Wizards At Least Look Competent Since Wall's Return

Am I completely crazy, or are the Wizards actually half-decent when John Wall and Nene are healthy and in the lineup? The 2012-13 Washington Wizards still have to be considered truly awful to this point, as they opened the season with 12 consecutive losses and hold the league’s worst record at 9-31. And maybe the time to bring this up isn’t after a loss in Utah, but that loss capped a 2-3 West coast road trip that smelled a lot like 0-5 before they left. And yes, moral victories are for losers, but Wizards’ fans can at least take a little bit of solace in the fact that those 3 losses came by an average of only 4 points…that’s at least a step in the right direction for a team that looked like the Washington Generals for most of the 1st half of this season.

But if you really are looking for actual numbers to hold on to (not fake, moral victory stats like the ones above), the Wizards have won 4 out of 7 games since Wall’s return and 5 out of their last 8 overall. And while Wall continues to come off the bench to this point, he’s managed to average 14 points and 7 dimes a night in those 7 games…not bad production considering he’s working himself back into game shape and playing only about 25 minutes a night...

...and other Wizards have looked more comfortable since Wall's return as well.

I still consider Wall unpolished, but 1 thing he does seem to have done is give the Wizards someone opposing defenses actually have to shade towards and pay a little bit of attention to, whereas teams could basically play straight-up/not need to help on anybody earlier in the year. Rookie shooting guard Bradley Beal, who Wall seems to have good chemistry with, has benefited from the pressure Wall has taken off of everyone else the most. Some of Beal’s numbers for the season: 13.6 ppg, 39% from the field, and 36% from the 3-point line...not great. However, over the last 5 games those numbers have jumped to a more efficient 15.2, 50%, and 58%. Now, is that all a result of Wall, or is Beal finally starting to get his sea legs under him during his rookie campaign? 5 games is a relatively small sample size, but let’s see if the trend continues. And let’s see if the team’s trend continues as a whole, as it’s been fairly common over the years for this franchise to follow up a promising stretch by losing 8 out of 10.

Amidst Continued Losing, Dwight Howard Might Want to Tone Down the Accessories

Dwight Howard and the new-look Lakers will continue to be fodder for ESPN, sports talk radio, and the blogosphere as long as their season continues to nose-dive…and, let’s be honest, if they somehow stage a miraculous and unlikely turnaround to their season, they would stay atop the sports world’s short list of hot topics all year long as well. But with their record at a dismal 17-24, Howard continues to be the target of a good portion of the derision directed his team’s way.

Statistically, even though Howard is underperforming compared to his last couple seasons, he is actually putting up comparable numbers to his career averages in field goal percentage, blocks, rebounds, and points. While that’s true, anyone’s eyeball test will promptly tell them that this version of Dwight Howard does not resemble pre-LA D-12 in the slightest. He looks a step slow on defense, and he looks completely lost on the offensive end most of the time. The latter is probably attributable to Howard’s trying to fit himself into a new team with a new system playing alongside 3 other All-Stars who all seem to be struggling to varying degrees to play in an offense that doesn’t fit its personnel at all. On the other hand, I feel like we should almost excuse the 1st part of that sentence for at least 1 season, as Howard is coming off of major back surgery after all. If he is as mediocre of a paint defender next season, we may have to start wondering if he will ever regain his pre-surgery form, but I am willing to give that part a partial pass at least, and he seems to have looked a little bit more spry of late anyway.

Howard hasn't played up to his own standards, but I'm willing to give him a little more time to work himself into shape.

Still, even Dwight Howard at 100%, while being an unmatched physical presence, will probably always be a terrible free throw shooter, a weak passer out of the double-team, and an awkward, robotic looking post player on offense. And at this rate, the Kobe-Howard-Mike D’Antoni trifecta may never work even if Howard starts to look a little better. But has anyone else wondered if Howard’s on-court wardrobe could be putting some kind of voodoo on him and the Lakers this year?

Basketball fashions, such as cornrows and headbands, come and go…the latest one to really go viral is the arm sleeve, which someone transformed into the double arm sleeve along the way (possibly initiated by Dwight Howard himself). Now, half the NBA players on the court at any time will sport the sleeve, and I’m sure there’s at least 1 guy on every team’s roster that tries to pull off the discount double-check. Seriously, when is the NBA going to call uncle and just allow guys to wear long sleeve t-shirts under their jerseys?

