RealClearSports: Favre's Too Old? Too Spectacular

By Art Spander
For RealClearSports.com

So do you still think Brett Favre should have retired?

Not a bad evening for the man. Too old? Too spectacular.

We worry about others more than about ourselves. We're always giving advice but rarely listening to advice. Maybe we should just shut up.

That goes for sports journalists, writers, announcers, former players. The whole lot of us virtually demanded Favre give it up. Insisted he was making a fool of himself, was embarrassing the NFL.

Favre didn't hurt anyone. If you don't include the Green Bay Packers.

He's a football player who wants to play football. Disingenuous? Flip-flopping? That's trivial stuff. The way he passed against Green Bay is not.

There's a lyric from "South Pacific,'' a show that even predates Brett Favre: "...So suppose a dame ain't bright or completely free from flaws, or as faithful as bird dog or as kind as Santa Claus. It's a waste of time to worry over things that they have not; be thankful for the things they've got.''

Be thankful for what Brett Favre still has, which is a remarkable ability to throw a football, an unfulfilled passion for competing at football.

He will be 40 before this week is finished. The term "graybeard'' is descriptive, not only a cliché reference. But he's young as springtime when he's given time in the pocket. When he can thread a ball through defenders.

The Packers didn't want him after the 2007 season, not under his terms. It was a painful separation. But once he took his leave, Favre was under no obligation to walk away from the game.

We carry images in our mind. We hated to see Joe Namath stumble when he spent that season with the Rams, winced when Johnny Unitas tried to hold on after he joined the Chargers. It's not so much what the veterans do to themselves, but what they do to us.

We want to remember the homecoming queen when she was 21, not when she was 61.

Yet Favre at 39 is as memorable as Favre at 29. A father could poke his 7-year-old Monday night, assuming the kid hadn't gone to sleep, and tell him, "You're watching history, son.'' Because Brett Favre indeed is history.

An athlete is only what he can produce, only what his body allows. It was Joe Montana, the great 49ers quarterback, the winner of four Super Bowls, who had a ready answer when someone asked why he didn't quit. "What do you have to prove?'' was what someone wanted to know from Joe.

Nothing, in effect. Except for himself, to himself.

"When I retire, I won't be coming back,'' Montana had explained. "I'm not like an accountant who can take a sabbatical. So I'm going to keep going as long as I feel like I can play and I enjoy it.''

No regrets. That's the essence. No wondering what might have been. Just do it until you no longer can do it. And then don't look back.

You know there are individuals who wanted Brett Favre to make a mess of things. Individuals who were aching to say, "I told you so.'' What are they saying now?

That despite their misgivings, their disenchantment, Brett Favre is a champion, a player who makes other players better, a player who makes teams better.

The Vikings knew all about Brett Favre. They had lost to him more than enough. They saw him as the one who could be the leader, be the winner. So far, they are correct in their assessment.

We can never be sure when an athlete is done. A change of scenery, a new outlook, a revised dedication may resuscitate a career. We're too eager to write an ending. There, it's over, so go about your business and get away from us.

A Sports Illustrated article by the wordsmith Selena Roberts questioned Tiger Woods' future. In a year when Tiger came back from knee surgery, a year when he won six tournaments but not a major, he suddenly was on the downside and probably never would catch Jack Nicklaus' record of 18 majors. What?

Tiger is only 33, and to conclude his golf had reached a plateau is wild thinking. Maybe Selena is right. Most likely she's wrong. Nicklaus himself went three years without a major and then started winning them again with great frequency.

Tiger's going to be around a long while. So is Brett Favre -- he looked brilliant against Green Bay, looked like someone who deserved to be given the chance to work his magic.

Tiger Woods didn't suddenly lose his touch. Brett Favre never may lose his touch.

The great ones need listen only to themselves.

As a reporter since 1960, Art Spander is a living treasure of sports history. A recipient of the Dick McCann Memorial Award -- given for his long and distinguished career covering professional football -- he has earned himself a spot in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. He was recently honored with the Lifetime Achievement Award by the PGA of America for 2009.

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http://www1.realclearsports.com/articles/2009/10/07/favres_too_old_too_spectacular_96495.html
© RealClearSports 2009

SF Examiner: Show us a commitment to excellence, Mr. Davis

By Art Spander
Examiner Columnist

Send us a sign, Al. Give us a word, Al. Tell us “pride and poise” still has meaning, there truly is a commitment to excellence. That the Raiders — your franchise, Al Davis — is more than a punch line from Keith Olbermann.

Tell us you’re still in control, Al, that you’re distressed with the way the Raiders have played, embarrassed by what’s happened with your head coach, frustrated by the performance of your quarterback.

You’re a Hall of Famer, Al. You were responsible for the Raiders becoming champions, and responsible for the merger of the AFL and NFL — at least in part.

You saved the career of Jim Plunkett, extended the career of George Blanda. Your team won a Super Bowl years before the 49ers did.

Now the Raiders are a joke. Literally. Now, alluding to the contretemps up in Napa and the rout by Houston, Keith Olbermann goes on NBC and cracks, “Coach Tom Cable wouldn’t be blamed for thinking prison might be a good option.”

The Raiders have fallen into a black hole. Will they ever be extricated? If they couldn’t beat the Texans, how can they beat the New York Giants or Philadelphia Eagles? Or anyone?

What do you think of people taking shots at your team? Of your ex-QB Rich Gannon saying current QB JaMarcus Russell doesn’t have a clue? Of your almost backup QB, Jeff Garcia, trashing Russell and others with whom Jeff spent training camp?

Do you have the wrong personnel? The wrong philosophy? Is the style that worked so well in the 1970s and ’80s outdated? Or have the seasons of losing had such a negative effect that it doesn’t matter who the players are or what the system is?

JaMarcus keeps throwing balls over people’s heads and says, “I guess I must play better.” Darren McFadden gets injured. And then Tom Cable is investigated because of an alleged attack on one of his assistant coaches. Can it get any worse?

What’s going on in the executive suite? Are you irate? Are you resigned? Do you wonder what happened to the Mad Stork and John Vella? Do you wonder what happened to the good old days?

Wasn’t this the season everything would get better? The season JaMarcus matured? The defensive line would shut down the run? That you had answers to most of the questions?

You used to kid that the pro football draft was a kind of sporting socialism, that it helped the poor while penalizing the strong, and since the Raiders were among the strong it never was to their benefit. Now you’re among the downtrodden, always selecting high, as high as the very first pick when you took JaMarcus, yet it still hasn’t helped.

Will anything help? You’ve had five coaches in seven seasons. You’ve had 25 wins in seven seasons. The Raiders used to win 25 games in two seasons. The Raiders used to win division titles. The Raiders used to win respect.

Remember when people feared the Raiders, Al? Now they dismiss them with a sneer, with an off-handed remark by Keith Olbermann. Did it burn? Tell us, Al.

And then tell us when the agony is going to end. If it ever is going to end.

Art Spander has been covering Bay Area sports since 1965 and also writes on www.artspander.com and www.realclearsports.com. E-mail him at typoes@aol.com.

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http://www.sfexaminer.com/sports/Spander-Show-us-a-commitment-to-excellence-Mr-Davis-63648622.html
Copyright 2009 SF Newspaper Company

SF Examiner: Presidents Cup: Lefty is doing everything right

By Art Spander
Special to The Examiner

SAN FRANCISCO — All that nonsense about Phil Mickelson, the rumors, the criticism, is somewhere in the past. This has been his year, even though he didn’t win as many times as that Tiger guy, even though, like Tiger, he didn’t win a major.

But Phil won many hearts and respect that may have been lacking.

We call 39-year-old Phil Mickelson “Lefty,” because he hits the ball left-handed, even though he is right-handed, which goes against the old golfing concepts.

In the past, natural lefties — Ben Hogan, Johnny Miller for a start — played right-handed because left-handed clubs were hard to come by and because there was a wives tale a left-handed golfer was at a disadvantage. Until Mickelson and Mike Weir, the only lefty to win a major was Bob Charles in the 1963 British Open.

When Mickelson was a tot, he mirrored his father’s right-handed swing and never changed. Now after 37 PGA Tour victories, including two Masters and a PGA, why would Mickelson ever switch? What has changed is others’ viewpoint toward Phil.

There was an absurd article in GQ magazine three years ago that Mickelson was among the 10 most hated athletes. By whom? Not the public.

If you heard tough, sarcastic New Yorkers cheering for him at Bethpage during the U.S. Open, you’d understand how much Mickelson is admired.

As we know, both his wife, Amy, and mother, Mary, underwent treatment for breast cancer during the summer. Phil skipped the British Open, returned for the PGA and all the while kept the faith. Then eight days ago, he won the Tour Championship and he posed for a photo next to Tiger Woods, who took the overall FedEx Cup.

Both will be on the American side in The Presidents Cup this weekend at Harding Park, Mickelson and the International team’s Vijay Singh the only golfers to play in the previous seven Cups. For Phil, it will be a 15th straight year of competing in either the Ryder Cup or Presidents Cup.

Phil was Tiger Woods before there was Tiger Woods, on magazine covers, winning a pro tournament as a collegian — not even Tiger did that — but once Woods arrived, Mickelson seemed to be chasing a ghost.

No matter what he did, it wasn’t what people thought he should do — especially since he was 0-for-48 before winning a major — or what Tiger did. And when Woods and Mickelson were paired in the ’04 Ryder Cup, Phil was blamed for the twosome’s failings.

