Quick Hitters from Around The Sports World
November 27th, 2007 at 5:45 pmBy Chris
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So Long Ricky, We Barely Knew Thee
Well, that didn’t last long: The Ricky Williams comeback experiment lasted all of six carries… at least for this season. Williams was injured when Steelers linebacker Lawrence Timmons stepped on his shoulder while chasing after the loose ball, courtesy of Ricky’s fumble. Because of being used as a stepping stone, Ricky will now miss the rest of the season with a torn chest muscle.
I’m guessing the next question on everyone’s mind has to do with whether or not Williams will return to the security he sought when using the illegal plant he is so well known for… that and was Timmons’ liberal use of Ricky’s shoulder as a launching pad intentional or not.
BTW, NFL.com has a video of the incident on their site, but of course, the control freaks that make up the NFL leadership corps doesn’t allow their videos to be embedded. I guess that goes back to that whole 45 second rule that came out during the last off-season.
To again quote the Guinness guys, “BRILLIANT!!!!”
ESPN Doesn’t Think Much of Missouri
It doesn’t look like the Missouri Tigers should even bother showing up to the Big 12 championship game because everyone in the know already has Ohio State penciled in as the likely opponent of West Virginia in the final game of the BCS. ESPN’s Ivan Maisel and Mark Schlabach do not have the Tigers listed as the West Virginia opponent in their bowl projection report, which speculates about the bowl games and which teams will be participating in them.
Instead of the BCS Championship, both writers have Mizzou playing in the AT&T Cotton Bowl against Arkansas, meaning both of them think the Tigers will lose to Oklahoma on Saturday. Apparently, they think as highly of the Big 12 North as I do…
They Don’t Think Much of Sean Taylor Either
Tragedy struck the NFL last night when Washington Redskins safety Sean Taylor lost his life after being shot in the leg, which severed his femoral artery, late last night. While this topic is extremely “popular” in the sports blogosphere, some are upset with ESPN’s coverage, or lack thereof. Washington Post scribe Leonard Shapiro took the worldwide leader to task over their potentially disrespectful coverage of the Sean Taylor tragedy:
“News of the Taylor shooting first broke in Monday morning drive time. How could ESPN not have rushed a reporter or two to Miami for constant live updates, either from the hospital or outside of Taylor’s home? Surely they must have stringers on call. And Hank Goldberg, ESPN’s frequent on-air NFL analyst and a longtime and well-connected South Florida daily sports talk show host, lives in Miami. Why wasn’t he pressed into immediate service?
This was a huge NFL news story, and we’re not taking a provincial approach on this, either, just because it happens to involve a Washington athlete. If it had been a Hollywood celebrity shooting, don’t you think that CNN and its Headline News service would have interrupted regular programming and offered blanket, minute-by-minute coverage?”
Considering how much time ESPN has spent covering the likes of Barry Bonds, Terrell Owens and A-rod, I’m inclined to agree with Shapiro on this. Why wasn’t this senseless event covered with the same verve as TO doing sit-ups in his driveway?
Stumble it!
November 27th, 2007 at 6:18 pm
Poor Ricky, so knowledgable about a plant that could help him get through the pain of a torn chest muscle (hurts just to think about it), so in deep for millions if he gets caught partaking again. I’d like to have a shot at writing this screenplay: Rickyjuana, A Tragedy. All the classical elements are there, it would almost write itself.
Mizzou: no comment until after the game, but they are an underdog to Oklahoma, so it’s not like Vegas has much confidence in them.
I was surprised too not to have heard anything on ESPN radio on Monday morning. I can’t even remember what Mike & Mike were blathering on about. Today when I heard the tone in Erik Kuselias’ voice coming out of break at about 7:20 I knew it meant bad news. Let’s hope Miami PD is up to the investigation.
November 27th, 2007 at 7:11 pm
Unfortunately, last night’s broadcast only had one solid angle of Timmons stepping on Williams’ shoulder, and it is the shot from the linked video. Since Timmons’ path is out of frame, it’s hard to tell definitively, but he certainly appears to be taking an awkward step. I highly doubt there is enough evidence to indicate a fine, especially considering poor footing sometimes requires awkward steps. That said, it looks to me like he had plenty of turf in front of him to step on.
I tend to root for the underdog when I’m not particularly interested in either team, so I’m rooting for the Tigers. Even if the line is only 3, it’s not very often that the #1 team in the country is the underdog. It’s hard to beat a good team twice in the same year, though, so I agree that it should be a close game. It’d be classic if Missouri won, and Ohio State leapfrogged them or West Virginia a la the ‘06 Gators.
While I’m not known for jumping to ESPN’s defense, I think I remember hearing that Taylor’s father requested the hospital not release any information to the media immediately following Taylor’s hospitalization. It is possible that the Miami 5-0 wants to keep the media out of the story altogether until they can conduct an investigation. Understandishable, though it may be, with seemingly so little to go from, you’d think media attention would actually assist such an investigation. Either way, I would love to see a special edition of SportsCenter dedicated to his memory, maybe with a reel of his best football highlights from Miami and then the Redskins. It’d be especially great if they had video of the Thrash quote about his maturation and how he accepted the responsibilities of fatherhood.
November 28th, 2007 at 12:17 am
ESPN has changed their tune about Sean… I’m watching NFL Live right now and it’s been all about him and rightfully so. The news was cloudy at best last night and I think everyone went to bed hearing about him being responsive.
I woke up to the news on the ESPN radio update but didn’t get to see their TV coverage today. However, I think asking for a little more due-diligence from the Worldwide Leader isn’t out of the question. Shapiro’s point about CNN applies here. ESPN should have followed that example, especially last night. JMO.
Missouri is a good team and probably deserves a shot based on their record, but the level of their competition isn’t that much different from Kansas’, save Illinois, and Kansas is getting hammered for their strength of schedule. However, the Tigers have their destiny in their hands and that’s more than a lot of teams can ask for. Win and you’re in.
November 28th, 2007 at 12:30 pm
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