Sports squawk

"Hey, if I saw myself in clothes like that, I'd have to kick my own ass."
- Adam Sandler, from the film 'Happy Gilmore'

(Photo credit - AP)

Posted by Matthew Sprague, Eagle Sports Editor at 6:50 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

So it's come to this.

Just when you thought professional athletes -- and, by extension, professional sports -- couldn't get more outlandish, LeBron James comes along to try and top 'em all.

We all know what's going on by now: James, the most sought-after free agent in recent NBA history, is coming to his decision on his future tonight in front of a national-television audience. For one hour beginning at 9 p.m., ESPN will show, essentially, a LeBronfomercial.

No athlete's playing future has been built up more (no, not even yours, Brett Favre). No athlete, measuring by success, has earned this less.

James has given us incredible highlights over his first seven years in the NBA. He has an undeniable talent for basketball. What he did to the Pistons in Game 5 of the 2007 Eastern Conference finals -- scoring the Cleveland Cavaliers' final 25 points, and 29 of their last 30, in a double-overtime win -- is a feat we may never again see accomplished. He's just 25 years old, and he's one of the best players in the league. He can command a maximum-level contract from the Cavaliers -- 10 years ago, did you ever think you'd read that?! -- if he wants to stay in Cleveland.

That being said, LeBron James is not above the entire league. This ESPN special seems to be an attempt to dispute that claim.

(An aside: He's not the first superstar to try and upstage his whole league. Remember Game 4 of the 2007 World Series, Red Sox fans? Just when you thought it would be all about celebrating a second world championship in four years, you get to watch a mid-game report, given to Fox by agent Scott Boras, that Alex Rodriguez is opting out of his contract with the Yankees. Rodriguez was lambasted for his timing by the sporting media and Major League Baseball, and ultimately stayed in New York.)

When Michael Jordan retired, all three times, he called a press conference. When Kobe Bryant signed a seven-year deal with the Lakers in 2004, choosing them over the Clippers, Bulls, Nuggets and Knicks, he called a press conference. That, from my memory, was every bit as big as the LeBron sweepstakes. There were people who REALLY thought Kobe was heading to either Chicago or the other locker room in the Staples Center.

Here's the thing: When MJ retired -- every time -- he'd done more than LeBron James has done to this point. When Kobe signed his $136.4 million deal, he'd done more than LeBron James has done to this point.

They'd won championships. Multiple championships, in fact. To this day, James has no championships -- save the Eastern Conference title in 2007. Perhaps, if he had at least one championship in Cleveland, this TV special might be kind of permissible.

There's something to be said, though, for humility. When you make KOBE BRYANT look humble by comparison, you're doing something wrong. That's what James is doing by staging this Heisman Trophy presentation-like special tonight.

Now, we've been told that James will announce his decision in the first 10 minutes of the TV special, which will feature advertising that goes to benefit the Boys and Girls Clubs of America. That's very nice of him, and I salute him for it. At least some good can come out of this nonsense.

Doesn't it seem a bit forced, though? Couldn't he do the same by holding a public press conference at a Boys and Girls Club in or near his hometown of Akron, Ohio, charging $10 to $20 a head at the door -- all proceeds going to that Club or the national organization? That way, it could still be televised by ESPN, but it wouldn't take an hour and have the feel of paid programming.

As for the time issue: Who really wants to watch the entire hour, when all you want to know is where LeBron is going and why? In The Eagle's sports pod, we'll watch the first 15-17 minutes of the show tonight. After that, the volume on the TV gets turned back down, and we go back to our computers to put together Friday's sports section for you. I bet you won't watch the full hour, either. The last 40 minutes, benefit advertising aside, will just be LeBron selling LeBron.

My prediction, even following Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh announcing their intent to sign with the Miami Heat, stays the same: LeBron remains in Cleveland. The Cavaliers can offer him the most money, and he seems to be -- despite this ego and public relations slip-up -- a good guy who really wants to give Cleveland the elusive major sports championship it hasn't had since 1964.

