Category: News

Remembering Merlin Olsen

There were plenty of the usual, mundane, sports topics I contemplated writing about Thursday. I’ll get to them eventually. Forgot all about them when I found out Merlin Olsen died earlier that morning losing his battle against a form of lung cancer. He was 69.

If you knew nothing about big number 74 before Thursday, you’ve, by now, probably read all about the NFL hall-of-famer and anchor of the Los Angeles Rams “Fearsome Foursome” defensive line of the 1960’s. Alongside Olsen was tackle Rosey Grier, who came from the New York Giants via trade for tackle Roger Brown, and defensive ends Lamar Lundy and David “Deacon” Jones, all four causing havoc and mayhem for all opponents.

Olsen played 15 seasons all for the Los Angeles Rams, never missing a game, was all-pro for 14 of those seasons garnering the Most Valuable Player Award in 1974, before retiring in 1976. He’s STILL the franchise leader in tackles with 915.

Olsen never played in a Super Bowl. He always was left one game short. Back then, the Rams could never get by the Minnesota Vikings, Dallas Cowboys, Green Bay Packers or Baltimore Colts with the Super Bowl on the line. Didn’t matter. More often than not, the inability of the offense to score at crucial times in championship games was the Rams Achilles Heel.

For many of you, Olsen is better remembered for his role as Jonathan Garvey on TV’s “Little House on the Prairie” and, later, starring in his own show, “Father Murphy”. Quite honestly, I never watched “Little House on the Prairie” or “Father Murphy”. I do remember his TV work as the pitch-man for FTD Florists and as Dick Enberg’s analyst on NBC-NFL broadcasts.

My fondest memories of Merlin Olsen are, as a little kid in the 1970‘s, about going to the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum on Sunday afternoons in the Fall and watching big number 74 stuff opposing running backs forcing teams to pass which enabled him and guys like Jack Youngblood and Fred Dryer to terrorize opposing quarterbacks. That was the era of the second incarnation of the “Fearsome Foursome”. Olsen and  Larry Brooks were the interior defensive tackles with Youngblood and Dryer working either end of the line. Olsen IS the only link to both incarnations.

Back to the 70’s. It was an incredible time to be a Los Angeles Rams fan. Beginning in 1973, the Rams won an NFL-record seven straight NFC Western Division Titles. For the first four titles, Olsen was the leader on a Rams team that, defensively, would beat down opposing teams no matter what offensive super-star any team would challenge the Rams defense with. The Cowboys with Roger Staubach, Drew Pearson and Tony Dorsett. The Bills and O.J. Simpson. The Vikings with Fran Tarkenton and Chuck Foreman, the Cardinals and Jim Hart. The Steelers with Bradshaw, Swann, Stallworth and Harris. I’d always look forward to listening to the Rams Theme Song played by the Rams Band after big plays and wins. Was also fun to watch “Archy”, the ARCO Mascot, dance on the Coliseum scoreboard after big plays and scores. The following Monday morning, it was always a treat to re-live the game reading about it and cutting out the photographs in the L.A. Times and Herald Examiner sports sections.

I remember Merlin Olsen never danced after making a big tackle or quarterback sack never gloating over his victim like today‘s players seem to do as if it‘s part of the game. Many times Olsen would give his victim a helping hand off the turf and a pat on the behind. All the Rams defensive players followed his lead. Win or lose at the end of a game, Olsen was the first at mid-field to shake the opponents hands. Olsen respected the game and those who played it.

Olsen was genuinely a good guy on and off the field. The first TV interview I conducted as a broadcast journalism student was with Merlin Olsen. He was taking part in a celebrity fund-raiser golf event in Buena Park, California. To tell you how long ago that was………Ronald Reagan was President.

Needless to say, I was excited and extremely nervous to be interviewing one of my childhood heroes. Luckily, it wasn’t a live shot. I completely blanked. We turned off the camera excusing myself all the while to Mr. Olsen. He chuckled a bit and in a deep voice said to me, “No problems. We’re just having a nice conversation.” That’s what we had. A nice conversation.

Now, before interviewing anyone, especially kids, I remember looking up at Merlin Olsen, who was wearing a white golf cap that day way back when, and repeat what he said to me, “We’re just having a nice conversation”.

With his passing, I’ve lost another part of my childhood. The one where my father, brother and I would watch Merlin Olsen and the Rams at the Coliseum. What’s amazing to me, in this world of social media networking, I know I’m not the only one who’s lost a member of the family with Olsen’s passing.

On FaceBook, there’s a group called “Bring Back the Los Angeles Rams”.  A group detailing stories of Autumn Sunday afternoons at the Coliseum and Anaheim Stadium when the Rams were thee sports team here…and hope there could be more memories in the future. Will it happen. Who knows.

In the meantime, you can find tributes to Merlin Olsen on that group’s page. That’s what’s sad. Only on that group page can they be found. We can’t go to the West Pico Boulevard Office of the Rams, across the street from the Rancho Park Golf Course. It no longer exists. We can’t go to Rams Park in Fullerton. It no longer exists. I suppose we can go to the Coliseum and put together a “memorial shrine” to Olsen near the Peristyle end of the stadium. Would anyone care.

