't demonstrated the ability to come from behind to win any of these and he wins most of his other events by going into the final round with a share of the lead. Woods' outstanding abililty always puts him out front and he probably can't relate to teams/athletes that come from behind, he just doesn't do that.

Now, Tiger can support whomever he pleases but his "fandom" seems to be front-runners and established superstars/powers. I would bet good money that Tiger is a Yankees, Lakers, Heat, or any other perennial or current power in a sport. I can just see Tiger, two years ago, doffing a Red Sox cap and being a bandwagon fan so many despise. I'd just like to see Tiger select a rooting interest where winning or greatness is occasional and not the norm. Maybe he can't fight his tendencies but it would be easier to relate to him if he did.