Brian Dawkins Retires; Hall of Fame Awaits?

Brian Dawkins, for my money the greatest safety in the history of professional football, announced his retirement from the NFL via Twitter. Dawkins spent 16 seasons in the League after being selected in the 2nd Round of the 1996 NFL Draft by the Philadelphia Eagles. After 13 years with the good guys Dawk left the team to join the Denver Broncos after (former) Head Coach Josh McDaniels decided it was a great idea to offer a 36-year old safety with a history of neck injuries a 5-year contract with nearly $9 Million in guarantees (McDaniels was fired midway through his second season in Denver, because, you know, he sucks).

As many of you who are reading this are probably aware, Dawk is my favorite professional athlete in the history of ever. I cannot think of a single better athlete to ever compete in the city of Philadelphia. Philly fans get a bad rap from the national media but really the only difference between us and the assholes in New York and Boston is that we feel the need to let our own players know when we don't feel that they are giving us their all out on the field because we want them to show that they care as much as we do (a prime example of this is our generally positive memory of Allen Iverson, we are able to forget all of his selfish and immature off-the-court antics because nobody brought it harder for 48 minutes than AI when he was on the court). Dawk's heart was never, ever questioned. In my lifetime he was the universally adored athlete to ever represent the city of Philadelphia. His spirit and passion for the game were downright infectious to fans and teammates alike. I can say with certainty every single Eagles fan would get chills after watching video of Dawk pumping up the defense in the pregame huddle before kickoff.

I could go into detail about his statistical accomplishments like his 9 Pro-Bowl selections, 4 First Team All-Pro appearances or being the first player in the history of the NFL to: score a Touchdown, record a sack, recover a fumble and intercept a pass all in the same game, but his legacy will tell a far deeper story than the numbers ever can. Brian Dawkins was the embodiment of what a professional athlete should be. Off the field he was one of the most pious, humble, softly-spoken and genuinely nice people on the planet (he never uttered a curse word in his adult life). On the field he was nothing short of a modern day berserker, using every fiber of his being to make the play. I may be incredibly biased on this subject but I dare anyone to name a player who gave more than Dawkins did to the game he played, it just isn't possible.

Dawk's eventually retirement started to become a certainty this season after he suffered the second significant neck injury of his career while sparking Denver's defensive surge to the playoffs. Dawkins and his agent have been in contact with the Eagles over the past few weeks attempting to arrange an appropriate ceremony for him to retire as an Eagles. Regardless of how it happens, Dawkins will receive a nearly unprecedented level of adulation during the announcement and at every subsequent appearance he makes at Lincoln Financial Field.

Let's Hear It For Pat Summitt

I have been alive for nearly 25 years and during that time and during that time there have been few things that remained constant from that day in August of 1987 through 2012... until now that is. Pat Summitt, Head Coach of the University of Tennessee Lady Volunteers officially stepped down from said position today. 8 months ago, Summitt was diagnosed with early-onset dementia, a pre-cursor of Alzheimer's. She finished out the 2011-12 season albeit in a reduced role but nor before stating "There's not going to be any pity party and I'll make sure of that." She was also named Sports Illustrated's 2011 Sportswoman of the Year.

I can probably go on at length enumerating Pat Summitt's cavalcade of accomplishments over her career but I feel that listing only a few will tell a greater story. She is the only men's or women's coach in the history of the NCAA Division I with 1,000 victories (1,098 to be exact). She won 8 National Titles at Tennessee, the most ever by a women's coach and second in the NCAA only to John Wooden of UCLA. She was elected to the inaugural class of the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame in 1999 prior to being elected to the Naismith Memorial Hall of Fame in 2000. However to me the most important honor that she garnered was being named one of the Sporting News'  2009 50 Greatest Coaches of All Time (encompassing the NFL, NHL, NBA, MLB, NCAA Football and NCAA Basketball), ranked at no. 11 overall and becoming the only woman to crack the list. There had been an NCAA Women's National Tournament for 31 years, Summitt's Lady Vols went to every single one of those tournaments (reaching the Sweet 16 every year from the 81-82 season until the 2007-08 season).