Now we’re past that. We’re past Phil’s 0-5-0 mark at the 2003 Presidents Cup. Now Phil ranks No. 2 in the world. Lefty is all right.

 

Singh’s issues with putting resurface

He’s won 21 tournaments after the age of 40, more than anyone, including Sam Snead. And his former caddy Paul Tesori, who has a major role in the brief history of The Presidents Cup once predicted Vijay Singh would be competitive into his mid 50s.

But Singh is 46 and, with only three top 10 finishes this year, the best of those a sixth at the Crowne Plaza Invitational, he appears to be losing ground. The putting problems he overcame to win three majors have returned.

A contender halfway through the PGA Championship in August, Singh shot 75 the third day, missing several short putts.

Vijay, from Fiji but a longtime resident of Florida, has played for the Internationals all seven previous Presidents Cups, been in more matches than anyone and has an overall record of 14-15-6.

But Vijay is best remembered for an incident in the 2000 Cup.

Tesori, a good enough player to have earned a Tour card in 1996, was caddying for Singh.

For a match with Vijay and Ernie Els against Tiger Woods and former Stanford teammate Notah Begay, Tesori wore a hat on which he had written “Tiger Who.” Woods and Begay won, 1 up.

After 2007, Singh dropped Tesori. It’s doubtful Tesori will put “Vijay Who” on his cap.

 

On target

Course superintendents, like umpires, seemingly are only noticed when things go wrong. Nine of Harding’s greens were burned when too much fertilizer was applied in the beginning of August and word was the course would not be ready. “It has been blown out of proportion,” said Wayne Kappelman, Harding’s superintendent. “It was repaired within a week, and all 18 greens are in great shape. The course is where it should be.”

 

Newsmakers

Adam Scott
A year ago, the Australian was No. 3 in the world rankings. Then, after months of injuries and other woes, he was No. 53 
and figured he had no chance of making the International team. But Greg Norman — also an Aussie — made Scott one of his two captain’s picks, saying, “At the end of the day he’s got the playing skills ... what he can bring to the locker room, he was a logical choice.”

Tiger Woods
The world’s top-ranked golfer had an uphill 15-foot putt, with darkness settling in, to stay in the match during a unique sudden-death playoff for the trophy against homeboy Ernie Els at the end of the ’03 Cup in South Africa. “If you missed,” Woods said, “you let your teammates down, your captain down, all the wives and girlfriends. It was one of the most nerve-wracking moments of my life.” He made the putt. Then it was agreed the U.S. and International teams would share the trophy.

 

Hole to watch

No. 15, 468 yards, par 4 
This played as the closing hole in the 2005 World Golf Championship and is normally the 18th when the course is used for public play. The tee shot must carry Lake Merced and a stand of tall trees, yet anything to the right is likely to find two large, fairway bunkers. Once in the fairway, the approach is to a green that is pitched subtly from back to front. Anything short could spin back toward the fairway.

 

Sports by numbers

14-15-6 Vijay Singh’s career Presidents Cup record
13-11-1 Tiger Woods’ career Presidents Cup record

 
5 Total players who will be competing in their first Presidents Cup

 

Schedule of events

TUESDAY
8 a.m. — Gates open to public for practice rounds

WEDNESDAY
8 a.m. — Gates open to public for practice rounds
4 p.m. — Opening ceremonies

THURSDAY
9 a.m. — Gates open to public
11:30 a.m. — Foursome matches
TV — Golf Channel

FRIDAY
9 a.m. — Gates open to public
11:55 a.m. — Four-ball matches
TV — Golf Channel

SATURDAY
6:30 a.m. — Gates open to public
7:30 a.m. — Foursome matches 
12:05 p.m. — Four-ball matches
TV — NBC (KNTV, Ch. 11)

SUNDAY
7:30 a.m. — Gates open to public
9:25 a.m. — Singles matches
TBD— Closing ceremonies (30 minutes after play ends)
TV — NBC (KNTV, Ch. 11)

Art Spander has been covering Bay Area sports since 1965 and also writes on www.artspander.com and www.realclearsports.com. E-mail him at typoes@aol.com.

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http://www.sfexaminer.com/sports/Presidents-Cup-Lefty-is-doing-everything-right-63507997.html
Copyright 2009 SF Newspaper Company 

[ArtSpander.com Exclusive] Singletary’s caution being swept away in excitement

SAN FRANCISCO -- The head coach is acting like a head coach, wary, cautious. Do not get too excited, Mike Singletary is saying in so many words. It’s like telling a rooster not to crow at a sunrise. We’re not listening.

We’re watching, watching as the San Francisco 49ers return to the past; watching as linebacker Patrick Willis plays the way Mike Singletary once played; watching as the NFC West is turned upside down and the Niners turn into a team that, even if it can’t do it all, does enough.

Do not get too excited. That’s always the mantra of coaches. The team must get better, must work harder. Look at how the Niners started on Sunday against the dreadful St. Louis Rams. They were “fortunate’’ to get a first half touchdown.

But look at how the Niners finished, with a 35-0 victory -- their first shutout since the end of the 2001 season, 119 games.

But look at how the Niners finished, with a 3-1 record in the first quarter of the season, a victory over every other team in the NFC West.

But look at how the Niners finished, with a belief that even when they are less than perfect, even when All-Pro running back Frank Gore is missing because of an injury, even when they only have 228 yards in total offense, they can be successful.

Not in seven seasons, 2002, the last time they were in the playoffs, have the Niners been 3-1. Not in a long while have the Niners had a linebacker such as Willis, who in the fourth game of his third year had five tackles, three assists, two and a half sacks and a 23-yard interception return for a touchdown.

“Wow,’’ was the response from Singletary, a Hall of Famer, about Willis. “Wow is the only thing I can say, because he has so much talent. He just has to put his talent and knowledge together, and that’s where he is going to take it to the next level.’’

The 49ers already have reached the next level. Not the level of the Steelers and Patriots and Colts, but to a position they haven’t been in for seven seasons, where performance equals dreams, where respectability replaces regret.

Not because they defeated a Rams team that has been blanked in two of its four games, a Rams team that has scored only 24 points in four games. But because even when the Niners had their problems on offense, they were excellent on defense.

They were efficient, a term the late Bill Walsh used when he was pleased with a result.

Singletary is in his first year as full-time coach, having been elevated from the interim status given last season when he replaced Mike Nolan. There are no one-liners from Singletary, no routines. Just the simple, understated concept of hitting your opponent harder than he hits you.

“We don’t want any team coming in here and setting the tempo,’’ Singletary said when asked about his advice at halftime to a Niner team that led only 7-0, and only because the Rams fumbled a punt in the end zone.

“We want to set the tempo. We were not doing that. I had to remind ourselves this is our house.’’

Willis is their gem. So often we hear about high draft picks who are busts. Willis, to the contrary, has met all the expectations and met a great number of running backs head-on.

Someone wondered of Singletary, who some two decades ago was the middle of the champion Chicago Bears defense, if he ever had a game with the statistics Willis compiled against the Rams.

“Not an interception returned for a touchdown,’’ said the coach. “Those didn’t come very often, hands like rocks.’’

Those who a month ago suggested the Niners, without a winning season since ’02, would be atop the NFC West after the first month would have been judged to have rocks in their heads. Yet that is what has happened.

“That is our goal,’’ said Singletary, “to win the division. But that is not our goal. When you look at NFC West, a lot of people think it’s a weak division, but I don’t think that’s the case. We want to be one of the best teams in the NFL. But as we go forward, the most important thing right now is to win the division.’’

To do that, Gore, with a bad foot, must return soon. To do that, quarterback Shaun Hill must not get sacked four times. To do that, Patrick Willis and others on the defense, Manny Lawson, Takeo Spikes, must play as they did Sunday, limiting the Rams to 82 yards passing and 95 rushing.

“I think,’’ said Singletary, “our defense right now, we’re making plays. We’re headed in the right direction, but I want to make sure our guys understand we still need to improve. Did they do a good job? Yes, they did. Can we get much better? Absolutely.

“It’s a good sign we can generate points somewhere else, but at the same time, you say, ‘OK. Once our offense gets set, we’re really going to make some strides. ’’’

The excitement is building. Be careful Mike Singletary doesn’t find out.

L.A. Daily News: USC serves notice they aren't done in Pac-10 yet

By Art Spander
Special to the Daily News

BERKELEY — There's your answer: USC. Next question.

This wasn't a game, it was a reminder. When the Trojans put their minds to it, they also put an end to it. They certainly put an end to any thought Cal is in their league, figuratively that is.

Even if the Golden Bears are in the Pac-10. they no longer are in the Pac-10 race, not after the way USC crushed them 30-3.

Not the way USC crushed any hopes that the Trojans would be less than expected this season, even with the annual upset to a lesser light, this one to Washington.

That was an aberration. That was tradition. That was not an indication.

But this romp over Cal on a cool windy Saturday evening in front of a sellout crowd of 71,799 at Memorial Stadium was more than an indication. Whatever was wrong with Trojans at Seattle has been corrected, in a very big way.

"The way we moved the ball around was great," said USC coach Pete Carroll after his sixth straight win over Cal. "(Freshman quarterback Matt Barkley) played football like a real football player. Matt is our guy. We' re growing game by game."

Cal, which was supposed to challenge USC for the conference title, which two weekends ago was ranked No. 6 in The Associated Press poll, is getting worse game by game.

A week ago it took a 3-0 lead in the opening minute and then was whipped 42-3 by Oregon.