The Rams left for St. Louis 16 years ago. Had they still called Los Angeles home during that time, Olsen and his “Fearsome Foursome” mates would have been celebrated in front of a packed stadium on one of those glorious L.A. Autumn Sunday afternoons. It never happened and it never will. Olsen and Lamar Lundy are gone. Rosey Grier, “The Deacon”, Jack Youngblood, Fred Dryer, Larry Brooks and Cody Jones are still around. But, we can’t pay tribute to these guys because Autumn Sunday Afternoons at the Coliseum with the Rams and the NFL no longer exist. That’s a disgrace.

But, along with the L.A. natives in the group “Bring Back the Los Angeles Rams”, I’m fortunate enough to have memories of those great times, great Rams teams and great players like Merlin Olsen. The rest of you missed out.

Maybe Roger Goodell and the NFL should think about having a pre-season game at the Coliseum with the Rams, playing in the blue and white throwbacks, taking on the San Francisco 49ers and hold pre-game and halftime ceremonies celebrating Merlin Olsen and the Fearsome Foursome.  Better still, instead of having a regular season game in London, have it in Los Angeles at the Coliseum with the Rams, wearing blue and white throwbacks, taking on the 49ers and hold pre-game and halftime ceremonies celebrating Merlin Olsen, the Fearsome Foursome and the Los Angeles Rams.  One game couldn’t hurt. Bet it’d be a sell-out. It’s a “no-brainer”. Maybe that’s too obvious and RIGHT for the NFL Suits to do.

Rest in Peace, Merlin Olsen. Live long in our hearts and memories along with the Los Angeles Rams and those glorious Autumn Sunday afternoons at the Coliseum.

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Hey NFL! Did You Watch the Gold Medal Hockey Game and Learn!!

The National Football League should really take a long, hard look at the Olympic Gold Medal Hockey Championship Game and the way it was broadcast.

The Game is part of the Olympic Event. The game doesn’t exist without the event. No six hours of hype before the event. No analyzing the same thing over and over again. No looking for stories to fill time that border on tabloid journalism.

NBC said the game was going to be live in all time zones, noon Pacific, three Eastern time. Five minutes to set the scene. Then they drop the puck. Plain and simple.

Intermissions between periods were the standard 10 to 15 minutes tops, just like the other tournament games and the same as regular season and post-season NHL games. No doubling each intermission to accommodate a “mini-concert” featuring The Who, Bruce Springsteen, Paul McCartney … and certainly no “wardrobe malfunction” to worry about either.

The game is about the teams and players … which the NFL seems to have a problem understanding when it comes to the Super Bowl. Every other game during the season, including all playoff games and the conference championships, don’t divert from the usual routine of 15 minutes at halftime.

Except for the Super Bowl which has a 45 minute intermission to milk the event for everything it can by putting on a mini-concert. That takes players and teams out of the routine each is used to based on the symmetry of halftimes during the season.

That’s unfair to the players and teams, especially the ones that have to dig themselves out of a two touchdown hole, to have to sit and wait an extra half hour to get used to the hitting and speed of the game again after that extended “down time” between halves.

Whereas the Gold Medal Championship Game is part of the “Olympic Event”, it’s the opposite with the Super Bowl. Without the Super Bowl Game, there is no Event.

The Event is the Game with the participating players and teams having priority over glorified “variety shows with over-the-hill bands“. Everything else is just a glorified “tail-gate party”. An expensive one at that.

NFL, just tee it up and play!!

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Olympic Men’s Hockey Final………GOLDEN!!!

Team Canada’s home-ice, 3-2 overtime win over Team USA in the Olympic Men’s Hockey Final was GOLDEN! It’s one of the greatest championship games I’ve ever seen. Really, there wasn’t a loser at the Canada Hockey Palace in Vancouver Sunday. Oh sure, the final score read Team USA didn’t win the game. But, it certainly didn’t lose it either.

The Canadian crowd, decked out in a sea of red jerseys with a smattering of Americans decked out in red, white and blue, made the atmosphere electric before the puck even dropped to start the game. It was a tense championship game from the moment the puck was finally dropped, because of the “North American bordering countries“ battling for the Gold, and the finality a game of this magnitude brings. The sense of urgency is always there until the final horn.

That’s how it’s supposed to be in a one-of-a-kind, once-in-a-lifetime Title Game with two evenly matched teams that have a common border. NBC Olympic host Bob Costas pointed out a championship game like this probably won’t happen again. Team Canada, with the weight of an entire country on its shoulders, playing for the gold medal at home against the United States in a sport that defines Canada: Hockey.

Fighting back from a two-nothing deficit to tie the score on Zach Parise’s (New Jersey Devils) goal with just 25 seconds left in regulation with an empty net and six skaters, it looked as if Team USA was destined to avenge the Gold Medal Game loss to Team Canada at the 2002 Salt Lake City Olympics … another of those one-of-a-kind, once-in-a-lifetime game’s with Team USA having the home-ice advantage. I guess that would make it twice in a generation.

