Redskins Rehash-- "Choosing not to run"...

My favorite scene in Footloose* is the famed "Tractor-Chicken" scene where Kevin Bacon's character takes on the town bully "Chuck Cranston"... to the tune of "Holding out for a Hero" by Bonnie Tyler. Bacon being the new kid in town has to prove himself-- and is ready to stare down the bad guy up to a point. Somewhere between the first and second verse Bacon realizes his shoelace is tangled with the gas pedal. Bacon can't brake... or jump off the tractor that's racing towards a head-on collision-- and having gone thus far he has no choice but to push forward.

The bully bails out... diving into the river as the tractor falls off the side of the road- and Bacon's on the road to winning the heart of Lori Singer, teaching Christopher Penn how to dance and getting music back into the lives of a community.

One week into Redskins training camp, coach Mike Shanahan's playing a game of tractor chicken with Albert Haynesworth. By having the defensive tackle take the "conditioning test", the new kid in town is letting everybody know who's in charge. Haynesworth had his way with the Skins last year, much like Chuck did with Ariel before Ren McCormick came to town. Friday, Haynesworth continued his transformation into a latter-day Calvin Coolidge... once again "choosing not to run".

How many practices will he miss? Will he miss any preseason games? What is the point of no return? And how come Bonnie Tyler couldn't build on the momentum of "Holding out for a Hero" and "Total Eclipse of the Heart"?

Hold the Line-- OT Jamal Brown missed practice Wednesday and was limited in Thursday's workout... and while his status doesn't get as much attention as the 100 million dollar man, Brown did not play a regular season down last year and with Mike Williams done for 2010 the leaky OL is in danger of returning front and center.

Colt, we hardly knew ye-- so much for Redskins Nation's romanticism of #5 turned #15... Colt Brennan was released earlier this week after being a preseason darling during the past two training camps. John Beck comes over in a trade from Baltimore-- making Brennan's presence unnecessary.

Hall Pass-- It's a shame it took this long for a member of the most celebrated offensive lines to finally enter Canton... but Russ Grimm takes his rightful place in Pro Football's Hall of Fame this weekend. Joe Jacoby also deserves to enter the Hall in the near future-- and I've gone on the record early and often about Ray Guy's conspicuous absence.

Elsewhere this first week of August--
Nats note-- at the trading deadline the Nationals dealt closer Matt Capps to Minnesota for catching prospect Wilson Ramos... fantastic pickup. Ramos hopefully after learning under Pudge Rodriguez will become the defensive foundation for this team. Glad they kept Adam Dunn-- his presence in the lineup is huge for Zimmerman and Willingham. Problem is, this team needs a little glove-- they continue to lead the league in errors.

College Football Corner-- Maryland media day is next Tuesday... this should be an interesting season as the Terps try to get off the mat following a 2-10 season where everything went wrong. There's a new era in Charlottesville and the same old championship expectations in Blacksburg.

Proof there is hell on earth-- Earlier this week, Michaela Salahi got into a fight with Whoopi Goldberg. Evidently there's a new show on Bravo called "Real Housewives of Washington DC" ... and the cast appeared on "The View". And the State Dinner gate crasher got into a shouting match with the Oscar-winner. I feel for everyone in the studio audience who was there against their will-- and anyone who happened to be watching the show (especially those who didn't have control of the TV remote).

*My esteemed friends disagree on the best scene in Footloose... they're divided between the "Angry Dance" scene where Bacon unwinds by running recklessly through an empty warehouse and the "Let's hear it for the Boy" segment where Christopher Penn learns to snap... spin and dance for Sarah Jessica Parker (let the record show that nobody on Sex & the City learned to dance for Carrie Bradshaw-- I'm just sayin').

Nats Future is Wow...