What if he leaves Cleveland, though? How will that city's fans -- already punched in the gut by "The Drive," "The Fumble," Art Modell's move of the Browns to Baltimore, and the Indians' playoff gaffes in Game 7 of the 1997 World Series and Games 5-7 of the 2007 ALCS -- feel if they have to watch James not only leave Cleveland, but do it with a big smile and lots of fanfare on an hour-long ESPN special? How would that not be construed (or even misconstrued) as gloating?

Wherever James goes, one thing is clear: He's going to have to win, and soon -- for two reasons. One, he's commanding a lot of money. The fans in his next destination -- be it Cleveland, Miami, Chicago or New York -- will want to see a return on their team's investment (namely, the Larry O'Brien Trophy).

More importantly, though, is this: He's going to have to earn this spectacle.

-M.S.

Posted by Matthew Sprague, Eagle Sports Editor at 12:22 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

If you're a Bruins fan, it's now the last thing you want to think about -- the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

I'm not a Bruins fan -- but that doesn't mean I wasn't affected by Boston's epic collapse in the Eastern Conference semifinal round.

I have no favorite hockey team. I simply love the sport itself. One of the best privileges of my job is the opportunity to cover things like Hennessy League hockey and the NHL's Winter Classic.

With my love for hockey comes my respect for all its traditions. One of those traditions is the playoff beard.

It's widely believed that the Stanley Cup champion New York Islanders of 1980 began the tradition. Many of the players simply didn't shave once the playoffs began -- until after their six-game victory over the Philadelphia Flyers in the final.

Here's a shot of Ken Morrow with his playoff beard.

For the last 30 years, the NHL has seen its share of impressive beards during the playoffs -- and it's also seen Sidney Crosby's sad excuse for a beard.

Here are, in my opinion, the five best playoff beards:

5. Lanny McDonald

McDonald, a Hockey Hall of Famer, finally won the Cup in his last season, with the 1989 Calgary Flames. He'd be higher on this list, but the beard wasn't as well-known as McDonald's sweet moustache.

4. Mike Commodore

The 2006 playoff season wasn't very memorable. It was the first playoff season following the league-crippling lockout of 2004-05, and the Carolina-Edmonton final -- while being an epic seven-game series -- barely registered on the American television radar.

What it did give us, though, was Commodore's fiery monstrosity of hair. If you were dressing for Halloween, and wanted the "rugged backwoods clown" look, this would be the way to go.

3. Scott Niedermayer

Niedermayer won his fourth Cup with the 2007 Ducks. Luckily for humanity, the team held off winning a Cup until it had shed the Disney-movie image.

The beard would merely be garden-variety if not for the salt-and-pepper look. It's a beard tailor-made for those awful commercials with Keith Hernandez and Clyde Frazier. Niedermayer makes the list for having the guts to show his age through his facial hair.

2. Scott Hartnell

Look at that thing! The name "Jesus Bigfoot" comes to mind. So does Chewbacca. So does Tom Hanks in 'Cast Away.' No wonder the Flyers are still going strong.

1. Clark Gillies

You have to respect one of the innovators. A native of Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan, Gillies wore his beard through four consecutive Stanley Cup wins with the Islanders. It's a simple, rugged, manly beard. Not too heavy, but substantial. Exactly how it oughta look.

I draw a lot of inspiration from all five of these guys during a time like this. You see, I don't just respect the tradition -- I embrace it.

Since I don't have a favorite team, I select a random playoff qualifier every year, and wear the beard for them. I don't shave until they're out. Last year, it was the Chicago Blackhawks. A quick playoff exit made it easy.

The Flyers are not making it as easy this year.

Currently, they're up 2-0 in the Eastern Conference finals against the Montreal Canadiens. Their defense is stifling, they're attacking the goal like madmen and goalie Michael Leighton is an impenetrable fortress. They look like champions.

With this beard (and that old helmet), I do not. Observe:

But hey...at least I've got Sidney Crosby beat, right?