Alas, it wasn’t meant to be when Sidney Crosby (Pittsburgh Penguins) lasered the biscuit through the wickets of USA goalie Ryan Miller (Buffalo Sabres) seven minutes in the OT for the true definition of a “Golden Goal.” Only one team was going to come away with it. Happened to be Team Canada. It scored the one and only goal needed in sudden death for the win. No loser in this one. Could’ve gone either way. Team USA didn’t win the gold. It didn’t lose it either. Look at it this way. The United States earned the Silver Medal and huge respect from the rest of the Hockey Playing World.

This incredible game was played 50 years to the day Team USA beat Team Canada for the Men’s Hockey Gold Medal at the 1960 Olympics in Squaw Valley, California … another one of those one-of-a-kind, once-in-a-lifetime championship games with the United States having home-ice advantage. At least this one was a couple of generations, and a lifetime, ago. Canada versus the United States has become quite the hockey rivalry.

“Bloop Singles”

  • USA goalie Ryan Miller made himself a lot of fans and money during the two-week tournament. Miller was the tournament most valuable player. You can bet he’ll get a huge ovation, as he did from the appreciative and hockey-savvy Canadian fans during the medal ceremony, in Buffalo and every NHL arena the rest of the 2010 season.
  • Of the four major sports (hockey, football, basketball & baseball), hockey is the least popular for a couple of reasons:

1. You have to know how to ice skate.

2. All the equipment needed to play is pretty pricey.

3. It needs to be really cold inside, or out.

4. It’s not played with a ball that’s easy to spot either in person or on TV.

5. The game’s so fast, people complain you can’t see the tiny puck racing around.

  • All of the above is true. But, if you’re into the game, it sure is fun and exciting to watch. As far as playing it?
  • Well, I can’t ice skate.I can’t run a 4.5, 40. I’m too small to block and tackle. I can’t catch a ball or run a fly-pattern. Too short and slow to play basketball(however, I do have a mean outside jumper………when left unguarded). I can’t hit, catch or throw with any precision. I can chew gum well and, occasionally, scratch myself………………but not in front of the camera.
  • So, no matter what the sport and equipment needed, we’re all better off with me talking about sports. Although, some of you may believe I’m wasting my breath doing that too.

Just a thought.

One last thing…….

I still am experiencing the occasional “internet issues” which have caused lapses between new stories. I’m fixing the problem. So, keep checking in to the blog. THANKS FOR THE SUPPORT!

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THE PUCK STOPS HERE! USA! USA!! USA!!!

Just a day short of the 30th anniversary of USA Hockey’s greatest victory, a 4-3 semi-final win over the Soviet Union at the 1980 Lake Placid Winter Olympic Games, Team USA stunned heavily favored Team Canada, 5-3 Sunday night in preliminary pool play at the Vancouver Winter Olympics. Last time Team USA defeated Team Canada in olympic hockey, 50 years ago at the 1960 Winter Games at Squaw Valley California. That Team USA took the Gold.

The “Young Americans” were the quicker, faster and hungrier team quieting the Canadian fans who want hockey gold more than any other event at the games.  Team USA’s Brian Rafalski (Detroit Red Wings) scored two goals and goalie Ryan Miller (Buffalo Sabres) stopped 42 of 45 shots by Canada. The USA was able to get five of their 22 shots by Canadian legend, goalie Martin Brodeur (New Jersey Devils).  Sidney Crosby (Pittsburgh Penguins) led the “Canucks” with two goals.

With the win the USA grabs the tournaments top-seed gaining a bye and will face the winner of the Switzerland/Belarus game in the quarter-finals Wednesday. Team Canada gains the six-seed and will play 11-seed Germany Tuesday for a quarter-final berth against Russia on Wednesday.

A USA/Canada rematch is possible in the Gold Medal game. Let’s not get ahead of ourselves. Defending Gold Medalist Sweden and Silver Medalist Finland are still in the tournament as well.

Team Canada beat Team USA in the Gold Medal Championship at the 2002 Salt Lake City Games. You know what they say about payback. We’ll see. 

Winter Games “Bloop Singles”