This year, Howard looks like some kind of caricature of himself, usually wearing arm sleeves on both arms, what basically amounts to basketball leggings, and a headband. Personally, I hate the double arm sleeve. 1 looks cool and tough…2 looks like you are wearing those arm-length gloves that old-timey beauty pageant contestants used to rock. And headbands are one of those things that don’t work for everybody. LeBron has a head for a headband. Plus, he’s always worn one. Plus, if he doesn’t wear it, we are all going to bear witness to his rabidly receding hairline. Howard has never worn a headband before this year to my knowledge, and a headband on Howard’s head makes him look like a little kid. And while a lot of guys wear tights now, Howard’s look about 2 sizes too short. His high-rise tights combined with his tall, angular physique make him look like a ballerina. All in all, Howard looks like a basketball clown…like a hype man posing in a rap video, or a spoiled kid who got his Mom to buy out every possible basketball accessory at Sports Authority. So far, we have caricature of himself, old-school beauty pageant participant, little kid, ballerina, clown, rap video guy, and spoiled basketball wannabe…what part of any of that sounds appealing?

Please, Dwight...allow me to be your personal on-court stylist...you need this.

Whatever happened to simply putting on your jersey, lacing up, and hitting the court? On-court accessorizing is probably the least of Howard’s and the Lakers’ problems, but they say you need to look good to play good. Howard looks like a clown, and the Lakers seem like a 3-ring circus at the moment. Does that make Metta World Peace a flying trapeze artist or the guy who shovels out the elephant s***? I’m not saying…but I’m just saying.

Maryland's Upset and the Bizarre Story of Manti Te'o's Fake Girlfriend

Whew…what a bizarre past 24 hours in the sports world. Before we examine a story that’s beginning to take a life of its own, let’s stay local and sporsty first. Maryland staged a mild but much needed upset last night at home against NC State off an Alex Len tip-in with less than a second to play. The game was ugly, but it was a game the Terps had to have…especially considering the tough ACC road schedule they have coming up. And ugly might be the way this Maryland team has to get it done for most of this season, as Mark Turgeon’s roster of mostly freshmen and sophomores is not exactly an offensive juggernaut. The brutally honest Turgeon basically said after the game that the offense is s***, and his team can’t even execute plays diagrammed seconds before during timeouts. Still, these Terps play hard enough and good enough defensively that they are at least going to be competitive in most games despite their offensive ineptitude.

Alex Len's tip-in saved Maryland from a 1-3 start in conference.

Now, where to even start with this Manti Te’o business…without going into every detail, the story that Te’o’s girlfriend died of leukemia during the season appears to be some kind of hoax. Aside from that, the details are pretty, well, not clear at the moment. To re-hash every angle of this would take an entire post in and of itself, so I’m not going to do that. It eerily reminds me of an Internet hoax I read about on The Chive where a woman created an online persona pretending to be a paraplegic with a Twitter handle, “Dave on Wheels.” This false identity gained tons of followers because it portrayed an uplifting story of this guy who seemed to have a great sense of humor and outlook on life despite his apparent condition. The whole thing was based on some fantasy or alternate reality created in this woman’s mind though, and when it got too big and gained too much pub she basically killed off Dave on Wheels. People were heartbroken, but they did a little digging and found out the entire story was made up. In this instance, we also have the added longstanding problem of people trying to latch onto upcoming athletes for one reason or another. Based on this idea and what I have heard and read, this is my theory:

Te’o and this person started an online relationship that eventually grew more serious. The person at some point wanted to end the fantasy or whatever, and killed the girlfriend persona off (much like the person behind Dave on Wheels did). Because of the world of social media, this info got out, and Te’o embellished the relationship to make it seem like they had a relationship in person as well…not because he wanted notoriety, but because he was somewhat embarrassed about the situation (again, this is just me speculating). Te’o is a high profile, young, good looking dude by my own admission…maybe he was humiliated that this person he had fallen for was just someone he knew through tweets, emails, and text messages. The only problem is that in this day and age, everyone finds out everything eventually.

All the dirty details will come out eventually, but this story is icky no matter the ending.

