My Sports Bucket List

(Once again, a bit of a departure from a strict football article, but it’s fairly apparent this site is now my ship to sail, so during the offseason I’ll take it in a few directions).

On Saturday morning, I fly to Atlanta for Wrestlemania 27 (I’m continuing my anti-roman numeral stance from the Super Bowl). I made a comment a few weeks ago about crossing another thing of my bucket list. And I was serious. For every great moment I can rattle off about the Yankees, Giants, and Knicks, I can name just as many about wrestling, and Wrestlemania in particular.

I remember being in the basement of my old house on

Angie Drive

when Hulk Hogan beat Yokozuna to win the WWF Title at Wrestlemania 9, in a match he wasn’t even in. I remember having a big party at my house for Wrestlemania 17, and the two camps my friends and I divided into- the Stone Cold camp and the Rock camp. And the trash-talking leading up to that was every bit as intense as any Giants-Jets or Mets-Yankees argument we’ve ever gotten into. I remember watching Wrestlemania 24 at

5747 Woodstock Street

at college, and watching Ric Flair’s last match. And I remember the last two years at my place in Virginia, watching Shawn Michaels and the Undertaker having one of the greatest matches of all time at Wrestlemania 25, and realizing that despite how wasted I was, I would remember that match forever.

So when I said “cross another one off my bucket list” I was serious. But then today I got to thinking more about it. And I started formulating my sports bucket list in my mind. Some of these things I’ve done, most I haven’t yet. Some of these things involve playing sports, others involve watching them. Some of them I’ll comment on, some of them speak for themselves, but here’s my Sports Bucket List

First, things that I’ve already scratched off that list. Obvious things I’ve already done like “See the Knicks play at MSG” aren’t included.

·        Attend a Giants victory parade down the Canyon of Heroes: Done on 2/5/08. Took an early morning bus from school in Philly. I still have a piece of streamer that one of the D-Lineman threw off their float and I caught.

·        Attend a Yankees victory parade down the Canyon of Heroes: Done on 11/6/09. Extra special because my father met me down there and we got to experience it together.

·        Score a touchdown in an organized football game

·        Hit 4 straight home runs in Pool Baseball.

·        Win a Pool Baseball MVP

·        Attend a Yankees old-timers day

·        Rush a court: La Salle-St. Joe’s 2/18/2008

·        Beat Ketcham in varsity football

·        Have fans chant my name: That same Ketcham game Senior year. I hopped up on a bench and waved my towel at the crowd.

·        Hit a game-winning 3-pointer in any kind of basketball game.

·        Watch the Giants win a Super Bowl at the Mini-Meadowlands.

·        Get thrown out of a game I’m in the stands for.

·        Go onto the field at Giants Stadium.

·        Have a player on the court scream at me in the stands.

·        Get a jersey retired. Van Wyck football. Probably only lasted like a year, but it was hanging in the weight room, which was awesome.

·        See a game at the Palestra with my father.

·        Attend Wrestlemania (after Sunday)

·        Attend the WWE Hall of Ceremony (after Saturday)

It’s harder to come up with one’s I’ve already done, because until now I’ve never had this list. Those were just some of the awesome memories I have from watching sports, playing organized sports, and screwing around with my friends.  Now, onto the one’s still on my list:

• Attend a Knicks victory parade down the Canyon of Heroes: Obviously the one hold out. Bonus would be the weather in June wouldn’t suck, unlike the other 2 sports.
• See a boxing title fight in Vegas with Michael Buffer as the ring announcer.
• See a boxing match at Madison Square Garden.
• See a football game at Yankee Stadium.
• Throw a perfect game in Pool Baseball. Almost impossible, but it’s my Bucket List.
• Go to the Royal Rumble.
• Play 4 different mini-golf courses in the same day and call it the Mini-Masters.
• Actually win an NCAA bracket pool.
• See a playoff football game go into Double Overtime.
• See a bench-clearing brawl in baseball.
• See Mariano Rivera and Derek Jeter inducted into Cooperstown.
• Take a perfect game in bowling into the 6^th Frame. Being realistic here.
• See a Lakers NBA Finals game in person at Staples.
• Go to the first home game after La Salle opens a real arena.
• Walk the John T. Brush staircase, the only thing left on
  155^th Street
  of the Polo Grounds. Have to be careful here because it’s a housing project now.
• See the last game a team ever plays in an arena.
• Be part of a “Fire ______” chant at an arena.
• Have full-season tickets for one year for a team and go to every game.
• Sit courtside at an NBA game.
• Boo a draft-pick in person.
• Watch all 6 Rocky’s back to back.
• Get the Rick “Wild Thing” Vaughn haircut one more time.
• Take a vacation where all I do is go to different baseball stadiums
• Find a “Giants bar” in any city I live in.
• See a NCAA Final 4 in person.
• Get myself a replica WWF Title belt that’s made like the real thing.
• Start an obscure chant at a sporting event, and actually get people to pick up on it.
• Build the perfect pool baseball field at the first house I buy.

