Brian Murphy

Unless the Orlando Magic can return to the formula that has worked thus far, the Los Angeles Lakers will be capturing yet another NBA championship. And when they do, magically Kobe Bryant will be looked at as a wonderful teammate/person/competitor/etc. because he finally earned a ring without Shaquille O’Neal on the roster. Yawn.

The Detroit Red Wings are set to win their second straight Stanley Cup championship this Friday night, besting the Pittsburgh Penguins for a second-consecutive season. They’ve been the better team all season long and throughout this series, but the league needed the Finals to go seven games in hopes of capitalizing on a wonderfully exciting season. Whatever.

I’d mention baseball, but honestly it’s the New York Yankees and the Boston Red Sox again. Been there. Done that. Unless the Washington Nationals can set the record for most losses in a single season, there’s not much worth watching this year.

But that doesn’t mean all hope is lost in the world of professional sports. No, not by a long shot. In just over a week all the major names will return to the scene of one of the most exciting events of 2008. That’s right, Tiger Woods and friends are set to return to the U.S. Open and you’d be a fool to miss out on the action.

For those who need a refresher, last year’s U.S. Open was straight out of a movie. For starters, Woods was grouped with Phil Mickelson and Adam Scott meaning the top three golfers in the world were all basically facing off head-to-head. And although the biggest names in the sport were the focus coming into the Open, it was Rocco Mediate who came from nowhere to challenge Tiger. While Mickelson and Scott faded, Mediate continued to turn up the heat on Woods, who was clearly not 100 percent.

Trailing by one stroke on the final hole, Woods drained a 12-foot putt for birdie to force an 18-hole playoff with Rocco. A one-legged Tiger went on to win the U.S. Open, his 14th major championship of his career, but that would be his final act of 2008. Two days later he had surgery on his left knee and that was that for Woods.

Eight long months later Tiger returned to action and since that time we’ve seen a new side of Woods. It used to be that Woods was simply better than everyone else and when he’s on there’s no use for anyone else to show up. But if Tiger wasn’t playing his best golf … well … that’s when the rest of the field had a chance to take home a trophy. Well, since his return, Tiger has two wins – the Arnold Palmer Invitational and the Memorial Tournament. In both instances Woods headed into the final day of the tournament trailing and yet battled back to claim victory.

At the Arnold Palmer (which is also a delicious beverage, by the way), Woods trailed Sean O’Hair by five strokes heading into the final day. Tiger shot a final round 67 and made a 16-foot birdie putt on the final hole to defeat O’Hair by one stroke.

At the Memorial, Woods found himself in a similar situation, trailing by four shots after three rounds. This time he shot a 65 in the final round, including two consecutive birdies to end the tournament as he continues to rewrite the story on Tiger Woods.

Out of 67 PGA career victories, only a handful have been of the come-from-behind variety. But twice already in this young 2009 season Tiger has done just that. He’s already better than anyone who ever played the game, and now he’s clearly improving the one weakness in his game. He’s showing guys that just because he falls behind early doesn’t mean he’s out of the hunt.

Sunday Tiger has always been able to step up his game in the clutch, but this is another level. At this point, no lead is safe – especially if the guy leading at the time is a no-name who will falter on the final day with Tiger hot on his heels. Tiger is hitting more fairways and playing with as much confidence as we’ve ever seen. While nothing is guaranteed at the U.S. open, you really have to like Woods’ chances to repeat.

Folks wondered how the surgery would affect Woods. While there’s still plenty of golf left to be played this year, the early verdict seems to indicate that Woods is back, and sadly for the rest of the pack, he’s better than ever.

Brian Murphy is an award-winning sportswriter who also goes by the name Homer McFanboy. Contact him at murf@homermcfanboy.com.

Similar Posts:

• Note to Self – Eight things
• Note to Self – Scanning the headlines
• Positive Cynicism – ‘Tis the season to piss me off

Brian Murphy

No one else will say it, so I will – I’m glad LeBron James stormed off the court after his Cleveland Cavaliers fell to the Orlando Magic in the conference finals.