Maybe I’m naïve, and maybe Te’o really was just trying to drum-up some publicity (in the creepiest, most psychotic way ever), but something doesn’t smell right about that idea to me. The risk-reward of that plan just seems far too risky, and after their own investigation Notre Dame seems to be backing Te’o 100% as well…which they wouldn’t do if they had any doubt about his story at all. The next few days will tell whether or not I’m right, but just 1 more way the Internet is bringing about the wacky and bizarre in today’s world.

Lance Armstrong, a Cheater? Oh, What Ever Shall I Do?

Can I be honest with you? I don’t care that Lance Armstrong took PEDs. What, you thought Armstrong was the 1 clean cyclist in a sport where seemingly every other athlete has been popped for doping at least once? Armstrong was stripped of his 7 Tour de France titles back in October, but does that even make sense? You can’t even give those titles to a clean participant in those races because everyone who placed, I don’t know, 2nd through 721st doped too. So, who cares?

Even Oprah looks like she's making mental notes of dinner plans during this interview.

No one even knew what professional cycling was until Lance Armstrong put it on the map. Let’s be honest again…the only reason Lance Armstrong is anybody is because he beat cancer and raised $400-plus million in cancer research. That’s no small feat, and regardless of how bad of a guy he is it’s impossible to ignore something like that. And whoa, was he ever a bad guy…

Cheating in sports is one thing. We have over a century’s worth of sports-cheaters to look back on, and most have been forgiven to some extent over time. Cheating is still cheating, but as the saying goes, If you’re not cheating in sports, you’re not trying, and Lance Armstrong definitely cheated…but so did everybody else…in a sport that no one really would have ever given 2 s***s about if it wasn’t for Armstrong’s work away from his bike.

But being a bad guy is another thing altogether. We looked the other way because he was beating cancer, setting records, raising money, and acting as a beacon of hope. We looked the other way a lot…when he dumped his wife who had stuck by him through his battle with cancer to date a pop singer…when he bullied, tarnished the names, and wrecked the careers of anyone who crossed his path…when he couldn’t take a joke about bikers that Tony Kornheiser made on his admittedly subversive talk radio show and strong-armed an apology out of him (oh yes, I remember)…and when he cheated to win races. Even this confession reeks of some ulterior motive. Why do it now, especially since most of us believed him to have used PEDs without him ever even saying a word?

So, if we’re really being honest, we have no one to blame but ourselves here. We believed in Lance Armstrong because we wanted to. We bought (myself included) millions of Livestrong bracelets and wore them because we supported his cause.

What bracelets? Ahh yes, those bracelets.

And we looked the other way at the sidestepping of the rules in his sport and his overall douchey-ness because that wasn’t as important to us as all the other stuff. Face it, Armstrong isn’t the 1st bad guy to do a good thing. Human beings are complex that way. So yes, Lance Armstrong is a cancer survivor. He is a champion in his sport. He is a cheater. He is a world-class a******. And he happened to help raise a buttload of money that went towards fighting cancer too.

Major Follies Lead to High Drama in NFL Divisional Round

Full disclosure here, I started this post on Monday and am finishing it today (Tuesday). And no, I’m not going back and changing tenses and stuff like that, so as I used to watch the Brits say in hokey sitcom reruns on PBS, buzz off.

As I began to pump my gas at a lonely I-95 rest stop early this morning before work, I accidentally bumped the super-duper-premium-ultra button instead of my normal regular-unleaded choice. But being too lazy to go to the effort of figuring out how to cancel the transaction and start over and not wanting to waste any more time in getting to the office as quickly as possible, I simply pumped gas into my pickup at a rate 30 cents per gallon more expensive than I would have otherwise paid. I rationalized the decision by saying that maybe at least for this 1 tank of gas I could have the benefits that primo-gas consumers enjoy regularly like supposedly better gas mileage, performance, etc…for me, that was kind of like what this sports weekend was like: games with bungling performances and decisions that somehow produced great results in the end. As dramatic as the games turned out, the weekend as a whole left a sour taste in my mouth. So, the idea that the 2013 divisional round was one of the best NFL playoff weekends ever is a little farfetched for me. Let’s start in reverse-chronological order with a game and sport that probably wasn’t on anyone else’s radar the past 2 days though…