In short Pat Summitt took the game of women's basketball from a fringe sport in the 1970s akin to bowling and dodgeball and made it something worth televising nationally all season long. Personally I never really thought much about the women's game until Summitt stepped down today which made me realize that I've never seen one single person influence a game like Summitt did for women's basketball. Sportscenter did a touching piece on her career and if you have the chance to read this blog before the end of April 19th then tune into ESPN whenever you get the chance, they did Summitt more justice that I could ever hope to.

NHL Playoffs: Early Favorites Stumble To Begin Postseason

The puck dropped on the 2012 NHL Playoffs on Wednesday and saw two favorites for Lord Stanley's Cup begin their opening series on a sour note with disappointing losses at home. The Vancouver Canucks entered Wednesday with the best record in the NHL and top seed in the West and were expected to coast in the first round against the 8-seeded Los Angeles Kings, a team that only qualified for the playoffs 3 days ago. However the Kings came out with gusto and actually outshot the Canucks by a significant margin at 39-26. The Canucks notched a pair of Power Play goals and used the stellar goaltending of Roberto Luongo to prevent the Kings from taking control until a pass took lucky bounce off the skate of LA center Jeff Carter right to winger Dustin Penner in front of an open net who buried the game-winning goal with 3:14 left in the 3rd. The Kings would then add a empty-netter to finish off the victory at 4-2.

The hot pick to come out of the Eastern Conference has been the 4-seed Pittsburgh Penguins thanks to the return of a healthy Sidney Crosby late in the year. The 4-5 matchup between the Penguins and the Philadelphia Flyers has been the most highly anticipated playoff series so far thanks to all the bad blood (both literally and figuratively) that has been spilled between these two teams during the regular season, a rivalry which boiled over a few weeks ago during a full-out brawl in Pittsburgh at the end of the 3rd period (started by something of a cheap shot to Crosby from behind). There is certainly no love lost between these two in the battle for Pennsylvania.

The Penguins looked as if they were going to run the Flyers out of the building in the 1st period before a sold-out crowd at home, building a seemingly insurmountable 3-0 at the 1st intermission. The Flyers were not to be deterred so easily however and were able to start turning things around in the middle of the 2nd when they took advantage of a blown offsides no-call that saw Philadelphia's playoff powerhouse Danny Briere score to make it 3-1. Briere would notch his second tally midway through the 3rd period making 3-2 before Brayden Schenn tied that score at 3-3 on a Power Play goal with less than 8 minutes to go. The Penguins could not mount any offense in the 2nd and 3rd periods to counter Philadelphia's rally and the game went to OT. Flyers winger Jakob Voracek scored the game-winner on the second shift of OT and the Flyers skated into the locker with an improbable game-1 upset that figures to give them a huge advantage for the rest of the series. Philly proved once again that they have the offense but it was the response by goaltender Ilya Bryzgalov after allowing 3 early goals that was the difference. Bryzgalov will be central to the Flyers' ability to advance against a stacked Eastern Conference.

Not The Greatest Weekend For Bobby Petrino and Ozzie Guillen

This past weekend was certainly not the best of times for former University of Arkansas Head Coach Bobby Petrino and first-year Miami Marlins Manager Ozzie Guillen. Petrino was fired from Arkansas after a significant amount of fallout following a motorcycle accident early last week. On Tuesday Guillen was suspended for 5 games by the Marlins after his comments in a Time Magazine interview in which he lauded the career of Fidel Castro resulted a fire storm of backlash from South Florida locals.