  • Congratulations to U.S. Alpine Skier Bode Miller. He added the Super Combined Race Men’s Gold Medal to the Silver and Bronze medals he earned earlier in these Olympics. Miller’s now in a four-way tie for most medals won by an American  individual in a single Olympic Games.
  • Miller’s redeemed himself for his pathetic performance in the 2006 Winter Games in Turin where he garnered no medals in the Alpine Skiing Events. He would’ve garnered gold had “heavy partying” been an Olympic event in Turin. Let’s just say, Turin embarrassed him. That’s forgotten.
  • Here we go again. Another champion pouting after coming in “second”. Brace yourselves. I’m writing about Men’s Olympic Figure Skating.
  • Russia’s Yevgeny Plushenko, the defending Gold Medal Men’s Figure Skating Champion, was visibly angry during the medal ceremony while the Star-Spangled Banner was bellowing in honor of the USA’s Evan Lysacek, who knocked  Plushenko from his gold medal perch.
  • Plushenko, who won the gold in at the last Winter Games in  Turin, came out of retirement to take another gold with his signature move, the Quad Toe. For those of you , like me, who are wondering what a Quad Toe is. It’s a move involving the skater stopping himself with the toe of one of the skates and launching him, or her, self in the air for four aerial spins. Well, Plushenko performed the move to perfection immediately following the Quad Toe into, a more conventional, Triple Toe.
  • Lysacek, of course, didn’t attempt anything close to the Quad Toe. He did do some of the Triple Toe maneuvers spreading out his aerial spins whereas Plushenko bunched his aerials early in his routine leaving him, as NBC Figure Skating Ananlyst and American Gold Medalist in the event, Scott Hamilton pointed out during the broadcast, with a bunch of skating around without any jumps with a minute left in his routine. That seemed to make the difference. Later, two-time men’s figure skating gold medalist and analyst, Dick Button, added Plushenko did do the Quad Toe. But, Lysacek’s routine was better choreographed in it’s distribution of skating moves.
  • Plushenko, later, said he was surprised the skater who didn’t perform the Quad Toe won the gold medal blaming some new Olympic scoring system for his silver medal. I’ll refrain from attempting to figure out the new and old scoring systems.  He did say Lysacek skated well and congratulated him on the medal podium.
  • Plushenko, really, was less than gracious in defeat during the National anthem. But that’s the competitor in him. He lost by the slimmest of margins and should be upset he lost, especially, considering the time and dedication it takes to become an Olympic Champion and that the games are only every four years.  He’s won one gold and two silver’s in his Olympics career.
  • It’s just like LeBron James leaving the court, last season, before congratulating the Orlando Magic on winning the Eastern Conference Championship over his Cleveland Cavaliers or Peyton Manning running off the field before congratulating Drew Brees and the New Orleans Saints on their Super Bowl Title after beating his Indianapolis Colts.  They both eventually congratulated their opponents within a few hours of losing.  All three are competitors that don’t like to lose.  If all three were indifferent about losing, they wouldn’t be great champions and competitors. That’s how it should be.
  • Seriously! I can’t believe NBC is also showing weekend Olympic events TAPE DELAYED on the West Coast.  In this day and age of the internet where results are immediately posted, it makes no sense to show the games tape delayed….especially on SATURDAY & SUNDAY!!! Shouldn’t be too surprising considering it’s the same network that completely botched its “Late Night Show” schedule.
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Frankly Tiger, I Don’t Give A Rat’s &$%!! Now, Get Back On The Links!

Watching that Tiger Woods press conference Friday morning, I became just a bit disturbed and disgusted by the fiasco. Not because Tiger was reading a 13 minute, prepared, apologetic statement directed towards his family, employees, co-workers, sponsors, fans and me/us. But because he had to read one at all.

The Tiger Woods we know, “The Tiger Brand”, the Tiger Woods Money-Making Corporation, is the one that hits golf balls far and well, creating scholarships for the under-privileged, other philanthropic ventures to help others, is the one who makes money for his sponsors………and a lot of it. None of that would happen if Tiger weren’t able to hit a tiny ball off a tee better than anyone else in the history of golf. That won’t change, at least until he leaves the PGA Tour a couple of decades from now. Tiger off the course, off the public stage, in his home, or someone else’s, the private man, is his, and only his, and his family’s  business.

The only thing Tiger has to explain to employees, co-workers, sponsors, fans, me/us is why he isn’t doing his thing (sorry) on a golf course (he probably has…but that‘s his business) and when he’ll be back to doing that “voodoo he do so well“………that would be PLAYING GOLF.

All he had to say to employees, co-workers, sponsors, fans and me/us is something like this;

I’m not right at the moment. I’m taking care of serious issues that completely affect my private family life forcing me to take a break from my professional one. Please understand I have to work on my private family life before getting back to the professional one. I’ll be back to entertain you with my driver and putter striking my balls (uh……sorry) as soon as my private family business is worked out. Thank you.

I read that out loud. It took me 19 seconds. That would’ve saved him 12 minutes, 41 seconds of prepared rhetoric and my/our time.

Don’t get me wrong. I certainly don’t condone the inappropriate behavior, infidelities, indiscretions Tiger, the man, is guilty of doing in private. Honestly, I don’t care. It’s his and his immediate family’s business.

Tiger’s let employees, co-workers, sponsors, fans and me/us down by not being on the golf course. THAT’S IT. That’s the level of intimacy we have with him…………a professional one based on what he does for a living and how his expertise on the links makes us happy and helps others off it.

Tiger didn’t cheat on us. He’s, absolutely, let his wife, Elin, his two young children and immediate family down with his inappropriate behavior, infidelities and indiscretions. That would be true if Tiger were a janitor at Sawgrass instead of one of its more revered members (again……sorry).

Who are we to judge what he did behind closed doors especially since what he did hasn’t killed anyone, affected our economy or national security? I’m pretty sure some janitor somewhere, an attorney, a doctor, a fireman any “regular Joe” has behaved inappropriately cheating on a wife/husband, significant other and family. They just aren’t doing their professional thing under the public microscope. What goes on behind closed doors…………

This isn’t something new. Athletes, entertainers and politicians, with very public lives, have been engaging in forms of inappropriate behavior, in their private lives, since man/woman began recording history on cave walls. Same with “regular Joe’s”.

Friday, Tiger spoke for ALL PUPLIC FIGURES who’ve behaved inappropriately stating;

I knew my actions were wrong, but I convinced myself that NORMAL RULES DIDN‘T APPLY.

