January 2007 Archives
NO MORE MR. NICE GUY
--“They showed no class at all. Absolutely no class. And maybe that comes from their head coach.” — LaDainian Tomlinson during his post-game press conference after the San Diego Chargers lost to the New England Patriots, 24-21, on Sunday
“Did he really just say that?” Here at VIBE, we’ve heard Jay-Z and Nas, Jay-Z and Cam’Ron, even Jay-Z and Jim Jones go at each other on record for the first time and it usually attracts the same reaction around the office. Work stops getting done. Arguments get started. Somebody pulls up a list of lyrics Jay jacked from B.I.G. And the rest of the day is spent listening to two grown men fight for hip hop supremacy over computer speakers.
So I can imagine what the scene was like on Sunday afternoon in the sports department of any newspaper in the country when LaDainian “L.T.” Tomlinson took a direct shot at New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick. In case your girl nagged you to come to the dinner table early and you missed it, here’s the abridged version of the final five minutes of Sunday’s Chargers/Patriots matchup: Pats trailed all game, their quarterback Tom Brady led ‘em downfield twice on their final two possesions to tie the game and then take the lead, the Chargers missed a potential game-tying field goal and then the Patriots danced at midfield. Same old, right? Well, okay, they also mimicked Chargers linebacker Shawne Merriman and his “Lights Out” dance, which incensed NFL MVP Tomlinson, who then took out his frustrations at the post-game press conference. Got all that?
When it was all said and done, Tomlinson’s words shook the sports world. ‘Cause this wasn’t Terrell Owens bellyaching about not getting the ball more or even (gasp) Tiki Barber calling out his own coach after the game. It was L.T., one of the few poster boys for the big, bad NFL. The guy who still hands the ball off to the referee after scoring a touchdown. The guy who does interviews and sounds like one big politically-correct press release. The guy who got a stamp of approval from Jim Brown.
Some analysts blamed it on frustration, said he was speaking out because the Chargers took an L. Others pulled up film from the last Chargers/Patriots meeting, last October in Foxboro, where the Chargers destroyed the Pats, 41-17, and ended their 21-game home winning streak. And the rest flip-flopped between ignoring L.T.’s comments completely and struggling to find out why he’d comment on Belichick at all.
And then Tomlinson came out on Monday and repeated what he said, said he wouldn’t speak to Belichick if the Patriots won the Super Bowl and their staff coached the AFC (and Tomlinson) in the Pro Bowl, and then chuckled about the whole situation. And he gained a whole allegiance of new fans. Or at least one new one.
‘Cause deep down, I respect that it looks like Tomlinson is, as usual, two steps ahead of the game right now. There’s no denying he was the NFL’s best player this season. But what happens if the Chargers get back to the playoffs next year and can’t pull off a couple victories and get to the big one? Ask Peyton Manning. What happens if L.T. keeps stacking personal awards but can’t run his squad to the Super Bowl? Ask Dan Marino. And with all the parity in the NFL, what happens if the Chargers struggle to even get back to the playoffs and he’s left running for the sake of running? Ask Barry Sanders. After hearing his post-game conference, I get the feeling Tomlinson’s not worried about any of those scenarios. The league’s best player — both on and off the field — just proved he’s about more than just breaking records and tallying up stats. He’s not afraid to get angry and put the PC talk aside for the sake of winning. He may have lost this year, but he’s got a whole gang of material for his bulletin board this winter. Come next season, the rest of the NFL better be ready. And I know we're all wrapped up in the current playoff runs, but maybe, instead of asking if Peyton can beat the Pats or Rex Grossman can throw to more Bears than Saints this weekend, that’s what we should all be talking about now.
OFF TO SEE THE WIZARD
“My swag was phenomenal.” — Gilbert Arenas of the Washington Wizards after hitting a game-winning, 35-plus-foot shot against the Milwaukee Bucks on January 3
It’s taken five seasons, two teams and a whole lot of, as he puts it, extra “swag,” but Gilbert Arenas is finally the man. Nothing against “Sportsman of the Year” Dwyane Wade, NBA poster boy LeBron James or the surprisingly-matured, pass-first, score-81-later Kobe Bryant, but even before G.A. dropped 60 on the L.A. Lakers and followed it up with 54 against the Phoenix Suns, he had the NBA on lock this season.
