“Get your popcorn ready” has become the prelude to a Terrell Owens TD celebration, The Lambeau leap started by Leroy Butler has become a staple in Green Bay, Theron Fleury riding his stick down the ice in Calgary, Dave Tiger Williams riding his stick for that matter in the old Maple Leaf Gardens. These and many more have all been celebrations that everyone in a school yard has mimicked after scoring a goal or a touchdown, hell I remember doing the “Icky Shuffle”. While playing baseball, softball or wall ball, who hasn’t pointed over the fence pretending they were Babe Ruth, mind you that wasn’t a celebration but still falls into the category of showing off I’d say, even though Ruth did hit it over the wall in 1932.
All of these celebrations and “slaps in the face” so to speak (to the other team) have become a hot topic seemingly everywhere in the media. Alexander Ovechkin interviewed at the ACC today preceding his game tonight against the Maple Leafs said “I think fans love what’s going on around the league” and “I don’t show my celebration for anything aside from myself” “It’s me I do it the way I want” his teammates said “don’t worry about it” speaking of the media and opinions about his celebration of 50 goals. He also said “I wasn’t showing disrespect to any one, I think it’s good for our fans” he also mentioned that “Some players are like robots, they show no emotion” and finally he said “I don’t care if somebody doesn’t like it, then don’t watch my game”. I can’t stop watching Ovie since he’s the most exciting guy in the game to watch and I love it when he rides the boards and leaps into the glass.
I personally like watching guys celebrate, show emotion, and they let fans see that they are human and like to have fun while playing a game. I look forward to every Sunday to see who’s got the best touchdown celebration. Celebrations …I Lovem, how about you?
by Bryan Thiel… On Tuesday evening, March 17th, history was rewritten: a tie was broken, a changing of the guard occurred, and the old King was bumped to No. 2.
Patrik Elias bumped John Maclean as the Devils’ all-time leading scorer, netting his 702nd point on March 17.
Unfortunately for Patrik, this day will go down in history for another reason, an even bigger reason, as Martin Brodeur took over as the all-time leader in National Hockey League history for regular season wins by a goaltender with 552.
Well, I guess if you’re going to get snubbed by someone, it may as well be the best.
It finally happened: A moment that had become increasingly more realistic since Brodeur won his 16th game last season—to give him 500 for his career—was finally captured. After a stunted playoff run and a serious arm injury, Brodeur finally surpassed Patrick Roy’s record of 551 wins.
552 and counting.
That, in and of itself, is scary.
Brodeur is soon to be 37 years old. If it wasn’t for a freak injury, it’d be fair to say that Brodeur may be somewhere in the 575 range today, and we’re talking about the first goalie to reach 600 wins for his career, not simply the wins record.
People wondered if he was going to be rusty coming back from his injury—he wasn’t.
In fact, he’s almost been better since coming back: Before getting hurt in early November, Brodeur had five games with three or more goals allowed (two five goal games), two shutouts, and a 6-2-2 record.
Since coming back he’s lost once in nine games, nabbed two early shutouts, and only allowed more than two goals once.
Sometimes even the best need rest, I guess.
Then consider the fact that this will be only the second time since 1995-96 that Brodeur will have appeared in fewer than 70 games, and he had four 40-win seasons in five years coming into this year.
Fact is, I wouldn’t put 700 career wins past this guy. Even if he played until only age 40 and won 30 games a year, he still posts 650 wins.
This makes the fact that the NHL locked out the 2004/05 season even more tragic—now this is history.
As it is now, Brodeur is the NHL’s wins leader. He’s four shutouts away from passing Terry Sawchuk as the Shutout King, one behind Patrick Roy (23 to 22) in terms of all-time playoff shutouts, and he sits 10th all-time in goals-against average.
If I were to tell you that’s a Hall of Fame resume, I may as well jump out a window: It’s obvious. A 4-year-old could make that assertion.
But is he the best ever?
The immediate and easy answer is yes. He’s won the most regular season games in NHL history, (assuming everything goes as planned) he’ll hold the mark for shutouts, and he’s been one of, if not the most consistent goalie in league history.
