Go For 2!

Just had an impassioned discussion with my esteemed colleague Steve Bitker about Stanford coach Jim Harbaugh's decision to go for a 2-point conversion with the Cardinal leading USC 48-21 midway through the 4th quarter.

Full disclosure of my loyalties: my family has always leaned toward Cal and away from Stanford, and most definitely away from USC. But I like 'SC coach Pete Carroll and respect his program. I'm also thrilled about Harbaugh's resurrection of the Stanford program, and I'm a big fan of tailback/outfielder Toby Gerhart. Freshman QB Andrew Luck is another Cardinal worth watching.

Anyway, I thought it was entirely appropriate that Harbaugh shoot for two with that 48-21 lead. After all, 50 looks so much nicer than 48 on the scoreboard. But seriously, Stanford entered that game as the underdog, and USC is the 700-pound gorilla of the Pac-10. It's not like Stanford was pulling this stunt on an overmatched opponent.

What Harbaugh did has obvious downside potential. You don't tug on Superman's cape, you don't spit into the wind. But what Harbaugh was doing, I believe, was telling his players (and potential recruits), "We fear no one. So what if USC doesn't like it? Let 'em come and get us."

Steve says it was a bush-league decision. He says it was an attempt to "run up the score". He might be right about the former, and for sure he's right about the latter. If successful, Stanford would have widened its lead by an entire point. Hoo-boy.

"Running up the score" is leaving your first-team defense in against the other guys when you have a big late lead. Oh, like USC did at Stanford last year, when Carroll sent the big dogs back in and called blitzes against a Stanford team trying to save some face in a 45-23 whipping.

Look, it's obvious there's no love lost between these two coaches or their programs. But it's pretty clear that Stanford is the little dog and 'SC's the big one. That extra point (which, by the way, Stanford didn't get--perhaps the only big stop USC's defense made all day) had no bearing on the final score. But the willingness to go for it in front of 90,000 fans at the Coliseum was a statement by Harbaugh. It was his own way of sticking the Stanford Axe in the turf, the way Tommy Trojan shoves that sword in the ground before every USC game.

And while they won't say it out loud, I'll bet several other Pac-10 coaches got a nice warm feeling when they heard about it.

A Horrifying Scene

If you saw Jahvid Best's aerobatic act in the Cal-Oregon State football game, you'll never forget it.

Best's 7-yard touchdown run ended with a vault toward the end zone. For a moment, it looked like one of the most remarkable plays ever. Best was so high in the air, it seemed he might just take flight and stay aloft.

But then he crashed. Hard. And for a brief moment, the TV cameras captured the blank stare on his face and it was obvious that something was very wrong.

Here's a simple rule: when the guys wearing fire department turnout coats are running toward you, that's not a good thing. Best was quickly surrounded by Berkeley Fire Department crews, Cal athletic trainers, and his family. The crowd in the stadium and the TV audience couldn't see enough to know his condition, but it didn't look good.

Eventually, Best was wheeled off on a stretcher, his head immobilized, his body draped in a white blanket; his face obscured by an oxygen mask.

Frightening, and sobering.

For Best's young teammates and opponents, a vivid reminder of what can happen when you play the violent game of football. But also, for those young men and all of us, a reminder that everything can change in an instant. Literally: one moment you're flying, and the next, your future is uncertain.

It turns out Best did not suffer the spinal damage we all feared. He did sustain the mother of all concussions, but was released from the hospital after an overnight stay. We can all hope the best medical minds are watching him carefully and will make darned sure his brain is healthy before he ever steps on a football field again.

And perhaps we can reflect on that stunning moment when we rose to cheer his feat of daring and athleticism--just before fear punched us all in the gut.

The Hubris Of The Yankees

The New York Yankees and their fans are a little like that old phrase: "He was born standing on third base and thought he hit a triple."

The Bronx Spenders just wrapped up their 27th World Series title (in their 40th Series appearance), and all you hear is people talking about "how long they've waited".

For the record, the last Yankees title was way back in...2000. Nine long years ago. But to hear the response from fans, broadcasters, and players, you'd think they'd been waiting as long as, say, Giants fans. Also for the record, I have lived my entire life without seeing the Giants win it all, and I'm not that young. And I'm not even a Cubs fan.

It's part of New York's arrogant charm that enduring a nine-year World Championship drought can be viewed as a Herculean labor. It's also very Gotham-like to pretend that it's even a fair competition.

Year in and year out, the Yankees rake in more revenue and spend more on players than any other team. Way more than most teams; obscenely more than others. Look: money doesn't necessarily buy love, happiness, or World Series titles. But it doesn't hurt.

I'm perfectly fine with the Yankees winning it all. I'm a big fan of players like Jeter, Rivera, Posada, and Matsui. I don't even really mind the financial unfairness that gives them an advantage each and every year; dynasties give everyone else something to shoot at.

But please, Pinstripe Nation. Learn a little humility. That thing rattling around in your mouth today is your silver spoon.

Giant-Killers

OK, it's not quite like the fabled 1982 game in which Chaminade shocked then-#1 Virginia (led by Ralph Sampson).