Quoting Mel Brooks, portraying France’s King Louie the 16th, in the comedy, The History of the World Part I;

It’s good to be the King!

Until you get caught with your pants down that is. Right, Tiger?

I’m not judging, but, off the top of my head, here’s a short list, among others, of public figures in the last, oh, half century, we know could’ve uttered Tiger’s, or Louie’s line:

They all live/lived by the creedo, NORMAL RULES DON’T APPLY TO ME because of who they are and what their place in the grand scheme of things is. Tiger continued by saying,

I thought I could get away with whatever I wanted to. I felt that I had worked hard my entire life and deserved to enjoy the temptations around me. I felt I was ENTITLED. Thanks to MONEY and FAME, I didn’t have to go far to find them.

I’m not alerting anyone to anything new when I say these public figures live in a completely different culture than you and I. You and I saying, “I have to make every penny count” is to these public figures saying, ”I have to make this thousand dollar bill count.”

A few years back, former NBA player and millionaire Latrell Sprewell, during negotiations of another certain multi-million dollar contract, was insulted by an offer a team looking for his services presented him. He said, and remember negotiations are in the millions of dollars;

How am I supposed to put food on my table and feed my kids with this?

Most of us are offended by a millionaire spouting off like that when unemployment is in double-figures. But, that’s the nature of his culture, that of the pro athlete/entertainer, and we can’t relate to it.

All these famous and rich people do work hard to make all that money. There’s no question. That doesn’t entitle them to make their own rules. But the wealth and public notoriety they’ve achieved doesn’t entitle us “regular Joe’s” to meddle in their private lives behind closed doors…………only their public ones.

So, shame on Tiger for his inappropriate behavior, infidelities and indiscretions behind his closed doors. But shame on all of us who, I’m sure, have made regrettable mistakes, and “can’t cast that first stone” at Tiger.

El Tigre, take care of your “addiction” and get your private life right so you can get back to hitting that golf ball a mile, winning some more majors and contribute to society helping under-privileged kids and teaching them the merits of hard work. That’s all we should be caring about.

Oh. By the way, thanks for, also, teaching kids that look up to you how not to disrespect and treat immediate family members and loved ones behind closed doors. That lesson was priceless.

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USA’s Biggest Winter Stars Put On Olympics Show

Now, that’s what I call a triple-treat attention grabber!! USA! USA! USA! GOLD! GOLD! GOLD! Forget Figure Skating, and Curling. These events ARE the Winter Games.

Pin-Up Girl/Alpine Downhill Skier Lindsey Vonn, Speed Skating Pioneer Shani Davis and Snowboarding’s most recognizable star, Shaun White, all took Gold Medals for the USA in their respective events on Day 6 of the 21st Winter Olympic Games Wednesday in Vancouver.

Vonn began the gold rush flying 65 miles an hour down Whistler Mountain in one minute, 44.19 seconds, a half second faster than her opponents, winning the Women’s Downhill…the Winter Games signature event. Vonn struck gold just a few days after her participation in the event was questionable because of a badly bruised right shin she suffered during a practice run a few weeks ago. She, reportedly, could barely walk. Well, I’m pretty sure Lidocaine Creme stock is Golden as well today after Vonn numbed her swollen and aching shin before racing to Olympic glory.

The USA went one-two in the Women’s Olympic Downhill for the first time since the 1984 Games. Julia Mancuso grabbed the silver medal with Austria’s Elisabeth Gorgel taking the bronze.

After becoming the first African-American athlete to win an individual gold medal taking the 1,000 meter speed skating gold at Torino in 2006, Pioneer and 1,000 meter world record holder Shani Davis became the first man in Olympic history Wednesday to win consecutive 1,000 meter speed skating gold medals taking top honors over at the Richmond Olympic Oval. How about that! The only color that matters is that of his gold medal.

Davis wasn’t the lone American on the podium. Texan Chad Hedrick, who won three medals in Torino, grabbed the bronze. South Korea’s Mo Tae-bum, Monday’s 500 meter gold medalist, took home the silver. Next up, the 1,500 meter event later this week.

How about Californian Shaun White, maybe the Winter Games’ marquee athlete. The Halfpipe Gold Medalist in Torino is the World’s greatest snowboarding star and gave spectators a “totally rad show” Wednesday. The $10 million a year man toyed with his competitors at the Halfpipe event. With his Gold Medal defended, White worked some “showtime” doing, what he calls, the Double McTwist 1260 (McDonald‘s has to, as the slogan goes, be lovin’ it! A huge endorsement deal can‘t be too far behind), twisting and turning his body in some big air during his victory lap. DUDE!!

Two Americans on the podium at the Halfpipe as well. Joining White, Scotty Lago taking the bronze while Finland’s Peetu Piiroinen took silver.

Six medals in three events for Team USA, the biggest single-day winter games medal haul the U.S. has ever had.  It vaulted Team USA past  Germany into the medal count lead with a 14-10 advantage, five of them gold.

Thursday’s Day 7, more Women’s Alpine Skiing featuring Vonn and, woo hoo!!,  Figure Skating and Curling. Might be movie night after the skiing. Oh wait! The Lakers host the Celtics Thursday at Staples Center. Movie night will have to wait.