No, I’m not advocating poor sportsmanship. And yes, I do think he made a mistake by not taking a few extra seconds to show respect to his opponents in defeat. But here’s my point – King James has been in the public eye since he was 16 and has never come even remotely close to controversy.

Well, if you want to nitpick, there’s the fact that James somehow ended up driving around town in a Hummer back in high school and folks wondered how that magically arrived in his driveway, but nothing ever came of that. Otherwise, until last week, LeBron had been seemingly flawless both on and off the court.

Think about it, most of the other big names in professional sports, especially in basketball, have found themselves on the wrong side in the court of public opinion at one time or another. You’ve got Carmelo Anthony thinking he’s on The Wire by appearing in anti-snitching videos, Dwyane Wade has the same rare disease that Nelly does and has to wear a band-aide on his face at all times and Kobe Bryant … well … let’s just say he’s not allowed to visit Colorado without a chaperone.

And then there’s LeBron. Seriously, when have you ever heard anything about the guy off the court? What do we really know about the guy away from the game of basketball? He’s a young man who is worth as much as any athlete not named Tiger, and yet, he also manages to keep a low profile. James avoids situations many young athletes find themselves in (could you ever imagine him pulling a Plaxico Burress and shooting himself in the leg at a nightclub?) He has a small circle of friends that he trusts and keeps his distance from everyone else.

I mean, when folks run their mouth about him, LeBron doesn’t even have to respond. Remember when DeShawn Stevenson tried to get into James’ head a while back? Yeah, it wasn’t LeBron who responded. It was Jay-Z who handled the situation by throwing together a diss track called “Blow the Whistle” designed to put the Washington Wizards’ guard back in his place. That’s when you’ve officially reached the next level, when you don’t have to concern yourself with your opponents because the biggest name in hip hop is happy to take care of them for you.

But back to last week. After a season in which it was considered a foregone conclusion that the Los Angeles Lakers and the Cavaliers would dispatch all other opponents and battle in one of the most anticipated Finals matchups in recent NBA history, the Orlando Magic had other plans.

LeBron averaged 35 points (tops in the league), 9.1 rebounds and 7.3 assists per game (fourth best) in the playoffs this postseason. He averaged 38.5 points, eight rebounds and eight assists while playing no less than 41 minutes per game during the Orlando series. This young man did everything he could to singlehandedly try and bring Cleveland a championship. Unfortunately, that was ultimately his downfall.

During a highly enjoyable series, Dwight Howard and friends were able to turn Cleveland into a one-man team and suddenly Cleveland, a league powerhouse throughout the regular season, was reduced to LeBron and four stiffs who shrank in the clutch. He brought it. No one else from the Cavs can say the same.

So did LeBron show a level of immaturity by walking off the court as if he’d like to take his ball and go home? For sure. But I’m willing to give him a pass and chalk think experience up to a hard lesson learned. This just shows, for the first time in James’ young career, that he’s human. He made a bad decision that he’ll learn from and in the long run, he’ll be a better man for it.

He knows that if he’s willing to sit down in front of the press after hitting a game-winning shot earlier in the series, then he also needs to be there when his team is on the losing end. I have little doubt that the superstars from seasons past like Magic Johnson or Larry Bird reached out to James after his walk off and told him what he needed to hear. And being such a student of the game, I can also safely assume that hearing that message from those legends will not fall on deaf ears.

No one is perfect. James, at just 24, is allowed to make a mistake. As long as he learns from this, then he’ll be just fine. Next time he knows he’s got two choices – either win or be more gracious in defeat.

Brian Murphy is an award-winning sportswriter who also goes by the name Homer McFanboy. Contact him at murf@homermcfanboy.com.

Similar Posts:

• Note to Self – Thanks be to sports
• Note to Self – The Bong Show

Brian Murphy

While there is much to like about the summer (long days, better weather and the prospect of exotic vacations) there is one obvious drawback to this time of year – there’s never anything worth watching on TV.

Because the networks conspire to force folks outside to be productive or some such nonsense (those bastards), we’re stuck with reruns and reality crap that I wouldn’t force my enemies to suffer through.

