Sports Then and Now

After 22 seasons and 303 wins, Randy Johnson has announced his retirement.

The day before the 2010 class of the Baseball Hall of Fame is announced, flame-throwing lefthander Randy Johnson has announced his retirement from baseball after a career that will unquestionably culminate with a trip to Cooperstown.

While there is no guarantee that a player will be selected for the Hall of Fame when the 2010 voting is announced tomorrow (Wednesday), Johnson will be one of those no-brainer selections that make the Hall of Fame committee happy.

The most dominant pitcher in the game for a significant stretch of his career, Johnson used his 6-foot-10-inch frame to intimidate and dominate hitters for nearly 20 years.

Originally drafted by the Montreal Expos, Johnson was sent to Seattle in a 1989 trade for Mark Langston.

As it turned out, Johnson became the dominant left-hander the Expos thought they were getting with Langston.

Johnson teamed with Ken Griffey Jr. to give the Mariners two of the best players in baseball during the 1990s.

His first standout season came in 1993 when Johnson went 19-8 and finished second in the Cy Young voting. By 1995, Johnson was unquestionably the top lefthander in the American League.
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The Author thinks he can convince Bill Cowher to come coach in Buffalo.

That’s right, give me 10 minutes with Coach Cowher. I don’t care where, as long as I have a monopoly on his attention and he can’t leave until I’ve had my say. Put me in the urinal next to him—it doesn’t matter. Just give me the opportunity for a brief intervention.

That’s right, I said intervention. That’s what we call it when we corner someone we care about to slap some sense into their head before they continue down some ultimately self-destructive path.

In the coach’s case, if the information on the rumor-coaster is even 10 percent true, the man who’s steel jaw came to symbolize the steel-mill, hard-hat, failure-is-not-an-option outlook of the Pittsburgh Steelers, even when the steel mills themselves were long gone from Steeltown, is apparently addicted to something that is clouding his judgment.

What is the Cowher drug of choice? I don’t know, glamor maybe? Now that he’s won a Super Bowl and has enjoyed celebrity TV status as a pigskin pundit he may think he’s no longer in the same league with another former steeltown. Maybe the white on his collar from the broadcast booth is blinding him to the true blue that will undoubtedly bleed through the next time he breaks a sweat—if he breaks a sweat. Read the rest of this entry →

Browns team president, Mike Holmgren addressed the media for the first time today.

New Cleveland Browns President, Mike Holmgren addressed the media for the first time today.  This is his first day on the job and he hit the ground running.

He has a lot of work ahead of him.

Decisions on his coaching staff especially head coach Eric Mangini.

The signing of Josh Cribbs.

Bringing the Cleveland Browns back to respectability and to a Super Bowl.

Holmgren brought the cities of Green Bay (1-1) and Seattle (0-1) Super Bowl appearances and has one Lombardi trophy on his resume.

He has rebuilt franchises and there is no reason he can’t do it in Cleveland.

As a team executive, you need to be able to speak to the media and keep them abreast of the workings of the team.

He did a stellar job in his first press conference. Holmgren had the media in the palm of his hand.

As a Cleveland Browns fan, he is making me drink the kool aid.

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The Colts fell just short of pulling off a miracle in the 1995 AFC Championship Game.

Continuing our look at the 50 greatest moments in NFL Playoff History (since the beginning of the Super Bowl era in 1966), today we look at moments 31-40. These moments include some great comebacks and some exciting final plays by some of the greatest players of all-time.

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40. 1966 NFL Championship-Packers vs. Cowboys
One year before their famous battle in the “Ice Bowl”, the Green Bay Packers and the Dallas Cowboys played in another epic NFL Championship Game.

This game comes down to a goal-line stand as the Cowboys cannot get a touchdown after four plays from inside the 2 to tie the game and send into overtime.

The Cowboys’ fate is sealed when quarterback Don Meredith is intercepted in the end zone by Tom Brown on 4th-and-2 with 28 seconds to go.

The Packers come away with a 34-27 victory for their fourth NFL championship in seven years, and advance to the very first Super Bowl where they would trounce the AFL Champion Kansas City Chiefs. Read the rest of this entry →

Justine Henin got her comeback off to a roaring start with a victory over number two seed Nadia Petrova.

As Justine Henin hesitantly watched Roger Federer win his first French Open Crown in 2009 after suffering so many devastating losses on the red clay of Roland Garros, she knew the tiny voice that called to her would never be stilled again.

As Federer collapsed to his knees in an emotional moment at the conclusion of his win over Swede Robin Soderling, Henin took to heart her own series of losses at the only slam that eluded her for so many years, Wimbledon—where Henin had played in her first major final on illustrious Centre Court.

The Belgian had something left to accomplish and it would wait no longer—the void missing needed to be filled.  So Henin picked up her racket for the first time since she had walked away from tennis 20 months ago and began constructing her comeback in the sport that had sustained her when nothing else could fill the loss of her mother and her family.

At age 27, with seven grand slam titles and 41 singles trophies, Henin will make her first appearance at Brisbane where she will face stiff competition against Russian Nadia Petrova seeded No. 2 in this Australian Open Series Tournament.

The No. 1 seed at Brisbane is fellow countrywoman Kim Clijsters who made her way out of retirement last year and astonished the world by winning the 2009 U.S. Open.  Seeing Clijsters make good had to give Henin confidence that it was possible to come back strong—maybe even stronger than when she left. Read the rest of this entry →

Neither the Tennessee Titans or Pittsburgh Steelers were able to live up to early expectations.

This is the time of year that sports writers and bloggers tend to dread, the time to look back at season predictions and analyze for the world to see just how much, or how little, you got right during the recent NFL season.

When the season began in September with a Thursday night matchup between the defending champion Pittsburgh Steelers and the Tennessee Titans, many expected at least one of those two teams to be contending for a spot in Super Bowl XLIV.

But, in a year full of surprises, one of the biggest is that neither of those teams will be among the 12 squads vying for a trip to Miami.

When I peered into my crystal ball in early September I predicted the Patriots, Ravens, Colts and Chargers would win divisions in the AFC with the Titans and Texans earning wild card spots. In the NFC, my division picks were the Giants, Packers, Falcons and Seahawks with the Bears and Eagles earning the wild card spots.

I then predicted Baltimore would edge the Patriots in the AFC Championship Game with the Packers defeating the Falcons in the NFC title game.

My Super Bowl pick was for the Packers to defeat the Ravens.

While I had more than my share of miscues, believe it or not my Super Bowl matchup could still actually happen, though it is a bit of a long-shot at this point. Read the rest of this entry →