There have been many levels of the return of baseball to DC. First the Nationals debut at RFK. Then the Sunday night affair against Atlanta to open the new ballpark in 2008. Now the arrival of the franchise is complete-- its first bonafide star (Ryan Zimmerman's a very good player, but not on the star level). And the product was better than the promotion. "It's better to travel hopefully than actually arrive" has been a sad reality in the DC area over the last two decades: Heath Shuler, Chris Webber, Kwame Brown, Jaromir Jagr, Joe Gibbs II, the Caps in the Playoffs... Stephen Strasburg had more than a few examples of hype turned bad to look at before he took the mound in his major league debut.

And what a debut... 14 strikeouts (although it was Pittsburgh- technically they're still major-leaguers)... no walks... and four hits scattered over seven innings. Meanwhile, the middle of the order produced with home runs by Zimmerman, Adam Dunn and Josh Willingham- and the bullpen shut the door effectively to give Strasburg the victory.

I could think of two other spectacular debuts on the Strasburg level: Magic Johnson either assisted on or hit the buzzer-beating shot in his first NBA game and hugged Kareem like they just won the title... and Archie Manning ran for the game-winning touchdown against the Rams in his first game quarterbacking the Saints. I'm sure there are others, but those are the two that came to mind first: heavily hyped athlete comes through in the clutch to lead his team to victory. Feel free to email me your favorite debut.

The best part about Strasburg's first start? The framework appears to be in place for a contending team. Zimmerman, Dunn and Willingham are all on pace to hit 30 home runs... Ian Desmond looks to be another long term infield solution... and the relief corps has a slew of young arms from Drew Storen to Matt Capps (the closer is just 26). Strasburg's emergence as a #1 means everybody can slide down one spot in the rotation; in theory he'll eat up innings (6 to 7 per start) so there will be less pressure on the bullpen as well.

Could this merely be a June mirage? Conventional wisdom says Strasburg will run into problems once he's gone through the league a couple of times as opponents will be able to effectively scout him. Even so, the makings of a consistent 15 to 20 game winner were on display. We're not used to dreaming about baseball greatness in Washington. But that was before the kid lived up to the hype.

Summer Fun... Finals, Firings, and Foals.

There are many signposts to summer... while the actual day the season begins is June 21st, Memorial Day and the final day of school are summertime's virtual kickoffs. So much and so little to do...


First things first-- I'm proposing throwing practice for all of the kids in my apartment complex who use the pool... they've shown the accuracy of Jamarcus Russell when throwing those nerf-like pool balls that exude water on impact. I have no problem getting splashed-- I mean it's the pool... water's expected in the equation-- but kids need to try to keep the ball in play and not on my lawn chair.


The NBA Finals reunites royalty-- Boston and the Los Angeles Lakers have combined to win more than 50% of their league championships and have met for the title more often (12) than any other pair of teams in any other sport. They represent the same (excellence) and different (LA flash vs Boston grit) virtues. Incredible theater all around. Game one saw the Lakers defend and rebound the life out of a Celtic team that looked as though it was aging rapidly by the minute (Kevin Garnett doing his best Greg Kite impersonation on back to back layup misses). It all comes back to a game two as pivotal as the one in 1984 and 1985 where the winner of that tilt and not the series opener took the title.


Meet the new boss, with the same problems as the old boss-- who thinks Dave Trembley's firing will completely change the mess that is the Baltimore Orioles? And didn't this happen three years ago with the Sam Perlozzo purging? The O's own the worst record in the majors and the offense has been reduced to a crawl during their current nine game losing streak (just 14 runs scored). The pitching has been porous... from Kevin Millwood's 0-6 mark to Chris Tillman getting roasted for four runs over an inning and a third last night. In theory, Juan Samuel will finish out the season and then Andy MacPhail will bring in one of his own men to manage the ballclub. The long Oriole nightmare continues.


