But he will get there the wrong way. Anderson Varejao got poster-ized by Dwayne Wade.

This dunk is just nasty, and it doesn’t happen like this anymore because most defenders just get the hell out of the way when they see someone “raise up”. Varejao decided to challenge. When even your teammate is giving props to the guy who just dunked on you, you should be doubly salty.

This is a “fat head” I would buy.

David “Deacon” Jones. A terror to all quarterbacks in his day.

And, thanks to these resources, we now know this: the game that Jones lorded over in the 1960s no longer exists. The art of the sack is quickly being legislated from the game in the NFL’s blind rush to put skirts on its quarterbacks and produce pinball-sized scores.

via Cold, Hard Football Facts.com: Where have you gone, Deacon Jones?.

Still seems ready to stomp someone down. They don’t make ’em like Deacon anymore, do they?

“I’d Gouge his eyes out in a minute! I’d stick my fingers right in his eye.” -Deacon Jones

Florida Gators inside linebacker Brandon Spikes, whose major is Anthropology in the college of Social & Behavioral Sciences at UF, probably just wants to know the answer to the question for anyone in a socially awkward situation: “What else am I supposed to do with my hands? In what era did people begin to gouge?” He’s such a Larry David.

“Sacking the Quarterback is like you devastating a city, or you cream a multitude of people. It’s like you put all the offensive players in one bag and I just took a baseball bat and beat on the bag.” -Deacon Jones

Elizabeth Lambert, former Defender for the New Mexico Lobos Women’s Soccer team apparently believes “Football is Football, even when its soccer.” Ms. Lambert is a junior studying Occupational Therapy. Her favorite food is Tacos and “players from that f*cking Mormon school”.

May I suggest the Lambert and Spikes Counseling and Wellness Center at the Deacon Jones Pavilion?

Matt Swartz at Baseball Prospectus broaches the topic of Ol’ King Cole Hamels, creepy ad man. Swartz thinks Cole is A-OK.

[…] the difference between 2008 and 2009 is abnormally good luck in the first and abnormally bad luck in the second. The first clue was that he had similar peripheral statistics in 2008 and 2009. He struck out 21 percent of hitters in both years, and walked just over five percent of hitters in 2009 after walking just under six percent of them in 2008. His ground-ball rate stayed roughly the same, rising from 41 to 43 percent. The difference came from his [Batting Average with Balls in Play] BABIP jumping from an incredibly fortunate .262 to an incredibly unfortunate .321. It has been shown many times before that BABIP is a statistic with low persistence, and that pitchers see their performances jump up and down constantly with respect to this statistic. As a result, much of year-to-year fluctuation in ERA is tied to fluctuations in BABIP. Unsurprisingly, Hamels ERA went from 3.09 in 2008 to 4.32 in 2009. As Hamels’ peripherals indicate an ERA around 3.65, it seems likely that he had a mixture of good luck in 2008 and bad luck in 2009 that belied his ERA.

via Baseball Prospectus | Ahead in the Count: Cole Being Cole?.

Yahoo! Sports Jason Cole interviews the New England Patriots head coach:

Cole: Jimmy Johnson once said, if you don’t take too many risks, you can win nine or 10 games a year.
Belichick: Jimmy probably said the same thing to you that he once said to me: “You’re really only competing with about 10 teams a year. If you just say out of the way, the other 20 teams will screw it up themselves. Whether it’s ownership or personnel or coaching or some combination of factors.” Ego, internal struggle, something will happen to two-thirds of the teams, that was Jimmy’s theory. That leaves you with about 10 teams that you’re going to have to really battle with. Those teams have it together. They’re going to make good decisions and if you play bad football, they’re going to take advantage of it. They’re going to find some undrafted guy or some middle-round pick or some veteran free agent who is going to spark their team. Pittsburgh is always going to be there. Indianapolis is always going to be there. They may not win it, but they’ll be there. You’re going to have to beat them. Philadelphia is going to be there. Yeah, [quarterback Donovan] McNabb might get hurt one year and they might go 7-9, but they’re going to be there. You’re still battling them on every front.

via Belichick Q&A: Every player has a trade price – NFL – Yahoo! Sports.

Apparently, former Eagles coordinator and current Ravens head coach John Harbaugh believes that for the last decade the Cowboys have been part of the “other 20”. At least its easy to assume that from his quote in Reuben Frank and Mark Eckel’s Game Changers.