I realize how difficult coming up with an exhaustive list is. You’ll notice there’s a huge lack of anything in-person regarding football games. That’s because I firmly believe football is best watched with your friends, in front of a huge television and a plate of deeply fried food, drinking beer, soda, and throwing pizza crusts to dogs.

I’m sure I missed a ton of stuff, but this was a decent start. Your thoughts?

The Thin Blue Line Between Pariah and Legend

Editor's Note: Like I mentioned, I don't want this to become a Giants blog. But the subtext for this is two different Giants players. Hopefully this reads as more of a reflection on heroes and pariahs than on these two guys specifically.

For about 10 years, the New York Giants were defined by two players. Both these guys had good years and bad. Each presided over very good teams, very bad teams, and most of all, very inconsistent teams. They both loved Jim Fassel. they both hated Tom Coughlin. They were both dogged by the criticism that neither of of them were big time players, and that the Giants problems directly stemmed from their lack of leadership. They retired a year apart, each having squabbled with the front office, the media, and the fans throughout the long careers in New York. They each left the game having played for no other teams, and owning numerous Giants records.

But today, one guy is considered an all-time great Giant and is revered by many as their favorite player of all time. Everytime he appears on the screen at Giants Stadium he is cheered loudly.

The other guy has only publicly set foot in the stadium once since his retirement. He was loudly booed. Anytime his picture shows up on the Jumbotron, fans react with hatred to a guy that holds the all-time rushing and all-time yardage record for the franchise.

So, despite their similar careers, what causes Michael Strahan and Tiki Barber to be viewed so differently by an entire fan base?

The faces of the 2000's Giants, now viewed through very different lenses.












As late as September of 2007, there was almost no difference in how both men were viewed. Tiki, coming off some career years, announced his retirement in the middle of the 2006 season. After the Giants were eliminated, he moved right into a job with NBC's Sports and News divisions. Michael Strahan was still technically with the Giants, but was still holding out a week before the season began, threatening to retire. He was coming off a season in which he missed 6 of the team's final 7 games, and created a media firestorm by screaming at a female reporter. Neither guy had won anything, save for an NFC Championship in 2000. They had both been openly critical of their head coach and new QB in 2004.

But then 2007 happened. Barber, freshly into his media gig, called his former teammate Eli Manning "comical" and seemed to be intent on making headlines ripping on his old team. He stood on the Giants opponent's sideline in a playoff game (admittedly that team did have his brother on it). Strahan meanwhile ended his holdout, was the leader of a surprising defense, and was instrumental in the Giants shocking Super 42 win. He retired right after, a Super Champion, and immortal in the eyes of Giants fans who'd just watched the most amazing season of their lives. And only 6 months earlier, he's been regarded as just as much of a primadonna baby as Tiki.

Fair or not, 2007 permanently changed the public perception of Michael Strahan...and Tiki Barber.





More important than these two guys is the point this illustrates about just how little can seperate being a hero and being a pariah. In 2005, Tiki was the number one guy in the hearts of Giants fans, and the one with the promising media career. Michael Strahan was just another all-star in New York, on the level of Jessie Armstead, and nowhere near Giant defensive legends of years gone by. If he retires in 2006, after what would have been 14 years in the NFL, he wouldn't be embraced nearly as much. Tiki on the other hand has ruined all the goodwill a 10 year career built up by a comment that came at the exact wrong time, sine it made him a punchline to the story of a title team. But nothing Tiki said makes his rushing totals less impressive, or his career any less spectacular. It just makes him less likeable.

And that's what makes being a legend to the fans so hard to define. Roger Clemens is by all accounts one of the greatest pitchers of all time, but none of the fanbases he's played for embrace him. Joe Namath on the other hand spun a mediocre career (look at the numbers) into a legacy, simply by making one bold prediction. There's no logical way to determine who ends up a "local legend" and who ends up just another guy, or worse, an outcast. A guy could play 15 great years and ruin it in retirement by being a jerk. Or a guy can be only slightly above average, but somehow capture the hearts of fans in a particular town and live on that forever. It's one of those great things about sports you can't quantify.