But for now, it'll have to do: Division II LeMoyne going into the Carrier Dome for one of those NCAA "exhibition" games (really, a way for the big schools to sneak in an early game that doesn't count against their season game limit), and upsetting the #25 Orange, 82-79.

What makes the story line juicier here is that the upset happened on Syracuse's home floor, with the 'Cuse's legendary Jim Boeheim prowling the sidelines. And, to make it even more delicious, LeMoyne is from Syracuse. One can only imagine how puffed-up they are on campus today. They certainly didn't waste any time updating the athletic department website.

LeMoyne's Dolphins are no slouches at the D-II level; last year's team went 20-11 (including an 85-51 hammering by Syracuse). But let's be honest: there's a huge gap between gearing up for Merrimack, Bentley, and St. Anselm--and wandering into the Carrier Dome.

You probably know by now: I'm all for the underdog. It's important for the little guy to win once in a while, if only to keep the big guys a little less cocky. Let's all savor LeMoyne's win for a while.

Night of the Jasons

One of the beauties of today's information culture is this: you can double-check your memory.

Sometimes, you find out the old memory is a little lacking. Other times, you're thrilled to find you had it exactly right.

I was watching Jayson Werth of the Phillies lay waste to his old Dodger teammates in the NLCS when I flashed back to a night at Coors Field 4 years ago. A big bunch of my extended family had gone to see the Dodgers and Rockies play (a distant cousin is a Rockies employee and we'd all been together for a family reunion in Estes Park).

I don't know if Dodgers manager Jim Tracy was aware of the history he made that night, but I feel fairly certain that never before in the history of baseball had a team started a game with four Jasons (well, technically, three Jasons and a Jayson) in the lineup. To make it more epic, when the Dodgers trotted to the field in the bottom of the 1st, the outfield was pure Ja(y)son: Werth, Repko, and Grabowski. The fourth Jason had a great view of all this: Phillips was behind the plate.

My then-16-year-old son and I commented on the Jason-ness of all this at the time. In fact, we were amused even further that three of these name-mates were in consecutive slots in the batting order.

At least that's the way I remembered things. And lo and behold, it really did happen that way. Here's the boxscore to prove it.

It's just a shame that only 21,000 people were there to see history unfold.

Super Socks

You either loved them or you hated them.

But you couldn't ignore them.

I'm talking about those yellow-and-brown vertically-striped "throwback" socks (some would call them "throw-up" socks) the Broncos wore in their game against the Patriots.

Yes, youngsters, those really were historically-accurate uniforms. The Broncos wore that look in 1960 and 1961, and famously, retired the socks in a public bonfire after the '61 season.

This season's celebration of the AFL's 50th anniversary has produced some cool looks (how about those original Chargers' uniforms?) and some not-so-swell ones (there's probably a reason
the New York franchise retired the uniforms along with the "Titans" nickname).

But until the Broncs brought out the verticals, nobody had managed to put a personal stamp on the archive-wear. Give Denver wide receiver Jabar Gaffney credit for that. Look closely at the photo and you'll see how Gaffney has put a little twist into his socks, creating the never-before-seen barber-pole look.

Check it out. You might be looking at a streetwear trend in the making. Where can a guy buy a pair of mustard-and-brown socks anyway?

Enough's Enough

I'm sure it will be little noted nor long remembered, but I'm hereby drawing my line in the sand.

We will no longer book interview guests who have something to sell (with one important exception, which I'll address in a moment).

My new policy starts immediately; we'll take a pass on an offer to bring golf guru Hank Haney on with John Madden. I'm sure Haney would be a great interview, what with the President's Cup getting underway. And I'm sure we'd have some fun letting John ask Haney for swing advice (after all, this is the swing doctor who tried to fix Charles Barkley's hack).

So where's the downside? Here it is: the pitch from the marketing people says the following: "Hank is appearing on behalf of Charles Schwab, and would also like to talk about a few quick money saving tips for retirement".

With all due respect, if we wanted to talk to a retirement expert, we wouldn't call Hank Haney.

This pitch is part of a burgeoning trend. If you don't believe me, just listen to sports-talk radio or watch the sports TV shows around Super Bowl or World Series time. You'll see and hear a parade of big names chatting about sports, but also slipping in a pitch for whoever's paying them. Car companies, insurance companies, financial planners, you name it.

We've played this game here at KCBS. And we've always felt a little uncomfortable about it. It probably reached its low point one morning when former Raider great Kenny Stabler joined us on the Madden segment, and then proceeded to deliver some of the clumsiest pitches for whatever it was he was selling (I honestly can't remember). It got so bad that John Madden began poking fun at Stabler's shilling.

We may reach the point where we can't book a sports celebrity interview, because everybody's selling something. So be it.

Now, I mentioned earlier that I'm willing to consider an exception to my new rule. Here it is: if the guest is selling himself, I'm OK with that. In other words: if you're talking about your new book or TV show or charity event, you're welcome here. In that case, we're talking about you and your work, as opposed to letting you deliver a commercial message for somebody else.

Bottom line: if you want to sell something, talk to our sales department. They're fine people, and they'll happily take your money in exchange for access to our fine listeners (that's how our business works).