Belmont Stakes...aka racing not well done-- the Triple Crown wraps up today with the running of the Belmont Stakes. Neither the Kentucky Derby winner Super Saver nor Preakness winner Lookin at Lucky will be running today, making the race even more irrelevant. Wake up, Horse Racing before it's completely too late! Push back the Preakness a two or three weeks (I'm ideally hoping for the first weekend in June, but I'd settle for the last weekend in May) and do likewise with the Belmont (first week of July in a perfect world) to allow the thoroughbreds the proper time to recover and then be in peak condition for the next race. Otherwise, your sport's going to the glue factory.

Redskins Reboot... Strasberg the Savior... Traffic Trauma...

The baby steps toward the regular season continue with Pittsburgh stopping by Fed Ex Field this evening...believe it or not, the last time the Steelers dropped by Landover they were the team with question marks (having gotten manhandled by the Giants in their previous game) while the Skins were the squad flying high at 6-2. Sixty minutes later (and after backup QB Byron Leftwich shined against his hometown team) the Steelers had resolve and the Redskins were beginning to dissolve. I'm not one to put too much on laundry-- but the Redskins "Burgundy jerseys and pants" began a 2-6 stretch. I'm not saying it was the offensive line or Portis getting banged up...but sometimes ugly uniform combinations can carry karmic consequences.

Questions to be answered--
How long will we see the starters? Coach Jim Zorn said it's not fixed on a certain amount of plays or time--but a certain amount of progress he wants to see on the field. It'll be nice to see Haynesworth in legitimate action.

Who's number two? Santana Moss is the team's alpha receiver-- and Antwan Randle-El, Malcolm Kelly and Devin Thomas all have claims, legitimate or not, to the other side...even though conventional wisdome says Randle-El is probably most effective as a #3 out of the slot.

In order for a kicking competition... the offense has to get into position to score for the legs of Shaun Suisham and Dave Rayner to be tested... and the team needs to score for their kickoff legs to be evaluated more than once.

This week's offensive line challenge...will be the Steelers vaunted zone-blitz. Althoug it's technically a 3-4 formation... all four linebackers rush while both defensive ends drop back in pass coverage from time to time. The only fixed position in the front seven is the nose-- I guess making this a 1-6 (or 1-7 if you count the safety creeping up for pass rush possibilities). The way the Steelers have gone about getting the right personnel for this specialized base defense over the years has been pretty incredible...it seems as though they always have depth ready to be plugged in whenever they lose a high-priced free agent that somehow isn't as effective with his new team. There's been talk over the years of an assistant coaches wing in the Pro Football Hall of Fame (Joe Bugel and Richie Pettibon among those names bandied about)--if there is then the zone blitz archictect Dick LeBeau definitely needs to be in Canton.

While the Nationals present is shall we say, less than ideal... the future was front and center this week. The team may be destined to reach the century mark in losses...but at least there appears to be a trail to contention.

Monday the team signed first round pick Stephen Strasburg to a $15.1 contract... a little over a minute before the deadline. This gives the club credibility as a franchise committed to winning and not just the balance sheet-- a residual effect will be prospective free agents will view the Nationals that much more seriously.

Thursday the team promoted interim general manager Mike Rizzo to VP and General Manager... to move in a different direction would push whatever rebuilding plan the team has back at least a season-- and Rizzo's made several solid moves since taking over on an interim basis during Spring Training. My favorite remains the trade for Nyjer Morgan that solidified centerfield defensively while providing a sparkplug to the top of the lineup.

Friday the Nats held a midday press conference to introduce Strasburg to the media and fans--arming the pitcher with a #37 jersey as well as his immediate itinerary: Instructional ball in Florida before the Arizona Fall League. His potential timetable obviously rests on more than a few variables: how effective is he in spring training...where he winds up in April (smart money has Strasburg starting in AA)... plus how he adjusts and fares to competition. The final variable in Strasburg's journey to DC is how thin the Nats starting pitching is... if it's anything like this year's bullpen we could be seeing #37 by the All-Star break next year. A safe bet is he shines at several stops before getting the September callup-and is on the 2011 opening day roster.