The reason I bring this up in a sports column is because this is where things currently stand for the NHL playoffs. After a wonderfully exciting season and an even better Stanley Cup playoffs, we’re now left with the one finals matchup no one wants – the Detroit Red Wings versus the Pittsburgh Penguins.

Nothing against these two obviously talented teams, but this wasn’t exactly the greatest series in the history of hockey when these same two teams faced off a year ago. Let’s be honest here – no one outside of those two cities is jazzed at the prospect of a repeat, and yet, that’s where we are. The only story line even remotely different from last year to now is Red Wings forward Marian Hossa, who left Pittsburgh during this past offseason to get paid in Detroit.

But really, is that enough to get casual sports fans to tune in? Uh … no. And really, it’s probably not enough to even get hockey fans (outside of Detroit and Pittsburgh) to watch more than the highlights, which is too bad. Like I said, this season has been a renaissance campaign for the NHL. It’s too bad this is how things played out.

Conversely, the NBA is firing on all cylinders these days. After a so-so season in which everyone assumed it was a forgone conclusion that the L.A. Lakers and Cleveland Cavaliers were a lock for the finals, things haven’t gone exactly according to plan.

When they’re not battling the WWE, the Denver Nuggets are actually fairing better than to be expected against Kobe Bryant and friends. Ever since Chauncey Billups came to town, the Nuggets have turned into a bona fide team. No longer are Carmelo Anthony and Allen Iverson seeing who can jack up 30 shots a game first. Instead, everyone now has a defined role and (for the most part), they’re able to remember that working together is much easier than five individuals all looking out for themselves.

And when Kenyon Martin isn’t e-feuding with Dallas Mavs owner Mark Cuban, he’s actually making things happen on the court. While the WWE was embarrassing itself trying to make fun of the Nuggets owner (a guy who most folks had never even heard of before all of this), Martin was making things happen on Monday night, posting 13 points, 15 rebounds, two blocks, two assists and zero turnovers in Denver’s 120-101 route of L.A.

Even if the Nuggets fail to close out the Lakers (they’re now down 3-2 in the series after the Lakers’ 103-94 win last night), they’ve already given us some of the most enjoyable basketball games of the year. And I’m not even sure if it’s possible, but the Eastern Conference finals have been even better than Denver-L.A.

It seems that every single game that the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Orlando Magic play has at least half a dozen can’t miss moments. The series already made history when the first two games were decided by just one point, but that’s only part of the story. Seemingly every game ends in dramatic fashion, whether it be a LeBron James buzzer beater or Dwight Howard simply taking over in overtime. I don’t want to take anything away from Kobe or ‘Melo, but King James and Superman are providing must-see TV every time they step on the court.

Without a dog in the fight, I just hope this series goes seven games. Not since Michael Jordan and the Bulls were throttling the rest of the league have I enjoyed watching a basketball series I have no emotional investment in this much. Just when you think won team has got a game all wrapped up, the losing team battles back and somehow steals a victory in the final seconds.

In the end, it doesn’t matter which of the final four teams advances. Denver, Los Angeles, Cleveland and Orlando have already provided us with more than enough excitement to help us pass the time until the fall when football and TV shows worth actually worth watching return to our lives. Anything from this point on is gravy.

Brian Murphy is an award-winning sportswriter who also goes by the name Homer McFanboy. Contact him at murf@homermcfanboy.com.

Similar Posts:

• Note to Self – Back from the dead
• Note to Self – Scanning the headlines
• Murphy’s Law – No chance in hell
• Note to Self – How to fix the NBA
• Note to Self – How to fix the NHL

Brian Murphy

In technical terms, yesterday sucked balls.

Any D.C. sports fan knows exactly where I’m coming from, but for the benefit of the rest of the class, here’s a recap of the series of nut shots that’s given us more than enough reason to put a bag of frozen vegetables on our collective beanbag as we attempt to recover from a painful Wednesday.

For starters, the one team that consistently wins in this town, the Washington Capitals, was not able to get the job done with their season on the line. And while losing is almost inevitable in team sports, doing so to your most hated rival on a national stage makes it a whole lot tougher to deal with.