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Winter Olympic Games: Sports or Event, or Sports Event? It’s All Good Cheer!

Like all Olympic Games, the 21st Olympic Winter Games in Vancouver is an event featuring a collection of athletic competitions. But are all the events sports competitions, or are some just events unto themselves? Maybe some are just games? Maybe disciplines?

It’s like that age-old question regarding cheerleading. Is it a sport or a discipline?   I did a two-part feature to find the answer to the question while working at KIDK (CBS) in Idaho Falls a few years back. Let’s just say, I’m still searching for the answer.

Most parents told me cheerleading is more of a support group for athletic teams to escalate the crowds spirits. The cheerleaders told me the cheerleading team is, just that, a team just like the football or basketball teams they cheer on.  They went on to say they, physically and mentally, work just as hard as any athlete at their school. They required practice to fine-tune their routines just like a basketball or football team requires practice to be successful on the field of play.

Many of you parents have a child that’s on a cheerleading team spending thousands of dollars per year so your child can be out-fitted properly and make all the cheerleading competitions around your area. A competition? Then cheerleading is a sport!  My research indicated it’s become a billion dollar industry with some athletic gear companies dropping the “usual sports”, like football and basketball, to focus solely on cheerleading. Imagine that.

Here’s what I think. Cheerleading was an athletic support group that became an athletic discipline requiring excellent physical skills….like any other sport.

So, back to my Olympics question. The reason I asked….what, in humanity, is the winter sport known as Curling?!?! In an athletic sort of way, I thought curling involved a bar with two weights at each end to, when used properly, curling the bar up using your hands to strengthen biceps. The winter sport version involves slowly gliding a huge stone across ice while somebody sweeps the ice in front of it. If you’ve ever witnessed Curling, the participants look like they practice with pitchers of beer near by. A beer-belly seems to be a pre-requisite to be a Curler. And where’s the actual “curling” anyways? If this is an Olympic event you can medal in, why isn’t “janitorial sweeping & mopping“? For that matter, why isn’t Shuffleboard an Olympic discipline? That would enable senior citizens and/or ocean cruise vacationers to become Olympic Champions.

To me, participating in sports involves using muscles and physical skills you really don’t use in your everyday life. Hence, the endless hours of practice and working out. Skiing, snowboarding, ice hockey, bobsledding, luging, speed skating…….and figure skating fit the bill. Wait a minute. Figure Skating? That’s dancing on blades on ice. Why isn’t “Ballroom Dancing” a Summer Olympic medal sport?  Didn’t Olympic Figure Skating Champion Kristi Yamaguchi win “Dancing With The Stars“? So, did Olympic Short Track Speed Skating Champion Apolo Anton Ohno. Why isn’t Bowling an Olympic sport?  You can have a beer-belly and pitcher near by, just like Curling, when you bowl. The Professional Bowlers Association is bigger than the Professional Curlers  Association. Does the PCA even exist? There is a CCA and USCA.

How about No-Limit Texas Hold ‘Em Poker?!? That’s a physically and emotionally demanding discipline, especially when you have to sit at a table for hours, even days, on end. That’s become a billion dollar sports event broadcast on ESPN, the Entertainment & Sports Programming Network. Yup, that’s what ESPN stands for.  What about chess?

If it involves big money, any game can become an Olympic sport or discipline. The issue is, most of these Winter Olympic disciplines, as well as some of the Summer ones, take seconds to complete. It’s not like basketball or hockey games which take many minutes to complete. Snow boarding and skiing are other examples of disciplines that take little time to complete. But, anyone can play those games for recreation. That’s why everyone watches every four years. Shaun White, Bode Miller, Apolo Anton Ohno, Lindsey Vonn. Couldn’t recognize them in a crowd. I can recognize Kobe Bryant and LeBron James. All of these names are those of Olympians.

Don’t get me wrong. I love watching, among others, the long and short track speed-skating, the snow-boarding, luging and the Winter Games signature event, the Downhill Skiing.  Thank goodness the Olympic Games, Winter or Summer, are only every four years. That’s the novelty.

Can’t wait for the “Cheerleading Disipline” to become a medal sport….at least at the Summer Games. Can we just forget the Curling thing? By the way, I’m on my way to do some “curling”. That would be the one involving the bar and two weights on each end. Go figure.

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Los Angeles Can Get Back in the NFL Game, Now!!

Am I the only “Native Los Angeleno” that’s irritated the National Football League has an annual regular season game overseas in London, England….in a foreign country? I remember hearing the NFL made this happen to expose the “NFL Product” to untapped markets. Didn’t know London was in the running or even wanted an NFL Franchise. If I’m not mistaken, didn’t WLAF aka NFL Europe FAIL. Wasn’t “We LAF” a financial blunder by the NFL. Weren’t the London Monarchs in “We LAF”.

Quite honestly, Los Angeles is the untapped market the NFL should be investing its time, effort and “product” to BEGINNING WITH THE UPCOMING 2010 SEASON.  The Los Angeles Sports & Entertainment Commission, along with L.A. County & City Officials, should be on the phone EVERY DAY pestering NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell and the 32 league owners, until all are tired of hearing it and get the message. BRING THE NFL BACK TO LOS ANGELES, NOW!