Against USC, the Bears threw an interception in the end zone with a minute gone and then were shut out for the next 49 minutes, or a total of 108 minutes going back the first 60 seconds at Eugene. Cal hasn't scored a touchdown in two games.

"Our defense," Carroll said to nobody's surprise, "was tremendous."

The opening three games, Cal's Jahvid Best had rushed for 412 yards and scored eight touchdowns. He was being promoted as a genuine Heisman Trophy candidate. But he gained only 55 in 16 carries at Oregon and less than that, 49 yards in 14 attempts, against a USC defense which some thought questionable.

"We attacked the running game," Carroll said, "and when they tried to pass we had pressure from the front."

So, for the first time in his eight seasons as Cal coach, Jeff Tedford has gone winless in his first two conference games.

The Bears appeared to play scared, or at least trying to keep the score close. Trailing 20-0 with some two and a half minutes left in the half and the ball on its own 38, fourth and one, Cal punted.

The boos were comparable to those USC fans offered at the Coliseum against Washington State.

Then, when Cal attempted, and missed, a field goal from USC's 21-yard line, with seven seconds left in the half, the boos were even louder.

Expectations had become disgust.

"Give USC credit," Tedford said. "They are a great football team. Their defense is one of the best in the country. We didn't execute very well in the passing game. But we can't be one-dimensional. We have to throw the football in order to be successful.

"We were zero-dimensional today, because we couldn't run it and we couldn't throw it."

The Bears were virtually zero on the scoreboard too, with only a 29-yard field goal with 4 minutes 15 seconds remaining preventing the shutout.

Barkley, who was at Mater Dei High in Santa Ana a year ago, was efficient, completing 20 of 35 for 283 yards, one of those passes for 56 yards to fullback Stanley Havili on the first play of USC's second possession.

The Trojans had been knocked because they had the worst third-down percentage in the Pac-10, 11 of 44, but they were 6 of 15 against Cal, and started on the first series.

"Third down is a big down," agreed Barkley. "We stretched (Cal's defense), and our guys did a great job of getting open. I think the coaches have had faith in me the whole time, but they've decided to open the playbook now.

"We think we're the best team in the Pac-10. We don't worry about anybody else."

Now everybody else has to worry about USC.

As everybody has forever.

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http://www.dailynews.com/sports/ci_13481905
Copyright ©2009 Los Angeles Newspaper Group

RealClearSports: A Good Man Takes His Leave

By Art Spander
For RealClearSports.com

SAN FRANCISCO -- He came to the plate in the second inning, the beginning of the end as it were, and the fans at the San Francisco Giants' final home game of 2009, Rich Aurilia's final home game with the Giants, began to stand and cheer. And there were tears in the man's eyes.

This last season with the Giants, this 11th season of the 15 years he has been in the majors, was less than hoped for Aurilia. His bat had slowed. His average had dropped to .215. All that didn't matter to the crowd.

They were saying goodbye. They were showing class to a player who never showed anything but class.

Aurilia wasn't Barry Bonds. Aurilia isn't Albert Pujols. But he was an All-Star when he had a 203-hit season in 2001. And as the Giants' Bruce Bochy, who managed against Aurilia and managed with Aurilia, would say, even when facing teams with Bonds and Jeff Kent, "Aurilia was the guy you didn't want up there.''

Now, on this Wednesday afternoon, with the sun shining, the bay a delightful blue and autumn nowhere in sight or in mind, Aurilia, at age 38, was the guy up there, and the crowd up on its feet.

Aurilia was the reminder of the way it was, the last player remaining from the 2002 World Series team. He had left, gone, to Seattle, San Diego, Cincinnati and then, because he still was able to help and because he never complained, he had returned in 2007 to back up at shortstop, third base, first base.

"He did a great job of accepting his role,'' said Bochy, who on Wednesday put Aurilia, the one-time kid from Brooklyn, who went to Xavarian High and St. John's University,  as did the great Chris Mullin, into the starting lineup for the first time since July 17.

It was a grand gesture, appreciated by Aurilia, appreciated by the fans, and before the day was done, and the Giants had beaten the Arizona Diamondbacks, 7-3, Aurilia would get two more standing O's and a curtain call. Even though he went 0-for-4.

It was his 1,291st game with the Giants. His last home game with the Giants. And when he went to play first in the top of the ninth, he put on sunglasses so nobody would know he was crying. Then, Bochy removed him, as was proper, and then more cheers.

It was a day for nostalgia. Randy Johnson pitched the ninth inning for San Francisco -- and having reached his 46th birthday in September, who knows if he's reached the end of the line.

Aurilia is unsure of whether he'll try for another team or just retire. He wanted just one last base hit. A blooper to center in the eighth was caught. "I thought I hit it just soft enough,'' he said, "and cracked my bat enough for it to fall in there, but it was just not meant to be.''

Nor was one more chance for the postseason. The Giants were better than expected, already reaching 86 wins, after only 72 in 2008, but they weren't quite good enough to get to the playoffs.

"That's the only thing I could have wished for me,'' said Aurilia, "that we were still in the race. But it's been a great ride, and I have great memories. I'm thankful Bochy put me in there and let me have a a day like that, because it's something I'll never forget.

"That first (ovation) surprised me. I guess they had been reading the papers knowing this would be my last game here. It's been an honor to be here, an honor to wear that uniform with 'Giants' across it the majority of my career.''

He'll go home to Arizona, near the Giants' spring complex, and then sort out what's ahead. "I know I won't be back here as a player,'' he confirmed, "and that's OK. But I know I have relationships here I'll keep forever, and there could be a spot in the organization if I decide to come back.''

Asked his most powerful memories, they were less about himself than about teammates.

"A lot of them were when I was on deck,'' he explained. "I was on deck when Brian Johnson homered (in the 12th against the Dodgers) in 1997; on deck when J.T. (Snow) homered in the 2000 playoffs off (the Mets) Armando Benitez; on deck when we clinched the NLCS (in '02) to go to the World Series.

"I guess that makes me a good teammate, because all my memories that are great have nothing to do with what I've done but with us winning.''

Nothing wrong with that. Everything right with Rich Aurilia.

As a reporter since 1960, Art Spander is a living treasure of sports history. A recipient of the Dick McCann Memorial Award -- given for his long and distinguished career covering professional football -- he has earned himself a spot in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. He was recently honored with the Lifetime Achievement Award by the PGA of America for 2009.

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http://www1.realclearsports.com/articles/2009/10/02/a_good_man_takes_his_leave_96492.html
© RealClearSports 2009

SF Examiner: Presidents Cup is a different kind of fall classic

By Art Spander
Special to The Examiner

SAN FRANCISCO — This one will be our World Series since that’s not in the picture at the moment, our fall classic.

This one will be a prize for Sandy Tatum, the 89-year-old attorney who saw beauty in a run-down muni course.

This one will be a chance for us to get a different look at a city often covered by fog and hidden under political rhetoric.

This one is The Presidents Cup, the tournament where Tiger and Phil are teammates, not opponents, where Greg Norman calls the shots instead of hitting them, where, for a few days, golf grabs headlines that in October usually go to the Niners, Raiders, Cal or Stanford. 

Harding Park used to be San Francisco’s pride, a place Byron Nelson, Ben Hogan, Arnold Palmer and Jack Nicklaus all played, a place native San Franciscans Ken Venturi and Johnny Miller — both U.S. Open champions — developed their games.

Named for the 29th president, Warren Harding, who died while visiting San Francisco in 1923, the course was a beauty. Then she became ragged, unappealing.

Tatum, once president of the U.S. Golf Association, led a campaign for restoration, PGA Tour commissioner Tim Finchem saw a chance to have the game return to The City, and $16 million later the project was completed, better than anyone might imagine.

Finchem promised five events over 15 years. The first was the 2005 American Express Championship, in which Tiger Woods beat John Daly in a playoff.

The second is this eighth Presidents Cup, matching teams from the United States and the rest of the world excluding Europe, which battles America in the Ryder Cup.

Harding is out on San Francisco’s western edge, across the road from the more famous, but not necessarily more admired, Olympic Club, site of four U.S. Opens and a scheduled fifth in 2012.

During the 2005 Am Ex, when told Harding was used as a parking lot for the ’98 Open at Olympic, John Daly cracked, “They should have held the Open at Harding and parked cars at Olympic.”

Twelve men a side in The Presidents Cup, Woods, Mickelson, Steve Stricker, Kenny Perry, Stewart Cink, among those on the American team, Ernie Els, Angel Cabrera, Geoff Ogilvy and Y.E. Yang, the man who beat Tiger, on the Internationals.

The U.S. captain is Fred Couples, while Norman heads the other squad. Competition, starting Thursday, consists of 34 matches, 
11 foursomes (alternate shot), 11 four-ball (or better ball) and 12 singles.

No World Series, but world class golfers. It could be worse. It couldn’t be much better.

Els makes long, strange trip to town

A week ago, he was in Atlanta for the Tour Championship. Next week, he’ll be in San Francisco for the Presidents Cup.

This week, however, Ernie Els is in Scotland for the Albert Dunhill Championship, not exactly taking the most direct route from Point A to Point B.

“This tournament has been so dear to my dad and me over the years,” said Els of the Dunhill, where he pairs with his father in the pro-am.

“We’ve played in it many times and we’ve made the cut through to the final day in all but one of the years. It’s a great time for me — you know, to be at the Home of Golf with my dad. We don’t get to see each other as much as we’d like, and when we play golf we can really relax and enjoy it.”