The less popular answer is that Martin Brodeur is only one of many goalies that has contributed to a historically deep echelon of greatness.
For one, there’s something that he doesn’t have that Roger Crozier, Glenn Hall, Ken Dryden, Bernie Parent, Billy Smith, Ron Hextal, Bill Ranford, Mike Vernon, Jean-Sebastien Giguere, Cam Ward, and Patrick Roy have that Brodeur doesn’t have—a Conn Smythe award.
Now the one argument is that the Conn Smythe is a subjective award, and I agree. To win a Stanley Cup a team’s goalie has to play like the Most Valuable Player for an entire season, as well as the two months that the playoffs run.
No matter what the situation, Brodeur has always done that. He wouldn’t be in the situation he is today if he hadn’t.
Brodeur was also the beneficiary of playing on some very strong, very deep New Jersey teams. Some of those goalies who own Conn Smythe trophies were propelling teams of unknowns, keeping their heads above water. Brodeur’s crew was a well-oiled machine, always acting as if they’d been there before.
There’s no doubt that Brodeur was a huge reason for those New Jersey Stanley Cups, but he was never in the spotlight for the same reason as a Jean-Sebastien Giguere: It was usually the Devils being the Devils in conjunction with Brodeur being superhuman, not just Brodeur being superhuman (much like Giguere was) that brought Swamp City the title.
Staying with the second season, as much as Brodeur has won over his career, there’s one wins record he’s not close to touching yet: the all-time playoff wins record.
Patrick Roy is still the all-time Playoff wins leader with 151, 56 wins ahead of Brodeur’s 95 career wins.
Roy played a lot in the post-season—17 seasons to be exact—while Brodeur has only 13 to his credit.
When looking at the average length of their postseasons, the difference may look small—14.5 games per postseason for Roy to 12.9 games for Brodeur—but multiply that over the course of a few extra post seasons, and you’ve got a fairly big difference.
If Brodeur continues to fall victim to what’s become consistent early exits in the past few post-seasons (He’s only played more than 10 post season games in just one of his past four post-seasons), then he’ll have trouble meeting those gaudy post-season numbers.
Then again if he keeps playing like this, there’s no telling how deep he could go into future playoffs, and if he keeps it up this year he may be tying Patrick Roy with his fourth Stanley Cup ring (and maybe eventually Grant Fuhr with five).
Individual awards-wise, Brodeur undoubtedly ranks among the best: Four Vezinas, four William M. Jennings trophies, and a Calder Trophy. The Calder Trophy is probably the most impressive because the award has been around since 1932/33 and only 15 goalies have ever won it.
That’s exclusive company.
So is being one of just a few men being able to be named “the best ever” at a position—any position—in a professional sport.
And you know what? By the end of his career, and probably right now, Martin Brodeur may very well be the best ever to step between the pipes of an NHL net.
But that doesn’t mean that men like Ken Dryden, Terry Sawchuk, Bill Durnan, Turk Broda, Tiny Thompson, Jacques Plante, Glenn Hall, Gump Worsley, or Reggie Vachon should fall through the cracks of history; without them, Martin Brodeur may not be where he is today.
Congratulations Marty, you’ve undoubtedly earned this honor. Here’s to many more sparkling years.
by Derek Viveiros… Many feel that this could be the year that “The Reds” finally make the playoffs and compete amongst MLS’s elite.
These optimists went into last season with the same mentality. But after an impressive start, fans soon realized, as the season progressed and points were forfeited time and time again, that improvements still needed to be made.
Up front, their reliance on veteran firepower proved foolhardy, as the combination of Danny Dichio and Jeff Cunningham failed to impress. The acquisition of Chad Barrett in the latter part of the season was a dramatic improvement, but the damage had already been done.
In the middle of the pitch, the loss of Maurice Edu, perhaps their most creative and talented player, proved to be too costly. Having continuously lost players throughout the year to international duty, Amado Guevara and Carl Robinson especially, TFC lacked the depth to compete.
Their defence lacked consistency as well but it should not shoulder all the blame. It had no support up front during Toronto’s multiple goalless droughts.
