Posted on June 25th, 2012
By DERON SNYDER
If Venus Williams is destined to lose her battle against age, injuries and Sjogren’s syndrome, she’s determined to go down swinging. She was unable to muster much resistance Monday in an opening-round match at Wimbledon, but Williams refused to concede that her reign as a premier player has ended.
“I feel like I’m a great player,” Williams said after losing in Wimbledon’s first round for the first time since her debut appearance in 1997. “I am a great player. Unfortunately I have to deal with circumstances that people don’t have to deal with normally in a sport, but I can’t be discouraged by that. I’m up for challenges.”
Williams, 32, a five-time Wimbledon champion, hasn’t been herself for a while. She revealed in August that she suffers from an autoimmune condition that can cause fatigue and joint pain. Following a seven-month layoff, she returned to the tour in March, hoping to earn a bid on the U.S. Olympic team for the London Games.
The comeback has included measured success, such as reaching the quarterfinals in three tournaments and improving her world ranking from No. 134 to No. 58. But in her second-round defeat last month at the French Open, as well as Monday’s 6-1, 6-3 loss to Russia’s Elena Vesnina, Williams seemed to lack energy. She lost the first five games in a match that lasted just one hour and 15 minutes.
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Posted on June 22nd, 2012
By DERON SNYDER
As the clock wound down Thursday night, with the outcome clear, LeBron James let everything out. All the grief he took for leaving Cleveland. All the hate he received for going to Miami. All the criticism he endured for failing in the NBA Finals last year.
The only “crimes” were his over-the-top TV special two years ago and his reckless prediction that the Heat would win eight titles. Yet that was enough to make him Public Enemy No. 1, despised and resented like no one else in the NBA. Overnight, he went from being the league’s most popular player to its most polarizing, and it made him an angrier, less joyous player.
But all of that disappeared in the final moments of Miami’s series-clinching victory.
James jumped up and down with his teammates on the sideline. He flailed his arms and smiled widely. He displayed the unbridled joy that’s reserved for children and champions. His performance spoke for itself — a triple-double in Game 5 and the NBA Finals MVP trophy award — but he addressed his many critics afterward, especially those who called him selfish.
“That got to me a lot because I know that this is a team game,” James said. “I know the coaches that I had when I was younger always preached about team. There’s no ‘I’ in team, and to win a championship, no matter on which level, you have to do it as a team.
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Posted on June 21st, 2012
By DERON SNYDER
Wizards president Ernie Grunfeld has been an all-or-nothing guy to an extent, engineering deals that are great or gross, but rarely in-between.
Acquiring Kevin Seraphin and Kirk Hinrich for the rights to Vladimir Veremeenko was fantastic, especially once Hinrich was traded for Jordan Crawford plus a first-round draft pick. Shipping off Kwame Brown for Caron Butler was another stroke of genius
But giving Andray Blatche a $25 million extension was as boneheaded as the player proved to be. And even with a gun in his face, Grunfeld should have passed on signing Gilbert Arenas to a $111 million contract.
Washington’s latest move — trading Rashard Lewis for Emeka Okafor and Trevor Ariza — doesn’t fall in either extreme category. I don’t love it, and I don’t hate it. The transaction seems like a so-so deal for a mediocre team, perhaps good enough to have a fair-to-middling impact, but not enough to make a substantial leap.
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Posted on June 20th, 2012
By DERON SNYDER
Linebacker Jonathan Vilma has become the face of “bountygate,” the New Orleans Saints’ alleged program that rewarded players for injurious hits. No other player has been mentioned as prominently or suffered a more severe penalty (season-long suspension). But Vilma, who last month filed a defamation lawsuitagainst NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell, faces a near-impossible task in clearing his name.
He received a firsthand lesson on Monday, when Goodell heard appeals from Vilma and three other players who were penalized. Goodell shared the league’s evidence with reporters, including Sports Illustrated’s Peter King, who wrote that “all of this cannot be invented.” Vilma and his attorney, Peter Ginsberg, were unimpressed and left the proceedings early.
Vilma complained to reporters about Goodell’s role as “judge, jury and executioner,” and Ginsberg also blasted the process. “We’re not willing to participate in that kind of sham,” the attorney said. “The commissioner had legal obligations and procedural obligations. He failed in those obligations, and as far as we’re concerned, these proceedings are over.”
Unfortunately for Vilma and any player who lands in Goodell’s doghouse, the commissioner has absolute power. If they don’t like that fact, they have only themselves and their union to blame. Goodell’s power was left intact when the league and the union settled their labor dispute last summer and signed a 10-year collective bargaining agreement.
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Posted on June 19th, 2012
By DERON SNYDER
The verdicts are in. All that remains now are the votes. Baseball’s poster boys for the Steroid Era — Roger Clemens and Barry Bonds — have endured their government trials. They have gotten off scot-free and with a wrist slap, respectively, making a mockery of federal prosecutors. But the best pitcher and best hitter of their generation have yet to be judged by the baseball writers who elect players to the Hall of Fame.
Despite Clemens‘ victory in court Monday, several more years must pass before we finally close the book on steroids in MLB. We won’t move on completely until every potential candidate associated with that era, including the New York Yankees‘ current third baseman, has appeared on the ballot and been voted in or left out.
The cases of Clemens, Bonds and Alex Rodriguez represent three of the four categories players can fall into. There are suspects who deny using performance-enhancing drugs; suspects who claim they unknowingly used PEDs; and players who admit to usage, whether or not they were suspects.
