Friday, Oct 28, 2005
Today at work I found a children's toy in my shoe department. It's this round plastic CD player-like thing with a handle. It had the monkey "ooing" and "aahing" while the song Pop Goes the Weasel played. The dog went "ruff ruff" while the song This Old Man played. They also had a mouse squeaking while Hickory Dickory Dock played. I remember thinking "oh mouse, how you slay me". I'm such a child.
Monday, Sep 5, 2005
(another article I wrote back for my school paper)
Top 10 Oddest College Team Names
By Sean Sousa
A lot of colleges have sports teams. Some of those team names make sense, e.g. Eagles, Tigers, Cougars. However, there are some really strange team names out there. I took a look at all of the college team names I could find and compiled a list of what I think are the strangest of the strange starting with the least of the bunch.
10. California State University-Long Beach Dirtbags--I don’t think this college team name requires much explaining. The dirt bags are the name for the CSULB men‘s baseball team. The name almost sounds like it was made on a dare, doesn’t it? You really have to show a lot of self-confidence on the baseball field to compensate for being named the Dirtbags.
9. St. Louis University Billikens--The billiken is a statue that was found by archaeologists. The Billiken is derived from Egypt and it was believed to be good luck. It’s a very odd-looking creature. It kind of looks like a small monkey-like creature with the ears of a bat and the head of a gnome.
8. Southern Illinois University-Carbondale Salukis--If I were to walk up to you on the street and ask you what “salukis” meant would you have a clue on what I was talking about? If you were a veterinarian or an avid dog lover then you just might. A saluki (salukis in plural) is defined as an ancient breed of a tall slender dog that originated in Arabia and Egypt and has a smooth, silky, variously colored coat.
7. Texas A&M-Kingsville Javelinas--When I first saw the team name Javelinas I thought that it had something to do with the javelin but it actually has nothing to do with the javelin at all. The javelina is another word for the collared peccary. What is a collared peccary you ask? The American Heritage Dictionary defines the collared peccary as a small wild hog with a range from the southwest United States to northern Argentina that has a gray and black coat with a white band from the back to the chest and is also called a javelina. They must really love their javelinas down in Texas to name their team after them.
6. University of California-San Diego Tritons--The Triton carries many meanings. It is one of the moons of Neptune and it is a tropical marine gastropod mollusk. But upon constant searching I found out what their depiction of a triton is. The triton is also a god from Greek mythology with the head and trunk of a man and the tail of a fish. They take a lot of pride in their mascot. The only probable competition for the invincible triton may be another school from their nine UNC schools, the University of California-Riverside’s highlander, which is said to be immortal.
5. Missouri Western State Griffons--The griffon, or griffin as it is sometimes spelled, like the triton is actually a mythical creature. It is a beast with the head and wings of an eagle and the body of a lion. It’s said to be very strong but it doesn’t look as glorious as it sounds. It’s a gawky-looking hybrid of a bird and a lion.
4. Indiana Hoosiers--Quite possibly the most widely known team name in college sports, but what does it mean? Has anyone ever really thought about it? The origin of the word hoosier is actually unknown but there are theories. One theory is that it comes from an old English dialect word hoozer, which means really, really large. Another more practical theory is that it comes from way back in the 19th century when some states in the Midwest were being established. Each state had its nicknames. For example there were the Alabama Lizards, the Nebraska Bugeaters, and the Missouri Pukes (classy, huh). Luckily for Missouri that name didn’t stick but the Indiana Hoosiers kept their nickname and since then it has become widely popular.
3. University of California-Santa Cruz Banana Slugs--How do you root for a banana slug? Just reading about this creature bored me. The banana slug is the second-largest slug in the world and disgustingly enough resembles a banana. It is a shell-less mollusk who uses it slime to keep its skin moist for breathing purposes and to fend off predators. It seems the nine Universities of California (see #6) really go all out to find names for their athletic teams. What confuses me is that if the other campuses have mascots such as the triton and the highlander then why on earth would you choose to name your team the banana slugs?
