Posted on June 12th, 2012
By DERON SNYDER
Former heavyweight champion Lennox Lewis offered the perfect summary of Saturday night’s controversial welterweight match between Manny Pacquiao and Timothy Bradley.
“Pac won the fight. Bradley won the decision. Aurum won another payday. Boxing lost its integrity and the fans lost confidence,” Lewis tweeted.
Bradley indeed was declared the winner in a 12-round split decision. But the two judges who had him ahead were arguably the only people who felt that way. Most everyone else — from other boxers to media to fans — believed that Pacquiao won the fight handily.
“The decision will go down as one of the worst, most bogus calls in the whole history of boxing,” wrote ESPN’s Dan Rafael. “It was a disgrace. Shameful. Pathetic. We are not talking about a fight that was really close with several tight rounds that could have gone either way, so reasonable people can have a different opinion. No, we’re talking about a fight that Pacquiao dominated.”
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Posted on June 9th, 2012
By DERON SNYDER
In addition to trophies and rings for their efforts, champions also get a cherry in the form of a customary White House visit. They get a tour and a visit with the commander in chief, adding another lifelong memory to the athletic exploits that made them No. 1.
For the second time in four years, the New York Giants took a trip to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue and were honored for winning the Super Bowl. Coach Tom Coughlin used the occasion to poke Congress in the ribs, which drew some applause from President Obama.
The Giants were the epitome of teamwork last season, pulling together when their season was on the brink and supporting one another during the turnaround. Coughlin said he was proud of his players’ unity and he wondered why there’s so little in Washington.
“Offense, defense and special teams doing their job, each group having different objectives and motives but playing in harmony for each other for the good of everyone,” Coughlin said Friday during his remarks on the South Lawn. “Wouldn’t it be nice if Congress operated the same way?” A grinning Obama joined in as the crowd laughed and cheered.
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Posted on June 8th, 2012
By DERON SNYDER
Two weeks ago, we asked why the Washington Nationals couldn’t complete a series sweep, as the team was 0-7 when the opportunity presented itself. The Nats promptly put that matter to rest by going on the road and brooming the Atlanta Braves.
Washington failed in its first chance to repeat the feat, dropping Thursday’s series finale against the New York Mets. But after watching R.A. Dickey’s masterful performance in a 3-1 victory, another question came to mind:
Why don’t more pitchers give the knuckleball a try?
Dickey allowed just three balls out of the infield in his 7 1/3 shutout innings, constantly confounding batters with his frustrating knuckler. It was a continuation of his stellar start as he improved to 9-1 and lowered his ERA to 2.44. He has a scoreless streak of 24 2/3 innings.
“When you get in that batter’s box against him,” Mets manager Terry Collins said, “you better be ready to hit something that’s fluttering.”
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Posted on June 6th, 2012
By DERON SNYDER
Add Wade Davis to the list. He’s the latest man to reveal his homosexualityafter playing major team sports.
Unlike John Amaechi, who in 2007 became the first former NBA player to come out, Davis isn’t a pioneer. In 2002 Esera Tuaolo announced on HBO’s Real Sports that he’s gay, making him the third former NFL player to come out after David Kopay (1975) and Roy Simmons (1992).
Former Major League Baseball player Glen Burke shared his secret with coaches and teammates but didn’t come out fully until 1982 — three years after his retirement. The same amount of time passed between former MLB player Billy Bean’s retirement and revelation.
Davis has been out of the league since 2003 and didn’t accomplish much the four seasons he was there. A cornerback, he attended training camps and played preseason games with the Tennessee Titans, Seattle Seahawks and Washington Redskins, but he never made a regular-season roster. He did, however, enjoy stints in NFL Europe with Berlin Thunder and the Barcelona Dragons.
So he’s as anonymous as an ex-NFL player can be. Yet a star player’s admission wouldn’t resonate much louder. Davis was in the fraternity and in the closet; he surely wasn’t alone and certainly stands as an example to those in that position today. He knows why they choose to remain silent, as he did.
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Posted on June 6th, 2012
By DERON SNYDER
Champion boxers can age in a hurry, with no perceptible warning signs. They can show great vim and vigor as the bout approaches and maintain that energy through the early rounds. But then they can lose it, suddenly, in the middle of the fight, looking old, tired and worn out compared to the young, spry and energetic contender.
That’s what we’re seeing in the Western Conference finals with the seasoned San Antonio Spurs and the up-and-coming Oklahoma City Thunder.
The Spurs very well might rebound from their first three-game losing streak this season and advance to the NBA finals. But the dynamics in this series have shifted, swift enough to cause whiplash and quicker than a Thunder fast break. San Antonio, which appeared to fluctuate between invincible and perfection in winning the first two games, now appears overwhelmed and outmatched against reinvigorated OKC.
The transformation has been startling. Commentators were musing about the Spurs going undefeated in the playoffs after ending the regular season with 10 consecutive victories. San Antonio had won 20 straight after going up 2-0 on the Thunder, with no evidence of trouble looming once the series shifted to OKC.
