- The New England Patriots uncooperative, evasive and resistant to people probing into their cheating ways? Are you sure? That doesn’t sound like the forthright, stand-up, high-integrity Pats I know. Well, to be fair it sounds exactly like them, which is a big part of the problem. Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Penn. is finding out what the rest of us already knew as he tries to investigate the Pats’ “Spygate” scandal. On Friday, Specter accused the New England Patriots of “stonewalling” and suggested the NFL might never get around to questioning key witness Matt Walsh, a former Patriots video assistant. The NFL contends that it’s moving forward and should have a deal in place allowing Walsh to testify with full legal protection. “My suspicion is that they're going to put enough conditions on it so that he won't talk,” Specter, a Republican from Pennsylvania, stated. “If they had wanted Walsh to talk, it would have been done a long time ago. They are not helped by keeping him on ice, unless they intend to [permanently] keep him on ice.” I love a good conspiracy theory as much as anyone and I’m interested to see how this plays out, but can someone tell me why this is Congress’ business? Specter is pressing this issue like it’s a matter of national security. He’s gone so far as to sya that if the league gains Walsh's cooperation, he wants to be present when Walsh is questioned “because a witness' testimony can be shaded or molded by who questions him first.” Bro, calm down. Unless the Pats and NFL are planning a nuclear strike against Poland based on what Walsh tells them and are stockpiling biological weapons and viruses, I think you’re making far too much of this. Yes, Walsh has suggested that he has information, perhaps even materials, about the Patriots' video practices that could be potentially damaging. Yes, his attorney, Michael Levy, forwarded a proposal to the NFL's outside counsel seeking full indemnification for Walsh on Feb. 14. However, let’s not confuse this issue with something that actually matters in the greater scheme of things. It’s an NFL matter and one the league should handle. If the league is corrupt and isn’t handling this on the up-and-up, there’s still no substantive reason for Congress to be involved.
- Boy am I relieved. See, I thought that with Heroes already done for this season after a way-too-short campaign and Prison Break also having ended early due to the now-resolved writers’ strike, Monday night TV would devolve into a vacuous wasteland of crap. Much to my relief, a quick glance at the night’s TV schedule tells me that I was wrong. See, when you have shows like Deal or No Deal (with Mr. Creepy Hand Wave/Salute himself, Howie Mandel), My Dad is Better Than Your Dad, Pussycat Skanks/Dolls Present: Girlicious and FOX’s The Moment of Truth, you know you’re in good hands. After all, when you can watch a has-been, Mr. Clean look-a-like host a lame game show with a bunch of mystery briefcases, see random, uninteresting dads compete against each other in contrived, made-for-TV challenges, a bunch of untalented skanks in far too little clothing compete to form a crap-tacular new singing ground AND see people have their lives ruined by televised polygraph tests, life can’t get much better, right? Let this be a lesson to all of you who thought that the deal struck by writers and producers to end the strike was the turnaround point for this whole mess. The real effects are still being seen and will be for the rest of the season. Times like these prove that networks are run largely by morons, which makes the fact that they’re able to sell ad time and stay on the air even more remarkable.
- Never has the term “buy low” been so appropriate. If you’re looking to purchase a pro sports franchise and do so at its lowest possible point, there is no more fitting choice than the Miami Dolphins. Yes, this is the same team that ripped my heart out and crushed my dream of the reverse perfect season, 0-16, by inexplicably trying and winning a game after a spectacular 0-14 start. Now, owner Wayne Huizenga has sold off half of the team to Stephen Ross, who is chairman of Related Companies, an international real estate development company. “My heart does not want me to do this, but my head tells me it's the right thing to do,” Ross said. He also said he considered buying other NFL teams in the past, but the Dolphins were his preference. My man, you should have listened to your heart, because you just bought a lemon. Maybe see what the return policy is for NFL franchises, but this is one you’ll want to get out of. Negotiations began last April and became public in December. Speculation about a deal faded when Huizenga hired Bill Parcells as executive vice president of football operations and promised to remain majority owner. Since then, Parcells had proceeded to gut a talent-deprived roster and start the Dolphins on a downturn they must take in order to bottom out and start on their way back up. This is definitely one of those long-term investments for Ross, because the reality is that the ‘Fins are going to continue to suck for several years and he’s going to have to be extremely patient just to sniff the .500 mark. Plus, they still have that bad karma from ruining the reverse-perfect-season dream, so it’s a tough hill to climb.
- What a weekend of college basketball. Tennessee-Memphis was awesome, everything #1 vs. #2 should be. Big games get so much buildup now that they just can’t match the pre-game hype, but this game was awesome from start to finish. Memphis came out bombing from three-point range, but Tennessee withstood the deluge and it was a back and forth affair for the rest of the game, with Tennessee winning 66-62. Surprisingly, the Volunteers will now be ranked #1 for first time in the history of the program. The Tennessee women’s team has won seven national titles and been No. 1 many times, but for the UT men this is a first. One part of the weekend that didn’t live up to the hype was ESPN’s Bracket Busters. This is a concept that has run its course and then some. The concept is to pit mid-major teams that aren’t in the spotlight against one another and give them a chance to shine and get attention. What ends up happening is a bunch of games where teams desperately in need of a win end up playing a meaningless game that if they win does nothing for their tournament chances, and if they lose, it hurts those chances. Initially, the concept was fresh and new and had some value, but several years in it’s just a tired idea that needs to go the way of the dinosaurs. Meanwhile, most of the college basketball world was focused on Evanston, Ill. (bizarre, I know), where the Indiana Hoosiers managed to gather themselves in time to avoid throwing away an easy win at Northwestern in their first game post-Kelvin “Cheater” Sampson, 85-82. Northwestern pressed IU hard all night but thanks to the Basketball Jesus, Eric Gordon, the Hoosiers avoided an embarrassing loss and began the process of moving past their cheating, lying, arrogant former head coach. You also have to feel great for the Baylor Bears, a program that just a few years ago was on the verge of collapse and/or receiving the death penalty from the NCAA because of the Carlton Dotson murder scandal, the attempted cover-up by Dave Bliss and widespread corruption and misconduct in the program, but the Bears defeated Kansas State 92-86 Saturday night to boost their record to 18-8. I sincerely hope these guys make the NCAA Tournament, what a great story that would be. With March Madness looming in just a few weeks, the season is getting better by the minute and it’s almost that magical month of March, the best sports month of the whole year....
- Ray Davies has been a legendary figure on the music scene for more than three decades now, but most of that was for his efforts as the front man for the Kinks, one of the best rock acts of all-time. Now, Davies is going the solo route, having released his first solo project, Other People’s Lives, in 2006, and releasing his second solo album, Working Man’s Cafe, this week. For a man who has penned hits like You Really Got Me, A Well Respected Man and All Day and All of the Night, Davies has managed to do very well in his first two solo projects. Makign the transition is difficult, but he’s done it well. Davies brings the style, grit, flair and twang that made The Kinks a blast to listen to and infuses it into songs like Vietnam Cowboys, a rockabilly tune that kicks off the album. Ray’s estranged brother Dave didn’t help out on the album but longtime Kinks guitarist Mick Avory did. Davies touches on issues scuh as relationships, economic issues and more in an album that strives to have depth and meaning in a time when most artists simply sing whatever pre-procssed, slickly produced crap will sell the most units. Leave it to a great musician from a past era to come back and give us a good album in the here and now....
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