Els has played in five of the seven previous Presidents Cups. In 2003, when it was played in his homeland, South Africa, Els and Tiger Woods started to face each other to break a tie, but then captains Jack Nicklaus and Gary Player agreed to share the trophy.

As far as going from the Georgia to Scotland to California, Els, who turns 40 on Oct. 17, said, “I’ll give the Heinekens a week off. I’ve got a G-5. It flies straight in. I’ll do a lot of sleeping, a lot of resting. It’s just the [8-hour] time change, that’s all.”

On target

The Americans are considered the favorites, based on recent history and world rankings. It has the current version of the “Big Three” — Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson and Steve Stricker, not only ranked Nos. 1-2-3, but winners of the last three playoff events on the PGA Tour. It has five of the top 10 players in the world, and it’s lowest-ranked player is Justin Leonard at No. 37.

Newsmakers

Harding Park
The golf course’s most picturesque hole is the par-4 18th, requiring a drive over the corner of Lake Merced. But Mike Bodney, the PGA Tour’s senior V.P. of The Presidents Cup, said statistics showed a typical match ends on the 17th hole. So, Harding was rerouted with numerous hole changes, among those the 18th becoming the 15th hole, the 10th the first, the first the 16th and ninth the 18th.

Geoff Ogilvy
If The Presidents Cup, held only seven times previously, lacks the tension of the Ryder Cup, which began in 1927, that’s understandable. America didn’t really care about the Ryder Cup until it started losing to the Great Britain-Europe teams. The Australian Ogilvy sees that as a solution for The Presidents Cup, pointing out, “It’s going to take the International team winning a few times to annoy the U.S. and get them geared up like they are in the Ryder Cup.”

Match play

A closer look The Presidents Cup is match play. Low score wins the hole. If each team has the same score, a hole is halved. As an example, should the U.S. make par on the first hole and the International team bogey, the U.S. is 1 up. If the Internationals then make bogey on the second hole and the U.S. double bogeys, the match is even. A match ends when one side is farther ahead than holes remaining.

By the numbers

606 Length of the fifth hole in yards, the longest on the course

164 Length of the 14th hole in yards, the shortest on the course

7,137 Total length of course in yards

Art Spander has been covering Bay Area sports since 1965 and also writes on www.artspander.com and www.realclearsports.com. E-mail him at typoes@aol.com.

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Copyright 2009 SF Newspaper Company

RealClearSports: With Raiders, Nothing Ever Changes

By Art Spander
For RealClearSports.com

OAKLAND -- The coach said he is to blame. "To me, this is on Tom Cable,'' explained Tom Cable. No less is it on Al Davis, the man who hired Cable. Al Davis, who repeatedly has proclaimed, "I am the Oakland Raiders.'' So maybe Al Davis is to blame.

The Raiders are a team with convoluted priorities. They can't stop the run, but management put much of its effort in stopping a former player turned critic from attending practice.

They can't get the ball into the end zone, but in the post-game locker room they can get into the face of a journalist asking a legit question.

The Raiders are 1-2 after three games. It's going to get worse. They play at Houston, but then they play the New York Giants, Philadelphia Eagles, New York Jets and San Diego Chargers. It's going to get worse, but after the last week, in a way, it couldn't get much worse.

The 23-3 loss on Sunday to Denver, in Oakland, almost was incidental. A game, a defeat. It happens.

What also happened was a Raiders assistant reportedly told the police in Napa, where the team holds camp, that Cable punched him and broke his jaw on Aug. 5.

What also happened was CBS analyst Rich Gannon, the last person to play quarterback for a Raider team with a winning record, was banned from the team facility for knocking the current quarterback, JaMarcus Russell.

What also happened was Lowell Cohn, a columnist from the Santa Rosa Press Democrat, asked Richard Seymour, the guy the Raiders obtained in a trade from New England, whether he was assessed a personal foul for pulling the hair of the Broncos' Ryan Clady. Seymour grew belligerent, and a Raider official then started arguing with Cohn.

What also happened was the Raiders were some 18,000 seats short of a sellout, so there was no local television of the game in which the Broncos gained 372 yards to Oakland's 127.

Paranoia runs deep. Stole that line from Buffalo Springfield, a rock group that was together briefly in the late 1960s. That was a time when the Raiders used to be successful, a time when Davis didn't worry about what was written or said, just about his team performing.

Al is the creator of the phrase "Just win, baby,'' which in effect proclaims, who cares what the rest of the world thinks, just get more points than the other team. These days, however, the Raiders management, if not the athletes, care about the wrong things.

Russell, the quarterback, is in his third season. He was the No. 1 overall pick in the 2007 NFL draft. He's big, strong and throws interceptions. But he was Davis' selection, so he'll remain as a starter, maybe improving, maybe not.

Presumably Cable will remain as head coach. He's also Davis' selection, installed last season when Lane Kiffin was uninstalled.

Cable is either a cockeyed optimist or delusional. "We're just around the corner from where we want to be,'' was his comment. "It's right there in front of us.''

Right there behind him is the training camp incident. According to NFL.com, defensive assistant Randy Hanson told police he was struck by Cable, and the result was the broken jaw. Hanson's attorney, John McGuinn, called it "a classic case of felony assault.''

The Raiders are a classic case of incompetence. They haven't had a winning year since 2002, when they went to the Super Bowl and Gannon was their leader. But now he's persona non grata because Rich said the team "should just blow up the building and start over.''

Gannon finally was allowed on the property, after CBS whined to the NFL, and he definitely was at the Oakland Coliseum to watch the Raiders get pummeled by the Broncos. Probably had to choke back a few giggles.

But the Raiders are no laughing matter. Since '02, six plus seasons, they've had five coaches and 25 wins, no more than five in any of the six full seasons. When Russell threw his two interceptions in the first quarter against Denver, the fans, the faithful, started booing and never stopped.

"I have to have faith in the guy,'' said Cable of Russell. "His growth has been extreme regarding his work effort. He's just not consistent. He's part of the 10 percent of the team that has to bring his level up to the 90 percent which is performing.''

Then the coach pointed out, "Everything can be fixed, and if not it has to be changed.''

With the Raiders, little's been fixed, if anything, and nothing ever changes.

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http://www1.realclearsports.com/articles/2009/09/29/with_raiders_nothing_ever_changes_96491.html

© RealClearSports 2009

SF Examiner: Another Oakland athlete turns sour

By Art Spander
Special to The Examiner

OAKLAND — “Hello, vultures.” It was Stephen Jackson, the “get-me-out-of-here” guy getting in here with a welcome to the fifth estate, which is not to be confused with the four corners.

A few weeks back, Jackson said he wanted the Warriors to trade him and, subsequently, was fined $25,000 by the league for “statements detrimental to the NBA.”

But here it was media day — pro basketball is back — and here was Jackson, drawing a crowd seemingly larger than the one Sunday at the Coliseum for the Raiders.

Richard Seymour of the Raiders draws a personal foul for tugging at an opponent’s braids, and when asked about the incident by a columnist, grows belligerent. Seymour pulled a player’s hair, but didn’t like it when someone else pulled his own chain.

Then a day later, Jackson walks into the party, to borrow a line from Carly Simon, like he was walking onto a yacht, smug, smiling and when persuaded, truthful.

He knew full well he was the Warriors’ story and after some feigned indifference — “I already answered, so don’t ask me” — spent a good half hour telling the story, long enough to break your heart or your bankbook.

What happens to these athletes in Oakland? Are they stricken with Transpontine Madness? Is it being based adjacent to Berkeley?

Is it the new parking rates, a ripoff as big as Jackson’s fine?

Why did Matt Holliday bat zilch when he was with the A’s and turn into another Stan Musial with the St. Louis Cardinals? How come Seymour gets into a Raiders uniform and then gets into an argument? And why did Jackson receive a little $27 million bump in his salary and then attempt to flee?

Jackson’s explanation is that outside of him, the Warriors aren’t very good, but he said it in more gentle prose.

“We’re not getting any better,” was his analysis, followed immediately by, “No disrespect to all the guys on the team, and I’m not saying the job couldn’t get done with them.”

Thanks, Stephen. Such reassurance. No wonder you were chosen captain.

Jackson thought he could get it done with Baron Davis, pal Al Harrington and Jason Richardson, each of whom has been traded in the Warriors’ never-ending quest for instability.

They all were on the team when the Warriors in 2006-07 made the playoffs for the first time in 13 years and the only time in 15 years. Now it’s Jackson his own self, and uncomfortably at that.

“I know I had a big part in getting this organization back to the winning attitude, if not the biggest part, and every year I lost somebody that I felt helped me with that,” Jackson said.

Jackson said he stands by his attempt to get out of town.

“Even though I made the statements I made,” he advised, “I’m going to come here and play like I didn’t make them. I’m not going to lie down for nobody, even though we’ve been taking steps backward every year.”

Almost makes you want to tear your hair out. Oh, sorry, Mr. Seymour.

Art Spander has been covering Bay Area sports since 1965 and also writes on www.artspander.com and www.realclearsports.com. E-mail him at typoes@aol.com.

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Copyright 2009 SF Newspaper Company 

[ArtSpander.com Exclusive] Raiders end a demoralizing week

OAKLAND -- Another one of those days for the Oakland Raiders, with mistakes mounting and pressure building, and a post-game confrontation. A perfect conclusion, if you will, to another one of those weeks.

