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NBA Columns
February 11
New York Post
columnist Mike Vaccaro
"
What happens when the hype doesn't do justice to the truth? When the breathless hysteria isn't equal to the black-and-white of a stat sheet, or the relentless roar of an arena in full, epic spasm? When you empty the thesaurus of adjectives and try inventing new ones, like the end of a "Words With Friends" game? For crying out loud, what happens when Jeremy Lin outduels Kobe Bryant? "A once in a lifetime thing," is how Mike D'Antoni described it. "A dream," is how Jeremy Lin himself put it, and honestly, it wouldn't be possible for the kid to have any idea what he did, what he's doing, what he's done for this team and this sport and this city. Maybe, until now, it was possible to believe we"
February 11
New York Post
columnist Kevin Kernan
"
Hazell Stoudemire was a big brother in every sense of the word and not just because he was such a big man. When Knicks star Amar'e Stoudemire was a baby, it was Hazell who would heat up his bottle on the stove, his uncle, Earnest Stoudemire told the Post last night. "Hazell was the one who nurtured Amar'e,'' said Earnest, 64, a retired major on the Lake Wales police department. Earnest is a brother of Stoudemire's late father, Hazell Sr. Hazell Jr. kept Amar'e away from trouble, the same trouble that often would find Hazell. Hazell, 35, was killed in a car accident early this Monday morning on nearby U.S. 27 when his Cadillac Escalade ran into the back of a tractor-trailer. The Cadillac"
February 10
Dallas Morning News
columnist Rick Gosselin
"
Fraley: I still think it's Odom, but I have to give Carter credit. He doesn't have the explosiveness that he had earlier in his career, but he's changed himself as a player and what he brings to the table is certainly different than what he brough years ago. It's impressive. Gosselin: I thought he was done. We've seen flashes of greatness from him, and considering he was never going to carry this team, he's still had some big games for the team. Carter is having the kind of season we expected Odom to have, and Odom has been a non-factor. Without Vince Carter this team would be in trouble."
February 10
Washington Times
columnist Deron Snyder
"
The NBA's best player visits Verizon Center on Friday night, but don't take my word for it. That's the opinion of none other than Larry Bird. "You know, Kobe [Bryant] was always my favorite since I got out," Bird told ESPN's Bill Simmons recently. "But LeBron James is by far our best player in this league. I don't really think there's anyone next to him. I think he's there, and then you go down the list." It's hard to argue with Bird, one of the league's all-time greats. But James is a debate magnet. Arguments follow with speed and fury whenever his name is broached — especially since he left Cleveland for Miami and became a bad guy to many previous fans."
NFL Columns
February 11
Boston Globe
columnist Christopher L. Gasper
"
It's been almost a week since Super Bowl XLVI and the wounds are still raw, an entire region has replayed and reviewed the events of the loss to the New York Giants over and over like a doleful Adele song. But it's time to put the DVR remote down and move on because there is no time to sob over lost Super Bowls. The draft is still a couple of months away, but the Patriots are very much on the clock. Tick, tick, tick goes the career of Tom Brady. The incredulous kid quarterback who hoisted his first Lombardi Trophy 10 years ago is going to turn 35 in August. Plus, there has been speculation about coach Bill Belichick hanging up his hoodie. It was notable that after last Sunday's letdown at"
February 11
Washington Post
columnist Tracee Hamilton
"
Washington likes nothing better than a quarterback controversy, or a quarterback debate, or a quarterback scandal — even in an election year. That's why the very words "Peyton Manning" have the same effect on Redskins fans as that of dangling a drool-soaked tennis ball over a Labrador's head right before tossing it in the yard. Once again, the lab — and a lot of Redskins fans — will go running. But not all Redskins fans. Some will look at that beat-up tennis ball and lie right down on the porch, waiting for someone to take a fresh ball out of the can. And that's what makes it a great debate topic, at least for those whose sports heart died last Sunday with the end of the Super Bowl. Those"
February 10
Chicago Tribune
columnist Matt Bowen
"
NFL players don't have many allies outside the locker room. Maybe an assistant trainer or one of the guys in the equipment room who will throw you some gear to give to your little brother at the next home game. Besides that, well, you are pretty much on your own. Take the coaching (even if you don't agree) and try to work through the game plan come Sundays. However, there are those rare cases in the NFL where a player builds an extraordinary relationship with his position coaches, a working relationship on the field and in the classroom when a veteran buys into everything his coach is selling."
February 10
Boston Herald
columnist Ian R Rapoport
"
Thom McDaniels still watches games like a football coach, and Super Bowl XLVI was no different. In his seat at Lucas Oil Stadium, as if he was still wearing a headset, the Ohio prep football legend processed the 38-yard twinkle-toed reception by Giants receiver Mario Manningham with 3:39 left in the game He understood its significant but didn't dwell on it. "I knew it was a great catch," McDaniels, 63, said yesterday. "I knew it was a great throw, I knew it was a big moment, but you move on to the next play.""