Local lobbyists need to drive this point home. An L.A. NFL Team will help boost the currently sagging local economy and expose the game to kids who have missed out on seeing NFL stars, some who played collegiate football at USC and UCLA, live and in person. Oh, and the league will make $$$ too. That’s the name of the game, isn’t it?

Los Angeles needs to make the “NFL Suits” understand LOS ANGELES is the place to have the annual regular season football game, with the short-term goal of having a financially strong NFL franchise with a solid fan base in the greater Los Angeles area.  Not in a foreign country located across the Atlantic Ocean.

AMERICAN FOOTBALL IS OUR GAME. Keep the “NFL dollar” flowing at home. I could care less about the British Pound and Wembley Stadium. If the league wants to have ONE annual regular season game in an old, dumpy, past its prime stadium….have it right here at the Coliseum until L.A.’s new, state-of-the-art stadium is built. Los Angelenos deserve that much. As a matter of fact, instead of heading overseas during the pre-season as well, the NFL should, also, consider having a pre-season game or two right here in Los Angeles or Pasadena.

The NFL is the most popular Sports & Entertainment ticket in the country. With it comes people spending dollars. That stimulates local economic growth for employment opportunities, small & large businesses, the city and the state. People like to be “where the action is”. They’ll spend their hard-earned money where that action is.  The “NFL Action” needs to be right here in Los Angeles.

“Bloop Singles”

*Did you know the NFL NETWORK, owned an operated by THE NATIONAL FOOTBALL LEAGUE, has its MAIN STUDIOS in CULVER CITY…..in LOS ANGELES COUNTY. Yet, it hasn’t had an NFL franchise in Los Angeles since the 1994 season when the Rams and Raiders called L.A. home?

*Did you know the FOX NETWORK’S NFL PRE-GAME & POST-GAME SHOWS are broadcast out of a STUDIO right here in LOS ANGELES. Yet, there hasn’t been an NFL franchise in Los Angles since the 1994 season when the Rams and Raiders called L.A. home?

*So, let me get this straight. LOS ANGELES, THE COUNTRY’S SECOND LARGEST TV MARKET, THE ENTERTAINMENT CAPITAL OF THE WORLD, is a worthy enough place to produce and broadcast studio shows licensed by the National Football League. However, L.A. isn’t good enough to have an NFL Franchise? HYPOCRITE$!!

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Los Angeles NEEDS the NFL

Here’s a commentary I wrote to the Downtown News “fish rap” in Los Angeles, California.

Los Angele$ NEED$ the NFL

During the NFL season, all the way through the playoffs and Super Bowl, I write predictions for each game on my blog, onanygivensportsday.com, and end each weeks picks with this line:

BYE WEEK OR MISSED PLAYOFFS: LOS ANGELES*
*15 seasons, 22 weeks and counting……….

The “15 seasons, 22 weeks” reflects the time passed since the last game the Rams and Raiders played locally, to the just completed Super Bowl XLIV (44).

Look at those numbers again. That’s 15 SEASONS and 22 WEEKS since the NUMBER TWO MARKET in the country, in terms of population, has reaped the financial benefits of having a National Football League franchise to call its own. Considering the greater Los Angeles area is known as “THE ENTERTAINMENT CAPITAL OF THE WORLD”, going 15 seasons and 22 weeks without the NFL is a COMPLETE DISGRACE.

From the 1973 season at the Coliseum as a kid to the final home game of the Los Angeles Rams at Anaheim Stadium on Christmas Eve 1994 as an adult, I had season tickets to Rams games. It’s absolutely pathetic to think that now two generations of L.A. kids have never been able to see an NFL game in person. Los Angeles kids have missed out on seeing the greatness of players like Brett Favre, Jerry Rice, Tom Brady and the like because L.A. isn’t part of the NFL. Driving to San Diego isn’t the same thing.

A huge THANK YOU to L.A. Sports & Entertainment Commission President Kathryn S. Schloessman for reminding us, in the February 8th edition of the DownTown News, what Los Angeles has been missing since two NFL franchises bolted the area at the end of the 1994 season; The added, huge, financial pay-out to the local economy for hosting the Super Bowl and the festivities during “Super Bowl Week” leading up to the championship game.

After calculating the numbers L.A.‘s missing out on without a National Football League franchise, President Schloessman wrote:

To be sure, we don’t need the NFL to be a world-class city. We don’t need an NFL team here for community identity. Los Angeles hasn’t and won’t suffer without an NFL team.

Schloessman’s right. Los Angeles doesn’t need the NFL to be a world-class city. Los Angeles doesn’t need the NFL for community identity. However, IT IS APPARENT THAT LOS ANGELES HAS SUFFERED, AND WILL CONTINUE TO DO SO, WITHOUT AN NFL TEAM, OR TWO. The financial calculations in her article connected with having a Super Bowl in L.A. are proof of that.

Let’s consider the current economic climate Los Angelenos find themselves in:

  • Unemployment in double-digits.
  • Vacant stores and lofts Downtown.
  • How about Los Angeles City Officials trying to find money to pay bills the only way they know how, by cutting jobs.