Rich Gannon was in the house Sunday, working with CBS-TV, observing and commenting on a game that the Raiders’ head coach understandably called disappointing, because it was. In fact, it was worse than that. It was demoralizing.

That’s the very same Rich Gannon who threw five interceptions for the Raiders in Super Bowl XXXVII, or three more than JaMarcus Russell threw Sunday for Oakland. The very same Rich Gannon who had been banned from attending Raiders practice at the end of the week because he had knocked Russell for, well, doing what seemingly Russell can’t stop doing, missing receivers.

The Denver Broncos, however, didn’t miss a chance to take advantage of the Raiders, aka Team Chaos, winning 23-3. Yes, the game was that one-sided. For proof, consider this: Denver's total offense was 372 yards. Oakland's was 137 yards.

It’s all coming apart for the Raiders, even after three games. The battle with Gannon is indicative. Nobody likes criticism, but it is part of pro sports. You ignore it and try to improve. But the Raiders, for whom this seemed to be a season of enlightenment, are not improving. They lost a game Sunday, got routed. They lost their cool.

Richard Seymour, the guy who was supposed to help a defensive line desperately in need of help, the guy the Raiders obtained from New England a couple of weeks back in exchange for a first-round draft pick, the guy who didn’t want to report, got called for a personal foul early in the third quarter. He was caught pulling the long braids of Ryan Clady.

When columnist Lowell Cohn asked Seymour about the incident, he not only refused to answer but demanded Cohn leave the locker room, He would not, leading to a Raider official getting in Cohn’s face. What the Raiders need is for some of their defensive linemen to get in the opponents’ face. Or for Russell, the overall No. 1 pick in the 2007 NFL draft, finally to play like the overall No. 1 pick in the draft. Rather than to make Gannon look good by JaMarcus making himself look bad.

This one wasn’t on local TV. This was one had a crowd announced at 45,602. Row after row of seats in the Oakland-Alameda Coliseum, capacity 63,132, were unused. Or the booing for Russell, particular, and the Raiders in general would have been louder. And it was plenty loud.

Quarterbacks are always blamed. Long ago, Daryle Lamonica was mistreated verbally when he had a bad day for the Raiders. Across the bay, the booing of the 49ers’ John Brodie was historic. And yet, the derision for JaMarcus is notable. And unrelenting.

“I’m not really going to get into that,’’ said Russell. He had two interceptions in the first quarter. He was sacked three times. Eventually, he completed 12 of 21 for 61 yards, but only three of those completions were in the second half.

“Some plays you can’t control,’’ said Russell. “Because of a lot of coverage we had check-downs and had to stay (in the pocket) longer. Other than that I thought I did all right. The second interception, the receiver got knocked down, and I thought it could have been interference.’’

Then he made a concession that raised a question about the Raiders direction. “We didn’t show up on certain plays,’’ said JaMarcus.

The defense was on the field far too long, in part because it cannot halt the run -- the Broncos rushed for 215 yards -- and in part because Russell had the two interceptions and Darren McFadden lost a fumble. Three turnovers. And only 23 minutes and 45 seconds of possession time, compared to the 36:15 of the Broncos.

“We were not very sharp on either side of the ball,’’ Tom Cable, the Raiders’ coach, conceded. “Third down was an issue on both sides of the ball. We got outplayed, and that’s the bottom line here.’’

Cable said he hopes the booing “ticks off’’ his players, who should be no less ticked off by the result. “We have to play better,’’ said Cable. “The fans deserve better. I feel like we’ve got to keep moving forward. We’ve got to help JaMarcus be at his best.’’

The Raiders, contended Cable, in his first full season as coach, had been “making strides.’’ But in this game, all they made was a mess of things.

“We didn’t practice very well during the week,’’ he said.

They didn’t play very well on Sunday. But it would be like pulling hair to get the reasons why.

RealClearSports: Call Them the New Jersey Nyets

By Art Spander
For RealClearSports.com

Does this mean the Cold War is over? You only wish Mikhail Gorbachev still were around. He was the Soviet president who, in a misinterpreted warning to the West -- the U.S. and allies, not the division always won by the Lakers -- said, "We will bury you.''

Instead, the Russians are buying us out.

The guy considered the richest man in Russia, a label that once might have been a comedian's punch line, Mikhail D. Prokhorov is going to become the principal owner of the New Jersey Nyets, um, Nets.

Times indeed have changed. The Twitter Generation may not be aware, but the Russians, actually the U.S.S.R., of which Russia was the major part, used to be the bad guys. Now they're the wealthy guys.

A strange week over here in the United States. Jerry Jones opens this billion-dollar stadium, for which he is proverbially slapped for indulgence, and then a few days later people are enthusiastic because Prokhorov is going spend millions to take control of an NBA team.

Prokhorov's offer is being called a "rescue package'' for current Nets owner Bruce Ratner, who bought the Nets six years ago with the idea of hauling them to Brooklyn, where apropos of nothing a great many Russian émigrés have settled over the decades.

Six years ago, another Russian billionaire, Roman Abramovich, purchased the English Premier League soccer team Chelsea, which was immediately nicknamed "Chelski'' by a lot of skeptical journalists. When it comes to games with round balls and nets, money seemingly is no object to the Russians.

Nor is it a problem for Jerry Jones, a man who, despite coming across as pretentious and arrogant, still should be allowed to do what he wants with his.

Nobody stood around and took shots at Louis XIV when he was having Versailles expanded to 700 rooms. Of course, if they had, it would have been the guillotine. Why can't we be magnanimous toward Jones and his Cowboys palace?

The reaction to Prokhorov investing $200 million generally has been favorable, although there is that skeleton in the closet ... a 6-foot-9 one: Prokhorov was once a basketball forward. In January 2007 Prokhorov was arrested while on vacation at a French ski resort for supplying prostitutes to friends. He was released after several days, charges were dropped and Prokhorov said he will not do business again in France until there's an apology.

Prokhorov started out selling jeans in Moscow in the 1980s and, lo and behold, suddenly had a large stake in Norilsk Nickel, the largest producer of nickel and palladium on the globe.

In April, according to the New York Times, he was pressured by the Russian government into selling his stake just before the world financial crisis hit the Russian stock market.

He thus had something like $14.9 billion, and even after hosting his usual number of fancy parties still had a large reserve of cash and securities.

Already owner of a share of the Russian hoops team CSKA Moscow, Prokhorov said one reason for his investing in the Nets is to provide Russian basketball a financial revitalization by allowing coaches and players to attend NBA training programs.

The league already has played official games in China and Europe. Commissioner David Stern has suggested, if not predicted, the NBA will create a new conference or division of teams from cities such as Madrid and Paris. For a Russian to control a team is only another step in the process.

Consider some of the owners in big-time sports, Dan Snyder of the Redskins, Mark Cuban of the Mavericks, even Al Davis of the Raiders, individuals making waves, making enemies, making money.

To borrow from Doris Kearns Goodwin, they are a team of rivals.

What's one Russian billionaire more or less added to the blend?

It's simply that not very long ago, until the late 1980s, when Russians and Americans were involved the relationship was "them'' and "us.'' We boycotted the 1980 Moscow Olympics. They boycotted the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics.

To think a quarter-century later a Russian would be involved with a franchise playing the one game invented in the United States would have been inconceivable.

Japanese have invested in the Seattle Mariners. Conversely, Americans run Manchester United and Liverpool, two of most famous soccer teams on the globe. The Brits thought owners from the U.S. would muck up their sport. It hasn't happened.

On Prokhorov's intent, Cuban of the Mavericks, a maverick in his own right, if a very intelligent once, said, "I love the idea. It will bring a whole new perspective, and with the dollar struggling, an entrée to new financial markets.''

Money talks, no matter the language.

As a reporter since 1960, Art Spander is a living treasure of sports history. A recipient of the Dick McCann Memorial Award -- given for his long and distinguished career covering professional football -- he has earned himself a spot in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. He was recently honored with the Lifetime Achievement Award by the PGA of America for 2009.

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© RealClearSports 2009

RealClearSports: Kiffin and Meyer: One "Flu" Over the Cuckoo's Nest

By Art Spander
For RealClearSports.com

Meanwhile, in the "Who said college football was all respect and sportsmanship?'' sweepstakes, the University of Florida held six players out of practice, not so much to prove Lane Kiffin misguided but because the athletes had flu-like symptoms.

Gators coach Urban Meyer expressed concern swine flu could ravage his team. Kiffin, the Tennessee coach, reportedly asked for medical verification, while gleefully hoping the entire Florida squad will be quarantined until 2010, along with Al Davis.

About a year ago, Sept. 30, 2008, Davis dismissed Kiffin from his briefly held position of Oakland Raiders coach, setting off a chain reaction that found Tom Cable taking over at Oakland and Kiffin, after joining Tennessee, taking a lot of shots at Florida and Meyer.

The two schools finally played last Saturday, the Gators, the national champions, winning 23-13, but that was only a three-and-a-half-hour interim in the verbal game.

Meyer followed up by saying his game plan was conservative because he didn't think the Volunteers appeared to be playing for a win, and also that several Florida players already were ailing from the flu.

Never one to let an opportunity slip by without adding his ill-chosen remarks, Kiffin, when asked 48 hours later if he were worried the Gators were contagious and could have given the flu to some Tennessee players, responded, "I don't know. I guess we'll wait and after we're not excited about a performance, we'll tell you everybody was sick.''

There were no official reports on how all this was being viewed from the second floor of Raiders Central in Alameda, Calif., where Davis spends his working hours -- meaning all day, every day -- but it is presumed the mood is joyful and more than once somebody muttered, "What did you expect?''