MLB Columns
February 10
New York Daily News
columnist Bob Raissman
"
There must be something missing from this Brian Cashman story, and it ain't a player to be named later. It's a tale of sex, stalking, betrayal. It has nearly everything sports talk gas bags were yakking incessantly about when Steve Phillips' made-for-tabloid affairs were revealed and dissected inside the Valley of the Stupid and other media precincts. Cashman? The talkies have gone Cashmum. As a matter of fact, so have normally opinionated columnists and TV commentators. Maybe the Giants ran interference for the beleaguered Yankees GM during their drive to the Super Bowl. Then again, all the coverage that compelling story produced couldn't hide loud, up-front headlines about Cashman."
February 10
Pittsburgh Tribune Review
columnist Dejan Kovacevic
"
It's one of the many torments of the Pirates' longest-suffering fans, the perpetual thought that somehow, some way, this will be the winter they make that big free-agent splash. The thought was born, really, when PNC Park opened in 2001 with the promise of spending with the big boys. That bought Derek Bell a yacht. The thought was revived, at least a little, when Bob Nutting took control of ownership in 2007 and restored the team to fiscal responsibility with the promise that prudence would pay in the long run."
February 10
Dallas Morning News
columnist Rick Gosselin
"
Is there a Josh Hamilton sex tape out there? Gerry Fraley: You hear a lot about it. But to be honest with you, nobody's actually seen it. It's one of those 'I know a friend of a friend of a friend' deals. Even if there is, we're assuming if there is a tape, it's consenting adults, and I don't have a problem with it. That's between Josh and his family. But if there really is a person shopping this tape, then that person is a sorry individual. I still don't believe there's a tape; I believe it's an urban myth. Rick Gosselin: There's a belief that the tape's already out there, so even if one really doesn't exist, the damage has already been done with the people that matter."
February 10
CSN Philly
columnist Jim Salisbury
"
It seems as if Joe Blanton is perpetually on the trading block. Phillies officials have gauged the market for the righthander the last two off-seasons and have done so again this winter. The widely held suspicion is that the Phils, who have a bulging payroll and luxury-tax concerns, would try to move Blanton's $8.5 million salary so they can try to re-sign free agent Roy Oswalt. While I don't doubt that the Phils would move Blanton, I wonder if it is really tied to a desire to re-sign Oswalt. If any team knows the health risk that Oswalt presents, it is the Phillies, who dealt with his back issues last season. By all accounts, Oswalt is in good health and hungry to prove he is still an"
NHL Columns
February 11
Fort Worth Star-Telegram
columnist Mac Engel
"
There is no joy in the following as much as there is relief -- the Dallas Stars are finally acknowledging they need Fort Worth. For the longest time, this organization desperately just wanted to be Dallas -- and just Dallas -- and it got away with it. You knew there had been a seismic shift when the Stars hired Jim Lites back to be their team president in December, and he said to me, "We have to get back into Fort Worth." Back? Try start. For far too long, this organization catered to the desires of the fans who lived in Dallas, mostly North Dallas, because that's all it needed to do. Perhaps with good reason. Maybe the Tarrant County folks weren't going, or watching. With the team staring"
February 10
Pittsburgh Tribune Review
columnist Josh Yohe
"
Welcome to the new NHL, which is beginning to resemble the old NHL. Scoring is down, and obstruction again is becoming a common element of play. Referees, many Penguins said, are allowing the clutching and grabbing that became ingrained in the game a decade ago to resurface. The Penguins are particularly unsettled by this because special teams have marked a significant part of their success this season. Lately, special teams play has been rare. "I don't necessarily think the play has gotten cleaner," Penguins coach Dan Bylsma said. "(But) there are few power-play opportunities out there for every team.""
February 10
Chicago Tribune
columnist David Haugh
"
How easy it would be to blame "Disney on Ice" for the Blackhawks resembling a Mickey Mouse operation at the start of their longest road trip since 1994. To attribute the cold, Stanley Cup reality the Hawks have confronted recently to the "Dare to Dream'' ice show (tickets still available!) forcing 26 days between games at the United Center. To wonder how an organization with the NHL's best business savvy, according to The Hockey News, approved a schedule that locks the Hawks out of a building the team co-owns at a time they need the warmth of home ice."
February 10
Los Angeles Times
columnist Helen Elliott
"
The reason can be as vague as a sense that a team isn't motivated, or as obvious as a superstar's rebellion. The decision to change a coach or manager during the season might be made early — the Detroit Tigers were 0-6 when they fired Phil Garner and replaced him with Luis Pujols in 2002 — or late, as when the New York Rangers dismissed Michel Bergeron with two games left in the 1988-89 season. The switch made no difference in either case: The Tigers were 55-100 the rest of the way and the Rangers lost those two games and were swept out of the playoffs, leading to the dismissal of General Manager Phil Esposito."