Marvell Wynne and Marco Velez were definitely the most reliable of the back four. Greg Sutton was his usual dependable self, but the squad seriously needed a more reliable backup to help shoulder some of the workload.
This is where Mo Johnston, perhaps TFC’s most valuable player, comes into play.
Up front, the additions of rookie O’Brian White and Argentine Pablo Vitti should definitely add much-needed firepower.
On defence, Tyrone Marshall was given his walking papers to make space for veteran Adrian Serioux, a natural holding midfielder who has become more accustomed to playing centre back with team Canada and will most likely assume that position in John Carver’s starting eleven. Gambian’s Emmanuel Gomez and Amadou Sanyang will also add depth to the squad defensively.
All of a sudden, Greg Sutton will have some pressure on his back to perform, as Stefan Frei and Brian Edwards look poised for minutes. The offseason pickups have been deemed ready by many critics and should solidify any issues the team previously had in net.
And the most anticipated and celebrated acquisition in the history of Toronto FC, Dwayne DeRosario is finally coming home. Mo Johnston finally got his man. It should be exciting to see what he and Guevara can stir up in the middle of the pitch.
Once again, the buzz around the BMO field compound is evident and those seats will be full. You can guarantee that. Toronto FC you have the best fans in the league, now it’s your turn.
by Stoker Dafire… There is no simple answer to the question as to why a man would want to enter a boxing ring and time after time get his skull pounded to the point of semi consciousness.
Although fighters, or more specifically boxers, are built from the worlds strongest material its extremely difficult however, to find a common thread that binds them together.
Obviously, money and fame are the two main ingredients in the recipe for becoming a prizefighter, however, a closer look can also reveal a measure of self discipline and a huge dosage of ego driven confidence.
An overwhelming will to succeed combined with a fighters desire to overcome and better understand his inner fears can also serve as a strong motivator.
Demonstrating tremendous self discipline, a boxer will engage in months of rigorous training just for the opportunity to challenge himself against another man for 45 minutes.
The undisputed super flyweight champion Vic Darchinyan 32-1-1, with 26 KO’s was flattened by Nonito Donaire in July of 2007; so when he faced Cristian Mijares three fights later in Carson, California on Nov 1st 2008 he was a definite underdog.
Mijares had recently knocked out Jorge Arce, who was a top contender, so obviously nobody expected Darchinyan to be much of a challenge.
Someone forgot to inform Darchinyan.
The tough Armenian came after Mijares right from the opening bell flooring him in the first and completely dominating the next eight rounds, ultimately stopping his battered opponent in the ninth.
Darchinyan replaced Mijares’s rising star with his own bright constellation; and the loss to Donaire suddenly seemed to belong in another galaxy.
Darchinyan then became a new man on a fresh new mission, and he served notice to all others in the division by thoroughly destroying Jorge Arce in his very next outing.
Presently, the proverbial sky is the limit for Darchinyan and he plans to reach for it as he moves to the 118 pound bantamweight division this summer.
He will now attempt to become a world champion in three weight-classes when he locks horns with IBF bantamweight king Joseph Agbeko who is 26-1 with 22, KOs.
Agbeko, known as “king kong,” has built a reputation as one of the best in the bantamweight division with his only defeat coming against future WBA champion Wladimir Sidorenko.
One reason I consider boxing to be the greatest of all sports, is the potential for a hungry challenger to knock out his opponent, even if the opponent is a champion.
Title belts, months of preparation, and a lifetime of training can all be erased with one-single-well-placed-punch.
Every day you may make progress. Every step may be fruitful. Yet there will stretch out before you an ever-lengthening, ever-ascending, ever-improving path. You know you will never get to the end of the journey. But this, so far from discouraging, only adds to the joy and glory of the climb.
Much is made of the seeding process, who should be where, who should be ranked higher and so on. This time, the NCAA committee seems to have been on the mark.
After a relatively tame first weekend in terms of upsets (Wake Forest aside), the Sweet Sixteen prepare to do battle on Thursday and Friday of this week. All of the #1, #2 and #3 seeds advanced. Two #4’s, a #5 and a #12 round out the remainder of the field. Not altogether unusual as all four #1’s advanced to the Final Four last year, but a little lacking in the Cinderella story department.