2. Virginia Polytechnic Hokies--Hokie doesn’t have an actual definition. The school claims that the word is officially defined as “a loyal Virginia Tech fan.” The word, however comes from a man named O.M. Stull. Back in 1896 he wrote a cheer for the school and made up the word hokie to use a part of the cheer. While O.M. Stull must have passed on by now, his imaginary word still lives on in the Virginia Tech athletics program.
1. Webster University Gorloks--No, a Gorlok is not a Star Trek creature, I don’t think anyway. This is, in my opinion, the strangest team name I have come by. The only place I could even find it was on the college web site itself. The Gorlok, like the Hokie, is a made-up word. Approximately 20 years ago it was chosen by a campus committee trying to select a name for their athletics teams. They decided to go with the word gorlok. They cleverly took the street intersection from what’s referred to as “Old Webster”. The intersected street names in “Old Webster” were Gore Avenue and Lockwood Avenue, hence gorlok (Gor-Lok). Kudos to Webster University for cleverly coming up with their own original and unique name.
Top 10 Oddest College Team Names
By Sean Sousa
A lot of colleges have sports teams. Some of those team names make sense, e.g. Eagles, Tigers, Cougars. However, there are some really strange team names out there. I took a look at all of the college team names I could find and compiled a list of what I think are the strangest of the strange starting with the least of the bunch.
10. California State University-Long Beach Dirtbags--I don’t think this college team name requires much explaining. The dirt bags are the name for the CSULB men‘s baseball team. The name almost sounds like it was made on a dare, doesn’t it? You really have to show a lot of self-confidence on the baseball field to compensate for being named the Dirtbags.
9. St. Louis University Billikens--The billiken is a statue that was found by archaeologists. The Billiken is derived from Egypt and it was believed to be good luck. It’s a very odd-looking creature. It kind of looks like a small monkey-like creature with the ears of a bat and the head of a gnome.
8. Southern Illinois University-Carbondale Salukis--If I were to walk up to you on the street and ask you what “salukis” meant would you have a clue on what I was talking about? If you were a veterinarian or an avid dog lover then you just might. A saluki (salukis in plural) is defined as an ancient breed of a tall slender dog that originated in Arabia and Egypt and has a smooth, silky, variously colored coat.
7. Texas A&M-Kingsville Javelinas--When I first saw the team name Javelinas I thought that it had something to do with the javelin but it actually has nothing to do with the javelin at all. The javelina is another word for the collared peccary. What is a collared peccary you ask? The American Heritage Dictionary defines the collared peccary as a small wild hog with a range from the southwest United States to northern Argentina that has a gray and black coat with a white band from the back to the chest and is also called a javelina. They must really love their javelinas down in Texas to name their team after them.
6. University of California-San Diego Tritons--The Triton carries many meanings. It is one of the moons of Neptune and it is a tropical marine gastropod mollusk. But upon constant searching I found out what their depiction of a triton is. The triton is also a god from Greek mythology with the head and trunk of a man and the tail of a fish. They take a lot of pride in their mascot. The only probable competition for the invincible triton may be another school from their nine UNC schools, the University of California-Riverside’s highlander, which is said to be immortal.
5. Missouri Western State Griffons--The griffon, or griffin as it is sometimes spelled, like the triton is actually a mythical creature. It is a beast with the head and wings of an eagle and the body of a lion. It’s said to be very strong but it doesn’t look as glorious as it sounds. It’s a gawky-looking hybrid of a bird and a lion.
4. Indiana Hoosiers--Quite possibly the most widely known team name in college sports, but what does it mean? Has anyone ever really thought about it? The origin of the word hoosier is actually unknown but there are theories. One theory is that it comes from an old English dialect word hoozer, which means really, really large. Another more practical theory is that it comes from way back in the 19th century when some states in the Midwest were being established. Each state had its nicknames. For example there were the Alabama Lizards, the Nebraska Bugeaters, and the Missouri Pukes (classy, huh). Luckily for Missouri that name didn’t stick but the Indiana Hoosiers kept their nickname and since then it has become widely popular.