Petrino's motorcycle crashed on a dirt road 10 days ago and despite suffering fairly significant injuries it had seemed that no further consequence would come of it. However several days later it came to light that a 25-year old woman was also involved in the accident and it further turned out she was riding with Petrino. Petrino had intentionally concealed her involvement from authorities and the University but unfortunately it proved to be a slippery slope once that cat was out of the bag. The woman, Jessica Dorrell, was actually the mistress of Petrino in a relationship he kept secret and mislead his family and employers. If that wasn't bad enough Petrino had also unfairly hired Dorrell only 4 days prior to the accident (he interviewed only 2 other candidates) and at some point in the past gave her $20,000 as a "gift" (read hush-money). Arkansas athletic director Jeff Long fired Petrino "with cause" for the unfair hiring and intentionally misleading the school about his relationship with Dorrell and her involvement in the accident. Petrino, a married father of 4, will not be entitled to the $18.3 Million buyout that was written into his contract. Arkansas has yet to name his successor.

The outspoken nature of MLB Manager Ozzie Guillen has been well documented over the years however his recent comments about Fidel Castro firmly crossed the line of what is acceptable. In an interview with TIme Magazine Guillen stated that he "Loves Fidel Castro" and "Respects him" because of the dictator's ability to remain in power for 60 years despite serious opposition. As one might expect Guillen's comments were met with serious hostility considering the density of the Miami area's Cuban cultural heritage (the new Marlins stadium is situated in Little Havana of all places). Guillen was forced to make a public apology for his comments on Tuesday shortly before being informed of his 5-game suspension. A group of Cuban-Americans has already banded together to boycott every Marlins game until Guillen is fired. While it is highly unlikely that Guillen will be fired so soon, it would seem that the decision by Marlins' ownership to use Guillen to help reach more of Miami's Latin American population may have failed even before it had a chance to start.

MLB Opening Weekend: Mets Jump Out To Surprising Start

Perhaps the biggest surprise during baseball’s opening weekend of 2012 was the New York Mets who have begun the season with a sweep of the Atlanta Braves at Citi Field. Prior to the team’s first loss on Tuesday night the Mets started the season 4-0 for the first time since 2007 and only the 5th time in franchise history. Picked by most MLB analysts to finish in the basement of the NL East and perhaps in all of baseball, the Mets appear to have entered the season with a chip on their shoulders lead by fiery 2^nd year manager Terry Collins.

Now obviously it’s far, far too early in the season to start predicting the Mets to be a playoff contender (because barring a miracle a la 1973, they're most certainly not) but they are definitely proving that they’re going to go out and compete every day. Right now this has the look of a team that can win at least 80 games. Of course an 80-win season would be considered a serious failure for a lot of other teams out there but the Mets are unlike any other team in Major League Baseball. This is a team whose ownership enacted the largest payroll, cutback in Major League history during the offseason, slashing nearly $50 Million off their books. Despite the terrible, terrible ownership of the Wilpon Family (whom I cannot berate enough in a single blog post) the Mets have responded to all the offseason adversity.

The key to the Mets having any modicum of success this year is going to rely firmly upon the shoulders of Johan Santana (literally) and David Wright who both are looking for bounce back seasons. Santana missed the entirety of the 2011 season after having surgery to repair a torn anterior capsule in his shoulder at the end of 2010, a surgery that in the past has ended careers (remember Mark Prior? Me neither). Being the tremendous athlete that Santana is, the 2-time Cy Young Award winner has made the long comeback trek that culminated with an Opening Day start last Thursday. Working on a fairly strict pitch count, Santana turned in a sterling performance over the course of 5 innings and 84 pitches against the Braves in a 1-0 Mets victory. Santana notched 5 Ks and will look to build upon that start Wednesday afternoon when he faces off against Stephen Strasburg of the Washington Nationals. Wright also missed time due to injury last year while turning in some of the most dismal numbers of his career. Wright’s swing has been as mess ever since the Mets started playing in Citi Field in 2009 because the park’s cavernous dimensions forced the former All-Star to attempt to become a singles-hitter. The Wilpons moved the outfield fences in during the offseason which will likely be most beneficial to the Mets because of the psychological affect it will have on the Mets hitters. On Saturday Wright crushed a HR to right-center field with the type of swing he wouldn’t have even attempted in recent years. If Santana and Wright can continue their hot starts (Wright may have trouble as he fractured a finger on Monday night) and return to the form that saw them start All-Star games then the fortunes of the Mets might continue to surprise.

