Pick Me: Football Trick Photography

This YouTube video presents some interesting, entertaining clips... even if you aren't a football fan.

Western Conference is a Case of Extremes

As we approach the mid-way point in the NBA basketball season, I noticed something interesting about the team standings.

The Eastern Conference seems typical. You've got three really great teams with winning percentages over .750: Cleveland, Orlando, and Boston. Then you have two more teams over .600, Atlanta and Detroit. Miami is next at .529, and then you have eight teams between .300 and .500, with only one, the lowly Washington club, at .200.

But the Western Conference so far is quite different. It is a case of extremes: the haves and have-nots, the really good and the really bad. The Los Angeles Lakers (my favorite team, btw), is the elite squad with a 29-6 record and the only .700+ (in fact, .800+) winning percentage in the conference. There are eight other teams, however, with win rates between .575 and .700. The playoff race here should be interesting then, since there are eight spots so one of these nine teams will be left out.

But there is little chance it seems of any other teams from the West being in the playoff mix, since there are no teams with winning percentages between .300 and .575. That is quite a void! The other six teams in the conference are all sub-.300 clubs, with the pathetic Oklahoma City squad coming in last with a 5-32 record (.135 percentage).

The Western conference has had a lot of strong teams for many years now. But I don't ever remember, this late into the season, seeing quite this extreme of a split between the top teams in a conference and the bottom teams.

We Are Seeing Something Special in the NFL This Year

This year NFL fans are being treated to something quite special: the New England Patriots. It is certainly no surprise that they are doing well of course, as they have won three Super Bowls in the past six years (2002, 2004, 2005). And as has been said countless times before the season began and since, Tom Brady has his strongest corps of wide receivers ever. But after today's beating of the Redskins 52-7, the Patriots stand at 8-0 and have really not been tested:

• 38-14, at New York Jets
• 38-14, San Diego Chargers
• 38- 7, Buffalo Bills
• 34-13, at Cincinnati Bengals
• 34-17, Cleveland Browns
• 48-27, at Dallas Cowboys
• 49-28, at Miami Dolphins
• 52-7, Washington Redskins

One could say the Cowboys were a test, and the Patriots passed with flying colors. The game was close initially, but then New England scored at will such that the end result makes it look lopsided.

The Patriots have scored 30+ in every game. And theyhave scored 40+ in their past three games.

The biggest game of the year thus far will be next week, as the Patriots play the also-impressive Indianapolis Colts. The Colts are 7-0, having already had their bye-week. Tihs Brady vs. Manning matchup is a fan's dream. Indeed, if you aren't a football fan and you only watch one game this entire year (aside from the Super Bowl perhaps), this game next week between the Patriots and the Colts is the one you should watch.

As I write this I'm watching game 4 of the World Series, which if the Red Sox win will be the end of it. A good time to be a Boston sports fan, apparently. I'm not one, but I'm not a Boston-hater either.

Sports Bloopers

Here is a quick YouTube video of sports bloopers that I mostly hadn't seen before. The last one of course, who hasn't seen that? But the others were new for me... the pole-vaulting one is deceptive, until you see it the second time in slow motion.

120-Man Row Boats

My friend and colleague Basia, who continues her superb blogging from Chennai, India, has reported on an incredible boat race. Would you believe row boats with 120 men? Take a look at her amazing photos!

Sports' Best from A to Z

Dave Hyde of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel recently wrote an interesting piece in which he chose the top sports figure from each letter in the alphabet. An easy way to do this is start with the obvious all-time greats, and they take their letter: A is Muhammad Ali, G is Wayne Gretsky, J is Michael Jordan, T is Jim Thorpe, and Z is Babe Didrickson Zaharias. But then it gets harder, and some letters are loaded with options. M is perhaps the toughest, with Dan Marino, Willie Mays, Mickey Mantle, Joe Montana, amongst others. Some letters have few options, like Q where I am glad he chose 1980s reliever Dan Quisenberry -- and idol of mine as a kid. And X is tough... so he punted and chose no one. He also made some non-standard choices as well: Sir Edmund Hillary for H, Secretariat for S, and Phidippides for P (no Pele?). He cheated for L, going with Lance Armstrong since A went to Ali. See the article for the rest of his choices. Good stuff!

NBA Greats

I'm not nearly as knowledgeable of pro-basketball as I am baseball. But I'm a fan of the game, of the Lakers in particular, and I'm looking forward to tonight's NBA All-Star Game.

