VANITY FAIR: There was once, in fact, a sustained glimpse of the real Tiger Woods. In 1997, Charles Pierce, writing for GQ, got inside. Tiger was 21 at the time, on the eve of winning his first of four Masters. For somebody who at the age of two had appeared on The Mike Douglas Show (where, with a perfect swing, he miraculously hit a stunning shot into the center of a net), he seemed remarkably naïve and remarkably stupid about the ways of the media. The interview was largely a series of profane quips by Tiger, such as “What I […]
SPORTO: On Bowl Games That Don’t Require Weed
BY MIKE WOLVERTON SPORTS GUY We have a few problems in this country, and one of them is the priorities of our elected officials. This month, Congress is wasting time and taxpayer money trying to force the NCAA to adopt a playoff system for Division 1 football. H.R. 390, the College Football Playoffs Act, would make it illegal to promote a postseason contest as a “National Championship” unless the teams involved arrived there via a playoff system. Forget that the bill is sponsored by a Texas Congressman trying to curry favor with UT alums (Texas was the team that got […]
WHY WE CAN’T HAVE NICE THINGS: Hello Frisco!
[Video: Philadelphia Eagles V San Francisco 49ers Snowball Fight] To quote Bob Dylan: “When someone says ‘You’re in the wrong place, my friend’ you better leave.”
SPORTO: Did It Just Get Drunk In Here?
BY MIKE WOLVERTON SPORTS GUY Things change quickly in sports. A week ago the Eagles took the lead in the NFC East, but they still looked like a 3 or 4 seed at best and were clearly a notch below the top two, New Orleans and Minnesota. Fast forward seven days and the Saints just lost, the Vikings just lost, and the Eagles have won five in a row. Suddenly a #2 seed and a bye week are within reach. The Birds will hold the tiebreaker against Minnesota, but the Vikings will have to slip up in one of their […]
Eagles Fans + Snow = Fire + Gasoline
GONZO: Before the game, I was talking to one of the Eagles’ front office employees. She was saying what a good job the Lincoln Financial Field workers did removing the huge mounds of snow from the stands. She was right. It took 45 minutes to help shovel my friend’s car out yesterday. Imagine how hard it was to clear a 67,000-seat stadium. But despite the valiant effort, they couldn’t get it all. There was still plenty left over when the gates opened and the fans trickled in. The first snowball was launched from the upper deck at 2:46 p.m. It […]
WORTH REPEATING: Bring Back Barkley, Too
GONZO: The Sixers need something to keep the fans interested while simultaneously distracting them from a team that has just six sad wins and the fourth-worst attendance in the NBA. They need a big personality to get the city talking about pro hoops again. They need to make a bold move. They need to hire Charles Barkley. A few months ago, Barkley told the Boston Globe he’d like to become a general manager. It’s Charles, so you have to wonder how sincere he was when he made that statement. In the past, he has said he’d like to become a […]
SEX4TICKETS TRIAL: Like A Bad Romance Novel
INQUIRER: She arrived at Manny Brown’s at 7:30 that night and walked up to a man sitting at the bar. Officer Michael Brady was in plain clothes and wearing the Penn State jacket. She asked if his name was Bob. He said “yes.” Three more undercover officers, including Bugsch, sat at a table about 15 feet away, Brady said. Brady testified that Finkelstein said she was married but in a very open relationship and that her husband knew she was a prostitute but didn’t care. Finkelstein continued, Brady said, telling him, “I’m a whore. I love sex. I just can’t […]
SPORTO: Cowgirls In The Sand
BY MIKE WOLVERTON The Eagles outscored the Giants Sunday night, but there was some cause for concern. Giants receivers hit on numerous big plays, and missed several more. Mario Manningham was barely out of bounds for what could have been two separate touchdowns. Fellow receiver Hakeem Nicks dropped a sure long TD. And the Giants still put up 38. Factor in that the Eagles got a fluky fumble return touchdown and a punt return TD by DeSean Jackson, things you can’t count on happening every week. My point is that the Eagles had a lot of things go their way […]
ANSWER: Is That All There Is To An Iverson Bounce?
INQUIRER: On Wednesday night, for the game after Allen Iverson’s emotional return, the energy at the Wachovia Center regressed to pre-Iverson levels. On Monday, a sold-out crowd of 20,664 packed the arena for Iverson’s “debut.” Two nights later, 12,136 people watched the Detroit Pistons beat the Sixers, 90-86 — a difference of 8,528. Iverson’s effectiveness dropped, too. He scored 11 points both nights, but on Wednesday, he had six turnovers and performed as he had warned, needing to knock the dust off. When the Sixers signed Iverson, their losing streak was at eight games. Since then, they have played three […]
BLAND LOYALTY: Air Tiger Goes Dark
LOS ANGELES TIMES: As Tiger Woods uses silence to deal with the uproar over his alleged infidelities, his sponsors apparently are following suit, quietly not running his ads until the worst is over. Rick Burton, one-time brand manager for Miller beer and former chief marketing officer for the U.S. Olympic Committee, doesn’t think this means Tiger is no longer a bulletproof brand. “If a sponsor cuts him loose, that makes it look like the relationship was tenuous to begin with,” Burton said Wednesday. “I don’t think Accenture, Nike or Gillette want to do that. Sometimes what they’ll do is take […]
CHINESE DEMOCRACY: Just Sayin’
ASSOCIATED PRESS: All in all, it’s hard to imagine how Woods could have handled the whole affair worse, but don’t look for any exodus from Wood’s stable of corporate backers. Tiger is too good, too dominant, too telegenic and his transgressions, to use his word, are too minor, to scare off the big companies. Not surprisingly, Nike, like his other corporate partners, is offering its unconditional allegiance to Woods, who is arguably the company’s most important athlete. “Nike supports Tiger and his family. Our relationship remains unchanged,” the Beaverton-area company said in a statement. Forbes estimated earlier this year that […]
RAW FOOTAGE: Allen Iverson’s Trail Of Tears
He’s back, baby!
SPORTO: En Eff Hell
BY MIKE WOLVERTON SPORTS GUY When it comes to sports, I almost always fall into the “traditionalist” camp. And, truly, I like the tradition of Detroit and Dallas hosting Thanksgiving Day games. But there is no disputing that it is an unfair advantage. Every year, Dallas gets a 9-day layoff coming into the season’s stretch drive. Usually their game after Thanksgiving will be against a team on six days of rest. This is an advantage, and so is the fact that the Cowboys are at home for the Thanksgiving game. This means that their opponent on short rest must travel […]