Posted by Matthew Sprague, Eagle Sports Editor at 1:20 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Journalists are supposed to be impartial in their jobs. When it comes to coverage, you can't play favorites. You can't show preference to one side over another.
When it comes to Berkshire County, I'd like to think I do that. I went to high school and college outside of Massachusetts, so it's easy to stay impartial when it comes to the county's high schools, colleges and various youth and adult recreational teams and leagues.
One area in which I cannot stay impartial outside of the office, though, is Major League Baseball. In this area dominated by fans of the Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees, I am a man in hostile territory.
I am a die-hard Baltimore Orioles fan.
My first experience with my favorite team came at age 6. The Orioles beat the Twins at Memorial Stadium. Eddie Murray homered. I've been hooked ever since.
If you know the history of the Orioles, you know that it's been nothing but futility in recent years. The last time the franchise finished over the .500 mark was 1997 -- when the O's won the American League Eastern Division, but lost to the Cleveland Indians in the AL championship series.
Since then, it's been painful for the orange and black. The short list of terrible moves:
- Signing volatile slugger Albert Belle to a $65 million contract in 1998 -- and watching him retire two years later due to a degenerative condition in his hip.
- Trading pitcher Sidney Ponson to the San Francisco Giants at the 2003 trading deadline -- then, for some reason, re-signing him in the offseason. Ponson started the 2004 season 3-12, and was finally released in 2005 when his contract was voided.
- Trading for Sammy Sosa.

Don't even get me started.

- Watching Rafael Palmeiro point his finger during a Congressional hearing on St. Patrick's Day 2005 and proclaim that he never used steroids -- "Period" -- and then seeing him suspended for a positive steroid test in August.
- The Mother's Day Massacre of May 2007 -- thanks to a bullpen that cost the team $42 million in the offseason. (Red Sox fans know this as the "Mother's Day Miracle." Never call it that in my presence.)
Another low moment, to be honest, came when I read Sunday's Eagle. The editorial "Baseball is back," while written to help get Red Sox and Yankees fans excited for the 2010 regular season (and they should be excited for it), was a swift boot to the behind of fans of both the Orioles and the Toronto Blue Jays.
In the interest of full disclosure -- don't worry about me. I have the OK of the editorial board to blog about this. Let's face it: There are bigger issues in Berkshire County than Major League Baseball.
That being said: It seems as though the editorial neglected to note that the Orioles ARE figuring out how to compete with the big-money Sox and Yanks in the AL East. After so many years of the cries from fans that owner Peter Angelos was hell-bent on trying to spend with the two big boys on the block, it seems there is a blueprint for success at Oriole Park at Camden Yards.
In 2007, Andy MacPhail was hired as president of baseball operations. MacPhail built two World Series champions as general manager of the Minnesota Twins, and knows what it takes to win in the American League. When he showed up, the irresponsible big spending stopped. Gone were the kind of contracts given to past-their-prime names like Palmeiro, Sosa and Javy Lopez. What returned was a commitment to winning the right way, the way the Red Sox and Rays have -- by building the minor-league system.
The first move may have been the biggest of all.
With the No. 5 pick in the 2007 draft, the Orioles picked switch-hitting Georgia Tech catcher Matt Wieters. The five-tool player nicknamed "God" by his Yellow Jacket teammates skyrocketed through the Baltimore minor-league system, making his debut last season. He's widely seen as one of the top three young players in baseball, and has the spotlight pointed at him as the main player in the Orioles' rebuilding process.
In 2008, the O's took pitcher Brian Matusz with the fourth pick. The left-hander is a major part of the Baltimore pitching staff of the future, alongside Brad Bergesen, Chris Tillman, David Hernandez and Jake Arrieta.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't much of the Boston starting lineup home-grown? Jacoby Ellsbury in left field, Dustin Pedroia at second base, Kevin Youkilis at first, pitchers like Jon Lester, Clay Buchholz, Jonathan Papelbon...so, if the Orioles are on this path, why not admit it?
The editorial notes the ridiculous idea of realignment to save the less-successful teams in the division from having to compete with Boston and New York. No real Orioles fan (and no real Blue Jays fan, either) thinks this is a solution.
Where, if I may ask, were any Orioles higher-ups quoted as saying they wanted realignment? Which Orioles players have said on the record that they preferred the AL Central Division? Show me those quotes, and I'll deride those who suggested a move. If the Rays can win an American League championship coming out of the East, so can the Orioles. And the Orioles -- thanks to the formation of regional cable network MASN -- can afford to retain talent that the Rays can not.