 

He's easily mocked, but in his day, Tiki Barber was one of the best backs in the league. More people remember his fumbles and controversial post-football career. 






Now that Tiki's coming back, I'm beginning to appreciate the player he was more. The guy was a warrior, who won the Giants games they had no business winning. Couple that with some of the QB's and O-Lines the guy played behind, and it's a miracle he had the success he did. I still don't forgive him for what he's dais in the past, but I do hope that one day he can show up at Giants Stadium and not be booed. Because he is one of the all-time great Giants, whether we wish he was or not.

Locking Out the Lockout

The last few days I've been toying around with  what my next column would be. Naturally, you would think it has to be about the lockout. Because right now, that's really the only relevant topic relating to the NFL. But then I realized something:

This readership of this blog is basically just my friends. No one needs to come here for hard-hitting news on labor negotiations. ESPN, Yahoo, Fox Sports, Deadspin, and all the others have that pretty well covered. If there's a big break in the story, I'm sure I'll have a comment on it. But until then, I 'm not going to write any more about the lockout itself. I intended for this blog to be the NFL, and more specifically about the joy I personally derive from being an NFL fan. Writing about revenue sharing, rookie wage scales, and the latest offers on the table isn't going to do that.

So for the rest of this offseason (however long that is) SundayAt1 will continue to be about the fun. I have some decent ideas lined up, and am anxious for your ideas or submissions, because frankly I'd like this blog to be more than just me. We had our first guest column already, and I think that worked well. So get some more in to me, and we can keep things rolling this spring and summer.

 

3 and Out- Lessons From The Last Work Stoppages in Each League:

This article was supposed to come out within hours of the expiration of the NFL Collective Bargaining Agreement. Originally the CBA was set to expire at 12:00 tonight. But the NFL and the NFLPA agreed to extend the deadline 24 hours. Since it was assumed they were months away from a deal, some people of have seen this as an encouraging sign. To me, it’s a rather underhanded tactic: they’re pushing it to the weekend, when people don’t listen to talk radio or read newspapers. They’re hoping they can lessen the blow of the first NFL work stoppage in 24 years by doing it when people are working on their cars and going to the movies. Because make no mistake, 28 hours from now, the NFL owners will lock out the players.

I know I’ve been promising a more in-depth piece on the issues surrounding the lockout. And that’s coming, I promise. Starting Sunday I’ll attack some of these issues one by one. I also don’t want this blog to be about nothing but the labor situation, so I’ll still do some fun stuff as well. But today, I wanted to talk about the last major work stoppage in the other 3 leagues: the NHL, NBA, and Major League Baseball. As I thought about each one of them today, I thought about the fallout each league suffered, and how the NFL owners and players need to be careful to avoid a similar outcome from all of them. Because each league was severely damaged by their stoppages in a unique way, and the NFL cannot afford a repeat of any of them.

You can make the case the 2004-2005 lockout helped the NHL in the long-run. Missing a season is still a huge blow to your league. And a huge insult to your fans.

The One That Killed An Entire Season:

NHL Lockout, September 2004-July 2005

This one is admittedly the one where you can argue the lockout was good for the long-term future of the league. When hockey finally did come back, the fans more or less returned in full. They changed some rules to make the game more exciting to the casual fan, and a few new stars have taken hold of the game, with an electrifying brand of hockey.

But still, they missed an entire season.

From June of 2004 until October of 2005, almost a year and a half, there was no pro hockey in North America. It just fell off the map for an entire year. Hockey fans are usually die-hards, so they didn’t desert the sport, but ESPN dropped their package, and the NHL was left with the Outdoor Life Network (now Versus) showing basically everything until the last few games of the Stanley Cup Finals. If you weren’t looking for it, the next few NHL seasons would have been invisible to you on television.

The NFL is not in danger of losing TV rights, and they already have a hard cap in place (up until last year) but they very well could miss an entire season. And if that happens, all bets are off. Even if they only get a deal done in 10 for a game season next year, the damage will likely be minimal because people will still have 3 or 4 months of football. They can do some damage control, and go right back to injecting the methadone that is the NFL right until the collective veins of the American people. But if they miss an entire season, people are going to start to chaff, no matter what the issues in question are. I think people are approaching this with a fairly level head, until games start getting missed. Then the frustration of these two groups not getting a deal done, when they’ve known there would be an issue for years, will really start to stick in the fans’ craw.

Some fans came back angry in 1995. Even more stayed away.