“They were more composed with the puck, and the other thing they did and the reason they won the game is because they outworked us,” said forward Brooks Laich after the Caps’ 6-2 loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins. “It’s not easy to stand in front of you guys and say that we’ve been outworked in our building in a game seven. I’m sure that’s something we’re going to have to think about for a long time.”

Sadly, there is no truth to the rumor that due to a scheduling conflict involving a Yanni concert, the Capitals’ offense was thrown off a day and is actually arriving in town tonight for a pivotal game seven. I guess we’ll have to wait five months to see how the Capitals respond to this bit of adversity.

And right around the same time that the Caps were imploding, the one reason to care about the Nationals was suffering a similar fate. You see, the Nats were kind enough to start the season 1-10, letting the rest of the country know “there’s nothing to see here” and to move along for another season or two until the Nationals get some pitching and additional depth.

Well, the one reason folks outside of the beltway actually acknowledge this current team is Ryan Zimmerman, the third baseman who saw his 30-game hitting streak come to an end last night just as folks were beginning to take notice.

Sure, the Nats at 11-21 are still the worst team in baseball. But Zimmerman matched George Brett’s 30-game streak in 1980 for the longest by a third baseman since Pete Rose’s 44-game streak in 1978.

“He put us on the map a little bit with what he did,” said Nationals manager Manny Acta, who has apparently mastered the art of the understatement.

And the icing on the cake comes courtesy of the Redskins, who, thankfully, did not have a game yesterday and therefore did not find a way to fall apart in the fourth quarter against the Cincinnati Bengals, San Francisco 49ers or an equally inferior opponent.

Yesterday the Miami Dolphins announced the signing of defensive end Jason Taylor to a one-year deal. If that name sounds familiar it’s probably because your significant other made you watch Dancing with the Stars, because lord knows you didn’t hear that name during football games last season.

Taylor, for those who’ve blocked it out of their memory, came to Washington in a trade after Phillip Daniels tore a ligament in his left knee on the first day of training camp. Vinny Cerrato, the “brains” on the “football operations” side of the house at Redskins Park, opted to trade a second-round pick in 2009 and a sixth-round pick in 2010 for Taylor, who made $8 million last season while having as much impact on actual football games as I did.

Taylor might have 120.5 career sacks, but 116 of them came with the Dolphins. He looked lost and disinterested during his time with the ‘Skins, which is exactly what fans around town have come to expect whenever management attempts to play fantasy football. And now the Dolphins have re-signed Taylor for one year at just $1.1 million plus incentives, meaning the Redskins will be paying eight times more in dead salary cap space than Miami will for a player who may actually be able to contribute for them this season. Add in the draft picks and it’s no wonder why Bill Parcells nominated Cerrato as the NFL’s executive of the year for the job he’s done helping turn around Miami.

Seriously, the only way yesterday could get any worse is if the Wizards lost the draft lottery (meaning no Blake Griffin), the Nats decided not to draft Stephen Strasburg because of monetary reasons and the Mystics won another attendance banner.

Christ, I need a drink.

Brian Murphy is an award-winning sportswriter who also goes by the name Homer McFanboy. Contact him at murf@homermcfanboy.com.

Similar Posts:

• Note to Self – Damn the plan, Warren
• Note to Self – A novel approach
• Note to Self – Same old song and dance
• Note to Self – Only in Washington
• Note to Self – No end in sight

Brian Murphy

For fuck’s sake, how much longer will people continue to give Brett Favre attention? Once upon a time he was a Super Bowl winning, football slingin’ league MVP who absolutely struck fear in the hearts and minds of opposing defenses. Now, he’s the NFL’s equivalent to Paris Hilton. His name is routinely in the news, but no one can figure out why.

Word on the street is that Favre will meet with Brad Childress and the Minnesota Vikings within the next few days to discuss the possibility of Brett un-retiring. Of course, this sounds awfully similar to a year ago when the words “Favre,” “New York Jets” and “un-retiring” were all prominently involved. And lets not forget the two years before that when the Favre-un-retiring-Green Bay Packers combo was all the rage.

