Posts from ‘March, 2009’

Well, well — it seems Denver is willing to trade Jay Cutler after all.
After spending nearly two weeks denying my Washington Examiner colleague John Keim’s scoop on talks with the Redskins, Denver conceded today the quarterback will be traded. Nothing has changed in the last two weeks except it’s finally public.
So will Cutler end [...]

Yahoo! Sports has nailed Connecticut’s men’s basketball program with a detailed six-month investigation of recruiting violations. They even show phone logs that show more than 1,500 calls and texts to a recruit who was later expelled when the NCAA permits one per month. I guess the Huskies were getting a century ahead.
Connecticut could win the [...]

Thursday, Aug.13 at Baltimore Ravens   7:30 p.m.
Aug. 20-24   vs. Pittsburgh Steelers

Friday, Aug. 28  vs. New England Patriots  8 p.m.
Sept. 3-4 at Jacksonville Jaguars

Gilbert Arenas returned Saturday after a year and really two lost seasons with knee injuries. It wasn’t greatness, but it was pretty good. For the second-worst team in the league, Arenas’ return was a welcome sight.
My Washington Examiner column discusses the plusses versus the risks of Arenas’ return in the final weeks of a lost [...]

Alysheba was awesome. Nearly falling at the top of the stretch, he won the 1987 Kentucky Derby and then the Preakness. He missed the Triple Crown, but was the dominant horse of his time.
Alysheba was euthanized Friday after falling in his stall at the Kentucky Horse Park in Lexington, Ky., which is like a theme [...]

Now that Maryland football coach Ralph Friedgen has named his successor, is he a lame duck with three years or so remaining? The Terps started spring practice with assistant James Franklin now squarely the next coach and with every loss this fall there will be cries form the stands to make Franklin the head coach [...]

Barack Obama is working on his first centennial. I just finished mine as a blogger. In 100 days, I wrote:
287 posts (a few of them coherent)
174 comments received (most of them nice)
According to Google Analytics:
4,832 visitors (you people gotta get a life)
7,117 page views (they couldn’t find the porn)
20% returned 10 times or more (suckers)
6.3 [...]

I saw the report on Good Morning America about this video of kids whose family are hit hard by the recession. They’re amazing.
The past few years haven’t been easy for me. Heart attack, open heart surgery, money . . . well, let’s just say I’m grateful to have regained my health. The money doesn’t matter. [...]

I don’t know Gilbert Arenas personally. I’ve been around him in the media scrums, but since I’m not a Wizards beat writer, and those guys have been dropping off the team recently, I don’t know him.
But Gilbert Arenas bores me. For two years, he has been hurt and irrelevant. I don’t blame him for [...]

I thought becoming an AARP member next year disqualified me from Facebook membership, but turns out a lot of my friends are on there. So, I signed up with a pledge not to look at my grown daughters’ pages or any of their friends info. Just stay in the dog-eared section of the book.
I wish [...]

The NFL is talking about an 18-game schedule. I say go year-round already. My Washington Examiner column discusses why fans should demand real games for real money. Hit the link.
More NFL games - That works for me

ESPN and the NFL conducted polls on the top 10 sports franchises in fan popularity. Guess who’s no longer in it.

Dallas Cowboys
Green Bay Packers
Pittsburgh Steelers
New England Patriots
New York Yankees
Los Angeles Lakers
Indianapolis Colts
Boston Red Sox
New York Giants
Atlanta Braves

The Redskins haven’t won a Super Bowl in 18 years so their national fame is gone. The NFL dominated [...]

I saw Chris coming out of the Britney concert tonight at Verizon Center. His wife and brother were there, too.
And what was I doing at the Britney concert? Actually, I said I saw him coming out of it. I was outside waiting for my wife and daughters. No, really. I’m not kidding.
Must have been 98 [...]

After all, it might be the last one in Baltimore.
I’ve covered the Preakness for 25 straight years. It’s a lot of fun, and the infield is really a lot of fun. The first time I went out with my media badge on, people kept offering me a beer. After a couple hours, I staggered back [...]

Maryland guard Kristi Toliver plays her final game on Tuesday at Comcast Center in the NCAA Tournament second-rounder versus Utah.
The program will miss her. Toliver hit the shot that sent Maryland into overtime when later winning the 2006 national title. She has been a terrific player for four seasons, maybe the best ever in College [...]

Washington Post baseball writer Chico Harlan was forced to apologize over his comments in Washingtonian magazine that he hated sports, was embarassed to cover it and is just earning a paycheck until something better comes along.
Wow, that was pretty stupid to say publicly.
I’ve been a sports writer in Washington for 31 years. Only [...]

Pay attention over the next three days. Some important issues are being debated at the NFL meetings.
1. Jay Cutler trade. Maybe Washington gets him, maybe it doesn’t, but everybody’s in the same room.
2. Season expansion to 18 games. The NFL is thinking about 18 regular-season games and 2 preseason games. Some talk about [...]

The women’s team is a No. 1 seed and didn’t have any problems beating Dartmouth in the first round. Actually, they won’t face a real contender until Baylor in the Elite Eight.
My Washington Examiner column today shows how the Terps are trying not to overthink things in the early rounds.
Maryland wants to keep it simple

Skeeter Swift, the finest basketball player to come from Alexandria, is giving a basketball clinic for inmates at the city’s jail on April 9. Two days earlier, he’s teaching kids during a clinic at the Charles Houston recreation center in Alexandria.
Skeeter, 62, scored more than 3,000 points during his ABA career as the one of [...]

First the Jay Cutler talks. Now the Washington Redskins will work out Southern Cal quarterback Mark Sanchez on Wednesday, according to Scout.com.
Are the Redskins willing to spend the 13th pick for another quarterback? Or use him for a draft and trade for Cutler? Sure is a lot of talk about quarterbacks if the Redskins are [...]