Asked why the Eagles have had so much success from 1999-2008 and the Cowboys haven’t won a playoff game during that period, Harbaugh had this to say:

“Why is that? Because what Andy Reid and his program stand for if the opposite of what the Cowboys stand for. The Cowboys are a star system. It’s all about building around individuals first and collecting talent, collecting great players. Andy has always been about building a team. And over the long haul, it’s a team sport, and one of the greatest examples of that is what’s happened with the Eagles and the Cowboys over the last 10 years. The Cowboys stand for everything that’s wrong with the NFL.”

via Ravens’ coach John Harbaugh blasts Cowboys – Bleeding Green Nation.

Tonight. Dallas Cowboys at Philadelphia Eagles. The battle for first place in the NFC East. Let’s see if Belichick and Harbaugh are right.

Only one team is happy at the end of every season and unfortunately the New York Yankees are that team after defeating an often out of sorts 2009 NL Champion Philadelphia Phillies team in game six to take the World Series 4-2. Hats off to them. Today you will see snide comments about the Yankees buying the championship, none of those sour grapes here. The Phillies are consistently have one of the top 10 baseball payrolls and are one of these big market teams that supports the salary cap-less MLB system and from what I can remember are fine with the status quo. I think the real turning point was Alicia Keys’ hips. I know I couldn’t concentrate.

Our 2008 World Series MVP Cole Hamels and our perfect 2008 closer Brad Lidge were shadows of their championship selves in 2009, and our prolific lineup and scrappy bullpen weren’t able to compensate for that on MLB’s biggest stage.

We couldn’t do it for Harry Kalas. If you turn on WIP 610 AM or ESPN 950 AM, I am sure you will hear Phillies fans who are ready to hate both of them forever. Not Me. As a fan of the Phillies, Eagles, Sixers and to a lesser extent the Flyers, I refuse to forget any of the guys that brought us that drought ending championship parade down Broad Street on Halloween 2008. At 32, it was the only championship I actually remember.

Thanks to the Philadelphia Phillies for an exciting 2009 season. When do pitchers and catchers report?

“I just asked you a simple question. What is the answer?” persisted Conyers.

Goodell replied by saying a medical expert could give a better answer than he could. But some House members complained later that Dr. Ira Casson, chairman of the NFL’s committee on concussions, had not testified.

Democratic Rep. Linda Sanchez gave Casson some exposure anyway, playing a clip of a TV interview in which he denied evidence of a link between multiple head injuries in NFL players with brain disorders such as dementia and Alzheimer’s.

Sanchez said that reminded her of tobacco companies denying a link between smoking and health damage in the 1990s.

Goodell testified alongside new NFL Players Association leader DeMaurice Smith, who said the union “has not done its best in this area. We will do better.” Both men did agree to turn over players’ medical records to the committee.

In addition, Conyers wants information on head injuries from the NCAA, high schools and medical researchers to better understand football’s health risks.

Still, several Republicans questioned the point of the hearing. Rep. Ted Poe said Congress’ involvement in football would mean the end of the sport.

“We’d all be playing touch football,” he said.

Rep. Maxine Waters, whose husband played in the NFL, asked Goodell how the league was addressing the welfare of retired players during current collective bargaining negotiations.

via Goodell plays defense in Congress about concussions – NFL – CBSSports.com Football.

“Not nervous at all,” Lee insisted when asked if he was just joking around about not being nervous. “It’s been a long time since I’ve been nervous playing this game. It’s what I’ve been doing my whole life.”

via Cool hand Lee dominates Yankees in World Series opener – Joe Posnanski – SI.com.

monster.

Next up to face the Yankees: Pedro Martinez

In addition to such a magnificent shot, the scream and fist pump at the end of the point stand out to me. The last few years, heightened competition has brought Federer completely out of his shell. The heavyweight bouts with Nadal, and light heavyweight matches versus Djokovic, Roddick and now Del Potro have pulled him from being always cool, always composed to the point where he was an inconsolable mess after Nadal beat him at Wimbeldon. Good. The big upset by Del Potro could be a road bump, or a road block to Federer compiling more grand slams, but in the down swing of his career, if he wins any more majors, due to his age and the field, he’ll never have worked harder. It’s good sports when the greatest battle other greats along the way.