The day the Giants beat the 49ers in overtime, I was on a plane from Orlando to my hometown in Albany, NY. It was actually my fourth flight of the day and this is where I note that though I was glad that a roundtrip flight to Salt Lake City, Utah only cost $20 I could have gotten to Europe faster.

I made my flight plans in July precisely around the time that the Giants should have been arriving in Albany for summer training camp but were kept away by contract negations and a lock out. But I digress. As the plane hit the 10,000 feet mark and that tell-tale ding went off in the cabin, I watched as passengers to the left, front and back of me hopped on the in-flight wifi. It’s such a first world problem to complain about how slow the Internet was while IN THE AIR but whatever. There we all were hovered over iPads and iPhones painfully watching each down. Some were able to catch the play-by-play on super amazing headphones – I dunno, technology or something – while I squinted and peaked over the shoulders of the men in front of me to make sure they were seeing what I was seeing.

As the plane started to make its final descent and flight attendants went through the cabin to make sure seat backs and tray tables were in their full and upright position, roughly 20 of us remained “watching” the game. Damn the man and the FAA we were flying in blue and red gear and we were going to watch this game right into the end of overtime.

I remain confused by the new overtime rules. Like, physics confused but I knew that when Lawrence Tynes kicked that 31 yard field goal and – I imagined – that ball sailing beautifully that we had it. At 20 to 17 the Giants were going to the Super Bowl. Of course there could be no outcry because we were supposed to be gazing out the windows and waiting for our ears to pop but I tapped the shoulder of the gentleman in front of me and we gave each other a high five.

***

There are people who hate the Giants. Actually there are people who hate all things New York just as I have a difficult time stomaching the Patriots, Celtics and those awful Red Sox. My dislike isn’t because of the way I was raised but because I’ve learned to embrace the rivalry and the game. My father is one of those who hate the Giants. In fact he once told me that he hated Archie Manning and would hate the mother if she played football, too. It’s an Ole Miss thing not just because of the talent or as he would say, “Lack thereof”.

I, on the other hand, have thought about marrying a Manning brother and since 2005 have spent many Sundays arranging my schedule around what time the Giants would be playing. If you were to find me at the end of the season I kind of sit around wondering what to do with myself come 1, 4: 30 and 8PM.

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When Eli was first drafted to the NFL there was the infamous trade between the Giants and the Chargers. Eli didn’t want to go to San Diego and so he made a fuss and ended up with New York. Since then he’s been called a whiner and a crybaby for his decision. He then took over for the legendary Kurt Warner in 2005 as the starting QB and they have never looked back. When people criticize Eli for not wanting to go to the Chargers and for being immature I shrug and wonder what they expected of a 22 year old? I can understand just graduating from college and not having something work out for you and being bummed. Of course Eli did what he did on a far more public scale but show me one early 20-something who is thrilled with their life right after college and I’ll show you a person who is most likely lying.

Over the last seven years what thrills me most about this Giants team is Eli’s leadership and watching him mature. Thinking of it now I realize it’s because we are roughly the same age (he’s a year younger) but that first job is tough and it takes a lot of crap to make the job your own and to grow into what you do. Two Super Bowl appearances don’t just happen. It requires having a team that works well together and gels. With Eli Manning at the helm this team has done just that. So hate him if you’d like. Hate the Giants. Hate their Super Bowl appearances or that they have ruined perfect seasons but don’t hate what they’ve accomplished over the last several years. I love the Giants not just because I’m a New Yorker but because watching them is like magic and I, for one, cannot wait for this Sunday.

After the suspension, Ovi said, nope, not gonna play. No All-Star Game for me.

People are calling him a jerk and a poor sport, and far worse names, as sports commenters will.

Sorry, in the sense that I’m totally not sorry. I happen to think he’s absolutely right.

Yes, I am a lifelong Washington Capitals fan. I am not, however, a blinded Ovechkin supporter. I think his play has been lax for the hype and salary he commands, and I’m not always thrilled with his attitude. I also loved Bruce Boudreau for absolutely no reason other than that he is Bruce Boudreau, emeffers. I think his dismissal from the team was probably due in some way to Ovi’s star power, and I think it was stupid.

But I’ve watched the Michalek hit multiple times, and I don’t think it was suspension worthy.

(I have no data to confirm any of the above hit or coach-firing analysis. I could be completely wrong, but I am not in my own mind. And if you think I am, I don’t care. What do I look like, a hockey scientist? I’m just your average irrational fan.)

My Ovi-cynicism aside, it’s just clear after the past few years that he is a big-name fall guy for enforcers in the NHL. He is a fall guy for the same league that shills him endlessly as one of its superstars. This includes a mostly manufactured rivalry with Sidney Crosby, an admittedly outstanding hockey player who unfortunately can’t even play due to concussion symptoms that are 0bviously serious enough to keep him out of action for more than  a year now.

