On your marks. Get set. Go!

Madison Square Garden, New York City

It’s been a brutal winter in New York, and the season has only just begun. Seven snowstorms in six weeks, record amounts of snow every time out, and everyone in New York is sinking into a winter funk.

But with the first call of “On your marks. Get set. Go!” one can see the light at the end of this tedious winter tunnel. Long the premier indoor track meet in New York (104 years and counting) the 2011 Millrose Games kicked off with a bang on January 28, 2011.

With each sharp turn, sharp spike and sharp elbow, high school runners, collegiate athletes and professionals all navigated the notoriously quick bends of the track hoping to cross that finish line in first place.

The Millrose Games has been the premier track meet in New York through its tenure. With the recent emergence of the Adidas Grand Prix Meet, the Millrose Games have ceded a lot of the spotlight, but as far as indoor meets go this is the one that gets the season going and quite frankly there is none better.

Millrose also represents the first installment of a series that has been in the works since the stunning (to some) sweep of the entire sprint schedule by Jamaica in the Beijing Olympics.

Yes, the Millrose Games is hosting the first installment of the USA v Jamaica sprint series.

In the city with perhaps the greatest number of expatriate Jamaicans, and gracing the same arena where Mohammed Ali, Willis Reed, Mark Messier and Patrick Ewing reached for greatness, a pantheon of elite sprinters will stake an official claim in a rivalry that has been the benchmark of sprinting for the last 60 years. Decades ago the names were different. George Rhoden, Herb McKenley, Merlene Ottey, Ollie Matson and Carl Lewis have given way to Usain Bolt, Asafa Powell, Carmelita Jeter and Tyson Gay.

The names have changed, but the rivalry remains unabated.

The USA v Jamaica race is a new wrinkle, one that will probably, hopefully energize the casual fan base in both countries. At bare minimum on this night it represented the starting gun for the beginning of a new track season, and all that comes with it.

Who knows if the competing athletes are aware of the historical rivalry of the two countries? Those same casual fans of track and field may think that the success of the Jamaican sprinters in Beijing came out of nowhere. They may not even be aware of the rich tradition of track and field in general and sprinting in particular in Jamaica.

But ever since the Helsinki Olympics of 1952 when the quartet of Wint, Laing, McKenley and Rhoden won the 4X400 relay gold medal, knocking the USA team into the silver medal, Jamaica has been the consistent overachievers of the sprinting world. In my lifetime I cannot recall a major track and field meet in which Jamaicans were not medal contenders, and I’m not even counting the fine runners of Jamaican descent (OJD) running for other countries.

On Friday night, Veronica Campbell-Brown, Nesta Carter, Lauryn Williams, Mike Rodgers and others toed the line in the indoors 60 meter dash at the Millrose Games hoping to stake a claim for sprint supremacy. For self and for country.

On a cold Friday night in New York, a day after 19 inches of snow blanketed the city, Veronica Campbell-Brown (L) who said in her post race press conference that she had ‘been in transit for over 36 hours’ trying to fly into the city, won the women's 60 meter dash ahead of Lauryn Williams and the Barber sisters. With Nesta Carter’s win in the men’s version and Vonette Dixon’s triumph in the hurdles(R), it is safe to say that Jamaica drew first blood. The point system showed that the US officially won the two race sprint series by virtue of their multiple runner up points in both events, but as Mike Rodgers of the US said in his press conference (seated on the left in the picture below next to Nesta Carter & Lauryn Williams) “The Jamaicans got us tonight. But we will see them at Penns.”

Yes indeed, Mr. Rodgers, we’ll see you at the Penn Relays. We’re coming to your neighborhood, and let the fun begin. Those races at Franklin Field in Philadelphia are called “USA v The World” but really, who do you think is representing the world in the sprints?

The track season has begun. On your marks. Get set. Go!

Same old Jets and Aretha's (very) wishful thinking

The NY Jets talked the talk all season, even after a monumental beatdown at the hands of the New England Patriots several weeks ago. Last Sunday afternoon in Foxboro, Massachusetts, they walked the walk. It’s one thing for fans to say their team should win a big game, but when the entire team talks about winning a do or die game, then they go out and emphatically do it, that’s something special.

Consider these facts; Mark Sanchez has won 4 road playoff games in his 2 year professional career. That’s more than Brett Favre won in his entire career. More than any other quarterback in Jets history. Sanchez has been the quarterback for a team that has gone to two straight AFC championship games in his first two years in the NFL, and he hasn’t been piggybacking on a stout defense, he has been a major part of their success. I think Sanchez will have a great future as the leader of the New York Jets.

Prior to the season, Sports Illustrated picked the Green Bay Packers and the Pittsburgh Steelers to play in the Super Bowl. Rex Ryan predicted the NY Jets will be in the Super Bowl. One of these prognosticators will be proven wrong this weekend. I’m thinking the Jets will prevail and the Packers will defeat the Chicago Bears.

Sooo….this is kind of interesting. Aretha Franklin was recently discussing a ‘proposed’ biopic of her life. She indicated that she would love Halle Berry to play her younger self in this movie.

Let’s just let that marinate for a minute. And look at a picture of both of these greats (R).

Halle Berry graciously has said she’s not interested…because she can’t sing like Aretha. Good save, Halle!

Slaughterhouse’s new album is scheduled to be released on February 8th, 2011. If you’ve never listened to this group, the best way for me to describe them is simply the best hip-hop group in the world right now, bar none. The first single, featuring my boys from Yonkers The Lox, is here.