Final Note: Jason Bay may be the worst player in baseball this season. Period. It takes a special kind of terrible to get blown away by 89 MPH fastballs down the pipe.

UK Wildcats Win National Championship, Nobody Surprised

The University of Kentucky Wildcats completed the season as the top-dog in NCAA basketball by defeating the Kansas Jayhawks 67-59 on Monday night to win the NCAA National Champtionship. The Wildcats opened up an 18-point lead in the first half and simply had an answer to every single comeback attempt mounted by Kansas from then on out. Behind Freshman superstars Anthony Davis (winner of Player-of-the-Year awards across the board) and Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, the Wildcats wasted little time this season establishing the fact that they were (by far) the most talent squad in the Nation. This was not the first time UK Head Coach John Calipari has sported the top talent in the game but this was his first team that seemed to put it all together and play as the kind of cohesive unit that wins Championships.

Kentucky started 3 Freshmen and 2 Two Sophomores this season, in typical Calipari fashion. It would be terrifically surprising to me if any of those 5 didn't jump to the NBA, those are the type of players that Calipari recruits - a style that has spawned the term "One-and-Done" to describe the uber-talented rosters he put together at UK and the University of Memphis before that. The Professional approach that Calipari has taken to recruiting has been oft cited as the reason that his teams failed to win it all on the biggest stage of all, The Final Four. That Calipari finally broke through with his most talent-laden roster ever in 2012 is nothing short of poetic (or perhaps ironic), as fervor against the NCAA and its hypocrisy in attempting to enforce the amateur status of its "student-athletes" (the word "player" seems to have been officially banned during NCAA press conferences in what would appear to be another move by the Association to deflect the kind of worker's compensation claims that continue to pour in against it) has mounted to an all-time high in recent years.

For a long time I personally never really liked John Calipari because of the way he conducted business, maybe simply because it just felt like that's not the way things should be done. However I've begun to come around on him. The NCAA is no longer fooling anyone, anywhere when it claims that amateur athletic competition is not a business. The most recent figures show NCAA basketball alone bringing more than $800 Million annually. The workforce responsible for at least 95% of that success, the players themselves, receives exactly $0 in (over-the-table) compensation. Sure these players get college scholarships but that doesn't really cost the university's anything except the potential income from a regular student but any loss incurred on their behalf is almost immediately nullified by their gains from major college sports. John Calipari understands that NCAA basketball is a business and, brashly as it may be, is one of the few coaches out their open about treating it that way.

Calipari has no scruples about bringing in the best talent in the country, knowing full well that his best players are going to leave after 1 year most likely. Players are not allowed to enter the NBA until a full year after their high-school graduation. Calipari is the guy who targets players who in the past would have gone straight to the NBA taking the stand of "who are we to prevent an adult from pursuing an extremely lucrative career in the NBA." There's no point in going into any underhanded tactics Calipari has used in recruiting (his previous 2 Final Four appearances were wiped away by the NCAA following the discovery of infractions involving illicit compensation for "amateur student-athletes." Every major college program in both Football and Basketball is guilty of some wrongdoing in this area, its simply impossible to succeed without doing so. Calipari is perhaps the most upfront about this but the results speak for themselves. Kentucky fielded the best team in the Nation from wire to wire and have been duly rewarded for their success. Like it or not this is what NCAA Basketball has become and it is only the NCAA itself who is at fault.