In Ovi’s interview when he discussed his decision not to play, I actually sort of believed him when he said that he was afraid this reaction to his physical play was going to follow him his whole career. He’s going to keep getting called out for the way he plays hockey — a way he plays hockey that makes him the big name, occasional magic goal player he is. Happy birthday, Gary Bettman, am I right?

So in this case, unlike many others? I say hey, Ovi, refuse to play. Check yourself, if the NHL’s going to. If Tim Tool Time Thomas can embarrass himself by refusing to visit with the president of the United States and people defend him for that? You skip the All-Star game, baby. Rest up. We need you more in the playoffs.

His family announced:

It is with great sadness that we announce that Joe Paterno passed away earlier today. His loss leaves a void in our lives that will never be filled. He died as he lived. He fought hard until the end, stayed positive, thought only of others and constantly reminded everyone of how blessed his life had been. His ambitions were far reaching, but he never believed he had to leave this Happy Valley to achieve them. He was a man devoted to his family, his university, his players and his community.

Beloved within the Penn State community, JoePa arrived on campus as assistant coach in 1950, taking over head coaching duties in 1966. He went on to become the winningest college football coach in history.

His tenure came to a disappointing end in November, 2011, when Penn State administration fired him in the fallout from child sex abuse charges against former Assistant Coach Jerry Sandusky. He gave his first post-retirement interview to the Washington Post last week,  stating “shock and sadness” about the Sandusky charges, along with a belief that he did the best he could do within University procedures.

Paterno was not charged with any crime, but was nonetheless held accountable for not reporting the allegations against Sandusky to the police.

I didn’t know exactly how to handle it and I was afraid to do something that might jeopardize what the university procedure was. So I backed away and turned it over to some other people, people I thought would have a little more expertise than I did. It didn’t work out that way.

Paterno was well known for calling PSU football coaching his “Grand Experiment” — a merging of athletics and schoolwork that resulted in “success with honor.”

He is survived by his wife, Suzanne, and five children, all graduates of Penn State.

The Anaheim Ducks. Seriously? Okay. The Ducks (the DUCKS. From ANAHEIM.) have won a cup. The Washington Capitals, Ovi and all, have not.

I don’t want to talk about it, and I don’t especially want to talk about how I feel about a good coach being bounced when a team of highly-paid, allegedly talented hockey players made like the Ice Capades for the past seven games. And let’s not even discuss last year’s playoffs. Or the year before. However, I will share my best-worst favorite Gabby/Ovi quote from the past few days, courtesy of Tarik El-Bashir, who covers the crap out of this team for the Washington Post:

“He called me [Monday] and I didn’t feel like talking,” Boudreau said. “I answered the phone [Tuesday] and he said he really enjoyed working with me. I said, ‘You, Alex, I loved every minute of it.’ ”

As a lifer Caps fan, I would love to see the team win a Stanley Cup. And it’s nice to welcome Dale back. He was here through some lean years and when things got better. He’s a scrapper and I dig that.

But Bruce? Bruce is a cool guy. He came in at a bad time and made things better. He dealt with a roster of hyped people who ended up not producing. He clearly tried a number of approaches with no kind of momentum, especially not at playoff time. He made some fun commercials. He became a DC sports icon in much less time than it usually takes around here, in this crazy, transient city, this so-called “hockey town” that doesn’t know what it means to root down for a hockey team over time.

And as much as I’ll always want a Cup here, as much as I hope Dale Hunter is the guy to get us there? I’m still not so sure I like how it happened.

Washington Capitals GM George McPhee fired Bruce Boudreau today, following the latest ridiculous loss to the Buffalo Sabres, the latest of seven in the last 11 games. The successes of Boudreau’s four years as the coach — a Winter Classic win, highly successful regular seasons, emergence as a popular, well-known coach in a city known for the opposite — were washed away in a situation where good players just could not seem to win.

I’m looking at you, Ovechkin.

(It actually just occurred to me: if you want your coach to get fired do you suck especially hard in a game against a team like Buffalo, with nine injured players, including Ryan Miller? Do you? DO YOU?)

Conspiracy theories saved for later.

Caps veteran, former team captain, owner of the retired number 32 jersey that hangs from the Verizon Center rafters, and minor league coach Dale Hunter is on deck, coming off a winning ten-year run with the OHL’s London Knights. From what the reports say, he’s a hard worker who expects the same, and hopefully that bodes well for getting some of these guys to defend and score who haven’t seemed to be able to make that happen lately.

All problems aside, Bruce will be missed in DC, and by me. Here’s hoping he shows up somewhere where the team is ready for him. As for the Capitals, for a certain lifer fan who may be typing this right now, whatever it takes to get to the Cup is okay, and I have a good feeling about someone with a strong connection to the history of the team and a successful run as a player and a coach. Hunter will debut tomorrow night in a home game against the St. Louis Blues. I guess Ovi will still be captain, which, well, okay. Whatever.

Welcome home, Dale. Let’s get it done.

DC Sports Bog has a nice roundup of some of the finest moments of the Boudreau era.

CSN Washington has a roundup of videos from the Hunter years in Washington.