That’s ‘cause unlike past seasons, Gilbert “Hibachi!” Arenas, the guy who showed up for the first game’s warm-ups this season in a blue boxing robe, looks like he’s having just as much fun off the court as he is on it — and NBA fans, including myself, are taking notice. When I spoke with him last November for our February issue (cheap plug: it’s on newsstands now, Ciara’s on the cover), we talked about everything from superstitions (he drives to Washington D.C.’s Verizon Center, usually in his all-black Ferrari 612 Scaglietti, at the same speed every day) to his old obsession with hoarding All-Star ballots (he used to jack ‘em from Foot Locker’s stash).
But when we talked about the possibility of him making the NBA All-Star Game this year — after narrowly making the team last season because of an injury to Jermaine O’Neal— and about potentially making the trip out to Las Vegas in February, we weren’t on the same page. “It’s gonna be nuts out there, you gonna go out every night and go VIP and everything?” I asked him. “Nah, man, I don’t really go out too much,” he said. “I might gamble a little bit but I don’t go out to the clubs and stuff.”
Which is exactly what made his 25th birthday party last Friday night an even bigger deal than what it already was. I trekked down to D.C. from New York for what was being dubbed “Arenas Express,” an invite-only event at a club called Love that Gilbert rented out for the night. I expected the crowds outside (the streets surrounding the club were all blocked off), the long line to get in (Gilbert reportedly spent upwards of $1 million for the bash), and a bunch of hagglers trying to land a Arenas-designed “black card” (modeled after American Express’s exclusive black card), but what it turned into was nothing short of a superstar-in-the-making coming-out party for Gilbert Arenas.
Arenas was all smiles on his 25th birthday.
Is Gilbert Arenas's game an artform?
“I’m glad it’s finally here,” Wizards forward Antawn Jamison joked with me. “’Cause he’s been bragging about this for months now.” And after about an hour inside the venue, it was clear that the party was worthy of Gilbert’s boasts. With everyone from the Clipse to Doug E. Fresh to several of the actors fresh off another season of The Wire to Wizards and Baltimore Ravens teammates traipsing down the red carpet, Arenas’s star was shining. By 2 AM, Sean “Diddy” Combs had come through and shouted G.A. out on stage (“You’re a man of few words,” he yelled after attempting to get Arenas to say a few words on the mic), Lil’ Wayne, Busta Rhymes, T.I., and The Game had all performed at various times, and Gilbert still hadn’t stopped smiling for longer than 10 seconds. After dropping 35 points against the L.A. Clippers earlier in the night before shutting down the city to throw his extravaganza, it all seemed surreal, the perfect way to cap 25 years of life.
Arenas and Diddy met up for the first time at the party.
But with that said and with all that Arenas has accomplished so far this season, you can’t help but to wonder what’s next for him. In more than one way (and keep in mind that VIBE is in the business of evaluating music), G.A. reminds me a little of a pre-College Dropout Kanye West — bold, brash, doing things his way and trying anything to shake the “underdog” tag. People loved Kanye’s swagger, his ability to build himself into a superstar, even before he had an album out. But we remember what happened after Kanye crafted a few hits. I’m just hoping the 30-point scoring average, the love from the music industry and Las Vegas don’t change the dude. Keep having fun, G.A. And I might just have a new favorite ballplayer.
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Extra Points:
The Gil Zero Low by adidas is (surprisingly?) the first sneaker endorsed by Arenas. They were released last month and retail for $90.
Check out the new February issue of VIBE featuring Ciara on the cover for my full interview with Gilbert Arenas where we discuss his chances of making the All-Star Team this season. And if you haven't, be sure to cast your vote for Gilbert for next month’s NBA All-Star Game here. (And feel free to throw a couple Chicago Bulls on your ballot, too.)
NOW I AIN’T SAYING SHE’S A GOLD DIGGER…
Just what the Garden State doesn’t need — another scandal.
J. Kidd and wife Joumana pose for Sports Illustrated during happier times
New Jersey Nets point guard Jason Kidd is used to running the court. But yesterday, he showed he can run to court, too. The 33-year-old floor general, who leads the team in assists and, oddly enough, rebounds this season (maybe one of the many reasons they’re five games under .500?), reportedly paid a visit to the Bergen County Courthouse to file a domestic complaint against his wife Joumana. According to the New York Post, the seven-time NBA All-Star with a 6-year, $99 million contract — who pled guilty to spousal abuse charges brought against him by his wife back in early 2001 — is bringing the complaint against the Budweiser model-turned-housewife after she allegedly showed up courtside at a recent Nets game to berate him. And the marital problems between the two may stem from Kidd’s active interest in the New York City nightlife recently.