3. University of California-Santa Cruz Banana Slugs--How do you root for a banana slug? Just reading about this creature bored me. The banana slug is the second-largest slug in the world and disgustingly enough resembles a banana. It is a shell-less mollusk who uses it slime to keep its skin moist for breathing purposes and to fend off predators. It seems the nine Universities of California (see #6) really go all out to find names for their athletic teams. What confuses me is that if the other campuses have mascots such as the triton and the highlander then why on earth would you choose to name your team the banana slugs?
2. Virginia Polytechnic Hokies--Hokie doesn’t have an actual definition. The school claims that the word is officially defined as “a loyal Virginia Tech fan.” The word, however comes from a man named O.M. Stull. Back in 1896 he wrote a cheer for the school and made up the word hokie to use a part of the cheer. While O.M. Stull must have passed on by now, his imaginary word still lives on in the Virginia Tech athletics program.
1. Webster University Gorloks--No, a Gorlok is not a Star Trek creature, I don’t think anyway. This is, in my opinion, the strangest team name I have come by. The only place I could even find it was on the college web site itself. The Gorlok, like the Hokie, is a made-up word. Approximately 20 years ago it was chosen by a campus committee trying to select a name for their athletics teams. They decided to go with the word gorlok. They cleverly took the street intersection from what’s referred to as “Old Webster”. The intersected street names in “Old Webster” were Gore Avenue and Lockwood Avenue, hence gorlok (Gor-Lok). Kudos to Webster University for cleverly coming up with their own original and unique name.
Sunday, Aug 21, 2005
Back in the 2004 school year I wrote for the college newspaper. It was a monthly newspaper and me being a big sports fan decided to write a Sports Report, which the editor cutely named Sports Shorts. I wanted to show this to a friend and I'm really not sure if anyone else can see it, because I've never posted a blog. This is from November of 2004. Hope you enjoy it.
SPORTS REPORT
ARE YOU READY FOR SOME EDIE? - If there is something wrong with seeing a woman in a locker room drop her towel during a skit leading into a football game then I stand guilty as charged. Unless you live under a rock then you were bound to hear this talked about to death for the whole week following the Monday night football game. Terrell Owens was at his locker ready to go play Monday night football when Desperate Housewives character "Edie" played by Nicollette Sheridan walks in with nothing but a towel on. She tries to dissuade Owens from going to play football to instead spend some time with her. When Owens is finally set on going to play, "Edie" drops her towel prompting Owens to stay with her instead. Cut to Teri Hatcher and Felicity Huffman (also on Desperate Housewives) mocking the trashy soap opera garbage from their living room and then saying the well-known line "Are you ready for some football!" It was meant to be harmless and silly but conservative people out there decided that this wasn't appropriate to display before a football game at 9 o’clock at night on a network station. This issue probably spurred even more debate due to the whole "wardrobe malfunction" debacle back during the Super Bowl halftime show.
NHL HALL OF FAME INDUCTEES - Ray Bourque, along with Paul Coffey and Larry Murphy were inducted into the hall of fame this year. I mention Bourque first because, of course, he thrilled Boston Bruins fans for 20+ years. He's a legend in this town and now he's officially getting honored by the NHL. Ray Bourque got his name on a whole mess of record lists for the Bruins and the NHL, including being the Bruins all-time leading scorer and all-time leader in games played. Those don't even scratch the surface on what Ray Bourque has done. His career ended on the highest possible note it could have. After spending a year on the Colorado Avalanche, the team went all the way to the Stanley Cup defeating the New Jersey Devils in game 7 to win the 2001 Stanley Cup. Paul Coffey set a bunch of records himself. One of them being the highest single-season goal record for a defenseman with 48 goals. As a defenseman he is right behind Bourque in career assists, goals, and points. He's won four Stanley Cup championships and three Norris Trophies. Larry Murphy also won four Stanley Cup championships. He had a great rookie campaign setting single-season rookie record for assists with 60 and points with 76. He fell second to who else, Ray Bourque, for the Calder Memorial Trophy in his rookie year. All three inductees were defensemen and all three were drafted in the first 10 picks of their draft (Bourque 8th in 1979, Coffey 6th in 1980, Murphy 4th in 1980).