The Games
There were some “upsets” but not the types that make you shake your head and tear up your bracket. The biggest was Cleveland State’s dismantling of Wake Forest. Strangely, many people were all over this, including coaches John Calipari of Memphis and Rick Pitino of Louisville. They offered their upset “specials” courtesy of Yahoo! Sports and cited the youth of the Demon Deacons as their potential downfall. They must have played this script out before because they were bang on. Wake fell behind early and struggled to keep the game as close as it was. Sadly, State’s epic run ended two days later with a loss to fellow underdog Arizona.
I don’t know if you can say that Arizona’s win over Utah was all that surprising. The Wildcats are a good team provided they don’t get into foul trouble. Western Kentucky has shown on a number of occasions that they are a trendy upset pick, but Illinois, without starting point guard Chester Frazier, was the one team seeded far too high. Twice this year they scored less than 40 points in a game, which doesn’t cut it in any league. The Hilltoppers came within a hair of taking Gonzaga out in the second round but they too have been sent packing.
Pittsburgh tried desperately to become the first number one seed to go down to a sixteen seed. East Tennessee State outhustled, outworked and essentially outplayed the Panthers but couldn’t overcome game-long shooting woes in a game that was much closer than the ten point margin.
Ten seeds enjoyed success in the first round as Michigan, USC and Maryland all won. All are on their respective (un)happy trails home.
One of the best games of the weekend saw the Siena Saints take the Louisville Cardinals to the wire in the second round, coming back from a 12-point deficit to lead by four with seven minutes left. But, as is often the case with a short bench, the Cardinals eventually wore down the Saints, 79-72.
What’s left is essentially the best of the best.
Thursday’s Games
1 UConn vs. 5 Purdue - The Boilermakers won a tight game against the Washington Huskies. They aren’t likely to be as fortunate against these Huskies. UConn has looked very impressive in its first two games. Purdue will be the best team they have faced so far but they will romp.
4 Xavier vs. 1 Pittsburgh - The Musketeers keep grinding out wins, including a methodical 11-point win over Wisconsin in the second round. Pitt has looked, well, un-Pittlike. They were lucky against ETSU and were marginally better against Oklahoma State, who scored 49 points in the first half against a normally tough defense. In spite of this, Pitt has escaped and has some time to prepare. The Panthers win this one.
2 Memphis vs. 3 Missouri - This could be a very interesting game, in an all-Tiger affair. Missouri can score and like to force the pace by pressing and trapping. Memphis hasn’t been as stingy defensively as they were in the regular season. This game will come down to turnovers. If Missouri gets more than they give they have a shot. The problem is, Memphis has shown they can score as well. Tigers win - Memphis, that is.
2 Duke vs. 3 Villanova - Best game of the night. Villanova absolutely hammered UCLA and Duke banged out a win against Texas in the second round. If everybody gets into the act for Nova, watch out. The Blue Devils have to limit Dante Cunningham and Scottie Reynolds and force the supporting cast to beat them. I don’t think they can do this. Villa Nova wins in a close one.
12 Arizona vs. 1 Louisville - Louisville’s depth and the ability of Terence Williams to take games over when it matters will keep undermanned Arizona from advancing any further. They have done a good job to get here, but use only six players. Jordan Hill may be a tough matchup for Samardo Samuels in the post but overall, Louisville is too strong everywhere.
3 Syracuse vs. 2 Oklahoma - I honestly didn’t think the ‘Cuse could get past Arizona State, but they did so easily. Blake Griffin will be a different story. This will be his last season in college and it is clear he wants to go out in style. Syracuse will have no answer for him inside and has to hope that their outside shooting and transition game is sharp. Jonny Flynn is one of the best to watch in all of college basketball - but he might be playing his last college game also. The Sooners prevail.
3 Kansas vs. 2 Michigan State - Rematch of the January 10th game won by State, 75-62. The Spartans have size, experience, speed and defensive tenacity. The Jayhawks have size, defensive tenacity and speed. Sherron Collins and Cole Aldrich provide the experience. Kansas has done well to get to this point but can they get past the top squad from the Big Ten? Probably not. State pulls away at the end in a war.