Al, who turned 80 in July, doesn't offer public statements frequently, but he knows who's who and what's what. And you can be certain as Kiffin continues to speak out when it would be wiser to remain silent, Davis is feeling more than a touch of reassurance.

Davis fired Kiffin "for cause,'' citing everything from conflicts over personnel moves to lies to the media. "I don't think it was one thing,'' Davis said at the time. "It was a cumulative thing. I think the pattern disturbed me.''

What is happening of late to Kiffin doesn't disturb Al one tiny bit. A vindictive sort, Davis doesn't easily forgive and he never forgets. After UCLA upset Tennessee in Knoxville a couple of weekends back, stopping the Vols inside the 5-yard line, Davis was asked for a comment.

"I didn't care one way or other,'' Davis insisted, even though everyone in the free world knew he did care. "I know (UCLA coach Rick) Neuheisel. I know the other fella who's coaching the other team. I did see the similarities, though, when you get near the goal line.''

The "other fella.'' Davis wouldn't even permit himself to use Kiffin's name. Lane, however, was a trifle more magnanimous. When Tennessee was in the tunnel waiting to go onto the field at Florida's Ben Hill Griffin Stadium a photo held up by a hometown fan caught Lane's eye.

"The picture of Al Davis,'' Kiffin said, "made me laugh.''

Not much else has the last 51 weeks. Kiffin watched the press conference of his removal as Raiders coach on television. He subsequently announced he would sue Davis and Oakland to gain the money Davis is withholding under the argument that Kiffin did not fulfill the obligations of his contract.

Signed by Tennessee, Kiffin went after Florida the way Tennessee only wishes it could do on the field, insisting the Gators violated recruiting rules in trying to get a commitment from wide receiver Nu'Keese Richardson.

Then came the obligatory apology, with that wonderfully disingenuous embellishment, "My comments were not intended to offend anyone at the University of Florida.''

Which they did and which Kiffin knew they would. "I'm going to turn Florida in right here in front of you,'' boasted Kiffin to a room full of Tennessee partisans, who cheered the fact Richardson chose their school.

"I love the fact that Urban had to cheat and still didn't get him,'' was Kiffin's valedictory statement.

Surely Meyer loved the fact that after the rhetoric, Florida beat Tennessee, providing Meyer a forum for more rhetoric.

"When I saw them handing the ball off,'' the Florida coach said the day after, "I didn't feel like they were going after the win.''

The feeling among others is that Urban Meyer was going after Lane Kiffin, if in a different way than Al Davis went after him. Everybody please shake hands and come out snarling.

As a reporter since 1960, Art Spander is a living treasure of sports history. A recipient of the Dick McCann Memorial Award -- given for his long and distinguished career covering professional football -- he has earned himself a spot in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. He was recently honored with the Lifetime Achievement Award by the PGA of America for 2009.

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http://www.realclearsports.com/articles/2009/09/22/kiffin_and_meyer_one_flu_over_the_cuckoos_nest_96489.html
© RealClearSports 2009

SF Examiner: Reunion reminds fans of Niners’ glory days

By Art Spander
Special to The Examiner

SAN FRANCISCO — The talk was about what used to be.

“Those were the days,” ex-mayor Willie Brown affirmed.

The talk was about what might be again.

Eddie DeBartolo had come back to his adopted home, to be inducted into the Hall of Fame that bears the name of his father, Edward J. DeBartolo Sr.

He had come back to reminisce, to laugh and, even for a brief emotional moment, to cry.

He had come back for a reconciliation which could only mean good things for the 49ers, the team which won five Super Bowls when they were owned by Eddie, the team which talks about winning Super Bowls now that they are run by Eddie’s nephew, Jed York.

Let’s address the issue. The 49ers were champions because of Bill Walsh, a visionary who coached and managed them out of the darkness. And it was terrific to see Bill’s widow, Geri, among the many at the Sheraton Palace for the DeBartolo presentation.

But without Eddie, there’s no Walsh. Without Eddie, there are no resources. DeBartolo, Walsh and John McVay all had a hand in the success, along with Joe Montana, Ronnie Lott and so many others.

“We weren’t supposed to lose,” Steve Young said. “Eddie would say, ‘You tell me what you need to be great,’  but in return you’d better be great.”

Young, Lott and Jerry Rice offered an unintentional comedy routine during their time on stage. Rice made everyone aware of Young’s expanding bald spot. Young responded, “You wouldn’t say five words, but ever since ‘Dancing With the Stars,’ you won’t stop talking.”

Yes, John York was there. In the same room with Eddie. The new owner and his brother-in-law the old owner, two people we were told who didn’t get along, two people who had different ideas on how to run a pro football team.

But now John’s son, Jed, is in charge. And he was thanking his uncle, Eddie, for providing advice, apparently last year on when to get rid of Mike Nolan as head coach and bring in Mike Singletary. The family is together once more.

“We were always together,” said Denise DeBartolo York, John’s wife and Eddie’s sister.

She was distressed by what a certain columnist through the years had written to the contrary.

The idea, expressed more than once, by everyone from Willie Brown to Rice, is to get Eddie D into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

That may not be terribly easy, even if DeBartolo is deserving. Some voters will be hesitant because he was stripped of the Niners after illegally trying to obtain a casino license in Louisiana.

But this is a start. Just as the Yorks and DeBartolos showing unity is a start of a process to regain the Niners’ old glory.

“Eddie changed the world of sports for the better,” said Brown.

At least as far as Northern California is concerned.

Paul Anka, the singer and composer, the man who wrote “My Way” for Frank Sinatra, was a guest, bringing revised lyrics for DeBartolo, a long-time pal.

“Your football star,” sang Anka to Eddie, “you raised the bar, and did it your way.”

A way the Niners, very much in the family, would love to find once more.

Art Spander has been covering Bay Area sports since 1965 and also writes on www.artspander.com and www.realclearsports.com. E-mail him at typoes@aol.com.

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http://www.sfexaminer.com/sports/Spander-Reunion-reminds-fans-of-Niners-glory-days-60502582.html
Copyright 2009 SF Newspaper Company

(ArtSpander.com Exclusive) The 49ers are making noise

SAN FRANCISCO -- The noise is there. It’s in the roaring of a crowd beginning to believe. In the ringing of a phone in a coach’s apartment at 2 a.m. In the footsteps of a running back as he darts 79 yards for one touchdown and sprints 80 yards for another.

The noise is there, 49er noise, reverberating through Candlestick Park, making people think, making people wonder, not ending any secrets but, still in a football season too young to fully understand, not eliminating all the doubts.

“Now everybody knows we’re for real.’’ Frank Gore said it. After he ran for 207 yards, including those two breakaways. “That was a great one, man.’’

Frank Gore was a great one. A great man. He sped through the Seattle Seahawks just often enough that, with an effective defense, the San Francisco 49ers could win Sunday, 23-10.

Could prove in a game that's supposed to be an early yardstick, against the team picked to win the NFC West, that the Niners indeed are for real.

They honored the past on Sunday at the 'Stick. Brought back former owner Eddie DeBartolo to celebrate his induction into the Niner Hall of Fame, named for his late father, Edward J. DeBartolo Sr. Mixed in with nostalgia was hope.

The Niners are 2-0, duplicating their start two years ago when head coach Mike Singletary was an assistant. And while Singletary insisted "the Niners must do a better job than we did today,'' one senses a different feeling about the 2009 team than the 2007 team.

Not a Super Bowl feeling, not yet, as in the Eddie D years, but a feeling of possibility, a feeling of anticipation. This is a better team than last year, than the year before, maybe than any year since 2002 when, under Steve Mariucci, the 49ers last qualified for the playoffs.

Gore is healthy again. Gore is in shape. Gore is the offense. “They can put an eight-man front,’’ said Jimmy Raye, the Niners’ offensive coordinator. “We’re not going to shy away. What we do is run.’’

Or if you’re Frank Gore, ring up Raye from a dead sleep a week ago Sunday night in the wee small hours. The Niners had beaten Arizona in the opener, but Gore had gained only 30 yards in 22 carries.

“He was bothered by the numbers,’’ said Raye, “the times he got hit in the backfield. He was feeling bad, wanted to know if he was missing some holes. He just wanted somebody to hug, rub and lie to him.’’

Gore wanted reassurance that he hadn’t lost the skills. Other excellent backs Raye had coached -- Earl Campbell, Eric Dickerson, Curtis Martin -- also had their bad days and restless nights and needed a kind word, a reminder that even the best stumble and are not perfect.

“You have to remember (Frank) didn’t play much this summer,’’ said Raye of the exhibition games. “So he expected to jump out last week like he did this week, and when it didn’t happen, he basically just needed someone to talk to.

“I knew last Sunday night his week of preparation would be different this past week. This was more than I expected, but you can’t factor in two 80-yard plays.’’

The first, the 79-yarder, came late in the first quarter and gave San Francisco a 10-0 lead. The other was on the opening series of the second half. The Niners led 13-10 at intermission. Eleven seconds into the third quarter, they led 20-10.

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen anything like that before,’’ said Niners quarterback Shaun Hill. His job primarily is to hand off to Gore or Glen Coffee and occasionally throw passes. Short, don’t-take-a-chance-on-an-interception passes.

Hill was 19 of 26, but only for 144 yards. Nostalgia? Sorry, not with 256 yards rushing and 144 yards passing, not with the franchise of Joe Montana, Steve Young and Jerry Rice. But you utilize what’s available, and what the Niners have is one of the NFL’s leading running backs. And late-night conversationalists like Raye.