Wouldn’t building or renovating a stadium, surrounding it with an entertainment center including theatres, shops and restaurants a la “Staples Center & L.A. Live” and a Los Angeles NFL franchise create jobs and stimulate the local economy? YES! Not to mention what a secure spot in the Super Bowl rotation would mean financially as well.

A decade ago, Houston was awarded the NFL franchise that should’ve gone to the City of Angels. L.A. lost out because several local groups couldn’t work together, instead, competing to lure the NFL.  The huge thorn was the Los Angeles Coliseum Commission, which argued its old venue was the only viable site because it represented the home of NFL franchises in L.A. for half a century. Legal action was threatened against other suitors and the NFL if another site were picked to house L.A.’s team. The last thing the NFL wanted were legal hassles requiring time and money in court. Buh-Bye Los Angeles Stars…..Hello Houston Texans.

So, the Archaic Coliseum stands empty and adding cracks on Sundays. Meanwhile, Houston’s had pro football since 2002 in state-of-the-art Reliant Stadium which hosted Super Bowl 38 garnering Houston, what Schloessman estimated, $400 million to its local economy.

After all this, last May, Governor Schwarzeneggar, among other state properties, proposed selling the Coliseum to raise cash to help alleviate California’s growing fiscal issues.  COME ON! That idea comes a decade too late. Majestic Realty’s Ed Roski, who was then and is now, looking to build a stadium in the City of Industry…on his own dime….should have been offered the Coliseum to renovate back then and, by now, Los Angeles would have been back in the NFL game and having hosted not one but, most likely, two Super Bowls. Wouldn’t that have helped the local and state economy if it had happened. Maybe the governor can borrow money from Houston.

Within a 50 mile radius, the Los Angeles-Orange County metropolitan area houses two NBA franchises, two MLB franchises, two NHL franchises, even two MLS franchises in a brand new 35 thousand seat stadium in Carson. That begs the question, “why didn’t they build a second deck on the Home Depot Center doubling its capacity for the NFL?” Bottom line is this, based on these figures Los Angeles NEEDS to be home to TWO NFL FRANCHISES.

Full support by State and Local Government should be given to Mr. Roski and Majestic Realty to build that proposed $800 million stadium and entertainment center in the City of Industry returning the NFL to Los Angeles. That would instantly create construction jobs and, later, revenue for local business owners, the city and the state. The blue-print’s downtown in the form of L.A. Live. This needs to happen NOW.

One last issue. For those who don’t want a team, would rather watch football on television or go to the beach on a Sunday afternoon in Fall, more power to you. I’m sure there are 70 to 80 thousand fans who would love to watch the game in person for eight, or maybe even 16, of those Autumn Sundays…..and a Super Bowl every four years.

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Saints Ice SB XLIV on Tracey Porter Pick, Beat Colts, 31-17

Under five minutes left in Super Bowl 44. Saints up 24-17. “St. Peyton Manning” and the Colts driving for the tying score. That’s when New Orleans defensive back Tracey Porter reads Manning’s eyes and steps in front of Indy receiver Reggie Wayne and intercepts the pill going the other way 74 yards for the winning touchdown.

Below is an excerpt from my Super Bowl 44 prediction posted Saturday:

“It’s hard to go against Peyton Manning and the Colts because Manning is a surgeon on the field cutting up the league’s best defense for 377 passing yards and three TD’s in the AFC Championship. But Brees and the Saints can light it up as well. So, it’s about the defenses. Because Freeney, the Colts monster pass-rusher, will be much less than 100%, I think the Saints’ opportunistic defense might have the edge and will come at a third straight future hall-of-fame QB with a bull-rush causing turnovers which, ultimately, will be the difference in the game. That plays right into New Orleans’ hands.”

Thank You! Those hands belonged to Tracey Porter of the Opportunistic Saints Defense working their eighth turnover of the post-season. It iced the Saints first Super Bowl championship. The Saints are a deserving team who played the best during the playoff run. Think about it.

The Saints defense stopped three sure hall-of-fame quarterbacks in consecutive games, driving one to retire…..maybe two. Arizona’s Kurt Warner, who decided to hang it up after a vicious hit delivered by the Saints defense. Minnesota’s Brett Favre, who may retire….again…then unretire….again, and Indianapolis’ Peyton Manning.

Got to give it up to Saints quarterback and Super Bowl 44 MVP Drew Brees who completed 32 of 39 passes for 288 yards and two touchdowns. The moment with his son after the game was priceless. How about head coach Sean Payton. Going for the win TWICE. Unsuccessful towards the end of the first half going for it on fourth and goal. Then, after The Who’s halftime extravaganza, opens the second half with a successful on-side kick that gave the Saints momentum. You might say it was “very Boise St. of coach Payton” to go for broke. The Saints out-played the Colts from the second quarter on out-scoring Indianapolis 31-7 after falling behind 10-0 in the first.

Congratulations to the World Champion New Orleans Saints, the people of the “Big Easy” and the entire state of Louisiana. Never though I’d ever see the Saints win a Super Bowl. WHO DAT!

“Bloop Single”

*Let’s try it again. Super Bowl XLV (45) at Cowboys Stadium in Dallas, Texas.  Minnesota over San Diego.

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