Thank goodness they weren't introducing Strasberg to the media Saturday... There's a confluence of events in the evening-- with the Nats hosting Milwaukee at Nationals Park (7:05), Redskins-Steelers (7:30) at Fed Ex Field and the DC United playing the Los Angeles Galaxy at RFK (7:30) there will be plenty of congestion. In order to get to any of the three locations on time you should have left yesterday afternoon...happy commuting.

Rice's Hall of Fame Home--Canton?

The donning of the jacket. The acceptance speech. The cheers... there's nothing quite like a Hall of Fame Enshrinement. And this summer Jim Ed Rice received his rightful moment-- and took his appropriate place in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

I know many in the Boston era have voiced the famed "what if"? What if Rice hadn't attended Nebraska to play wide receiver and become an All-American safety/punt returner? What if the Red Sox had been able to sign their number one pick? But it just wasn't meant to be and Jim Rice as a Boston Red Sox is merely the flight of fantasy.



Although he did not play in the Game of the Century (freshmen were ineligible in 1971), Rice watched and learned from one of the most electrifying players ever in college football--and when 1972 Heisman Trophy winner Johnny Rodgers graduated, Rice took over the punt return duties with flair--although he didn't outrun tacklers, the South Carolina born mac truck bulled through them. A position switch to strong safety after his sophomore season gave the born hitter his stage.

Who could forget how Rice took the NFL by storm in 1975 with fellow rookie Fred Lynn? As ironic as this sounds, Lynn was also a Red Sox draft pick (he played both football and baseball at USC)--could you imagine the two playing side by side at Fenway instead of Foxboro? Manning the two safety positions in the Patriots defense the duo was dubbed the "Gold Dust Twins"-- while Lynn played free safety like an all-star centerfielder (truth be told Lynn probably had better HOF credentials until his infamous 1981 holdout caused the Pats to trade him to the Los Angeles Rams-where he was never the same) Rice punished tight ends, running backs and wide receivers alike. He was titled the "most-feared hitter of his generation in the American Conference"...and was an instrumental part of the Patriots rise to dominance in the late 70's.


Rice's fumble causing hit of Ken Stabler in the 1976 AFC Divisional Playoff game held off a Raiders rally made possible when "Sugar Bear" Hamilton was whistled for roughing the passer a few plays earlier on the drive. Stabler and Oakland coach John Madden (who resigned after the year to become an executive for Greyhound--go figure) both maintain Stabler was tucking the ball away as Rice applied the hit...to no avail.

After disposing of the injury-ravaged Pittsburgh Steelers (Rocky Bleier's broken toe and Franco Harris' bruised ribs prevented the 1,000 yard rushers from taking the field) the Pats completed their miracle run by upsetting Minnesota in Super Bowl XI. Rice's late-game interception return for a touchdown is a fixture of NFL Films...and for those taking a closer look one can see a cast on Rice's wrist. Forgotten by most is that Rice broke his wrist in the Pats' final regular season game- and instead of taking the postseason off, played with a heavily buffered and taped cast at risk of the rest of his career. One can only surmise they wouldn't allow that in baseball.

Fresh off a Celtics NBA Championship (and Stanley Cups from the Bruins earlier in the decade), the Hub was soon dubbed the "City of Champions". Rice threw out the first pitch at Fenway Park the following April--and told Red Sox catcher Carlton Fisk "they were next".

We all know what happened next--the Red Sox responded by winning the 1977 World Series...fans can recount the rest of the championship lineup in their sleep--starting with an outfield based on speed and defense-- Dwight Evans, Rick Miller and Andre Dawson (picked up in the steal of the century for Juan Beniquez and Bob Stanley the previous winter) all won gold gloves...power on the corners with 3b Butch Hobson and 1b Cecil Cooper (thankfully wiser heads prevailed and he wasn't dealt for George Scott and Bernie Carbo in the offseason)... the middle infield of Denny Doyle and Rick Burleson...and veteran Carl Yastrzemski in his final season playing DH (Yaz's decision to retire on top may have hampered his Hall of Fame chances--instead of aDHing into his early forties and finishing with 3000+ hits and 400+ homers, Captain Carl left the game with 366 homers and 2,724 hits that made him wait until his final year of eligibility for Cooperstown in 1998).

