The Sports Curmudgeon®

They are already teasing the fact that CBS will run an interview with Plaxico Burress during the Super Bowl Pre-Game extravaganza on Sunday. Evidently, Bill Cowher went to visit Burress in prison and came away with the impression that Burress is a changed and contrite individual who has vowed to make a comeback in the NFL when his prison time is behind him. Unquestionably, some team will give him an invite to camp; if he can make a team when that happens, Mazel Tov to him. Notwithstanding that feelgood aura of a story that will be upcoming this weekend, here is a recent comment from Bob Molinaro in the Hampton Roads Virginian-Pilot that has the ring of reality in it:

“Idle thought: If anybody wondered whether athletes would “go to school” on Plaxico Burress’ hand-gun violation in New York, we got our answer with the events that led to this week’s suspensions of gun-toting Wizards Gilbert Arenas and Javaris Crittenton.”

According to reports, the Ravens’ safety, Ed Reed, is contemplating retirement. He missed a few games late in the 09 season and reports said that he had injuries to his neck, groin and hip. Reed is one of the top safeties to play the game; and at his prime, I think he was a better all-around defensive player than teammate Ray Lewis who gets lots more publicity because Lewis is more vocal and extroverted. Selfishly, I would like to see Reed continue to play because I really enjoy watching top-shelf players play the game. Having said that, I also would like to see him exit the game on his own terms and with his body in sufficient condition that he might enjoy a long and pain free life of mobility. Here is a stat I ran across that shows that some stats folks really do have too much time on their hands:

Ed Reed is the only player in NFL history to have scored TDs on an interception, a fumble, a punt return and a blocked punt.

There is a saying on Wall Street that the trend is your friend. Well, if you are a fan of the St. Louis Rams, you might want to take exception with those folks on Wall Street:

In 2007, the Rams record was 3-13.

In 2008, the Rams record was 2-14.

In 2009, the Rams record was 1-15.

If all of the Rams’ high draft picks turn into “impact players” at the same time, that will be one hell of a turnaround story. Until then, this team stinks and shows no real signs of getting any better…

The Bears finally signed a new offensive coordinator - - Mike Martz. On the surface, that looks like a good idea for the Chicago team since Martz is a pass first, pass second, pass third and run the ball only to give the WRs a breather kind of offensive coordinator. Remember, the Bears gave away lots of draft picks - - including the first two rounds of this year’s draft - - to get Jay Cutler to throw the football in Chicago. The bad news is that Martz’ system worked really well when he had two “other elements” in addition to a big-armed QB in St. Louis. At the time, the Rams had one of the best OTs in the NFL (Orlando Pace in his prime) and two top-shelf WRs. The Bears also have Orlando Pace on the OL but Pace is but a shadow of what he once was. Moreover, the Bears WRs are bargain-basement players not top-shelf players. We shall see…

As the Bears were going through the interview processes to hire their new offensive coordinator, one of the candidates was Hue Jackson. Simultaneously, Jackson was being courted by the Oakland Raiders for a similar position. Jackson turned down the job in Chicago and took the Oakland job without going back to the Bears and seeing if they would “sweeten the pot”. So let me get this straight:

Jackson chose to work for/with Tom Cable knowing that he had JaMarcus Russell and Bruce Gradkowski as the guys who would implement his offensive concepts and knowing that Al Davis would be in the owner’s box every game scrutinizing his every move.

Jackson chose not to work for/with Lovie Smith (who has been to two Super Bowls) and Jay Cutler as his QB.

Cue Dick Enberg here, “Oh my!!”

David Whitley of AOL Fanhouse had this comment regarding the apparent retention of Tom Cable as the Raiders’ head coach:

“Oakland reportedly decides to retain Tom Cable for next season but will no longer pay him a bonus for punching assistant coaches.”

A couple of days ago, I commented on the cost escalation related to the Winter Games in Vancouver. I got an e-mail from Gregg Drinnan who is the sports editor of the Kamloops Daily News. Kamloops is a city of about 100,000 folks in central British Columbia about 200 miles from Vancouver. Here is the salient part of that e-mail demonstrating that Mother Nature can also create ways for host cities to pour money down the Olympic Rat-Hole:

“The Lower Mainland right now is enjoying the warmest January/February on record. A lot of the snowboard and freestyle skiing is to be held on Cypress Mountain. One problem? The snow all melted. They now are trucking in snow from Manning Provincial Park, which is a three-hour drive east of Vancouver. . . . No, I am not joking. They are putting snow in trucks and hauling it to Vancouver.”

Finally, here is another observation from David Whitley of AOL Fanhouse:

“At the Golden Globe Awards, Wade Phillips and Norv Turner shared the award for Most Likely to Have Incriminating Photos of Their Bosses.”

But don’t get me wrong, I love sports…