1 North Carolina vs. 4 Gonzaga - Carolina looked good when they responded to LSU’s second-half run on Saturday. Gonzaga looked terrible against Western Kentucky, despite advancing. They have the players to match up against the Tar Heels and they will score. The question is: Can they rebound enough to stay competitive. If they do, the Zags will match their furthest foray in the NCAA tournament (Elite 8, 1999). If they don’t, Carolina wins in a romp.
by Graeme Boyce… It’s not so bad being a Maple Leafs fan heading into the tailend of the season and it seems the team won’t have beaten the Habs enough this year to secure a berth in the Cup finals. However, the Maple Leafs have been fun to watch and are certainly winning their fair share of games lately due to some inspired play from John Mitchell, Jeff Hamilton and Jason Blake up front. The latter in fact has scored quite a few decent goals lately, worthy of mentioning, and good to see 25+ goals this year.
Martin Gerber is standing tall between the pipes since being picked up, and without Kaberle, Van Ryn or Frogren, Ian White and Pavel Kubina have really picked up the slack on defense. But these days a young fella named Phil Oreskovic is really impressing me, while Luke Schenn and Jeff Finger have been simply rock solid.
However, Leafs management should hire Tie Domi to give in-yer-face toughness lessons to Mitchell, Hamilton and Blake, in my humble opinion, and it’d be money well spent. It’s interesting to speculate as to why Ponikarovsky is blossoming all of a sudden. Too little too late. I also think Grabovski will go the way of Godynyuk, Antropov, Borschevsky, Yushkevich, Yakushin, Khristich, Mogilny, Berezin, Kondratiev, Markov and Korolev, to name a few.
I mentioned early in the season that Kulemin merely had to take control of a nice little snapshot, and I’d have to say he’s been looking good in these last few weeks; gaining confidence each step of the way. Jamal Mayers is finally showing some jump in his game and delivering some grit, and leadership, as well as Brad May (finally) and Devereaux, as a respected veteran who paid his dues this year.
Hopefully, Matt Stajan will provide some spunk in the last few weeks, and ensure his future with the team by scoring a few more goals and maybe evening out his +/- stat.
I don’t know how many more perfect shots Stempniak can possibly take aimed directly at the opposing goalie before one of those goalies finally falls over and lets one in. On the team next year I’d like to see the impact of guys like Ondrus and Newbury, but I see Tlusty is gearing up for training camp and a shot at staying on the team next year… unless of course Burke swings the Sedin twins.
This would answer the sniper question, the finisher they don’t have at the moment. I keep seeing it in players, flashes around the net from time to time, but no finish. So I’m banking on Lecavalier. There’s a reason Burke took the salaries of Tampa players resting in the infirmary for the remainder of the season.
If not, I’d take Mike Cammalleri, Tim Connolly, Marty Reasoner or Kyle Calder if they’re still available this summer. Toronto will beat Washington, who are next up, btw. I predicted a thrashing of the Habs. The Leafs, if anything, are entertaining and fun to watch these days. The victory against Tampa last week was a gem, though throwing away the lead almost killed me.
by Pete Toth… In this month’s issue we interview androgynous pop-star turned superstar, SEANADONNA.
We ask him/her about his/her just completed record breaking world tour, “Puppet Show for Marty.”
We also find out the philosophy behind the chart-topping singles from his/her latest triple platinum CD entitled “Batman, Buttman, Bettman,” including monster hits “Bury The Axe (In Gary’s Head)”, “Sloppy Joe Seconds”, “Turd Co.”, and “Dallas hates me mo’ than Romo.”
Don’t miss the exclusive photo spread of Seanadonna’s 500 square feet of wardrobe space along with a detailed run-down of a footwear collection that even Imelda Marcos would die for.
Also, with every issue, we include a 10cc tester sample of Seanadonna’s newest fragrance, “$PUNK!”