“He’s got great vision, great patience and is a great pass blocker,’’ Hill said of Gore. “The offensive line was opening big holes. It was fun to see from the back end, seeing the same thing that Frank was seeing.’’

A week earlier, Frank was seeing red. “I told (Raye) I was kind of frustrated,’’ said Gore. “I was upset that we just couldn’t get anything going, but I was happy about the win, though.

“I had been training so hard. Things just weren’t clicking for me. I got injured the end of (last) season. I told myself I would dedicate myself. Go back to training at the University of Miami. I told myself I want to be one of the top guys in this league. I ran the dunes. I did a lot of work.’’

If the work didn’t prove rewarding in the first game, it definitely did in the second. So did the commiseration with Jimmy Raye long past midnight. Call him anytime, Frank.

RealClearSports.com: Rodney Harrison Won't Shut Up about Favre

By Art Spander
For RealClearSports.com 

In a three-month period starting in late June, Rodney Harrison, the newly retired safety, described Brett Favre, the recently unretired quarterback, in terms ranging from selfish to destructive, leading us to believe Rodney may have something against Favre.

Harrison left the New England Patriots after last season and joined NBC's "Football Night in America," a program one can determine from the title is as impressed with itself as Harrison contends Favre is with himself. And we learn Harrison is with himself.

Not that egotism is a rare commodity among either athletes or entertainers.

Favre, with his departures and returns definitely has irritated people associated with the NFL, if only those in a peripheral capacity, such as journalists, fans or analysts on "Football Night in America."

But for all his faults, real or imagined, Favre was not suspended for violation of the league's drug policy, as happened two seasons ago to Harrison.

One is always suspicious when former jocks get into television or radio and start popping off. Stepping away from fields and courts, they often join the ranks of the anonymous, a difficult transition after years of fame or infamy. So they start telling it, not so much like it is but how it can be to get them a maximum of recognition.

No one is debating Harrison's skills or determination. In 15 seasons, the first nine with San Diego, he became the only player in history to total at least 30 sacks and 30 interceptions, and twice was named All-Pro. But once the career ends, what does he do to get noticed? Tear in to Brett Favre.

On June 24 he went on "The Dan Patrick Show" to say Favre was "pretty selfish.'' Now there's a revelation. Then Aug. 19, Harrison, on another talk show, "Mully & Hanley,'' implied Favre's vacillation over signing with the Vikings had tarnished Brett's legacy.

Oh yes, Harrison also explained that day, "I'm a guy that tries to avoid the spotlight and not put a lot of attention on myself.'' So then why doesn't he just stop babbling?

In the beginning of September, after Favre indeed had joined Minnesota, Harrison, on Sirius/XM, offered, "I don't think personally Brett is the answer. I think that move kind of sabotaged that locker room . . . He doesn't even come in and earn the position. He just comes in and takes over.''

Duh. That's why Minnesota, which had done more than whisper in Brett's ear, persuaded him to join the team, so he could take over. He's thrown for a zillion yards. He's been in two Super Bowls.

You think Kobe Bryant has to earn his way? Albert Pujols? David Letterman? Oprah Winfrey? Those people don't need tryouts. Neither does Brett Favre.

But a couple of days ago, Favre, and for this he should be held responsible, said the last few weeks of 2008, with the New York Jets, he played with a bicep injury the Jets concealed, never making disclosure on the weekly injury report.

The Jets' general manger Mike Tannenbaum and former coach Eric Mangini were fined a total of $125,000 for withholding details, so Patrick, who knew where to go, had another bout with Harrison, who knew what to say.

"Why bring all this stuff up now?'' wondered Harrison, which would be a legitimate question if Favre hadn't been persuaded to discuss an injury, which despite rest and treatment is still an issue.

Had it last year. Has it this year. But with two different teams.

"Everywhere he goes he craps on everybody,'' Harrison told Patrick, about Favre. "He goes to Green Bay, and he leaves them with a bunch of noise.''

This from a man who is making enough noise to blot out the sound of a 747 taking off. A bunch of noise? A few interceptions would be more accurate, but without Favre two years ago the Packers don't have the best record in the NFL and go into overtime in the NFC championship game before losing to the New York Giants.

"He goes to the Jets,'' Harrison said of Favre in 2008, "they give him a bunch of money . . . he plays bad, and he craps on them.'' Another misstated generalization. At one time the Jets had the best record in the league before slipping to 9-7. But the year before, without Favre, the Jets were 4-12.

Harrison is angry Favre was named Vikings captain after missing training camp, assuming head coach Brad Childress, the man who wanted Favre, made the call instead of having the players vote.

Enough already. Those who can, play; those who can't say a lot of stupid things about those who can. Seems like jealousy from a guy who wishes he still were in uniform.

As a reporter since 1960, Art Spander is a living treasure of sports history. A recipient of the Dick McCann Memorial Award -- given for his long and distinguished career covering professional football -- he has earned himself a spot in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. He was recently honored with the Lifetime Achievement Award by the PGA of America for 2009.

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http://www.realclearsports.com/articles/2009/09/18/rodney_harrison_wont_shut_up_about_favre_96487.html
© RealClearSports 2009

Giants were 90 feet away

By Art Spander

SAN FRANCISCO -- Ninety feet. Red Smith called the 90 feet between bases the closest man has come to perfection. But Wednesday night the Giants were not quite perfect. They were gutsy. They were exciting. But they couldn’t get the tying run home from 90 feet.

They lost to the Colorado Rockies, 4-3. They lost a game in the wild card standings to the Rockies. They could have been 1½ games behind, but now they are back 3 games. Now the playoffs are even more remote. Not impossible, but remote.

There was Eugenio Velez on third. Two outs, bottom of the ninth. A game that meant everything. The crowd chanting like a college football crowd. “Let’s go Giants.’’ Clap, clap. “Let’s go Giants.’’ AT&T rocking. For eight innings the Giants had done little -- done nothing, if you want to refer to runs.

For eight innings they had been shut out by the Rockies' Jorge De La Rosa, who owns the Giants. He had pitched six times previously against San Francisco, and the Rockies had won all six, five of those victories going to De La Rosa. And now it was the bottom of the ninth, and the Giants trailed by four runs.

But De La Rosa had been taken out for pinch hitter in the top of the inning, and Franklin Morales was pitching now for Colorado. And Freddy Sanchez singled. And Pablo Sandoval singled. And Bengie Molina singled. Then Juan Uribe came up. The 38,696 fans were standing, and one side of the park would shout “Oooh,’’ and the other “Ree-bay.’’ Again and again.

Uribe grounded to short, but Troy Tulowitzki threw the ball to right. And now it was 4-2 and Velez was put in to run for Uribe. He stole second. A runner on third, a runner on second and still nobody out.

Edgar Renteria is a clutch hitter. “He’s the guy we wanted up there,’’ said Matt Cain, who would be the losing pitcher. “But sometimes it doesn’t work out.’’ Renteria popped to second. The runners held. But when pinch hitter Randy Winn grounded to first, Eli Whiteside, running for Molina, came home and Velez moved to third. Now it was 4-3 and Nate Schierholtz was coming to bat.

“You always want to be up there in the bottom of the ninth with the winning or tying run on base,’’ said Schierholtz. Which he was. But on a 3-2 pitch from Rafael Betancourt, Schierholtz struck out. The collective groan carried out to the bay.

“I swung at a bad pitch,’’ confided Schierholtz. “I couldn’t get it done.’’

Maybe it shouldn’t have come to that. Maybe the Giants should have been in front or no less than tied by the eighth. Andres Torres opened the fourth with a double, but after Sanchez struck out, Torres was caught in a bizarre double play. Sandoval grounded to Tulowitzki. Torres was trapped off second. Not on a line drive, on a grounder. Tulowitzki tagged him then threw out Sandoval at first.

“I had a big lead,’’ said Torres. “I tried to come back. I took too much.’’

The Giants took nothing in the sixth. Schierholtz walked, and reliable Rich Aurilia dropped a pinch-hit single into center. Two on, no one out, the top of the lineup, Torres, Sanchez and Sandoval coming to bat. De La Rosa struck out each, swinging.

“We had a real opportunity,’’ said Bruce Bochy, the Giants manager. “We just missed.’’

So the Giants head to Los Angeles. As players dressed, bats nosily were being shoved into canvas bags. Suitcases and travel bags lined the entrance to the clubhouse. San Francisco hits the road, to where no one can be certain.

“We’re in a situation where we need to win ball games,’’ said Bochy. “This was a tough one.’’

A tough one but also an uplifting one. Four runs behind and then one run behind, with a man on third base, 90 feet away. “We couldn’t get a timely hit or earlier a productive out. But we fought back.’’

The crowd loved it. For eight innings, the situation seemed hopeless. Suddenly the Giants were alive and the fans were alive. When Tulowitzki tossed away that possible double play, the belief was nearly palpable. Somehow, the Giants would do it. Somehow, the baseball gods would smile on them.

They did not. The Giants got close, got 90 feet from the tie. But it might as well have been 900.

RealClearSports.com: Patriots Restored Stability to a Shaky Sporting World

By Art Spander
For RealClearSports.com

That Patriots win over the Bills on Monday night was reassuring, no matter what your rooting interests. We needed a favorite to do something, just to prove there's a reason to call them a favorite.