The Patriots dynasty would be short-lived; holdouts by Leon Gray and John Hannah would torpedo the 1977 campaign; 1978 would be marred by Rice's brief switch to wide receiver...put to rest when he knocked Oakland receiver Jack Tatum unconscious in a preseason game--ending the Raider safety's career with a massive concussion. Rice caught some heat for not visiting Tatum in the hospital, sending wide receiver Darryl Stingley instead. Pats fans recall that was the year coach Chuck Fairbanks almost left the team to for the University of Colorado...Rice made one of his best defensive plays ever--- as the Nebraska alum took the ex-Oklahoma coach aside and told Fairbanks the folly of a move to a school that had no prayer in the Big Eight.

A return to the Super Bowl after the 1980 season would bring heartbreak; Steve Grogan's late interception by Herman Edwards sealing the Patriots loss to Philadelphia. While trips to the Pro Bowl and the playoffs would await Rice during the latter part of his career--his dream of one final shot at the title would come short in 1986--as the Patriots were routed by Chicago in Super Bowl XX (although Rice's return of a Walter Payton fumble for a touchdown on the game's first drive gave fans hope). Three injury marred seasons robbed Rice of much of his greatness that had been celebrated and he finally called it quits during the summer of 1989.

Rice's trip to Canton was rather intriguing--as a safety he was more of a run-stopper than an interception-collector...in fact when he played with Fred Lynn he never had more INT's than his teammate. Stat compilers that had taken over the process kept Rice at bay for years until cooler heads finally prevailed this past winter.

The waiting ends and the celebration begins...although one still wonders what may have happened had he chosen the diamond instead of the gridiron--Lynn too, for that matter. But that's for another day...like what would have happened had Butch Hobson stayed at Alabama and played QB for Bear Bryant--

A true Sox-Yanks allstar team...

Leave it to ESPN to lazily start something potentially great...but not finish the job. Due to the New York Yankees - Boston series this weekend, the network decided to announce an "all-time" Yanks-Sox squad...gee whiz-- such a tough task to realize Yogi Berra, Ted Williams and Derek Jeter are among the best ever at their respective positions! After filling the requisite 15-20 minutes and wasting the time of everyone from Peter Gammons to Dave Winfield.

I'll go one better...can you come up with a team of all time players who spent time at Fenway and in Pinstripes? Here's my all-time Soxyank squad:


FIRST BASE: Bob Watson came to Boston in a 1979 mid-season trade...after hitting .337 and driving in 53 runs over 84 games the ex-Astro signed with the Yankees in the offseason as a free agent and had a decent (.307, 13, 68) first year in the Bronx... plus, he had the pivotal role in Bad News Bears Breaking Training ("Let them play! Let them play!").

SECOND BASE: a very thin position has Mark Bellhorn the only crossover I could think of: the starter for the 2004 champs was waived the following summer only to be picked up by the Yanks...where he didn't fare much better (.118 in the Bronx after hitting .216 with the Sox).

SHORTSTOP: Spike Owen leads another weak field... although he hit .366 in the 1986 postseason. The switch-hitting contact specialist was one of three former Texas Longhorns on the '86 team (Clemens, Schiraldi). His 1993 campaign in the Bronx was nondescript.


THIRD BASE: Wade Boggs won four straight batting crowns in the 80's and was pantsed in an episode of Cheers...the 90's brought a guest appearance on The Simpsons and four straight years hitting .300 with the Yankees.

