Coyne's Clippings

Dr. J talking at the Jack Leaman Memorial Golf Tournament held yesterday at The Orchards in South Hadley, Mass.

"Other schools around the country may have bigger reputations or bigger names," said a man who remains one of the biggest names in modern basketball history. "But whenever I hear UMass, it's special to me, because that's my alma mater."

Couldn't agree more, Julius.

Athens article on the impact of Russia winning the gold in the 800 meter dash, a real quality piece from Dan Wetzel, who is quickly becoming my new favorite writer. Of course the fact he's a UMass grad is great too!

And what in the wide world of sports is going on with Chipper Jones?

Coyne's Clippings

BR's reflections on the Olympics... the second half of the article is pretty good, especially the AI tidbit, and the part on how the bball teams should live in the Olympic Village.

Allen Iverson -- yes, Allen Iverson -- so vigorously waving the rhetorical flag following the US loss to Argentina that you would think he was delivering the keynote speech at the Republican Convention

And in classic BR form, he educates the populace by making you know who Busby Berkeley is.

Ron Chimelis just reinforces why he might be the worst writer in America. Who else would contact Steve Lappas for his thoughts on the perils of USA Olympic Basketball.

A response

Well Steve Nordstrom issues a response to my wonderful webpage. A little childish if you ask me... but you'll have that from a Swede.

Coyne's Clippings

Shaughnessy: Dark days have hit the road C.H.B. (as Carl Everett calls him) drags out the Nomar saga again. This article proves pretty telling about the notion that No. 5 was more of a cancer in the clubhouse than a cure. If you missed CHB's piece ripping the soul out of Garciaparra, check this out from the day after the trade.

Hey, at least Mrs. Garciaparra has her gold medal yesterday. Anyone else think Nomar is taking off a couple of days to high tail it to Athens?

BR checks in with an insightful piece on yesterday's USA men's basketball win over Spain, including this snipet.

When the game ended, the action wasn't over. Coach Pesquera was seen going chest-to-chest with Brown, fingers waved back and forth, and courtside sources say Coach Brown was even heard to say, "You want a piece of me?"

Speaking of the basketball at the Olympics, you have to tip your cap to the women's national team who is undefeated. I've really become enamored by head coach Van Chancellor who used to coach at Mississippi. My take is that he's like the No. 3 all-time best women's coach behind Pat Summitt and Geno Auriemma. The only knock seems to be the fact he couldn't get farther in the NCAA Tournament than the Elite Eight. According to bball scribe Peter May, Chancellor also sits at the back of the bus on road trips, which as any basketball player will tell you, is far from the norm. Here's to hoping he guides the ladies to a gold medal.

Coyne's Clippings

Bob Ryan: Kingpin bows out
This might be the best moment of the Olympics... short of the fracas that broke out following the USA men's basketball win over Spain this morning. Anyone think that this wrestling dude got a little change on the side from Asics for getting his shoes a little close-up fact time on prime time national television? At any rate, this guy was cool, and deserves all the accolades he receives.

Woody Paige from the Denver Post also has a cool look, including these classic lines...

Gardner lost a toe to frostbite in 2002 when he was stranded overnight during a snowmobiling adventure (when he goes home, Rulon will bury the toe he has kept in his refrigerator), and it seemed that his career was over. But he made an almost miraculous comeback and qualified again for the Summer Games held in a country where wrestling had been inaugurated as an Olympic thousands of years ago.

Gardner is a risk-taker. If he had wrestled safe in the first session Wednesday, he probably would have reached the final. Against an exhausted foe, Gardner could have pulled out of a hold and eventually won the match. Instead, he tried to turn and was twisted into defeat. If he hadn't wrestled boldly, he wouldn't have decisioned the champion who had won 59 consecutive matches.

Wow, cool stuff. And how about the Red Sox with 17 hits last night! Keep the streak going, 5 1/2 and counting...

Coyne's Clippings

Boston.com / Sports / Other sports / Olympics / Handball / Give handball a sporting chance: "Handball: The new American Pastime"

BR (Bob Ryan) must be drunk on oozo beacuse there is not way he knows this much about handball. Another example of the Olympics being a great deviation in the sports world. Good thing it only comes about once every four years, I couldn't handle a steady stream of these type of columns.

Scott Kazmir update

The Mets will rue this trade! Joel Sherman and I have been saying this since mid-July! The Mets should have traded someone like Glavine, possibly even Glavine, not their youth!

Poll Question of the Month

What's the best sports team I've ever worked with? (In terms of free stuff and connections)
Bay State Games
Bryant College
Boston Red Sox
Pittsfield Mets
Providence College
Univ. of Massachusetts

Why Beach Volleyball Rules!

ESPN.com: Page 2 - Beach party!

Articles like this, along with players like this, are why I'm hooked on beach volleyball. I even watched their sappy pre-game interview on NBC the other day. Too bad the cute one is getting married this fall.

Now you want to see some real tv, check out what the Russian chick said on her reasons for going to the games. Obvious: To win a gold medal. But how much did it mean to her? I recall a statement similar to I think winning the gold medal means more to me than bearing children. Now I have no clue the exact ramifications of that statement, but I think its pretty strong.

Checking out an old article that brings back a laugh

Spfld Republican 5/23/04

Of course you have to read my wrap up as well.

Yahoo! Sports

Yahoo! Sports In case you need a link to get in on the fantasy sports, here it is.

Daily Bob Ryan Read 8/19

I have no clue what I'm reading reading about, and BR (Bob Ryan) has no clue what he's writing about, and yet we are both content that something is being accomplished the viewing/writing of this article.