Red Sox and Yankees fans will be quick to note that they never see Orioles fans when they go to Camden Yards (the best stadium in baseball, if you ask me). This is a real Catch-22. The fans won't show up in droves until the O's become one of baseball's big-name franchises again, but the O's won't truly become one of baseball's big-name franchises again until the fans show up in droves, the way Red Sox fans do.
In short, patience is the order of the day -- from Orioles fans like myself, and from my beloved employer's editorial staff. The O's are on the right track. It took the Red Sox 86 years to finally build another world champion. It won't take nearly that long for the AL East to have a fourth competitor to join the Red Sox, Yankees and Rays.
Play ball, indeed.

Posted by Matthew Sprague, Eagle Sports Editor at 2:37 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Laura Spector reflects on her final individual competition in Vancouver.

Thursday was the Individual race here in Vancouver. I'd had some shaky performances on the range in shooting the previous two days, so I needed to sort that out first and foremost, as an Individual is heavily weighted toward the superior shooter. I spent a little bit of time doing SCATT laser training with my coaches on Wednesday night and used the remaining time during zero on Thursday morning to shoot a few extra clips, just to make the mechanics smooth. The day was sunny and a warm one inside our one-piece powerweb racing suits, so I was grateful it was also the one race in which we're allowed feeds. With temperatures dropping a little lower at night during the past week, the tracks held up surprisingly well even when the sun came out. They probably became just a little slower as the snow was churned up and the top layer turned to water. At least we started in the morning instead of the after the men.

-- L.S.

Posted by Chris Carlson at 4:13 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

As an American and a hockey fan, it's something I do every year on Feb. 22.
I watch 'Miracle.'
The 2004 movie chronicling the 1980 U.S. hockey team's improbable Olympic gold medal is a favorite of mine. It's amazingly accurate with the facts surrounding the event, and Kurt Russell's portrayal of coach Herb Brooks is incredible. He's one of the most underrated actors out there.
The young Americans' 4-3 upset of the Soviet Union in Lake Placid, N.Y. on Feb. 22, 1980 wasn't the only event on the minds of Berkshire County residents that night. In fact, it might not even have been the biggest.
While The Eagle's Feb. 23 edition had Team USA's win on the front page -- including "U.S. hockey team whips Soviets 4-3 at games" across the top of the page -- the main sports page (which was Page 20 then, NOT C1) played up the biggest boys basketball game of the year.
At the Boys Club in downtown Pittsfield, North Division champion St. Joseph's, led by Rick Hebert and coach Paul Procopio, beat South champion Hoosac Valley 81-57 for the county championship.
Procopio still remembers the game 30 years later -- even the odd start of it.
"Hoosac Valley did not show up on time," he said. "Usually, the teams get there ahead of time, and they come up for warm-ups. We went through our regular routine. We went back downstairs [when they didn't show up]. They showed up in their uniforms and said, 'Let's play.' They walked in the door at 7:30."
Hoosac was assessed a team technical foul.
From there, the Crusaders rolled. Hebert reached the 1,000-point mark that night, and was given the game ball. He promptly gave it to his mother, one of three great photos in Saturday's Eagle from that game.
Perhaps the best one was a post-game shot of the Crusader team taking a dip in the Boys Club pool. Everyone jumped in -- even Procopio.
"I'd won some championships before that," he said. "That was a lot of fun. It was a great time for us."
Former Eagle sports editor Bob McDonough was there that night. He got word of the Americans' hockey win during the game, and decided he'd have a little fun with the Boys Club crowd.
"The public address announcer had left, and when we heard the final score, I grabbed the microphone," McDonough said in an e-mail last week. "I announced in a very flat voice, 'The final score of tonight's Olympic hockey game in Lake Placid: Soviet Union 3, United States.......FOUR! WE WIN!'
"And of course, the place went berserk."
Procopio remembers the crowd's reaction to this day.
"The Russians were supposed to crush everybody," he said. "We had a bunch of young kids, but they believed. It was great watching the highlights after I got home."
For Procopio, the win was the 150th of 391 in his coaching career. He retired after the 1994 season, and is spending his third winter staying with his brother in Sarasota, Fla. Kentucky basketball coach John Calipari is a friend of his, since Procopio coached at his camps and painted many commemorative basketballs for him during Calipari's time at the University of Massachusetts. Before the Wildcats played Florida in January, Calipari brought Procopio and his wife to a practice. The couple sat behind the Kentucky bench during the game.
As all retired coaches do, Procopio still misses coaching. He especially misses watching the South Division champion Crusaders.
" I'm happy for Paul Brindle and the kids at St. Joe's," he said. "They've gone through a real tough time the last two or three years. I'm sure they'll move 'em to the North next year."
Hoosac and St. Joe's were division champions in 1980, and they're opposite division champions in 2010. The American hockey team scored a huge win in late February 1980 at Lake Placid, and picked up another one Sunday night with a 5-3 preliminary-round upset of Canada in the Vancouver Winter Olympics. Nice to know some things don't change, hm?