RIGHT FIELD: Babe Ruth ties it all together--he was on three World Championship teams in Beantown and the Yankees first four title squads...

CENTERFIELD: Johnny Damon gave Red Sox fans one of the best lines ever--"looks like Jesus, acts like Judas, throws like Mary"... but nobody questioned his bat.

LEFTFIELD: Rickey Henderson spent time with nine major league teams--it's only fitting the Yankees were his second stop and the Red Sox were his second to last employer at the big league level.

CATCHER: for a rivalry defined by dueling catchers in the 70's...there have been plenty of crossovers in this position--Jim Leyritz, Rick Cerone and even Elston Howard take a back seat to Mike Stanley...who much like Kelly Taylor on 90210 was seemingly passed around the AL East for the better part of a decade: he spent 1992 through 95 in pinstripes, the next season and a half near the Citgo sign before joining the NYY as a late-season pickup...and after fitting Toronto in Steve Sanders-like in 1998 went back for a second term with Boston in '99.


DESIGNATED HITTER: Don Baylor for Mike Easler was the first trade between the two teams since the Danny Cater for Sparky Lyle fiasco...and paid big dividends in the 1986 AL Championship run despite George Steinbrenner saying "his bat will die by August". Along with Easler there were two other big bats to consider-- Jose Canseco and Jack Clark... who came to Boston as "Jack the Ripper" only to become "Jack the Whiffer" and leave not with a bang but as "Jack with a Whimper".

Easler, Clark, Howard, Canseco, Leyritz and Cerone comprise the reserves...not a lot of variety, but there's not a lot to choose from.

STARTING PITCHING: I'll hold Babe Ruth out of the rotation because I want him as my everyday rightfielder:

1--Luis Tiant...the heart and soul of the Boston contending teams from 1972 through '78... his offseason signing with the Yanks effectively the first domino to fall in the three year run that saw the dismantling of a near-champion...and he also smoked cigars in the shower... I still don't know how the Sox let him go to the Bronx in '79.

2--Red Ruffing...sign of the times in the 20's and 30's--a decent pitcher who was 57 games under five hundred for the Sox who became a Hall of Fame hurler (107 wins over break-even) for six world championship Yankee squads.

3--Roger Clemens...pitches third in the rotation because before, um, his "late-career surge"... he was ever so disappointing in the postseason.

4--Mike Torrez...helped deliver the Yanks their first world title in 15 years by winning two World Series games in 1977...helped the Yanks repeat as champion by allowing a home run to Bucky Dent in the playoff game for the AL East.

5--David Wells/David Cone... a lefty-righty combination with the non-starter on the short list for long-relief: each enjoyed a stellar Yankee career punctuated by perfect games... before going on to moderately successful but brief stops in Boston (Cone: 9-7 in one season; Wells: 17-10 over a year and a half) ... and both spent the bulk of their careers with other teams (3 for Cone, 7 for Wells) ... collecting rings with the 1992 Toronto Blue Jays.


SETUP MAN: Ramiro Mendoza... along with Ruth I believe the only man to win world titles with both teams--could spot-start as well as come out of the pen.

WASHED UP EX-CLOSERS: Lee Smith and Jeff Reardon both bounced around after
being the man in Boston before finding safe harbor in the Bronx; while Smith this was Reardon's final stop.

CLOSER: Sparky Lyle...despite going from Cy Young to Sayonara when the Pinstripes signed Rich Gossage-- the man who sat naked on birthday cakes was one of the games first dominant firemen.

MANAGER: Joe McCarthy...led the Yanks to 7 world titles before guiding the Red Sox to a pair of second place finishes over three years plus a 94 win season.

COACHES: Ralph Houk and Don Zimmer... Houk was at the helm of consecutive World Series Champs in 1961 and 62--before wrapping up his career in the Red Sox dugout in the 80's. Zimmer turned into a wise sage as Joe Torre's key advisor after a managerial career that included three straight 90+ win seasons in Boston.