Bob Matthews had an interesting column in my local paper today, ranking the all-time greats of NBA basketball. In 1996, the NBA commemorated its 50th anniversary by choosing an official "50 Best and Most Influential Players". Here is how Matthews ranks those 50:

1. Michael Jordan
2. Wilt Chamberlain
3. Oscar Robertson
4. Bill Russell
5. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
6. Magic Johnson
7. Larry Bird
8. George Mikan
9. Karl Malone
10. Julius Erving
11. Elgin Baylor
12. Bob Cousy
13. Bob Pettit
14. Hakeem Olajuwon
15. Moses Malone
16. Shaquille O'Neal (the only still active player on the list)
17. Jerry West
18. John Havlicek
19. David Robinson
20. Kevin McHale
21. Charles Barkley
22. Isiah Thomas
23. Walt Frazier
24. Patrick Ewing
25. Willis Reed
26. Dolph Schayes
27. Dave Cowens
28. Billy Cunningham
29. Elvin Hayes
30. John Stockton
31. Rick Barry
32. George Gervin
33. Earl Monroe
34. Pete Maravich
35. Nate Archibald
36. Paul Arizin
37. Dave Bing
38. Sam Jones
39. Clyde Drexler
40. Robert Parish
41. Scottie Pippen
42. James Worthy
43. Lenny Wilkens
44. Wes Unseld
45. Bill Sharman
46. Nate Thurmond
47. Bill Walton
48. Jerry Lucas
49. Dave DeBusschere
50. Hal Greer

I have no major disagreements with this ranking... though I'd probably have Shaq a bit higher up. He then wrote:

Assuming the next official NBA all-time team will be the top 75 players for the league's 75th anniversary, here are the active players I believe already have clinched spots (in order of my preference):

• Tim Duncan
• Kobe Bryant
• Allen Iverson
• Kevin Garnett
• Jason Kidd
• Gary Payton

I agree with those choices, particularly the first three. Then he added:

Other active players who are well on their way to making the top-75 list:

• Steve Nash (a third MVP award would be the clincher)
• Dirk Nowitzki
• LeBron James
• Dwyane Wade
• Carmelo Anthony
• Tracy McGrady

Dwight Howard, Vince Carter, Ray Allen, Jermaine O'Neal, Gilbert Arenas, Elton Brand, Amare Stoudemire and Chris Bosh have more to do but can't be discounted.

Five retired players who didn't make the 50th anniversary team but will deserve consideration for the 75th anniversary team are Dominique Wilkins, Bob McAdoo, Reggie Miller, Alex English and Connie Hawkins.

I'd say Nash is already deserving, and I agree that Dirk, Lebron, and Dwayne are certainly well on their way. And I thought Dominique Wilkins should have been included in the original 50 anyway, so definitely when/if they expand to 75. And Reggie Miller for sure also.

Sports Records Least Likely to be Broken

My local paper had a brief blurb today referring to the list of Top 10 Unbreakable Sports Records, from the interesting site AskMen.com (which I hadn't visited before). Go read the article to find out why they chose each of the following:

1. Cal Ripken's 2,632 consecutive baseball games played.
2. Jerry Rice's 22,895 NFL pass-receiving yards.
3. Cy Young's 511 career pitching victories.
4. John Wooden's 88 straight wins as a college basketball coach.
5. Wilt Chamberlain's 100-point basketball game.
6. Wayne Gretsky's 215-point season.
7. Nolan Ryan's 7 no-hitters.
8. Ty Cobb's .366 career batting average.
9. Michael Schumacher's 7 Forumula racing championships.
10. Rocky Marciano's 49-0 boxing record.

These are all very impressive records of course. Discussion's of this subject often start with Joe DiMaggio's 56-game hitting streak, so it is interesting that it is missing from their list. I could see someone breaking that record someday though, so I'm not lobbying for it to be included.

I don't know much about racing or boxing, so I can't comment on the last two selections. Cobb's average seems safe, as does Nolan's number of no-no's. I wonder though what is harder to top: Nolan's mark, or Roger Clemens' 7 Cy Young awards?

I'm not a Hockey fan so I won't comment on Gretsky's record. Wooden's seems untoppable, given the broader competition that exists today, and because so many great players leave school for the NBA after one or two years.

But what struck me about this list, was Cy Young's career wins total only ranking third. Those top three are all highly unlikely to be topped, but it would take a change in the nature of the modern game for a pitcher to come anywhere near Young's 511 wins. The main reason is that we don't have three-man rotations any more, we have five-man rotations. As the author states: "A pitcher today would need to average 25 wins a season for 21 years to surpass Young; with an average of just 35 starts each year, that's an all-but-impossible task." Someone could more easily break the records of Ripken or Rice, because those wouldn't require a change in how their respective sports are currently played.

Maybe Ben should visit Chennai, India

I am a Steelers fan, so I truly hope that Ben Roethlisberger makes a full recovery from his recent motorcycle accident.

Regarding his decision to not wear a helmet... while I am against laws for adults on this matter, not wearing a helmet -- in just about all circumstances that I can imagine (caveat: I'm not a biker myself) -- just seems really dumb.

Consider, if you will, the following series of photos from my friend and colleague Basia Kruszewska, who is working in Chennai, India. It is quite the norm for a man to ride a motorcycle there without a helmet, and for his wife to ride side-saddle behind him, and to be holding a baby or young child as well (all sans helmets). Now, admittedly they aren't going 50-75+ mph, but Basia says they do reach speeds of 30 or 40 mph.

See also this followup with even more photos, this time with entire families treating motorcycles and scooters as if they were SUVs.

And btw, If you like those photos, I strongly encourage you to browse throught the rest of her blog (2.5 years worth!), at least for the wonderful photos. She has a great eye, and not only has hundreds of photos from India but also from her various trips in the southeast Asian region (Mt. Everest, doing work post-tsunami, and various exotic locales).