Pete Carroll, Brian Williams and why smart people do dumb things

February 8, 2015

Well, last week was an extraordinary one for stupid career moves, wasn’t it?

It began with the Seattle Seahawks snatching defeat from the jaws of victory. All quarterback Russell Wilson had to do was hand the ball to running back Marshawn “I’m here so I don’t get fined” Lynch, kick him in the butt, pushing him into the end zone, and yell, “Oops, touchdown!” But no, no, that wasn’t good enough for Coach Pete Carroll and company. Hey, Niners’ fan here: I’m delighted the Hawks lost. The only thing that would’ve made me happier was if the New England Patriots had lost as well. Still, I’m a greater fan of intelligence, and if you’re one of those, it was a depressing moment.

More disappointment, however, was to come at the end of the week with the discovery for many of us that NBC anchor Brian Williams had aggrandized the danger he faced when reporting on the Iraq War. Yeah, ’cause there’s no video trail for that, right? ...

The Big Four’s ‘special relationship’

February 6, 2015

The big news out of the Aussie Open is that the Big Four is back.

Andy Murray’s magnificent run – until he collapsed against Novak Djokovic in the final – has returned him to the No. 4 spot behind Nole (No. 1), Roger Federer (No. 2) and Rafael Nadal (No. 3).

Andy’s return has got some fans comparing the Big Four to the Fab Four. (Andy, they say, would be Ringo.) I guess that would make Fed, John; Rafa, Paul; and Nole, George.

As with the Fab Four, there’s been some tension within the Big Four. Nole has said that he’s going to reach out to Andy, who was reportedly upset at possible Nole gamesmanship in the Australian Open final. Nole has denied faking an injury in their final, a taut affair early on.

“If there is a chance, if he’s willing to talk, I’ll talk, no problem,” Nole told Eurosport.com. “I have nothing to hide. I’m not the sort of guy who is pretending, who is trying to do something behind anyone’s back or is saying bad things about anybody, especially about someone I have known for a long time. I have respect for him.”

Perhaps the opportunity will come Feb. 15-28 at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships. (Gee, how can we tell Dubai is the shopping capital of the world?) There Nole and Andy will be reunited with Fed, but no Rafa.

Though they’re all rivals now, Nole says, “I do look at (Andy), Rafa and Roger as my friends, honestly, because I see them so much, more than my parents and sometimes more than my wife. ...

The Seahawks’ karmic comeuppance

February 2, 2015

Wow, karma’s a bitch, ain’t it?

The Seattle Seahawks – whose vaunted defense has been the graveyard of rival quarterbacks – lost Super Bowl XLIX 28-24 when their own preternaturally poised quarterback, Russell Wilson, was intercepted, at the one-yard line no less.

As was pointed out a zillion times by the experts, the Hawks could’ve handed off the ball to Marshawn Lynch (the guy who won’t talk to the press and grabs his crouch after scoring a touchdown). Indeed, they seemed on the brink of back-to-back SB titles after experiencing a sort of miraculous catch of David Tyree proportions. ...

Of weak thighs (and nerves) at the Aussie Open

February 1, 2015

First the final. And then the fallout, right? Andy Murray – who went down to Novak Djokovic but returns to the No. 4 ranking with his appearance in the final – suggested that he was rattled by Nole’s physical crisis during the match. Nole, for his part, said it was not gamesmanship but an actual weakness in his thighs. (Weak thighs: Is there anything in sports that can’t be turned into a sexual innuendo?)

So which was it – a momentary weakness transcended or another game that men play?

A little bit of both, I think. Tennis is the most solitary of games. There’s no teammate – unless you’re playing doubles – who’ll come over to say, “We’ll get ’em in the second half.” It’s all on you. And that can be crushing not only physically but mentally, which in turn can influence the physical. I don’t doubt Nole had a momentary physical crisis. But who knows what role a fertile mind played in that? And if that happens to give him some breathing room….

Nole wins but Andy was dandy (sort of)

February 1, 2015

Well, my uncle woke me this morning with some great news from Down Under: Novak Djokovic has become the only man in the Open Era to win the Australian Open five times. But I think the big news, too, is that Andy Murray’s back.

He played a fantastic tournament up until the final in which he reverted to some classic Andyisms, including getting angry with himself for not capitalizing on his moments. All that means is that he has to play himself as well as his opponent.

He was gracious in defeat, however, and Nole was equally gracious in victory, wishing Andy and fiancée Kim Sears a happy wedding this year and many children. ...

‘Dare to be different’: Thomas Davis challenges NFL

February 1, 2015

The night before the Super Bowl is traditionally reserved for the “NFL Honors,” a combination of the Academy Awards and a glorified high school assembly program.

It’s easy to make fun of the show. The clothes. You would think with all that money, these guys would have their suits custom-made. But no, instead we get jackets that are definitely too tight across generous butts and suits that might be appropriate for a Rotary Club meeting but not for a televised awards show. Among the exceptions – the legendary running back Emmitt Smith, looking snazzy in a purple suit, and San Francisco 49ers’ quarterback Colin Kaepernick, James Bond-sleek in a tux. Perhaps he could offer some fashion tips to Defensive Player of the Year, J.J. Watt. J.J., the 1970s called: They want that plaid jacket back.

Then there was the actress who kept pronouncing “OFfense” “offense.” And the less-than-poker faces. Football players aren’t actors. They don’t hide their disappointment when they lose an award. Even the poised Green Bay Packers’ quarterback Aaron Rodgers looked less than pleased when Seth Meyers, the show’s somewhat tame host, poked fun at the Packers’ collapse against the Seattle Seahawks in the N.F.C. Championship game. ...

The QB: alone at the top of the world

January 30, 2015

Much of the hoopla surrounding Super Duper Bowl weekend revolves around the two opposing quarterbacks – one of whom, the New England Patriots’ Tom Brady, is trying to perpetuate a dynasty; the other of whom, the Seattle Seahawks’ Russell Wilson, is trying to start one.

Both are featured in the superb new coffee-table book, “Sports Illustrated NFL QB: The Greatest Position in Sports” ($29.95), a tome you’ll want to tackle again and again. It’s one I particularly love poring over as I prepare my novel about a gay, biracial quarterback’s quest for acceptance in the NFL, “The Penalty for Holding.”

“NFL QB” takes you down to the field and past the locker room into the mind, body, heart and soul of the quarterback, who more than any other player on the world stage represents the quintessence of masculinity. Walter Iooss Jr.’s double-page photograph of New York Jet Joe Namath – shirtless and hirsute, casting an appreciative leer at two ladies of a certain vintage as he sits on the beach surrounded by equally admiring males – says everything you need to know about the QB: He’s the big man on the campus of life.

But being special cuts both way, and both Tim Layden’s introduction and former Cincinnati Bengals’ QB Boomer Esiason’s foreword do much to capture the aloneness, pain and vomit-inducing terror of a job on which cities as well as teams rise and fall.

As in Sports Illustrated itself – from which most of the words and images were taken – the words and images here serve as a counterpoint as they chart the course from the blocker of the single-wing formation to the QB taking the snap from center in the T formation; from the pocket passer (Brady, Peyton Manning) to the running QB (Wilson, Colin Kaepernick, Cam Newton, Robert Griffin III); and, perhaps most important of all, from sideshow to icon.

While “NFL QB” captures the glamour – what a babe Peyton Manning was on the September 1997 cover of Esquire – what lingers is the grit (brother Eli bloodied yet unbowed in a local showdown between the New York Giants and Jets in 2010). ...