Just catching up on a newsy week:
The NFL’s arrogance showed again when Seahawks coach Mike Holmgren let it slip that he had a conversation with the league about a questionable Giants touchdown reception in Sunday’s 24-21 Seahawks victory.
Holmgren said the league admitted that a touchdown catch by Jeremy Shockey shouldn’t have been ruled a completion. After an initial denial from the league that such a conversation took place, Holmgren responded by saying he should have mentioned that the contents of the discussion was confidential.
Sorry, Holmgren said, my bad.
Doesn’t matter, the NFL answered.
In a statement, the league opened the possibility that Holmgren would be fined – presumably for a conversation it claims never happened.
That Holmgren sent video of the disputed calls is nothing new. Coaches routinely mail that kind of thing to the officiating department. The video is reviewed. If a mistake is made, the league secretly apologizes and moves on.
This isn’t the first time Holmgren has revealed supposedly confidential conversations with the league, but this time the NFL chose to publicly react.
Gee, it couldn’t have been because New York is the country’s largest media market and the game had the highest Nielsen rating of anything on Fox since the American Idol finale last May, could it?
This is as silly as it gets. The call didn’t cost Seattle the game, unlike past horrible judgments (see Seahawks vs. Jets, 1998, Dennis Erickson’s last game as the team’s head coach). So why call Holmgren in the first place?
In the long run, the hoo-hah that lasted all week was about nothing. Except, of course, to hacks such as myself who jump at the opportunity to goad the self-absorbed NFL and its inane practices.
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Regarding the Sonics’ solid defensive effort Wednesday night in a 104-94 victory over the Charlotte Bobcats: Wow! Glad that’s fixed.
We kid, of course, because we care.
Brilliantly recognizing that they’re giving up more than 105 points a game, dead last in the NBA, coach Bob Weiss spent the better part of three off-days working on the defensive side of the game.
Three days off, a rarity in the NBA. And then, after recording a 10-point victory at home against a team that’s lost seven straight road games, the Sonics say they have reason to think the defense is showing improvement.
Wrong. They won’t get a test from the Bobcats. The defense will be tested against a decent team, after the Sonics enter a part of the schedule that offers little time to work on specific areas.
For instance, starting tonight, when they play five games in the next eight nights.
Consistent defense is about habit, and the only habits the 2005-06 Sonics have shown are disinterest and selfishness.
The Sonics’ problems go deeper than their inability to replace Jerome James and Antonio Daniels. It starts with a lazy front office, which virtually allowed the players to choose coach Nate McMillan’s replacement.
Led by Ray Allen, the players stomped for Weiss, apparently because he’s such a swell guy – never mind that he compiled a 210-282 career record in parts of six seasons with three different teams.
Sure, Weiss is a lovely human being, but lovely human beings aren’t necessarily great coaches. Ask the Spurs how many team dinners they invite Gregg Popovich to. How many times has Larry Brown joined a conga line at a team function?
Coaches aren’t to be adored, just respected. The players picked Weiss, therefore they should be busting their keisters to keep him.
Unfortunately, that doesn’t appear to be in this team’s character. Reflecting on a loss to undermanned Utah, Allen said, “We got beat on hustle plays.”
That, kids, is a team just punching the time clock.
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Assorted cheap shots: If Michael Irvin means what he says, that he will go to any lengths to clear his name from suspicion based on his arrest in which police found a drug pipe and baggies that contained marijuana residue in his car, this is our suggestion: Here’s a Dixie cup, Mike. Fill it and take it to the lab for testing … The Blazers’ Ruben Patterson was sent home from a road trip and suspended after first cursing McMillan and then demanding at least 25 minutes of playing time a game. First, very few players are in the position to demand anything, and that group doesn’t include Patterson. Second, considering Patterson’s criminal record (he spent 15 days in jail after a modified plea to a third-degree attempted-rape charge in 2001 and also broke the jaw of a Cleveland man that same year), he’s lucky even to be in the NBA. Time to load the moving van, Ruben.
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