THE UNSTOPPABLE MANNING - Through eleven games of the 2004 NFL season, Peyton Manning has compiled more touchdowns than he has had after sixteen games in any one of his previous six seasons. Though he doesn't want to talk about it, Manning is quickly approaching Dan Marino's 1984 single-season touchdown record of 48. He has a 6-touchdown game, three 5-touchdown games and has thrown no less than two touchdowns in any game this year. Something also to be commended is Manning's touchdown to interception ratio. Through week 12, Manning's TD/INT ratio is 5:1, second only to Drew Brees. Marino brought his team to the super bowl in his record-breaking year but ended up losing to San Francisco, how far will Peyton and Co. go?
PENNSYLVANIA FOOTBALL - NFL fans in Pennsylvania must be riding pretty high right now. After ten games, both their football teams lead their respective conferences (Pittsburgh leads New England in the AFC because of their head-to-head win in week 8 ). Philadelphia has the QB-WR tandem of Donovan McNabb and Terrell Owens powering the Eagles through the NFC. Pittsburgh has rookie quarterback Ben Roethlisberger, the third QB selected in the NFL draft. After first-string QB Tommy Maddox went down in week 2, the Steelers were pretty concerned about the remainder of their season, not looking forward to having to break some rookie in. Apparently Roethlisberger is not just some rookie. He has gone undefeated with the Steelers through his first eight games. Could an all Pennsylvania super bowl be in the future?
DANTON’S PLANNED HIT - Back in April of this year, center for the St. Louis Blues ordered a hit on his agent David Frost. Danton, 24 (23 at the time), asked a woman he had met, Katie Wolfmeyer, 19, if she knew anyone that would carry out the murder plot. Wolfmeyer, who eventually helped the FBI nab Danton, was later acquitted. Danton, however, was punished for his actions. Early November, Danton was sentenced to 7 1/2 years in prison. Frost had been coaching Danton since he was 11 years old, and they have been together ever since. There were rumors that Danton and his agent were gay but nothing was ever proved. So the threat of parting due to such drastic circumstances could have possibly caused Danton to psychologically snap. Danton has proclaimed though that he does not want to hang up his ice skates yet, saying "I will continue to work with my doctors in getting back to full mental, emotional and physical health."
WANNSTEDT RESIGNS - After week 8, Dave Wannstedt resigned from his coaching duties with the Miami Dolphins. Wannstedt was in his 5th year of coaching the Dolphins but finally had to throw in the towel halfway through the season after going 1-7. In Wannstedt's defense, the blow of losing Ricky Williams right before the season put a real damper on their 2004 season. Plus, their passing game is pretty pathetic leaving their offense very weak. Wannstedt brought his team to the AFC divisional playoffs in his first year with the Dolphins and only to the AFC wild card game in his second season. They haven't reached the playoffs since. At the end of the 2002 season they were battling with the Patriots for the AFC East playoff spot only to be taken down (along with the Patriots) by the New York Jets. Wannstedt finished his Miami Dolphins coaching stint with a record of 42-30.