Kidd (then with the Phoenix Suns) shortly after being arrested in 2001
No one’s talking yet and police are refusing to comment. So let the allegations and accusations begin. This is Jersey, after all…
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Extra Points:
Why hasn’t this received more press?
Are the Cleveland Cavaliers really the Eastern Conference’s only chance?
Why isn't there a standout NBA Rookie of the Year candidate this season?
A BRONCS TALE
“The saddest thing in life is wasted talent.”—Lorenzo Anello (Robert DeNiro) in 1993’s classic mobster flick, A Bronx Tale
I'm going to be honest with you and honest with myself for a second. The tagline for this blog reads, "Sports and life, in that order," but after this New Year's weekend, sports hardly seem like life and death. Then again, every now and then, a situation arises where sports and life intersect, sometimes almost too closely, and the result is numbing.
It was a huge holiday weekend—in two very different ways—for two sets of Broncos. Late Sunday afternoon, the Denver Broncos and their 24-year-old cornerback Darrent Williams were locked up at INVESCO Field at Mile High with the improving, but still less-than-stellar San Francisco 49ers in town. A win would have put Denver into the NFL’s AFC Wild Card playoff next weekend. But by the wee hours of Monday morning—following a devastating overtime loss—real tragedy struck for the team and for football fans everywhere. Williams, who had attended a New Year’s bash at a downtown Denver club to celebrate the birthday of Denver Nuggets forward Kenyon Martin, was dead—the victim of a senseless drive-by shooting.
Williams was starting to stand out within the Broncos' defensive scheme.
As news of Williams’ death spread across every outlet from Sportscenter to the local news, the Boise State University Broncos, an undefeated mid-major college squad—led by heralded running back Ian Johnson—took the field last night against college football powerhouse The University of Oklahoma in the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl at Glendale, AZ's University of Phoenix Stadium. And while they did it the hard way, the underdog took advantage of their shot at national glory—and played in one of the best college football games I’ve ever seen. Up 18 points in the third quarter, the Broncs squandered the lead with just over a minute left in the fourth quarter and let the Sooners knot the game at 28-28. On the next play from scrimmage, Boise State quarterback Jared Zabransky was intercepted for a touchdown. With seven seconds left in regulation, the Broncos converted a desperation hook-and-ladder play on fourth down and 18 to tie the game up again. And after Oklahoma opened overtime up with a one-play, 25-yard TD run by future NFL star Adrian Peterson, Boise rebounded with another fourth down touchdown and struck on a gimmicky 2-point conversion to seal the improbable win--the kind of win ESPN Classic eats off of on the regular. And after all that? “I think we deserve a shot at Ohio State and the national title,” a resilient Zabransky said. A shot that, due to the current bowl system, won’t come. Not this year, at least.
Johnson led the Broncos with 101 yards rushing on 23 carries.
Still, it’s the funny thing about sports. Two teams, coincidentally sharing a mascot and nickname, both starting off the new year together—one under some of the worst conditions imaginable and the other making an argument for the little guy, winning in improbable fashion, but still left wondering what might have been. And while it would be foolish to compare the two incidents, they've set the tone for the year. In the coming weeks, there will be controversies stemming from both. Talking heads will undoubtedly question why Williams was out partying in a reportedly "seedy" area of Denver after a loss (and, for the record, his shooting is already being accompanied by stories about the 2006 shooting of Denver Nuggets’ guard Julius Hodge and the 2003 shooting of Pittsburgh Steelers’ linebacker Joe Porter in Colorado). We’ll all wonder what could have been with Williams, a young man who was looking to change the lives of teenagers back in his hometown of Fort Worth, TX. As far as Boise, they’ll enjoy the victory, but analysts will wonder over and over why college football still doesn’t have a playoff, why an undefeated team doesn’t deserve a shot at a national championship. Sports and life may not be interchangeable, but for one span of 36 hours, a bunch of Broncos made sure we all know that they affect one another more than we might like to think. It's just a shame we're still going to be left with so many questions and so few answers.
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Extra Points:
Why isn’t anyone talking about the Florida Gators when they mention college football’s “national champions”?
The Philadelphia Eagles are not going to the Super Bowl.
Everybody glad to see the old ball back in the NBA again? (KG sure was!)
If you haven’t watched Greg Oden play ball in college yet, make some time.