Maryland at Miami…Of all things, why in the name of all things holy, would I include this game on this list? Well, with Washington TKO-ed from the postseason, I guess I had to interject a little local flavor. I must confess that I watched this game last night from beginning to end, and it was hard to stomach. The Terps held Miami to 34.9% shooting and 54 points for the game, and still lost! Not as hard to fathom when you realize Maryland themselves shot only 31%, committed 15 turnovers, and had only 14 points at halftime. While I still think the Terrapins can be good, I’m backing off my thoughts about them from a few weeks ago when they were still in the midst of a creampuff preseason schedule. Most of that has to do with Maryland’s guard play, which to be honest just isn’t very good. As a former big guy in middle school (before I cruelly and suddenly stopped growing), I can tell you that basketball is and always will be a game controlled by little guards on offense, and that doesn’t matter how good your big guys are. For much of last night’s game, whenever Maryland threw the ball to Alex Len he scored or drew a foul. While still somewhat of a project, at the same time he’s that good relative to the competition. But with Len in the game Maryland’s guards would still go seemingly a dozen offensive possessions in a row without even giving Len a touch on the inside, instead opting to dribble into tough shots over and over. As the 2nd half moved along, when Len would finally get a touch, he then found himself taking jumpshots from the outside. These are shots that he can make, but you would prefer to see him attacking the basket…but these shots are symptomatic of a big guy who knows if he doesn’t hoist a shot up when he gets a chance, it might be a while before he gets to touch the basketball again. Such is the curse of a gifted big guy playing with a slew of inexperienced perimeter players.

Houston at New England…Maybe the game with the least befuddling moments of the 4 playoff tilts this weekend, but while the Texans didn’t roll over and play dead this time, they didn’t exactly be all you can be either. Trailing by 3 scores in the 4th quarter, Houston’s offense seemed to take longer between plays than the Patriots no-huddle attack that they whip out in regular game situations. And speaking of those fast-break sequences, the Texans seemed ill-prepared for it…but then again, it seems like everyone else has been also.

Seattle at Atlanta…It’s easy to look the other way at Russell Westbrook’s gaffe prior to halftime because he was brilliant in the 2nd half and because he’s a f***ing rookie for Pete’s sake, but it did cost the Seahawks 3 points in a game they lost by 2… but there were so many blunders that set up the storybook finish in this one that we can just sweep it under the rug all together. The Falcons’ 4th quarter playcalling…Seattle’s pass defense that allowed Atlanta to go 41 yards in 2 plays that chewed up like 18 seconds to set up the game-winning field goal…Mike Smith calling a timeout with 12 seconds left instead of like, I don’t know, 2…Matt Bryant s****ing the bed on an attempted squib kick that gave the Seahawks the ball nearly at midfield…yes, the Falcons survived and moved on, but it certainly seemed to be in spite of themselves.

Even with a W, the Falcons had some 'splaining to do.

Green Bay at San Francisco…More full disclosure, I passed out on my couch midway through the 4th quarter, but truthfully anyone who had watched that much had seen enough anyway by then. Like New England on Sunday, San Francisco was in control pretty much the whole night, but the most glaring aspect of the game was Green Bay’s inability to stop Colin Kaepernick on zone-read plays…to the tune of a quarterback record 181 rushing yards. With more teams employing athletic quarterbacks who are running threats, these kinds of plays can no longer be thought of as gimmicky, college, trick plays. Why defenses continue to have their edge linebacker or defensive lineman charge down the backside of these plays is beyond me. Their assignment is usually to stay at home (regardless of a zone-read or not) to guard against bootlegs, cutbacks, and other misdirection plays, and when they do come flying off the edge it’s rare that they ever chase down a running back from behind anyway, so why? Guys like Kaepernick, Wilson, a healthy RG3, or Cam Newton are good enough runners as it is, but not staying at home allows them huge gains, often times untouched (as we saw Saturday night).