Final Four Preview: Can Anyone Stop Kentucky

The NCAA Tournament concludes this weekend with the Final Four as No. 1 seed Kentucky plays state rival No. 4 Louisville and No. 1 Kansas faces off against No. 2 Ohio State. 

Ohio State (31-7) has been one of the top teams in the country since the start of the season lead by Sophomore F Deshaun Thomas and player of the year candidate Jared Sullinger. That veteran leadership will serve them well in their matchup against Kansas in a game that figures to be physical from start to finish. The Buckeyes entered the tournament with a chip on their shoulder after receiving a No. 2 seed following their loss to Michigan State in the Big 10 Championship game and have barely been threatened during their first four tourney contests. However they have yet face a team with the pedigree of Kansas as the No. 1 seeded Syracuse team they knocked off in the Elite 8 was playing without their best player in C Fab Melo.

Kansas (31-6) has been one of the most consistently successful teams in the NCAA over the past decade under head coach Bill Self. They enter the Final Four as one of the hottest teams in the country winning 13 of the past 14 contests, a period in which they faced 4 Top 10 teams. They boast the leading candidate for player of the year in Junior F Thomas Robison who, at 6' 10" has averaged 18 points and 12 rebounds a game this year and has been a dominating force on the inside while also featuring a solid game from the perimeter. Along with the Senior leadership of G Tyshawn Taylor, Kansas may sport the only lineup that can matchup with the talent of Kentucky.

Louisville (30-9) began the season ranked in the Top-5 in the country but a disappointing 2-4 stretch in the middle of the season dropped them from the AP Poll altogether. However the Cardinals have gotten hot when it matters, winning their last 8 contests en route to the Big East Championship and an appearance in the Final Four. As the lowest remaining seed in the tournament it may seem easy to cross them off the list for title contention but this team is lead by veteran coach Rick Pitino and knocked No. 1 seed Michigan State in impressive fashion in the Sweet 16. They will not be an easy out.

The Kentucky Wildcats (36-2) are the best basketball team in the country. Period. Under superstar coach John Calipari they entered the season ranked No. 2 in the country, never fell lower than No. 3 and have been the No. 1 team in the Nation since January, winning 28 of their last 29 contests (dropping only their second game of the season in the SEC Title game to Vanderbilt) and were named the No. 1 overall seed in the tournament. Thomas Robinson may win the Naismith College Player of the Year but the best player in the NCAA and likely top overall pick in the next NBA draft is Freshman F Anthony Davis (14.3 pts, 10 rbs and 4.6 blocks per game this year). What's most impressive about Davis is that at barely 19 years old he seems to get better with every game right before our eyes. Kentucky's talent goes far beyond Davis however as they also feature the 3rd best player in the country in F. Michael Kidd-Gilchrist as well as two other potential first-round picks in Freshman G Maquis Teague and Sophomore Doron Lamb.

On paper at least it looks like nobody can beat Kentucky given the way they've played this year. It's not just their immense talent but also the unselfish, cohesive way they play the game as a unit. Calipari, much like he did at Memphis, has turned the Wildcats into a professional program highlighted by one-and-done stud freshman players like Derek Rose and John Wall. Since arriving at Kentucky his teams have never lost a home game (in over 50 contests) and this may be the best collection of basketball talent and athleticism he's ever fielded, which is saying something. However Calipari has never cut down the nets at the end of March as his teams have suffered from their inexperience (such as Memphis' 2008 loss in the title game to Kansas when they choked away free throws late and lost in overtime). Calipari has drawn many critics because of his "Pro Factory" style, all of whom point to his failure to win the big one. His Kentucky teams have drawn the kind of ire that the Miami Heat have during the past two years. However I think all of that is about to change this year when Calipari avenges his 2008 loss to Kansas and Kentucky wins the National Championship, a win that may have a lasting impact of the future of college basketball.

Predictions:
National Semifinals: Kentucky 77 - Louisville 64; Kansas 70 - Ohio St. 67
National Championship: Kentucky 81 - Kansas 76