Don’t miss it. Available the first of the month in newsstands near you or wherever fine magazines are stoled.
by Long John Silver… As I type this, I have had quite a bit to reflect the entire day. I am approaching the completion of a long, yet absolutely brutal process which I would not trade for anything. With a double Masters and a PhD, there have been times in these seven years where I have felt exactly what it was to be, and it is to be, someone who dreamed of something, and went after it, i.e., conceptually speaking an athlete playing sport at the top level.
Each athlete’s career follows a career graph, and make no mistake it is not a horizontal peak line (as much as his fans would like it to be).
When I started in University of Florida, I wanted to win everything. From classes, from assignment, from discussions…and pretty much everything, and I had no remorse doing it too, for I was 21 and I had my entire life in front of me.
I was extremely successful and got into Michigan. That was the very next stage after Rodge beat Sampras in Wimbledon 2001. The next two to three years were installation laps for his best years ahead of him.
When I came to U-Michigan, same trend ensued, only I got more competitive and much better in what I did. I used to go to school every single day and do the best I absolutely could. Your mind and body goes through sheer brutality day in and day out, but you don’t feel it because you are young.
The golden years of 2004–07 of Rodge was extremely similar to that. He played at a super-human plane, that any loss shook the Richter scale of the tennis world.
Eventually everything comes to an end. After five long winters (in Ann Arbor, as I call it, the poor man’s North Pole), there comes a stage when you realize what you need to do to get what you want, that does not mean needing to do everything they ask you to do, or doing everything you did before.
It is just a case of: I don’t have much energy left, hence what I am going to concentrate on is what will help me get through the line.
As prestigious Indian Wells is, I cannot help wondering if Rodge felt at 1-5 in the third against Murray under the blazing sun in the desert, “Man, this is a drag, I know this tournament is important but it ain’t no slam, and I know I’ve lost to this kid three times before…but I got the big one in NY, this is a draaaaaaaag.”
I’ve been there, I have had days like that…YES, those are a monumental drag.
As much as you would like to do things at 27, that you did at 22…it is physically impossible. Was it Sampras who told, “It’s not the Australian and Wimbledon that took energy out of me…but the smaller ones.”
I know, I know, you all want Rodge to win ‘em all and win every Masters event he plays. But think about things from his shoes and not yours.
The bloke has 13 Slams … as much as a Masters event is lovely to win, I doubt if he is bungled up and bawling on the flight as we speak.
These days I still spend a significant time in the lab, but as you grow up, you take things on your stride easily. It is one of the most important assets of growing up. What used to trouble me for days even a year ago, I can easily brush it aside these days.
I don’t even do half the number of things I did back a year and a half ago. But each day I know what I need to do to get me through the line very precisely. Indifference is such as asset. What you and I need to appreciate is…
We want the same eventual result (high winning ratio per year) even when we realize that the parameters that govern the result are constantly varying with time. You absolutely cannot do at 27, what you used to be capable of doing at 22. His age is a factor, and his backhand consistency has reduced drastically. His competition is different … for all what we think, Murray’s tactical nous was outstanding in the semis.
The way he never trades those high octane groundies with Rodge–well, there is a reason for it, because he told in the presser that he knows Rodge likes pace and that is precisely why he varies the pace of his forehand so much.
I also think Murray’s double fister is more consistent and better than Federer’s single fister backhand. Murray’s tactical prowess is right up there with the best, and he is 22. Hungr(ier) and on the prowl.
Hence we cannot expect the winning ratio to remain consistent when the parameters governing them vary each year (age and competition). Rafa opened the flood gates, Nole chipped in and Andy has joined in.
Think about life, back in 2007 August, when I had to drop off my girlfriend back to the airport to Milan (for good), I cried my eyes out for four straight days (thanks for single malt scotch). For three days I still had to go back to the lab, but put in the hours for goodness sake, and just could not care less on how the results turned out.
When we grow up, our outlook changes…having a kid changes your entire outlook on life. Now winning Indian Wells does not seem so big on your agenda. Sure, he did his best, but it’s fine. We move on, life moves on.
So, here is a secret if you did not know it already. This is not a vintage Rodge era, this is the Rafael era. See the tournaments Rafael has won this year…and what Rodge won in 2005 and 2006…similarities? Striking?