One month to pitchers and catchers.

The great NFL draft of 2006 (not exactly)

The 2006 NFL draft is notable because of the loud debate preceding and subsequent to the first three picks. Coming off of a tremendous performance vs USC, Vince Young, the Texas native was considered a good bet to be selected by the Houston Texans with the first overall pick. Then there was All-World player Reggie Bush of that vanquished USC team, Heisman Trophy winner and highlight reel star. Throw in another Heisman winner in Matt Leinart, as well as Vanderbilt’s Jay Cutler who according to rumor had the best arm of any quarterback in recent memory and you have an intriguing mix.

So what happened? Houston selected Mario Williams; DE from NC State. New Orleans selected Bush, Tennessee chose Young and Leinart and Cutler fell to 10 and 11 respectively.

5 years later, in looking at that draft, you have to think that Houston made the right choice. Williams (# 90, R; shown tackling Bush) is a two time Pro-Bowler; a steady and pretty good player, he is hardly dominating. Bush has not lived up to the hype at all and shares a New Orleans backfield with several other players who play a more physical, straight ahead style than he does. He can still produce an occasional flash of brilliance, but he has not played like the superstar everyone thought he could be. Vince Young has been a mystery, plain and simple. I think if Young goes to a good team and sits behind a veteran for a while he could turn his career around, because he is extremely talented. I don’t think he handled the situation in Tennessee properly, but I blame Jeff Fisher even more than I do Young for the way it spiraled out of control. If Young signs with the Giants, Indianapolis or New Orleans I think it would be great for him and them.

Leinart has been a bust, plain and simple. Instead of being the next Carson Palmer, he turned into the new Akili Smith. Ugghh. Cutler was an above average player in Denver, but has been extremely good in spurts since being traded to the Chicago Bears.

By the way, some of the other players taken later in that draft? Darrelle Revis (NY Jets) Santonio Holmes (Pitt/NY Jets) Antonio Cromarite (San Diego) Greg Jennings (GB) and Maurice Jones-Drew (Jacksonville)

I'm out! Listening to Pink Friday. I gotta say, Nikki Minaj's album is pretty good! Repping Queens, New York!

Happy New Year! Time to stick and move...

This was Gordon Gee to The Associated Press back in November 2010 discussing a college football playoff : "...Having been both a Southeastern Conference president and a Big Ten president, it's like murderer's row every week for these schools. We do not play the Little Sisters of the Poor. We play very fine schools on any given day. So I think until a university runs through that gantlet that there's some reason to believe that they not be the best teams to [be] in the big ballgame."

Well, Mr. Gee, those Big 10 guys haven’t been playing against the Little Sisters of the Poor, but they sure played like they WERE the Little Sisters of the Poor over the last week. Michigan, Michigan State, Northwestern, Penn State all lost. And the big kick in the teeth, Wisconsin losing to those pesky upstarts, TCU in the Rose Bowl.

If the Big 10 is such a tough conference, why then can’t they win the big ballgames?

And doesn’t this prove once again that a playoff system is needed to determine which school is the best? TCU, after an unbeaten season, now has to sit and watch Oregon and Auburn play and know that they can also legitimately make a claim to be the best team and never get to prove it. It’s a joke of a system.

The Miami Heat are finally putting it together and reeling off some impressive wins. I am still unconvinced that they are championship material this season. I say this for three simple reasons: no bench, no point guard and no post players. The LA Lakers, Dallas, San Antonio, Boston and Orlando are better than Miami in those three areas and in a seven game series, I am unconvinced that the Heat can grind out a win. Let’s see what happens in March when instead of beating up on Detroit, Charlotte and Sacramento they have to play back to back games against Orlando, San Antonio and Chicago then host the Lakers less than a week later.

I’m sticking to my belief that the Lakers will face either Boston or Orlando in the Finals.

Hey, I could be wrong, but I could also be right…..last year I predicted Spain would win the World Cup and the San Francisco Giants to come out of the NL West (no, I didn’t think they’d win the World Series, but I thought they were one of the best teams in the NL. Check my blog post!)

And speaking of predictions, I’m going out on a limb now and saying this: The New England Patriots will not play in or win the Super Bowl this year.

Yes, Tom Brady is having a great year, will probably be named the MVP, but that defense is not good and will be expsoed. Belichek or no Belichek, this team can be beat and I don’t see them getting by Pittsburgh, Baltimore or for that matter the NY Jets. Yes I know they beat all of those teams I mentioned in the regular season. But they also lost to the Jets and a five win Cleveland team.

They are a good team, with a great quarterback and one of the best coaches around, but the defense is soft. They will be knocked out of the playoffs before the Super Bowl.

And on a lighter note…..

More than ten years ago, in 1999 Dr. Dre released one of the best albums in hip hop history, The Chronic 2001. The album cemented his status as the greatest producer in the genre, sold over 6 million copies, helped to blow up Eminem as the next big thing and defined the West Coast sound. Ever since then he has teased us with talk and rumors of the follow up album, Detox. Hip hop fans waited patiently, eagerly, rushed to the stores (and the internet-shhh!) to check on every rumor and reported leak and singles to no avail.

Then a month ago, a first single from Detox came out. Pandemonium in the streets! I bought the single from Itunes, a song called Kush featuring Akon and Snoop Dogg.

Wow. All I can say is this:

 

I WAITED OVER TEN YEARS FOR THIS SHIT?!?!?!