STARTING FIVE
Black Sea, black widows, black cloud.
1. Is Sochi Safe?
The Winter Olympics are about two weeks away, and as happens with every Olympics since Munich, the inevitable security concerns stories begin to appear. This time, though, the stories have weight behind them. To begin with, reacquaint yourself with Sochi’s location. It’s a weekend getaway from a number of countries that are hostile to the West.
Sochi borders the Black Sea, in Russia, of course.
The venues themselves will likely be safe, as will the athletes. It’s the cafes and the plazas, where thousands of tourists will congregate, that will give officials migraines. And let’s hope that’s all.
2. Ouch, Babe
She’s thinking, Fifty-Cent in the pits at Daytona was more lucid.
My former colleague Jeff Pearlman stays up past his bedtime, opens up the lap top, and unleashes a screed on the spokeswoman for TruBiotics. Meeee-ow! I’m not the biggest EA Sports fan, but what did she do wrong here? She actually asked the question everyone was thinking; and then a FOX producer ordered her to abandon ship. Contrast that with Ed Werder’s fawning interview of the same human, just moments later, for ESPN. If EA had smiled and fawned this way, she would have been roundly pilloried. And squarely pilloried.
3. RIP PAT?
You can’t spell “Party” without “P-A-T.”
Once upon a time my good friend Steve Hymon was a reporter (read: fact-checker) at Sports Illustrated. Reporters were not expressly forbidden to submit “Point After” essays, but we knew our chances of ever having one published were miniscule. “Hymo”, as he’s known, penetrated that barrier with an essay entitled “Rename This Column” in which he advocated that the NFL adopt college football’s option for a two-point conversion after a TD.
At the time, the NFL only allowed the kick PAT.
Some time after Hymo’s column, the NFL did adopt his idea –I’m sure they never credited him, though.
So now Roger Goodell is considering ending PATs? Why? Is he doing this just for kicks? I’m hoping to read a hed that says something like, “NFL Will Eliminate PAT, Replace With Four More Regular Season Games.”
The PAT is the fine after-dinner mint that we all crave. A coda for a symphonic drive. A chance to beat the traffic to the fridge for our next “Old Star or Old Milwaukee…nothin’ snooty.”
And, of course, I have to ask: Would such a maneuver coerce my former employer into actually taking Hymo’s advice (“Rename this column”) itself?
4. A Film About a Film Critic?
Aisle be seeing you…
Steve James, the Chicago-based filmmaker who gave us “Hoop Dreams”, a universally acclaimed documentary, is screening a film about the late Chicago Sun Times and nationally known film critic, Roger Ebert, at Sundance Film Festival. It’s called “Life Itself”, based on Ebert’s entertaining autobiography. And here’s one review of a film about a film reviewer. And here’s another.
5. Dr. V Was No Dickie V.
Answer: No. Years of lying and depression may have.
The “Harrumph Harrumph Harrumph!” story of the week goes to Grantland.com, where a young writer’s profile on a sham putter salesperson went horribly awry. Grantland Editor-in-Chief Bill Simmons apologized. A guest with expertise on trans-gender issues explained what went wrong.
The writer, Caleb Hannan, did some wonderful digging here to expose the subject, Essay Anne Vanderbilt. The subject would take her life before the piece ever ran. Hannan’s piece was first widely praised. Then there was backlash. Now there is penitence.
Sorry, I don’t get it. While Hannan overreached by informing one of Vanderbilt’s investors about her sexual reassignment, he was reporting a piece on a person in which the crux of the story became the fact that the person was misrepresenting his or herself. And in that case, her transgender issue is germane to the story.
I’m sorry that Vanderbilt felt so lost that she committed suicide. But I do wonder why the only ones never blamed for a suicide are those that actually commit suicide.
Reserves
Joan Niesen, one of the new SI hires, has gone from Georgetown to Mizzou J. School to Fox Sports North to the Denver Post to SI in rapid succession.
Sports Illustrated announces THREE COUNT ‘EM THREE writing hires in one swell foop, and that doesn’t include our man Hamilton, who was also recently brought aboard. Curiously, still no word on the whereabouts of Thayer Evans.
If there’s one word in the first graf of that release that should catch your eye, well, have you ever heard of the Citric Acid Cycle? What does it all mean? I cannot be sure, but SI will be having a screening of “Logan’s Run” for any editorial staffer interested later this week.
*****
Totalitarian State of Denial
The North Korea Rodman, Steve Francis and their baller buddies didn’t see.
North Korea, where they smuggle in not guns but computers and video cameras. This is an excellent 50 or so minutes from PBS’ “Frontline.”
****
Hoopage: Swaggy P. scores 31 in a Laker loss, giving him 60 points since returning from suspension…Ohio State loses its fourth straight (but Aaron Craft remains pure and sublime)…Kansas beats its fourth straight ranked team: the six other teams who have beaten four ranked squads is as many games have won the national title…Miami finishes its road trip against mostly crap Eastern Conference teams 2-4…Notre Dame women’s hoops remains undefeated with a win at Tennesssee; probably won’t meet UConn until Final Four.
The Hall
Charter Inductees: Ty Cobb, Walter Johnson, Christy Mathewson, Babe Ruth, Honus Wagner
1937: Tris Speaker, CF; Cy Young, P.
1938: Grover Cleveland Alexander, P; Eddie Collins, 2B
1939:Nap Lajoie, 2B; Joe Jackson, LF
1940: Billy Hamilton, OF; Cap Anson, 1B
1941: Wee Willie Keeler, RF; George Sisler, 1B
1942:
Rogers Hornsby, 2B; 1915-1937, Six teams, mostly Cardinals and Browns
The Rajah’s .358 career batting average is second only to Ty Cobb, and no one since has bettered the .424 batting average he posted in 1924. Only player to ever hit above .400 and at least 40 home runs in the same season (1922, when he hit .401 with 42 homers).
Pie Traynor, 3B; 1920-1935, 1937, Pittsburgh Pirates
Often considered the greatest 3rd baseman pre-Brooks Robinson, Harold Joseph Traynor had a career .320 batting average and a .946 fielding percentage. Only struck out 278 times in 17 seasons.
The Bank
Balance: $835
Last Night: Took the Lakers plus 9.5, they lost by 2. So we win.
Record: 6-7
Tonight: Coming later
Remote Patrol
Indiana at No. 3 Michigan State
ESPN 7 p.m.
Dakich. He’s terrific. Some of you think he’s the worst. Which only corroborates my opinion.
You’ve got a potential Final Four squad in the Spartans plus Dan Dakich is your analyst. What else do you want? Can IU’s Yogi Ferrell duplicate the performance he had against the then No. team in the country, Wiscy, last week?