That does not mean Rodge is done, far from it. That ‘14’ is an inevitability. It is not a case of “IF” but a case of “WHEN.” What I am more interested in is if Rodge can steal a Roland Garros through the back door.
I want him to win the French, and Rafael to win NY; that way, they both have a claim on all court players.
I know each of us wants to live our dreams through whom we love in a game. But you get old, even if you are Roger Federer. I highly doubt if he reads all that is written about him (fact is am sure he does not, why would he?)…but yeah, let’s not over-react.
If you want him to win it all like he did two years ago, great, but it will not happen. It’s just life…slams are all that count for him now (especially that one on the red dirt). I am absolutely positive he will rock up to play his best in Melbourne, Paris, London, and NY.
But other than that, leave him alone, just like I ask my mates sometimes …
For all the moments of sheer joy he has given us as tennis fans over these years we owe it to him. He will lose more for the same reason why you and I will not be able to do things as we grow older.
As Metallica would put it:
“The higher you are, the farther you fall … the longer you walk, the farther you crawl … its true.” (Load, The House that Jack Built)
Has a college player been subject to more criticism and pure hatred in the last few years than Eric Devendorf?
The perfect storm of villainous characteristics have culminated to paint a putrid picture of displeasure and disapproval. Devendorf’s status as “America’s Top Villain” has drawn every media outlet’s attention. If a website provides any kind of college basketball coverage, then they’ve provided an article about the ” villain” Eric Devendorf is.
According to these article’s datelines, all of the writers for the following websites sent a journalist to Miami to cover the Miami Regional: Yahoo! Sports, ESPN, Fox Sports, Sports Illustrated, and CBS. That’s pretty much the mecca of online sports coverage. They sent someone to cover that regional and the Syracuse related story they all wrote about is the vilification of Eric Devendorf.
In their defense, they all essentially put a positive spin on the article, and none went the length of really criticizing Devendorf. But all their story lines did revolve around Devendorf being the player everyone loves to hate. A Syracuse sports blog, Troy Nunes is an Absolute Magician, aptly puts the recent increase of anti-Devendorf talk by entitling a post, “Hating Eric Devendorf Officially Recognized as a Sport.”
I guess we’ve gotten to the age of sports coverage where we don’t want to read about the game or about the great, uplifting stories.
Apparently we want to know what kind of asshole Eric Devendorf supposedly is instead of wanting to know about the incredible turnaround Syracuse has experience over the last month.
Apparently we want to know about how Eric Devendorf’s tattoos make him a punk instead of how Eric Devendorf’s leadership on the court make him the best teammate Syracuse legend Gerry McNamara says he ever played with (according to a Pat Forde article).
Yes, most athletes will defend a former teammate. But there is defending a teammate and saying something nice about the guy and then there is calling him the best teammate you’ve ever played with.
McNamara was always known as one of the most well-respected, fiery individual known for his clutch performances.
Devendorf’s opponents know his game and certainly respects what he does. Opponents know Devendorf has a penchant for hitting the big shot and letting the opponent know what he just did.
Ironically, Forde says McNamara is “the guy who shows up in Madison Square Garden to watch his old team in an argyle sweater.”
The Syracuse blogosphere knows Devendorf is that same kind of guy after what Syracuse sports blog, “Troy Nunes is an Absolute Magician” deemed Argyle-Gate. Devendorf never showed up in a flashy suit that you wonder how a college kid can afford. But he never stopped showing support for his teammates.
Last season, when Devendorf tore his ACL and sat out the last two-thirds of the season, he cheered for his teammates more than the Syracuse cheerleaders. He showed the kind of passion from the pine as he does after putting home a layup from the paint.
Devendorf doesn’t get the credit he deserves. Several of the articles linked above begin to touch on the fact that Devendorf is a very proud father. Ryan Miller of The Orange Segment documented Devendorf’s life after the birth of his now nine month old daughter, Madelyn.
Nobody mentions the fact that Devendorf is a good student. The senior (in terms of academics) was named a “Scholar Athlete of the Week” last year. Rarely does a Syracuse scholarship basketball player receive that award, but Devendorf attained the level of academics needed to garner recognition.