HOLTZ OUT, SPURRIER IN - Lou Holtz said he would retire at the end of the USC Gamecocks season. Their last game against Clemson on November 20 marked the end of the Holtz era and the beginning of new head coach Steve Spurrier's era. The end of Holtz' career and the Gamecocks season went with a bang. A little fight took place between some players as the Gamecocks finished the year with a 6-5 record. His career wins coaching in the NCAA and his amount of bowl games won both rank amongst the all-time top ten records. Holtz's friend Steve Spurrier will take over next season. Spurrier's head coaching career consists of Duke University and more recently the University of Florida, where he has much history both playing and coaching. Holtz and Spurrier share in common the fact that they have both tried coaching in the NFL. Both of their NFL coaching stints, Holtz with the New York Jets and Spurrier with the Washington Redskins, were unsuccessful. Fifty-nine year old Spurrier will be back in the SEC East coaching at the college level and as when he agreed to coach the Redskins, fans will be waiting to see what results from the coaching change.
CHRISTMAS COMPETITIONS - Two games air on Christmas day. The Pacers and Pistons will again face off, this time in Indiana, for the first time since the brawl in Detroit. It should still be an intense game albeit Ron Artest, Stephen Jackson and Jermaine O'Neal will not be playing. The game will air at 12:30 p.m. on ESPN. After that Shaq and the Miami Heat will be heading to Los Angeles to play Shaq's former team, the L.A. Lakers. That game will air on ABC at 3 p.m. In other words you can bet the Walt Disney Co. that owns ABC and ESPN will be having a very merry Christmas.
GRAND SLAM - Vijay Singh was having a good year but it was Phil Mickelson that completed the coveted grand slam by winning the Masters, the U.S. Open, the British Open, and now the U.S. PGA Championship. To complete it he crept up the standings and just edged out Vijay Singh by five strokes. He also set a career-low by scoring 59, beating his previous low of 61. Earlier this year, Mickelson broke his losing-streak of 46 majors when he won the Masters and was visibly proud wearing the dignified green jacket he had so longed for. Mickelson's hard work and patience finally paid off, literally and figuratively.
SO MAD I COULD SPIT - Minutes before the Pittsburgh Steelers-Cleveland Browns game on Sunday, November 14, intense feelings and words spoken out to the media boiled over while the teams were practicing on the field. Pittsburgh and Cleveland already have a very heated division rivalry. During the week before the game, one of the things reported by the Associated Press that Cleveland Browns defensive tackle said to the media was "One rule they used to tell me: Kill the head, and the body's dead." This was referring to how he would approach handling Pittsburgh's undefeated rookie QB. Well, that may have spurred the scuffle that occurred before the game that afternoon. Things got rowdy as Pittsburgh Joey Porter drew near where the Cleveland Browns were on the field. He and Cleveland running back William Green got into a scuffle and Porter supposedly spit in Green's face. Both players were fined $10,000 dollars and ejected from the game.
YEAR OF THE TIGHT END - Tight ends have played an important part of NFL offenses this year. Tony Gonzalez has again put up good numbers at the tight end position but this year he has company. One of the biggest surprises in the NFL on probably the most surprising team is Antonio Gates of the San Diego Chargers. San Diego QB Drew Brees, another surprise player in 2004, gives plenty of looks to his TE since for a good part of the season the wide receiving core wasn't completely reliable. Gates has reeled in 9 touchdowns so far this season, leading all tight ends by a good margin. Jason Witten has become Vinny Testaverde's go-to guy this season for the Dallas Cowboys. A tight end excelling in Bill Parcells's offense comes as no surprise, see: Mark Bavaro (former NY Giants tight end), Ben Coates (former Patriots tight end). San Fran's Eric Johnson and Atlanta's Alge Crumpler also lead the resurgences of the tight end position.
DOING IT ALL - Whether you're a Patriots fan or not you have to admire, or at least be amused by Bill Belichick's style of coaching. In week 9 against St. Louis, the Patriots were running thin on cornerbacks due to injuries so they had to plug in wide receiver Troy Brown. Brown didn't do too shabby getting three tackles and deflecting a pass. On the other side of the ball, Brown also had three receptions for 30 yards. Also in that game, on a fake field goal attempt, kicker Adam Vinatieri took the snap and threw the ball to who else, but Troy Brown. Not only that, but on one red-zone play, Brady threw a two yard reception to jack-of-all-trades linebacker Mike Vrabel. The Patriots certainly always deliver an interesting game.
