Pickleball?

While checking the weather in Florida ahead of my trip to Tampa next week I stumbled across an article from a local newspaper on a new sport sweeping Florida's senior homes:

PICKLEBALL!

So what is pickleball??

Pickleball is described as combining aspects of tennis, ping pong, and badminton.

Pickleball is played on a 20-by-40-foot court, the same as badminton, and the net is set at 34 inches, two inches lower than in tennis. Players use paddles to hit a whiffleball about the size of a baseball, back and forth.

The game starts with an underhand serve and at least two underhand shots must be exchanged before volleying is allowed. No volleys, or overhead shots, are allowed within seven feet of the net. A point is scored when the ball is not returned, and the first player or team to 11 points with a two-point lead wins.

The seniors interviewed in the article said the sport offers a good level of exercise for their age.

Here's a video I found on You Tube showing highlights of a 2006 tournament- yes pickleball is competitive- in Arizona.



Looks like it would be pretty fun even now- and when i'm in my 60's and 70's with a huge beer gut and a daily tee time it might be a good way to break a sweat.

Probably only a matter of time before there's a court somewhere in Bermuda.

We're Going Streaking!

Its a first people.

Cricket on the blog!

But its not to discuss the failing Bermuda cricket program (still trying to think about how to word that post poignantly enough so as not to offend anyone)...

Its for a highlight that's cheeky to say the least.

A streaker took to the field during the one day tri-series final game between Australia and India got a little more than he bargained for.

I guess the respect the British have for streakers in their full naked glory-(I will always remember that picture of the Queen politely clapping the streaker at Wimbledon)- wasn't passed on to the rest of the Commonwealth.

Take a look:



I guess Andrew Symonds had seen enough balls at the wicket for one day.

Eduardo Horror Tackle

If you have a weak stomach don't watch this video but here's the tackle by Birmingham's Martin Taylor on Arsenal's Eduardo Da Silva for anyone that hasn't seen it. The tackle left Eduardo with a broken leg and there's no timetable for his return.




I don't think Taylor had any intent to hurt Eduardo but he definitely wanted to come in hard and these things happen in football. It's a real shame.

Wish Eduardo all the best and hope for the Gunner's sake he comes back fit and healthy again sometime next season.

The NBA's Wild Wild West

I can already see the title of a post in June.

How the West was won.

But right now the question is...what team will I be writing about. And to be honest...I have absolutely no idea.

After watching Shaquille O'Neal's debut with the Suns (which the Suns lost to the Lakers) and Jason Kidd's Mavs debut (which the Mavs lost to the Hornets), I'm still just as confused as I was before all the big trades of the last 2 weeks were made.

Lets take a quick look at the Western Conference standings. (I'll spare you the bottom 6 because barring a small miracle none of them will be in the Playoffs come May.)
W/L GB

1. New Orleans 37-15 0

2. LA Lakers 37-17 1.0

3. Phoenix 37-17 1.0

4. Utah 35-19 3.0

5. San Antonio 35-17 2.0

6. Dallas 35-19 3.0

7. Houston 33-20 4.5

8. Denver 33-20 4.5

9. Golden State 33-21 5.0

Thats 9 teams separated by only 5 games with less than 30 games left to go in the season. It's gonna be a wild finish to say the least.

In a race that's so close its inevitably going to come down to the individuals who step up. The problem is that every team in the top 9 has AT LEAST one NBA Star.

My pre-season prediction for the finals was Boston-Denver. Yes, that's right Denver. I thought with Allen Iverson and Carmelo Anthony together for a full season and Kenyon Martin coming back from injury that they would be the team to beat in the West.

Unfortunately, all the league's general managers must have got wind of my prediction and went out and stole a whole bunch of superstars from the East to try and prove me wrong.

So with that said, even after watching the Lakers beat the Suns tonight in Shaq's debut...I'm gonna flip-flop. Make a new prediction. And i'm hopping on the bandwagon and I'm going with the Suns. Once Shaq gets a couple games to adjust to the Suns (and the Suns get a couple of games to adjust to Shaq) I can see that team gelling at just the right time (as long as the Big Diesel stays healthy). And I don't see many teams in the West that could beat them in a 7 game series-maybe the Lakers, maybe the Spurs, but that's it.

I mean who is dumb enough to bet against this guy anyways-




But as I said before it's anybody's guess who's gonna be the Western Conference champ when the season ends. One things for sure. We're in a exciting rest of the season in the NBA. And I have to admit I'd fallen out of love with the NBA in the past couple years...I found myself watching a lot of college basketball and not much NBA. The NBA lacked it's excitement..that excitement I remember when I was younger and 23 was more than a shoe.

But at least for now...the excitement is back baby!

So thats where all that stuff goes...

If you didn't already know when a Super Bowl happens or any other championship game for that matter...that league has to make up shirts and hats for both teams that say super bowl champions. So I always wondered what happened to the shirts and hats from the teams that lose? Did they get thrown in the garbage? Salvation army? What?

Well I read something this week that all the unused Pats merchandise has been given to charities that clothe people in Africa. Boy would I be surprised if I went on a trip to somewhere in Africa and saw everyone wearing"New England Patriot Super Bowl XLII Champions" or "Undefeated Season- 19-0" shirts and hats. I might think I entered the Twilight Zone or something. Good for the NFL making good use of the stuff and not just leaving it in a dumpster outside the stadium but I still thought it was interesting.

Perfection! Almost....

18-1.