Devendorf after all is just an amateur athlete. He’s just a student. He’s just a father.
The amount of hate directed to one man who is just an amateur athlete, a student, and a father is incredible, unjust, and unfair.
He’s targeted because of his fire on the court. “E” as his teammates called him, usually directs most of his passion at his teammates and fans. Sometimes he’ll jaw at an opposing player (see Jeremy Hazell and Louisville’s guards), but anyone who watches this team knows his emotion is usually headed for his teammates, not the opponents.
Then there’s the jumping on the scorer’s table after he hit what almost was the buzzer-beater three. Some accounts have him screaming “f-bombs” when he jumped onto the scorer’s table which is a bit excessive and the wrong word choice. But most people who criticize him for that action don’t make any mention of what he says, but rather the action of jumping on the scorer’s table.
How often do players stand on the scorer’s table in celebration? The answer is all the time. It will probably happen in this NCAA Tournament at some point. Two years ago on Syracuse’s senior day, Terrence Roberts and Darryl Watkins stood proudly on the scorer’s table after beating a ranked Georgetown team.
Nobody criticized them.
People don’t realize Devendorf thought he had hit the biggest, most important shot of his entire career in the world’s greatest arena in the nation’s top conference tournament. If a player isn’t allowed to go nuts over that, what is he allowed to go nuts over?
Then there’s the off the court incident. Devendorf did get into altercation with a woman. But the story got way out of hand. Even the women’s lawyer later said that the police got the story wrong and that Devendorf never hit the woman.Yet everyone calls him a “women beater.” Georgetown’s student section even went as far as singing “Hey Devo, won’t you hit my girl” instead of “Hey baby, won’t you be my girl.”
He missed one of the biggest games of his collegiate career up to that point (at Memphis) to do the time for his crime. The kid spent his Christmas break at a kitchen for the needy so he could get back on the court ASAP.
He’s done some wrongs off the court in the past which can’t go unmentioned, but those wrong-doings shouldn’t make him the country’s “most hated player.”
Finally there is one last point that supersedes Devendorf’s situation and that’s the issue of race.
Devendorf gets singled out the most because he is white. It is as simple as that. A writer for Slate began labeling players as “annoying white guys.” Devendorf made his list as a freshman three years ago and would become America’s Most Annoying White Guy someday.
To single a player out as annoying not only because of his style of play, but his skin color is as racist it comes in my book. Levance Fields does everything an “annoying white guy” does, but he’s not white. I’ve never seen him called annoying and certainly never seen him labeled “an annoying black guy.” If I did, I’d know that writer probably be joining many Americans in the unemployed line.
Devendorf also take a lot of heat for his tattoos. According to many, they automatically make him a punk. Most don’t realize the majority of those tattoos are dedicated to loved ones. Across Devendorf’s neck, he has the birth date and name of his only daughter. Across his arm, he’s got multiple crosses.
But those tattoos make him a punk especially because they are white and stand out on his skin. It’s not like Devendorf has a spider web tattooed up his neck or labels himself as the “Chosen 1″ like LeBron James does.
Louisville’s Terrence Williams is covered in tattoos as well, but the Cardinals’ forward is “an excellent personality.” I’ve never seen Williams labeled a punk. In fact if you google “Eric Devendorf + punk” the first link says that will yield over 1,000 related links. For Terrence Williams, you get about two vague references to him being a punk.
But Devendorf has the tattoos like Williams. Devendorf plays with fire like Williams (who shows lots of emotion sometimes directed at his teammates, sometimes at his opponents). But one is a punk, the other a great personality.
If Devendorf’s actions make him a punk, then Williams must be a punk. If Williams’ actions make him a great personality, then Devo can’t be a punk. There’s no both ways.
But Devendorf knows it doesn’t go both way. He knows the fans will hate him for things he didn’t do. They’ll hate him for the clutch shots he makes. They’ll probably hate him if he clips his finger nails too short.
But for Devendorf, that hate inspires him to be a better basketball player, but most importantly, prove to his haters that he’s a better person and father.
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