Baltimore at Denver…Saving the biggest derp team of the weekend for last, we come to the Denver Broncos. While the Falcons did everything they could to lose at the end of a game, they get somewhat of a pass because they did in fact win. Denver did not, and so they do not. Down 7, Baltimore tied the game late on a long bomb to Jacoby Jones where Broncos' safety Rahim Moore seemed to be in perfect position to make the game-icing interception…only he took a terrible angle and jumped about an hour too soon, causing the ball to fall to Jones. And this wasn’t even a great throw by Joe Flacco, as the ball was behind Jones and hung in the air for an hour, as Jones had to come to basically a complete stop to make the grab. It was such a bad defensive play that you usually don't see the likes of it in my weekend co-ed touch football league, much less a league of professionals. Probably the most surprised of all were Jones and Flacco, who both seemed stunned that the desperation heave actually worked. To top it all off, Denver got the ball back with 30 seconds left in regulation and a couple of timeouts, and they took a knee! Didn’t they see the end of the Seahawks-Falcons game from earlier? Oh no, wait they didn’t…I forgot I wrote this post in reverse-chronological order.

Mother of...

Anyway, just terrible decision-making all weekend long in the sports world. So, greatest weekend of playoff football ever? More like playoff football weekend filled with the most screw-ups that resulted in drama ever…ok, so the tagline needs some work, but you get the idea.

Spiraling Further Into A RG3-Depression

To anyone who actually reads this blog but doesn’t want to hear me go on about Robert Griffin again, tough cookies. Let’s just call this RG3 week. 3 days after Griffin went down in a heap in the Redskins’ playoff loss to the Seahawks, I am still stuck at anger in the 7 stages of grief. Angry that something still seems slightly off in the whole examination and doctor’s clearance to play over the last few weeks despite the fact that Dr. James Andrews and Mike Shanahan finally seemed to have gotten their stories straight. Angry that the Washington Redskins, valued as the 3rd most profitable franchise in the NFL, couldn’t provide a better playing field than the barnyard slop that was played on last Sunday. And most of all, angry that I was forced to watch a 22 year old franchise quarterback drag himself through 3 quarters of a game looking like a wounded animal. I’m even a little angry at RG3, who on the one hand should be commended for his toughness and fortitude, but who also propagated the now common misplaced belief that professional athletes are essentially soldiers who would rather die out on the field of battle than be relieved of their duties. As tough and physical as football is, the men who play it should not be treated as warriors or gladiators. Yes, the risks are inherent, and those that have ever played any sport know the risks that go along with it, but at what point is enough enough? Let’s not even talk about the fact that, despite what Griffin or Shanahan or anyone else says, RG3 was injured to the point that a healthy Kirk Cousins was a better option to win on Sunday, but at what point does someone have to step in and say, “I can’t let you do this to yourself anymore for your future's sake.” I’ll never forget the court microphones being close enough to catch West Virginia basketball coach Bob Huggins berating a referee after star player Da’Sean Butler suffered a serious knee injury during the NCAA tournament against Duke with no call. “A senior All-American player lying on the ground with no call…it’s just sad”…or something to that effect. And that’s really what Griffin’s injury on Sunday felt like…just sad. What could be sadder than watching a world-class athlete hobble around on a wobbly knee for 3 hours, and then have that knee collapse like a Jenga tower after chasing a bad snap in the mud pit that had become FedEx Field? RG3 supposedly had a successful surgery this morning to repair a torn ACL and LCL in his right knee. His prognosis indicates that if everything goes well with his rehab, he might even be ready by the 2013 season opener…a big if though considering the severity of the injury and the fact that this is the 2nd time Griffin tore that same ACL in like 3 or 4 years. Griffin gave everything he had to this team this year…too much if you ask me.

Worst...Day...Ever: Redskins' and RG3's Season Goes Out with a Limp

A few hours after the Redskins' home playoff loss to the Seahawks, my depression hasn't even begun to wear off...it might still be a while. As a fan, there are worse ways to watch your team go down. A buzzer beating play or a loss directly the result of a terrible official's call are probably the most difficult ones to swallow. A blowout is humiliating and disheartening, but the fact that your team never had a chance actually softens the blow a little.

What happened to the Redskins this afternoon, might be sandwiched somewhere in between ref-screwjob and blowout. Washington raced out to a big early lead and then slowly let said lead slip away like air out of a punctured tire. The kind if loss is particularly hard to take because it's a slow death that you can see happening...like watching each individual air bubble leave your mouth while you drown.

After jumping out to a 14-0 lead, watching Russell Wilson and the Seahawks slowly take control of the game was tortuous.