I don't think anybody in the world that wasn't a Giants fan would have bet on a Giants win over the previously undefeated Patriots in Super Bowl XLII with any sort of confidence...but lo and behold: The New York Giants are your World Champions.

Although I wouldn't quite call it the greatest upset in Super Bowl History its got to be pretty damn close. How did the Giants, 12 point underdogs in Vegas and even bigger underdogs in the eyes of the general public, beat the "dynasty" that was Bill Belichick's New England Patriots??

Not one team had been able to get consistent pressure on Tom Brady all season. Coaches were too afraid to bring blitz packages because of the skill of New England's WR's and Tom Brady, they were afraid to get beat deep.
But the Giants front 4 on defense was good enough that Defensive Coordinator Steve Spagnuolo didn't need to bring blitz packages. Michael Strahan, Jay Alford, Osi Umenyiora, and Justin Tuck in particular, harassed Brady and his weak ankle all night so that the Patriots could never really settle into their rhythm.

But late in the 4th quarter Tom Brady looked like he had done it again...escaped with a win...engineering a late 4th quarter drive capped with ANOTHER TD pass to Randy Moss. The Giants had 2:52 left on the clock to put the ball in the end zone.

Emmit Smith said something in the Sportscenter post game coverage that I totally agreed with. The Giants defense had set the tempo and the intensity of the game at such a high level...that the offense HAD to match it. And Eli Manning came out and did just that. If anyone hasn't seen the 3rd and 5, 32 yard completion to David Tyree yet (well first of all I don't know what you were doing not watching the best Super Bowl since the Rams-Titans in 2001) here it is. Probably one of the top 5 plays in Super Bowl history.



One more pass to Plaxico Burress and the rest was history.

But my question is how will these 18-1 Patriots be remembered?? I can't help but think that this loss essentially diminishes everything they accomplished in the regular season. The 18 wins. The undefeated regular season. All gone. Because they didn't win the big one. What could have been the greatest season in the history of the NFL is now just another season. When people talk about Super Bowl XLII and the 2007-08 season they won't talk about Tom Brady and all the records he broke. They'll talk about Eli Manning and that game winning drive. They won't talk about Randy Moss and the dominating force that he was week in and week out in the regular season. They'll talk about David Tyree (Who??), yes David Tyree and that catch. They won't talk about Bill Belichick and how he led his players through the cloud of SpyGate to a Super Bowl title...They'll talk about Tom Coughlin.

The Patriots have become an afterthought. I only hope that Spygate is over and we don't hear anymore information that would serve to diminish the legacy of what truly is one of the greatest dynasties in NFL history. 3 Super Bowls in 4 years is impressive. But after last nights game, the dynasty is done. The allure is gone.

'Perfection' will not be synonymous with the 2007 New England Patriots.

But no one will ever forget...

18-1.

The Fate of "the 4th Major Sport"

So what did you do this Sunday? You probably watched some TV...I know I did. Most people usually do.

Super Bowl bye week so no football. College basketball had some good games. Lebron vs. Kobe. Tiger tearing up Torrey Pines at the Buick. Some FA Cup games early in the morning (dont get me started on those balloons on the field during the Sheffield Utd goal...if you haven't seen it already I'll post it later in the week). The Australian Open Mens final was on late Saturday night/early Sunday morning. So there were a lot of good sports events on the tube...

But probably the best of them all was the game played on the ice in Atlanta. The NHL's All-Star Game. And I bet very few-if any-of you watched it.

For years the National Hockey League has been struggling- in attendance, in TV viewers, in advertising, in overall popularity. Even before the canceled season of 2004-05 the NHL's popularity was on the steady decline....A far cry from the glory days of Gretzky and Lemiuex in the 80's or Howe and "Rocket" Richard in the 50's as the face of the league.

Last season's All-Star game ratings dropped 76%-yes 76%!- from the previous year. The Stanley Cup continued with record low ratings on NBC. Viewers in the US who wanted to watch the All-Star game had to be lucky enough to have The VS. Channel (formerly the Outdoor Life Network) to even catch a glimpse.

A Harris Interactive poll, taken in January 2007, polled 2309 US Adults on their favorite sports.
The poll listed Hockey right behind Men's Golf in 8th place. 1 spot ahead of Men's soccer. Thats right. In the USA, SOCCER is almost as popular as Hockey.

So will the NHL die, fade off into oblivion, be doomed to th VS. network forever???

Well with the strong fan base that the NHL has, not only in Canada but in many European countries as well I don't see the NHL ever falling completely off the map.(Although why the league keeps awarding NHL franchises to places like Columbus and Atlanta instead of say Winnipeg is beyond me.)

But one thing about Sunday's game did give me hope for the future of "the 4th Major Sport."

Youth.

Eric Stahl, Anze Kopitar, Rick Nash, Paul Stastny, Evgeni Malkin, Alexander Ovechkin and others...and of course Sidney Crosby-the new face of the NHL- give the NHL hope. In a game that can be at times one of the most exciting spectacles in sport, fast-paced, full of action, and full of flair. The injection of some individuality from this new group of young stars could be just what hockey needs to throw it back into the national spotlight. Coupled with new innovative ideas like outdoor games and the All-Star game skills competition population could increase again.

Red Wings Goalie Chris Osgood said, ""A lot of the other leagues -- football, baseball -- they have some personalities in the league that draw attention with the fans, and I think in the last six, seven years, our league's lost that. We don't have as many of the characters like we need in our league to promote the game and sell tickets. We tried to do that this weekend. I'm hoping it works."

I hope it works too.