Check out the video tribute from Max Duchaine over on Russian Machine Never Breaks.

You can also follow Laurie’s Rock the Red hockey list for updates on the Washington Capitals from a bunch of people who pay very close attention. DistrictSports Caps is at the Caps’ practice facility right now and is a good bet for all-day coverage.

Tarik El-Bashir has a Hunter update and many more links to Caps coverage.

Found guilty in March of sexual offenses including soliciting a 16-year-old prostitute, the former New York Giant and general sleazeball is now a registered sex offender in Florida (where don’t worry, he’s still allowed to be near schools and playgrounds because he has young children. Because that makes total sense..) Radar reports that the now-18-year-old victim will bring suit against him today for sex trafficking, represented by lawyer Gloria Allred (Nicole Brown Simpson and Amber Frey ring a bell? Gloria does not mess around.)

If Radar’s source is correct and this case goes through, it will be the first where an offender “seeking services” is charged under the Trafficking Victims Protection Act, and not just the pimp. That guy, Rasheed Davis, already pled guilty to trafficking. I don’t know where he is but let’s hope he’s not allowed near schools.

Gross, just gross, all of it gross. Nice work, LT. Gross.

Image: Florida Department of Corrections

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Tim Tebow reporting:

“Well good for him. Congratulations to him. That’ll be fun to play him the last game of the year.”

The Dallas Cowboys and Chicago Bears put in waiver claims for Orton too, but the Chiefs won-lost as the team with the worst record (4-6). The Chiefs acquire Orton after starting QB Matt Cassel had season-ending surgery and replacement Tyler Palko threw three interceptions in last week’s loss to the Patriots. Benched in favor of Tebow in the fifth game of the season, Orton bit the Broncos dust.

His desired return to Chicago not in the cards, Orton will go to Kansas City, who will be responsible for paying him the remaining $2.58 million of his almost $10 million salary this year.

So, you know, he’s got that going for him.

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“Sources” say yes. Meyer — an Ohio native who started out as a grad assistant coach for the Buckeyes in the 80s — says “Meh.” He likes watching his kids play sports. Meh. He has a job at ESPN. So coming out of retirement to take the Buckeye coaching job? Meh, maybe:

“I know it’s that time of year. I’ve not been offered any job, and I’ve certainly not accepted any job.”

OSU athletic director Gene Smith also said no deal.

But you know how it goes with sources. Sometimes “sources” know things, and sometimes “sources” hear voices — very, very wrong voices. So whether Meyer is the guy to step in for real after Jim Tressels unfortunate tattoo parlor escapades ended his Ohio State tenure? Who knows.

We’ll let you know when we do.

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Venezuelan newspaper El Nacional reported the abduction yesterday. Rumors of his death are circulating, but police say this is untrue.

Ramos, 24, a 2010 Nats acquisition from the Minnesota Twins, is home preparing to play in Venezuelan winter league Aragua Tigres. Several other Nats minor league players also play in the league.

The Nationals and MLB released this statement at 12:45 EST:

“Our foremost concern is with Wilson Ramos and his family and our thoughts are with them at this time. Major League Baseball’s Department of Investigations is working with the appropriate authorities on this matter. Both Major League Baseball and the Washington Nationals have been instructed to make no further comment. ”

They have not yet indicated whether the other players in Venezuela will be brought back to the United States.

Agent Marfa Mata tweeted that Wilson was still known to be alive, although she did not specify how she knew.

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We The Family of the 1964 Olympic Boxing Heavyweight Gold Medalist, Former Heavyweight Boxing Champion and International Boxing Hall of Fame Member Smokin’ Joe Frazier, regrets to inform you of his passing. He transitioned from this life as “One of God’s Men,” on the eve of November 7, 2011 at his home in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. We thank you for your prayers for our Father and vast outpouring of love and support.

A native of South Carolina, Frazier ended up in Philadelphia, where boxing trainer Yank Durham discovered him at a local gym. He won a gold medal at the 1964 Tokyo Olympics.

Frazier’s career was partially and emphatically defined by a storied rivalry with boxer Muhammad Ali. Frazier’s first victory over Ali was in March, 1971 at Madison Square Garden, in the so-called Fight of the Century. This bout occurred just after Ali regained his boxing license, stripped when he refused to be drafted to Vietnam.

Frazier lost the heavyweight title he held for five years to Ali in 1974′s Rumble in the Jungle, in Zaire, and again in 1975′s Thrilla in Manila, which Ali won in a scorecard decision that was physically brutal for each man.

Frazier retired in 1975, following a loss to George Foreman. He later managed his son, also a boxer. His 32 – 4 – 1 record is still one of the best of all time.

While never friends, the news is full of stories about how Foreman and Ali reached an understanding of what their rivalry meant in later years. There was talk of forgiveness and prayers and good wishes.

As Frazier told The New York Times:

“Ali always said I would be nothing without him. But who would he have been without me?”

Image:

BestSportsPhotos.com

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