RICKY’S CHOICE - Reports during the week of November 22nd indicate that Ricky Williams will be reinstated into the NFL after serving a four-game suspension for violating the NFL substance-abuse policy. His four-game suspension will be served for the remainder of the season. Williams is said to be set on going to school, and if he chooses that then good for him. But his window to come back and play seems to be opening, if he wants it. Until he and his people all get together on the same page and make a decision on Williams future, the NFL and everyone else will just have to wait.
A-ROD'S A-DADDY - Finally, at deadline for this issue of The Observer, I learned via The New York Daily News that A-Rod and his wife, Cynthia, had just announced that they had their first child Friday, November 19, 2004. They had a little baby girl named Natasha. This is great news for A-Rod and I sincerely hope that A-Rod will be a better dad than he is at discreetly trying to cheat stripping away a ball on his way to 1st base.
SPORTS REPORT
ARE YOU READY FOR SOME EDIE? - If there is something wrong with seeing a woman in a locker room drop her towel during a skit leading into a football game then I stand guilty as charged. Unless you live under a rock then you were bound to hear this talked about to death for the whole week following the Monday night football game. Terrell Owens was at his locker ready to go play Monday night football when Desperate Housewives character "Edie" played by Nicollette Sheridan walks in with nothing but a towel on. She tries to dissuade Owens from going to play football to instead spend some time with her. When Owens is finally set on going to play, "Edie" drops her towel prompting Owens to stay with her instead. Cut to Teri Hatcher and Felicity Huffman (also on Desperate Housewives) mocking the trashy soap opera garbage from their living room and then saying the well-known line "Are you ready for some football!" It was meant to be harmless and silly but conservative people out there decided that this wasn't appropriate to display before a football game at 9 o’clock at night on a network station. This issue probably spurred even more debate due to the whole "wardrobe malfunction" debacle back during the Super Bowl halftime show.
NHL HALL OF FAME INDUCTEES - Ray Bourque, along with Paul Coffey and Larry Murphy were inducted into the hall of fame this year. I mention Bourque first because, of course, he thrilled Boston Bruins fans for 20+ years. He's a legend in this town and now he's officially getting honored by the NHL. Ray Bourque got his name on a whole mess of record lists for the Bruins and the NHL, including being the Bruins all-time leading scorer and all-time leader in games played. Those don't even scratch the surface on what Ray Bourque has done. His career ended on the highest possible note it could have. After spending a year on the Colorado Avalanche, the team went all the way to the Stanley Cup defeating the New Jersey Devils in game 7 to win the 2001 Stanley Cup. Paul Coffey set a bunch of records himself. One of them being the highest single-season goal record for a defenseman with 48 goals. As a defenseman he is right behind Bourque in career assists, goals, and points. He's won four Stanley Cup championships and three Norris Trophies. Larry Murphy also won four Stanley Cup championships. He had a great rookie campaign setting single-season rookie record for assists with 60 and points with 76. He fell second to who else, Ray Bourque, for the Calder Memorial Trophy in his rookie year. All three inductees were defensemen and all three were drafted in the first 10 picks of their draft (Bourque 8th in 1979, Coffey 6th in 1980, Murphy 4th in 1980).
THE UNSTOPPABLE MANNING - Through eleven games of the 2004 NFL season, Peyton Manning has compiled more touchdowns than he has had after sixteen games in any one of his previous six seasons. Though he doesn't want to talk about it, Manning is quickly approaching Dan Marino's 1984 single-season touchdown record of 48. He has a 6-touchdown game, three 5-touchdown games and has thrown no less than two touchdowns in any game this year. Something also to be commended is Manning's touchdown to interception ratio. Through week 12, Manning's TD/INT ratio is 5:1, second only to Drew Brees. Marino brought his team to the super bowl in his record-breaking year but ended up losing to San Francisco, how far will Peyton and Co. go?
