By the way, I would have voted for Drew Brees for “most accurate,” and the evidence backs it up: Only 44 poor throws out of a league‐leading 479 pass attempts for a 9.9 percentage of bad throws… He’s also an astonishing 26‐for‐45 for 14 TDs, 2 INTs and 1,112 yards on throws that travel at least 21‐plus yards in the air. He leads the league in 20‐plus yard passes (55) and 20‐plus yard touchdowns (16). He has the best TD/INT differential in the league (+15). He’s second in passing for first downs (180 overall). He’s even second in the league in dropped passes by his receivers (28). Look, I know Tomlinson has been amazing, but Brees has been playing out of his mind with a collection of rookies and castoffs. He has to be the MVP through 14 weeks. No other choice is acceptable.
Category: Sports
Lamar Hunt, owner of the Kansas City Chiefs, dead at 74. Arguably the greatest and most respected sports owner of all time, Hunt coined the term “Super Bowl” and helped make Major League Soccer a reality. The teams he owned were not just items in his portfolio — they were manifestations of his love of sports and the people around him. Kansas City is in mourning today. Sports fans everywhere should mourn with them.
Time Warner Cable wants the NFL to “get real.” Cox had a similar squabble with ESPN a few years back. Why do the bickering parties in these disputes think they can get the public to pick sides? Just like labor disputes in professional sports, this sort of conflict reflects poorly on everyone involved.
A movement started by a hockey fan on Something Awful is now getting coverage nationwide: the NHL now chooses its All‐Star teams starting lineups entirely by fan vote, so he started a movement to send Rory Fitzpatrick (an unheralded bench‐warmer) to the prestigious game. Whether it’s a salute to the NHL everyman, an affection for the underdog, or a vote of no confidence in the voting methodology… well, it’s pretty cool to watch. Right now Fitzpatrick is fifth in voting among Western Conference defensemen.
There were two schools as to why people kicked barefoot. Neither made any sense. The first was that it provided the kicker with a better “feel” for the ball itself and that this gave him greater control of its trajectory; I recall an argument that claimed making a kicker wear a shoe was like making a quarterback wear a mitten. I can only assume this argument was made by people who threw like Garo Yepremian.
I’m not sure what will end up being a more depressing DVD release — The Last Kiss, or the Raiders’ 2006 team video. Probably depends on the number of Imogen Heap songs.
After offering his version of events, Owens said he plans to practice Thursday. He also hopes to play Sunday against Tennessee, if his surgically repaired right hand can take it. That officially would make him the first player in NFL history to be upgraded from suicidal to questionable in the span of less than a day.
Saints backup quarterback Adrian McPherson is on the injured list after last week’s exhibition game — in which the Titans’ mascot, T‐Rac, hit him head‐on while driving in a golf cart. I seriously doubt any sportswriter on earth ever thought he’d write that sentence. In other news, Gerald Ford was eaten by wolves.
Rick Reilly: You make the call. Little‐league championship, bottom of the ninth, two outs: do you pitch to the star hitter or walk him so you can face the cancer survivor? One coach chose option B and is being tarred and feathered for it. I’m not saying I’d feel good about it, but if I were in his shoes I’d do the same damn thing. Inherent in sports strategy is the recognition that not all players are of equal skill. Reilly says it’s supposed to be about fun, not strategy, but how can you have the former without the latter?
The world of the World Cup is the one I want to live in. I cannot resist its United Nations–like pageantry and high‐mindedness, the apolitical display of national characteristics, the revelation of deep human flaws and unexpected greatnesses, the fact that entire nations walk off the job or wake up at 3 a.m. to watch men kick a ball.