I’m all for a guy earning an honest living, but does the rest of the world have to fawn over the guy every time he changes his mind and decides to step back onto the gridiron for another year? Honestly, the guy flip flops more often than any politician and while the majority of those guys are (deservedly) labeled liars and/or crooked bastards, Favre continues to earn a free pass every time he changes his stance on retirement.

While Favre absolutely blew chunks playing for the J-E-T-S, JETS! JETS! JETS! a year ago, anyone who knows him knows that Minnesota is where he truly wanted to play. I mean, he’s a bigger diva than the secret love child of Madonna and Celine Dion, and when the Packers chose Aaron Rodgers over him a couple seasons ago it’s was painfully obvious he was playing the part of scorned lover. The prospect of playing for a division rival against the team who threw him to the curb was simply too good for any drama queen to resist.

And if we’re being honest, why wouldn’t he want to play for the Vikings?

They have Adrian Peterson on offense, which means he can show up and hand the ball off to one of the most dynamic playmakers in football 30 times a game and still walk away with a win. For those who may have forgotten, Peterson led the league in rushing last season with 1,760 yards, which is even more impressive when you factor in just how lopsided their offense was.

Any half decent college quarterback could have show up and got the job done (hand of 30 times, throw 10-15 passes per game without making any boneheaded decisions or turnovers), which is why it’s been comical to watch the Tavaris Jackson-Gus Frerrotte Pu Pu Platter stink up the joint. At times Vikings fans wished their offense lined up with only 10 men, because whichever quarterback entered the game was surely going to find a way to screw things up.

On the other side of the ball, the Vikings boast the sixth-best overall defense and the top-ranked run defense in football. So to recap, they are stellar at running the football and stopping other’s from doing so. That’s typically how championship teams are built. Favre clearly sees himself as the missing piece on a ready-made title contender, so why are folks even contemplating this?

Well, according to ESPN, there is one small hiccup. Favre hasn’t been working out since the season ended. Oh, and he declined to have surgery to repair the torn biceps tendon that plagued him the final month of last season. And apparently Favre believes the injury can heal on its own, because he says a similar problem with his left shoulder back in his Green Bay days magically healed itself, so this one can too.

So, we’ve got the makings of a Kevin Costner movie here. Favre, who was the 21st-ranked quarterback in the NFL a year ago (behind such stalwarts as Shaun Hill, Seneca Wallace, Trent Edwards and David Garrard) is coming off a subpar season. He stunk up the joint so badly that no one outside of his immediate family (and John Madden) believes he’s got anything left in the tank. One team is (likely) giving him one final (hopefully) shot at redemption. How could I be so cold-hearted as to deny the middle-aged white men who comprise the sports journalism community a chance to cover their peer? It’s simple. They’re the only ones who care anymore.

The paparazzi who stalk Lindsay Lohan don’t give a shit about her well being. They just know she’s a trainwreck and they’re hoping to cash in by catching her at her worst in hopes of a big payday. But you know what, at least they’re honest.

Sports writers and columnists continue to blow Favre every chance they get (even though he hasn’t been relevant on the field in two or three years) because they’re all secretly rooting for the old bastard. Journalistic integrity be damned. If he saunters out onto that field one last time and lights ‘em up I get to gush about him for a thousand words or so and everyone wins. If not, I can still go circle seal on him because of the personal courage or heart that he had while throw those five interceptions that single-handedly killed any chance his team had at a victory.

A mediocre quarterback with poor decision-making skills already relocated to Minnesota this offseason. His name is Sage Rosenfels. Folks would know that, but the story just isn’t nearly as sexy for the guys who cover the NFL for a living. So you’re stuck with Brett Favre all day, every day until he makes a final decision. And then once again when he changes his mind. Rinse, wash and repeat. At this point I’m basically begging for Mike Vick and PETA to get involved just to kill (bad choice of words) this story.

Brian Murphy is an award-winning sportswriter who also goes by the name Homer McFanboy. Contact him at murf@homermcfanboy.com.

Similar Posts:

• Note to Self – Why your team won’t win the Super Bowl 2009
• Note to Self – No controversy
• Note to Self – Why your team won’t win the Super Bowl 2008
• Note to Self – Music City Miracle 2
• Note to Self – Why your team won’t win the Super Bowl 2005