PENNSYLVANIA FOOTBALL - NFL fans in Pennsylvania must be riding pretty high right now. After ten games, both their football teams lead their respective conferences (Pittsburgh leads New England in the AFC because of their head-to-head win in week 8 ). Philadelphia has the QB-WR tandem of Donovan McNabb and Terrell Owens powering the Eagles through the NFC. Pittsburgh has rookie quarterback Ben Roethlisberger, the third QB selected in the NFL draft. After first-string QB Tommy Maddox went down in week 2, the Steelers were pretty concerned about the remainder of their season, not looking forward to having to break some rookie in. Apparently Roethlisberger is not just some rookie. He has gone undefeated with the Steelers through his first eight games. Could an all Pennsylvania super bowl be in the future?
DANTON’S PLANNED HIT - Back in April of this year, center for the St. Louis Blues ordered a hit on his agent David Frost. Danton, 24 (23 at the time), asked a woman he had met, Katie Wolfmeyer, 19, if she knew anyone that would carry out the murder plot. Wolfmeyer, who eventually helped the FBI nab Danton, was later acquitted. Danton, however, was punished for his actions. Early November, Danton was sentenced to 7 1/2 years in prison. Frost had been coaching Danton since he was 11 years old, and they have been together ever since. There were rumors that Danton and his agent were gay but nothing was ever proved. So the threat of parting due to such drastic circumstances could have possibly caused Danton to psychologically snap. Danton has proclaimed though that he does not want to hang up his ice skates yet, saying "I will continue to work with my doctors in getting back to full mental, emotional and physical health."
WANNSTEDT RESIGNS - After week 8, Dave Wannstedt resigned from his coaching duties with the Miami Dolphins. Wannstedt was in his 5th year of coaching the Dolphins but finally had to throw in the towel halfway through the season after going 1-7. In Wannstedt's defense, the blow of losing Ricky Williams right before the season put a real damper on their 2004 season. Plus, their passing game is pretty pathetic leaving their offense very weak. Wannstedt brought his team to the AFC divisional playoffs in his first year with the Dolphins and only to the AFC wild card game in his second season. They haven't reached the playoffs since. At the end of the 2002 season they were battling with the Patriots for the AFC East playoff spot only to be taken down (along with the Patriots) by the New York Jets. Wannstedt finished his Miami Dolphins coaching stint with a record of 42-30.
HOLTZ OUT, SPURRIER IN - Lou Holtz said he would retire at the end of the USC Gamecocks season. Their last game against Clemson on November 20 marked the end of the Holtz era and the beginning of new head coach Steve Spurrier's era. The end of Holtz' career and the Gamecocks season went with a bang. A little fight took place between some players as the Gamecocks finished the year with a 6-5 record. His career wins coaching in the NCAA and his amount of bowl games won both rank amongst the all-time top ten records. Holtz's friend Steve Spurrier will take over next season. Spurrier's head coaching career consists of Duke University and more recently the University of Florida, where he has much history both playing and coaching. Holtz and Spurrier share in common the fact that they have both tried coaching in the NFL. Both of their NFL coaching stints, Holtz with the New York Jets and Spurrier with the Washington Redskins, were unsuccessful. Fifty-nine year old Spurrier will be back in the SEC East coaching at the college level and as when he agreed to coach the Redskins, fans will be waiting to see what results from the coaching change.
CHRISTMAS COMPETITIONS - Two games air on Christmas day. The Pacers and Pistons will again face off, this time in Indiana, for the first time since the brawl in Detroit. It should still be an intense game albeit Ron Artest, Stephen Jackson and Jermaine O'Neal will not be playing. The game will air at 12:30 p.m. on ESPN. After that Shaq and the Miami Heat will be heading to Los Angeles to play Shaq's former team, the L.A. Lakers. That game will air on ABC at 3 p.m. In other words you can bet the Walt Disney Co. that owns ABC and ESPN will be having a very merry Christmas.