The fourth designation is impossible to calibrate, no matter how hard Hall of Fame voters try: players who aren’t linked to PEDs and have never said a word, neither denying nor confirming usage.
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Posted on June 18th, 2012
By DERON SNYDER
The end came right from the start for Tiger Woods on Sunday as his promising prospects at the U.S. Open began disintegrating on the final round’s initial hole. The carnage went like this: bogey, bogey, double bogey, par, bogey, bogey. Just like that, Woods played himself out of contentionafter sharing the lead midway through the tournament.
“The first six [holes], I just didn’t play well at all,” he said after finishing tied for 21st. “I just could never get anything going positively, and I missed the ball in the wrong side a couple times, and that’s all it takes.”
Woods’ final two rounds (75 and 73) were in stark contrast with his opening rounds of 69 and 70, when he really looked like his old self again. He wasn’t the only big-name golfer who struggled to tame San Francisco’s Olympic Club course, but he was the only one shooting for a 15th major championship. He’ll have to wait until the British Open next month for another opportunity, but he wasn’t overly discouraged by his performance.
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Posted on June 15th, 2012
By DERON SNYDER
Yes, LeBron James’ foul on Kevin Durant wasn’t called Thursday night in the waning seconds of Game 2. Yes, the Miami Heat barely held on to win against the hard-charging Oklahoma City Thunder. And yes, folks who adhere to NBA conspiracy theories have more “evidence” to pair with New Orleans winning the draft lottery last month.
But the real story as the NBA Finals takes a break before resuming in Miami doesn’t involve questionable non-calls. It’s not the frequent flopping by defenders or the bitter disappointment in the Thunder’s former home.
It’s the ongoing battle between King James and KD Trey, the best two players in the league.
Both have been spectacular through the first two games, each man leading his team to a victory. James is averaging 31 points, 8.5 rebounds, 4.5 assists and 2.5 steals, displaying the all-around game that just earned him a third Most Valuable Player award. Durant, a three-time scoring champion, has been a stone-cold killer. He’s averaging 34 points and 5.5 rebounds, doing most of his damage in the second half.
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Posted on June 14th, 2012
By DERON SNYDER
My 13-year-old daughter was confused Tuesday night when she came into the room and saw the Nationals on TV instead of Heat-Thunder.
“How many games do they play in baseball?” she asked. “One hundred and sixty-two,” I replied. “The NBA finals are on,” she said. “That’s more important than a regular baseball game.”
Of course they are. The basketball game was in a commercial break. But truth be told, I’ve missed several minutes of NBA action this postseason because the Nats are so compelling. Even though 3 1/2 months remain in the regular season and plenty can change in that time — namely, Washington’s hold on first place in the NL East — the Nats’ allure is hard to resist.
And now the red-hot New York Yankees are here, creating the closest thing to a playoff atmosphere since Nationals Park opened. The Nats will have exactly 100 games left after Friday’s opener, and there couldn’t be a more exciting opponent to launch that countdown.
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Posted on June 13th, 2012
LaVar Arrington
By DERON SNYDER
Two things can be said of virtually anyone you meet: Either they have been a victim of sexual abuse or they know someone who’s been a victim, although they might be unaware of the latter.
Many people would be like former Penn State linebacker LaVar Arrington, who was shocked to discover an acquaintance among Jerry Sandusky’s alleged victims. Arrington was mentioned multiple times by the witness identified as Victim No. 4 as Sandusky’s trial got under way this week.
“My sadness and disappointment are growing as I realize that I knew this young man fairly well but didn’t grasp the full extent of what he was going through,” Arrington wrote in his Washington Post column. “So it’s mind-blowing to realize that a kid I took an active interest in during my time at school was suffering right in front of me and I had no idea that the pain allegedly came from someone in my own football program.”
Prosecutors state that Sandusky, a former Penn State defensive coordinator, sexually assaulted 10 boys from 1995 to 2008. Testimony thus far from the alleged victims — now ranging in age from 18 to 28 — has been graphic and heartbreaking.
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Posted on June 12th, 2012
By DERON SNYDER
Former Georgetown guard Jason Clark dribbled down the middle of the Wizards’ practice court Tuesday and delivered a pass to former Syracuse guard Scoop Jardine, who pulled up for a mid-range jumper. A Wizards assistant retrieved the rebound and passed to Clark, who started toward the other end as his running mate switched sides. Jardine pulled up for another jumper and the process was repeated, again and again and again.
Such is life for players such as Clark and Jardine, criss-crossing the country for team workouts in the final weeks before the NBA draft. The Wizards were the third and seventh stop, respectively, for Clark and Jardine, who were joined by Matt Gatens (Iowa), Bernard James (Florida State) and Darius Miller (Kentucky).
“I have eight more [workouts],” said Jardine, who as a fifth-year senor led Syracuse to the Elite Eight this year. “I just got in from Memphis last night and I’ve got Detroit tomorrow. You’re on the road a lot, living out of a suitcase, but I cherish this time because there’s nothing like it.”
That’s the proper attitude and really the only approach for players in his position, fighting for a shot to be drafted June 28. Perhaps one of them will be selected by the Wizards, who hold the third, 32nd and 46th picks. But none of them is a candidate for No. 3 overall, which would make life so much sweeter and easier. Instead, they’re forced to scratch and claw if they make it into the draft at all.
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