The One That Really Pissed The Fans Off

MLBPA Strike, August 1994-March 1995

Maybe it’s because baseball is the National Pastime, and people have always pretended that when they were kids it was just a game and not a business (unless they were kids literally the month baseball was invented in the 1850’s, this isn’t true), but this strike specifically angered fans much more than any other sports work stoppage in history. The players walked out to avoid a salary cap, and ultimately ended up winning. The 1994 playoffs were cancelled. Baseball was basically destroyed in Montreal (the best team in baseball in 1994), Toronto (2 time defending champions), Kansas City, Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, and Minnesota. When baseball resumed in 1995, some fans stayed away, and others showed up to heckle players and throw things on the field. Outside of Cal Ripken in Baltimore, baseball in 1995 was basically one big hate-fest. There are people who still have not gotten back into baseball because of what happened in 1994. It wasn’t until the amazing season of 1998 that most fans got back on board with baseball.

It can’t be stressed enough how different a strike and a lockout are. Still, the NFL had a rabid fanbase and had realistically been our “National Game; for 30 to 40 years. So, people from 20-50 will likely feel just as scorned by a prolonged NFL work stoppage as people felt by baseball. Some teams, Jacksonville, Buffalo, San Diego and Arizona to name a few, might be permanently damaged. The NFL can’t totally control how the fans react to this current situation, but they need to realize the possibility exists. If fans are chanting about greed and throwing batteries when the NFL comes back, it’s indicative that they have not done a great job of public relations. Because for every fan screaming at the stadium, there’s probably going to be 5 or 10 more at home, not even watching the game, because they feel so burned. This time though, they won’t be screaming at players about greed, they’ll be screaming at owners about Personal Seat Licenses, 50 dollar parking fees, games on Thursday nights on premium channels, and treating the fans like cash registers.

This shot was the end of the NBA's run of the 1990's. A lockout followed immediately after. An offensive foul should have been called for a push-off.







The One That’s Eerily Similar

NBA Lockout, 1998-1999

In June of 1998, the NBA was riding high. Michael Jordan had just won his 6^th title in 8 years, in an epic series against Utah. The league was still filled with the huge stars of the 1990’s: Barkley, Shaq, Ewing, Malone, Stockton, Pippen, Rodman, Mourning, Reggie Miller, Hakeem Olajuwon, David Robinson. Kobe Bryant and Tim Duncan were young players on good teams. The NBA had been the dominant pro sports league since the end of the wildly successful Magic-Bird era of the 1980’s, right through the MJ era. Even with Jordan leaving the stage, the NBA still had reason to be optimistic about the future. Jordan had retired once before and the league still maintained an incredible level of popularity during his year and a half hiatus.

For the purposes of this piece, the reason for the lockout doesn’t really matter. But the gist is that the owners wanted a harder cap, and won in limiting player’s salaries (the “Max” deals guys get today). The NBAPA succeeded in getting some of those weird exceptions (like the Larry Bird Rule and the Mid-Level Exception) worked into the deal. It was seen as a win for the owners.

But when they came back for a 50 game season in January of 1999, the average fan’s outlook was suddenly different. Whereas before middle-aged white men made up the NBA’s base, suddenly they were deserting the game. Suddenly those stars from the 1990’s were being replaced by Allen Iverson, Lattrell Sprewell, Rasheed Wallace, and a lot of corn rows and tattoos. But here’s the thing: it wasn’t really about that. The NBA had always had elements of young black culture that 50 year old white men didn’t like, but it never seemed to hurt their enjoyment of the sport. Michael Jordan, with the shaved head, the earring, and the baggy shorts was every bit the trendsetter these guys were, but now it was rubbing people the wrong way. Throughout the next 10 years, a huge bit of “middle America” stopped watching the NBA. Although most wouldn’t trace it back to the 1998-1999 lockout, the fact is people lost the opportunity to get caught up in the excitement of the game, followed the labor stuff, and couldn’t see past the “thuggery” when the league came back.

This is where the NFL needs to be most careful. If this thing goes on too long, and players start making comments, it’s going to irritate people who watch Jay Leno. NFL players haven’t exactly been a model of civic behavior the last few years, and your Dad may start wondering why in the hell he’s watching these guys. That’s when you start hearing the excuses about the “purity of the college game” or how it’s just not as exciting as it used to be. Whether consciously or not, work stoppages make people look for an excuse not to care anymore. The NFL has been on a run comparable to the NBA in the 1990’s and it’s hard to imagine its popularity diminishing anytime soon. But give middle-ages fans enough time, and they’ll start to conjure up reasons why they don’t care as much anymore. The lockout may not be directly the reason for people to leave the flock, but it could be the spark that starts it.