GRAND SLAM - Vijay Singh was having a good year but it was Phil Mickelson that completed the coveted grand slam by winning the Masters, the U.S. Open, the British Open, and now the U.S. PGA Championship. To complete it he crept up the standings and just edged out Vijay Singh by five strokes. He also set a career-low by scoring 59, beating his previous low of 61. Earlier this year, Mickelson broke his losing-streak of 46 majors when he won the Masters and was visibly proud wearing the dignified green jacket he had so longed for. Mickelson's hard work and patience finally paid off, literally and figuratively.
SO MAD I COULD SPIT - Minutes before the Pittsburgh Steelers-Cleveland Browns game on Sunday, November 14, intense feelings and words spoken out to the media boiled over while the teams were practicing on the field. Pittsburgh and Cleveland already have a very heated division rivalry. During the week before the game, one of the things reported by the Associated Press that Cleveland Browns defensive tackle said to the media was "One rule they used to tell me: Kill the head, and the body's dead." This was referring to how he would approach handling Pittsburgh's undefeated rookie QB. Well, that may have spurred the scuffle that occurred before the game that afternoon. Things got rowdy as Pittsburgh Joey Porter drew near where the Cleveland Browns were on the field. He and Cleveland running back William Green got into a scuffle and Porter supposedly spit in Green's face. Both players were fined $10,000 dollars and ejected from the game.
YEAR OF THE TIGHT END - Tight ends have played an important part of NFL offenses this year. Tony Gonzalez has again put up good numbers at the tight end position but this year he has company. One of the biggest surprises in the NFL on probably the most surprising team is Antonio Gates of the San Diego Chargers. San Diego QB Drew Brees, another surprise player in 2004, gives plenty of looks to his TE since for a good part of the season the wide receiving core wasn't completely reliable. Gates has reeled in 9 touchdowns so far this season, leading all tight ends by a good margin. Jason Witten has become Vinny Testaverde's go-to guy this season for the Dallas Cowboys. A tight end excelling in Bill Parcells's offense comes as no surprise, see: Mark Bavaro (former NY Giants tight end), Ben Coates (former Patriots tight end). San Fran's Eric Johnson and Atlanta's Alge Crumpler also lead the resurgences of the tight end position.
DOING IT ALL - Whether you're a Patriots fan or not you have to admire, or at least be amused by Bill Belichick's style of coaching. In week 9 against St. Louis, the Patriots were running thin on cornerbacks due to injuries so they had to plug in wide receiver Troy Brown. Brown didn't do too shabby getting three tackles and deflecting a pass. On the other side of the ball, Brown also had three receptions for 30 yards. Also in that game, on a fake field goal attempt, kicker Adam Vinatieri took the snap and threw the ball to who else, but Troy Brown. Not only that, but on one red-zone play, Brady threw a two yard reception to jack-of-all-trades linebacker Mike Vrabel. The Patriots certainly always deliver an interesting game.
RICKY’S CHOICE - Reports during the week of November 22nd indicate that Ricky Williams will be reinstated into the NFL after serving a four-game suspension for violating the NFL substance-abuse policy. His four-game suspension will be served for the remainder of the season. Williams is said to be set on going to school, and if he chooses that then good for him. But his window to come back and play seems to be opening, if he wants it. Until he and his people all get together on the same page and make a decision on Williams future, the NFL and everyone else will just have to wait.
A-ROD'S A-DADDY - Finally, at deadline for this issue of The Observer, I learned via The New York Daily News that A-Rod and his wife, Cynthia, had just announced that they had their first child Friday, November 19, 2004. They had a little baby girl named Natasha. This is great news for A-Rod and I sincerely hope that A-Rod will be a better dad than he is at discreetly trying to cheat stripping away a ball on his way to 1st base.
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