A couple of other things that were on the Berkshire County sports landscape on Feb. 22, 1980...

- Monument Mountain's Todd Lane (101 pounds), Louis Ely (108) and Geoff House (141) advanced to the Division II state semifinals in wrestling. At that time, Berkshire County had nine wrestling teams, and the Spartans were the county champions.
- Wahconah's girls basketball team was celebrating its first North Division championship, while Lee was the South Division champion.
- The Hennessy League had a whopping NINE hockey teams in two divisions. Pittsfield High School and Drury were the division champions.

So...what do YOU remember about Feb. 22, 1980?

- M.S.

Posted by Matthew Sprague, Eagle Sports Editor at 2:01 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

These are Laura's thoughts following her Olympic debut and heading into the second Olympic race of her career on Thursday. We hope you're enjoying following Laura as much as we are. (Chris Carlson)

This article originally appeared on www.fasterskier.com. You can follow Laura Spector year-round at blogs.fasterskier.com/lauraspector. FasterSkeir.com is a Williamstown, Mass.-based company that provides year-round coverage of cross-country skiing, biathlon and Nordic combined.

"I was actually not feeling nearly as fresh as I could have hoped to be. But although it wasn't the strongest race of the year for me, the experience was something that's never been equaled for me before. I started in bib number 9 as the first North American, so when the crowd heard that over the loudspeaker they went crazy. I've never before seen the crowd cheer so loudly for a North American, and it made me truly grateful to have a huge group of family and friends out there supporting me at the biggest event of my career. It's great to have the races so close to home this year because it makes their trip out more manageable.

Once I made it out of the stadium and past all the noise I had to figuratively pinch myself and remember the race at hand. I came through the first lap feeling as though I had paced well, and looking back at the analysis, I actually skied a decent time. As most of you have probably already read, the organizers put fertilizer down on the course to help compact the snow, as warm temperatures and rain had caused it to become deep and slushy. This made a huge difference and the course was actually somewhat fast in many places, not to mention that our wax techs turned out some excellent skis considering the variability in conditions throughout the course. Our team of technicians has been doing considerable research over the past four years at this venue to turn out some Bauer grinds designed especially for these conditions.

The crowd was cheering wildly as I approached the range, but I realized to my relief that it was for a Canadian just leaving the start, so I convinced myself that I was all alone on the shooting range. I missed my last shot and it was when I got up off the mat that I realized how beat my legs were. They started to burn on the first uphill after the stadium and when I tried to jump-skate the next big hill, they simply didn't want to respond. It was disappointing and tough to face the fact that I was going into one of the most important races ever on the tired side. The training has been so focused yet minimal this past week, but it seems that it just wasn't enough of a taper for me this time. In the end, I missed one target each in prone and standing but finished out of the top 60, so I won't be starting the pursuit on Tuesday. Instead, I'll use the next four days to get the rest I need in order to start the Individual on Thursday, our longest race at 15 kilometers, refreshed."

-- LS

Posted by Chris Carlson at 7:47 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)