Since RG3's knee injury, anyone with half a brain can see he hasn't been the same player. But Griffin looked slightly better last week than the week before, and looked even a little better (although still hobbled) in the 1st quarter as the Redskins jumped out to a 14-0 lead. However, a couple of plays before Griffin threw his 2nd touchdown pass of the day, he re-tweaked that knee on a scramble. Even with the early head start, the game took a completely different tone following that drive. You could sense it watching on TV. The crowd could sense it. Most importantly, Seattle could sense it. Even with the early deficit, it was obvious they smelled blood.

Alfred Morris still ran hard, but Griffin's injury allowed the Seahawks to key on Morris. Gimpy as he was, the threat of RG3's play action/bootleg ability wasn't scaring anyone. And with Washington's offense unable to sustain drives and stay on the field, Russell Wilson, Marshawn Lynch, and the Seattle offense moved the ball mostly at will the rest of the game.

Then, this happened...

Midway through the 4th quarter when Griffin's knee buckled trying to retrieve a bad snap of all things, it was almost too much to take. Ironically, moments later the Verizon Fios cable feed went out in the house. I was enraged and relieved at the same time...down 10 with 5 minutes left to play with your backup quarterback entering the game against a stingy D is not ideal to say the least. By the time I got the cable back on, both teams were exchanging post-game love and face-mushes (thanks, Trent Williams!)...game and season over.

With Griffin laying on the turf, you got the sense that the 80,000-plus people in attendance were simultaneously on the verge of tears.

If Washington had simply lost, it would have been heartbreaking, but it would have been considered a great success of a season to say the least. I will have to go back and check some of my preseason blogs, but I think I had the Skins winning 5 or 6 games even if RG3 was a stud. 10 wins and a division title didn't even register as a possibility. But now, we patiently await results of Griffin's MRI and hope for the best. We also will have to deal with 2nd-guessing about how Griffin's injury was handled and stories speculating to what degree he really was cleared to play...a season that should have given fans much reason for hope in the future suddenly is the cause of doubt and despair.

For This Ravens-Hater, Ray Lewis' Retirement Evokes Conflicting Emotions

As I emerged from doing some nursery-painting yesterday, Krissy was cooling down on the treadmill with Sportcenter on mute. As my brain processed the words in the crawl at the bottom of the screen, I couldn’t help but read the news aloud. “Ray Lewis is retiring?” I am not by any means a Ravens’fan…actually, I mostly despise the Ravens, so the news didn’t exactly hit me like a ton of bricks. In fact, Lewis was often my main reason for derision towards the Ravens.

Sometimes it seemed like Vince McMahon gave Lewis some notes for his pregame entrance.

I think you could accurately quote me at one time as saying Ray Lewis was the most overrated defensive player of all time. My argument was not that he wasn’t any good at all, but rather any above-average linebacker could look like a tackling machine if he played his whole career behind massive road-grading defensive tackles as Lewis has. I also always found Lewis as somewhat of a product of his own hype, what with his endless choreographed pregame introduction dances and celebratory chest-poundings after tackles following 4 yard gains by opposing running backs. And it’s hard to write any Ray Lewis career summary without mentioning the fact that he quite possibly (and maybe even probably) murdered 2 people earlier in his career... but let’s try to leave this to on-field exploits. (He’s also done a boatload of community and charity work over the course of his career…not saying that would cancel-out a potential double-murder, but let’s just leave all that out of the convo for the sake of this post.)

Fortunately for Lewis, his play on the field made that pesky double-murder thing easy to forget.

Over time, my stance on Ray Lewis (similar to my stance on Derek Jeter) has softened, and my respect for him as a player has grown. He was great against the run, he was a punishing tackler, and (without looking at the stats) he has to be among the all-time leaders in interceptions among linebackers. Probably more than all of that, he was 1 part The Undertaker, 1 part George Patton. Other generations have Butkus and Mike Singletary, but I can’t think of a more intimidating presence on the field in my lifetime. I have seen All-Pro caliber running backs run away from the hole to avoid a Lewis hit. And by all accounts, few football players have ever fired up the troops and served a leadership role to Lewis’ extent...and maybe his whole shtick, which always appeared to be very self-promoting, was more passionate preacher than petulant prima donna after all. While I think part of my overrated comment is valid (the part about him having great players around him his entire career), I've done a 180 on thinking he was simply above-average. No matter how much of a Raven-hater I am he belongs in the conversation of greatest middle linebackers ever, proving once again that greatness is greatness regardless of what jersey color you wear.