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Posted on June 4th, 2012
By DERON SNYDER
For at least one Sunday, it was as if that fateful Thanksgiving night three years ago was a bad dream. The Escalade never crashed, the infidelity never surfaced, the divorce never happened and the downward spiral never occurred.
On this afternoon, Tiger Woods was the Tiger of old, wearing red and crushing foes as he captured yet another golf title. The Memorial Tournament marked just Woods’ second victory since 2009, but both came this year. His 67 in Sunday’s final round was low for the day and included a shot for the ages, a ridiculous chip in from the heavy rough to birdie the par-3 16th. Tournament host Jack Nicklaus said it was the “most unbelievable, gutsy shot” he’d ever seen.
“I went for it,” Woods said afterward. “I pulled it off, and for it to land as soft as it did was kind of a surprise because it was baked out, and it was also downhill running away from me. It just fell in. I didn’t think it was going to get there at one point.”
It helped Woods earn his 73rd victory on the PGA Tour, tying him with Nicklaus for second place, behind only Sam Snead (82). Tying his idol at his idol’s tournament made the milestone even more special, but there was only one question on folks’ minds when Woods hoisted the trophy.
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Posted on June 1st, 2012
By DERON SNYDER
There are a number of things you could say about Justin Combs, a celebrity’s son who plans to attend UCLA on a football scholarship.
You could say that he graduated from upstate New York’s prestigious Iona Prep with a 3.75 GPA. You could mention that he headed the school’s African American Society. You could point out that he turned down scholarships from Illinois, Virginia and Wyoming.
Or you could be like Los Angeles Times reporter Kate Mather, who opened her story in Friday’s paper like this: “When Justin Combs turned 16, his father, hip-hop mogul Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs, gave him a $360,000 silver Maybach.”
Apparently a school isn’t supposed to award an athletic scholarship to a student whose father has a net worth around $550 million. Critics of UCLA and Diddy blew up the Internet this week, saying that Justin Combs shouldn’t receive a scholarship and/or his family shouldn’t accept it.
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Posted on June 1st, 2012
By DERON SNYDER
The Washington Nationals barely needed an airplane as they flew to Miami from Atlanta last Sunday night, having completed their first series sweep this season. The flight home Wednesday wasn’t nearly as sweet, though, after they were swept by the Marlins.
But the Nats have no reason to feel down. Every NL East opponent continues to look up at Washington, in its first-place perch.
Entering Friday’s opener of a three-game series with the Braves, the Nats have spent 55 days atop the division. They haven’t gotten too high or too low, with five-game streaks being their longest for consecutive wins or losses. They are 11-4-2 in their 17 series while boasting the majors’ second-best home record (15-8).
All of that is well and good. But the Nats’ most-amazing aspect through two months isn’t their respectability. It’s their resiliency.
Manager Davey Johnson and his team would deserve props for their performance under any circumstances. However, they get extra credit when you consider the massive losses they’ve endured since the end of spring training.
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Posted on May 30th, 2012
By DERON SNYDER
By no means is this an attempt to pick on Tim Welke. He suffered enough in 1998, when a Sports Illustrated cover featured his photo and an incendiary headline: “Kill the Umps! Missed calls and skewed strike zones are marring the postseason.”
I bring up Welke as Exhibit A in my case against the “human element,” though any number of his peers could be used to make the same point. But Welke is timely because he made one of the worst calls ever this month, and his younger brother Bill made a costly bad call Monday.
Both rulings would’ve been overturned instantly after just one replay if baseball allowed such reviews. But expanding the use of technology makes too much sense for commissioner Bud Selig & Co. to take seriously.
In Boston’s 7-4 victory Monday against Detroit, Bill Welke incorrectly ruled that Tigers catcher Gerald Laird didn’t catch a third strike cleanly before it hit the ground, extending the inning long enough for the Red Sox to score three runs.
At least you can understand how Bill Welke was fooled; Laird’s glove hit the dirt and stirred some dust. But it’s beyond comprehension how Tim Welke blew a call May 2 in Colorado’s 8-5 victory against the Dodgers. Jerry Hairston grounded to third and inexplicably was called out on the throw. Rockies first baseman Todd Helton was three feet from the bag.
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Posted on May 30th, 2012
By DERON SNYDER
Of all the possible scenarios for Serena Williams in her return to the French Open after a two-year absence, no one saw this one coming.
Certainly winning wasn’t guaranteed, considering her career-long struggle to prevail on clay courts. She’s not getting any younger, either, approaching her 31st birthday in September. And health could be an issue at any moment, like May 19, when she cited a back injury and withdrew from the Italian Open semifinals.
But surely Williams, ranked No. 5 in the world, would make it past her opening match against France’s Virginie Razzano, ranked No. 111 in the world. After all, en route to winning 13 Grand Slam titles and competing in dozens more, Williams had never lost in the first round of a Grand Slam tournament.
Until Tuesday, when she blew a big lead and was defeated 4-6, 7-6 (5), 6-3.
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