It had been a bad few weeks for the big guys, Tiger Woods going head-to-head the final round of a major, the PGA, with Y.E. Yang, the great nobody who became somebody, and finishing second.

Not too long after, Roger Federer, supposedly unbeatable, lost the U.S. Open final to Juan Martin del Potro, who fell flat on his back after the final point. There was some symbolism, tennis having been flipped upside down.

Upsets are supposed to be the lifeblood of sports, and society. They give us hope that anything can happen, keep us from getting bored, complacent or giving up. As kids we're preached the legend ofThe Little Engine That Could.

Hey, if a guy who by all rights should be playing basketball, the 6-foot-6, del Potro of Argentina, can drop the first set to the best tennis player in history and come back to beat him, anything's possible. Right?

Wrong. But it has the ring of authenticity.

Del Potro called his win a dream. We'll accept the proposal, but the reality is that even before his upcoming 21st birthday, he was already rated one of tennis' very best.

One of these days, the experts predicted, he was going to win a Grand Slam tournament. The day came Sunday. He wasn't dreaming.

It wasn't as if Walter Mitty, the fictional character of secret life who resided in reverie, stepped out of a cloud onto the court and stunned Mr. Federer. Del Potro had battled Roger to a fifth set in the French Open. The kid can play.

Still, as in the case of Yang v. Woods, the del Potro result was unexpected. Not impossible. Unexpected.

That's why they play the game, we've been told, because we don't know who's going to win, even though most of the time we do know.

As the late author Paul Gallico wrote, "The battle isn't always to the strong or the race to the swift, but that's the way to bet.''

A stunner is permitted now and then to keep us off-balance, but mainly sports demand a large dose of stability. We can't continually have Central Michigan upsetting Michigan State, although that was a spectacular onside kick. Or have Y.E. Yang overtaking Tiger Woods. It's too confusing.

How are judgments to be made? No less significantly, how are commercials to be made? Gillette is selling celebrity even more than it is close shaves, which is why Tiger, Federer and Derek Jeter are the chosen ones connected with the Fusion razor ads.

Sponsors want winners. Sponsors want recognition. They don't people who drop fly balls or lose five-set matches.

The New York Yankees and Pittsburgh Steelers provide a yardstick for excellence and fame, as compared at the moment to the New York Jets and Pittsburgh Pirates, although the Jets have this quarterback from Hollywood, or nearby, Mark Sanchez, who's already getting Namath-type attention.

Love the Yankees, hate the Yankees. There's not much difference as far as advertisers or television networks are concerned. The only trouble is if we ignore the Yankees, which virtually is impossible.

Because the Yankees won't allow themselves to be ignored.

Neither will the Dallas Cowboys. Or the Patriots. Or USC or Notre Dame. Or Tiger Woods or Roger Federer.

Sure we get excited about a Melanie Oudin or Kendry Morales, new faces, but it's familiar faces and familiar teams that hold our interest.

It isn't going to happen, not on our watch, but if, say, the Yankees and Red Sox, Tiger and Phil Mickelson, Serena Williams and Roger Federer all slipped into mediocrity the whole sporting scene would be a mess. We'd be clueless.

You sensed our bewilderment just when first Tiger, who never had lost a lead in a major, tumbled. And then a month later, Federer allows his streak of five straight Opens to be snatched away.

Oudin, the kid from Georgia, had "Believe'' on her shoes. But after Woods and Federer both fell on their faces, as opposed to del Potro who was on his back in celebration, we were wondering what to believe.

The Patriots provided the answer. They showed the way. They were favored, and they won, Not by much, a field goal, but they won. As they were supposed to win. Heartwarming.

As a reporter since 1960, Art Spander is a living treasure of sports history. A recipient of the Dick McCann Memorial Award -- given for his long and distinguished career covering professional football -- he has earned himself a spot in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. He was recently honored with the Lifetime Achievement Award by the PGA of America for 2009.

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http://www1.realclearsports.com/articles/2009/09/15/patriots_restored_stability_to_a_shaky_sporting_world_96485.html© RealClearSports 2009

SF Examiner: Future looks bright for Bay Area sports teams

By Art Spander
Special to The Examiner

SAN FRANCISCO — The Niners’ offensive line is in trouble. The Giants are not going to catch the Rockies. The Raiders are still the Raiders, unable to beat the Chargers. Now, that’s out of the way.

It’s the nature of our business to complain, usually for good reason. But it isn’t that bad, people. The Niners are undefeated, and who cares if it’s one game and they’ll probably lose to Seattle. They’re undefeated.

The Giants remain in the pennant race. Surely after those constant water-torture defeats on the last road trip and then the bashing by the Dodgers — wasn’t San Francisco’s strength pitching? — they don’t have a legitimate chance. But they remain in the pennant race, and it’s the middle of September.

Who knows how to approach the Raiders, who again feel they were mishandled by the unofficial Conspiracy Committee the NFL created specifically to taunt them. Oakland is better than it was, if incrementally. So accept that and, as Serena Williams says, “Move on.”

There’s always something out there to grasp, something to make us believe anything is possible. Didn’t Y.E. Yang beat Tiger Woods? Didn’t Juan Martin del Potro beat Roger Federer? Didn’t Cal beat Western Washington Central State, or whatever that poor little institution is called?

We’ve been informed the Niners are going to play ugly football this season. So be it. That billboard with Mike Singletary says, “I want winners,” not, “I want guys who are pleasing aesthetically.”

The Niners’ rhetoric is borrowed from our pal Al Davis. You know the line, “Just win, baby.” Not, “Just be artistic.” In Oakland, the problem the past six years — as in San Francisco — was not how the performance looked, but how the scoreboard looked. The Raiders are the guys who came up with the Immaculate Deception, a play that was as unattractive and effective as any ever subsequently banned by the league.

Things are turning. The Niners probably will get to .500 for the first time since 2002. That also was the last year the Raiders had a winning record, and while they’re probably not going reach that small pinnacle, they should be improved, which unquestionably the Giants are. Once again we reach back to March. It looked like a reheated version of recent seasons past, if more experienced. In spring training, the idea the Giants would be alive two weeks from the end of the season would have been cause for disbelief. Also for great rejoicing.

The great baseball axiom of what might have been will vex Giants fans through the winter if, as it appears now, the team will not make the postseason. Why not dwell on what was? And what may be?

In theory, the Giants were next year’s team. Suddenly, two months into the season they got a jump on the time schedule. They’re not as good as the Dodgers, not quite as good as the Rockies. But they’re better than most everyone predicted they would be.

What will the Niners and Raiders be? The forecasts are for mediocrity or worse. But the first weekend was encouraging. And if you need a reason to dream the impossible dream, there’s always that tennis player Juan Martin del Potro.

Art Spander has been covering Bay Area sports since 1965 and also writes on www.artspander.com and www.realclearsports.com. E-mail him at typoes@aol.com.

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http://www.sfexaminer.com/sports/Spander-Future-looks-bright-for-Bay-Area-sports-teams-59416577.html
Copyright 2009 SF Newspaper Company 

CBSSports.com: Start smiling, Argentina, your son has done the improbable

By Art Spander
The Sports Xchange/CBSSports.com    

NEW YORK -- It was the night disbelief took over center court, the night fantasy overcame logic, the night Roger Federer lost control, the night a dynasty tumbled.

There's a new champion in the U.S. Open, Juan Martin Del Potro, who's still a few days from his 21st birthday but already has come of age in tennis.

Del Potro, the 6-foot-6 guy those homeboys from a meatpacking town in Argentina have nicknamed the Tower of Tandil, indeed towers over all the improbability of sport.

In an upset that must rank among the great ones ever, the Jets beating the Colts in Super Bowl III, Buster Douglas knocking out Mike Tyson, Del Potro defeated Federer, 3-6, 7-6 (5), 4-6, 7-6 (4), 6-2, to take America's tennis title.

When Federer, the reputed finest player in history, winner of the last five U.S. Opens in succession, hit the final shot wide on Monday night, Del Potro flopped on his back as much in bewilderment as elation. He had done what nobody believed could be done.

"My dream done, it's over," Del Potro said. "When I lay on the floor, many things come to my mind. First, my family and my friends and everything. I don't know how I can explain, because it's my dream."

No explanation is needed. We learned what we needed from the longest men's final in 21 years -- 4 hours, 6 minutes -- a brilliant display of forehands and courage, embellished by the chants, "Oh-lay, oh-lay, oh-lay, ohhhhh-lay," and the cheers of 24,821 who packed Arthur Ashe Court.

Federer, winner of a record 15 Grand Slams, was supposed to make it 16, was supposed to tie Bill Tilden's 85-year-old mark of six straight U.S. titles. It was a cinch, the 28-year-old Federer against a kid who until Monday had never been in the final of a Slam.

But something went wrong. Or went right. Del Potro, a bundle of nerves, barely could get a ball over the net in the first set. This was going to be painful. And it turned out to be. For Federer.

"I thought I had him under control the first two sets," Federer said. Already this year the one they call the Swiss Master had won the French Open -- finally breaking through -- and Wimbledon. He was going to be the first in 40 years, since Rod Laver, to win three Slam tournaments in succession. Except he didn't.

"I should never have lost so many chances," he said. "It was just a pity. I think if I win the second set, I'm in a great position to come through. Unfortunately I don't win that, and that was it."

Del Potro won that, on a tiebreak. Federer sounded like most of the men who have faced him through the last five or six years, implying what might have been, talking about the should haves and could haves. That's not the language of a champion.

"It's one of those finals maybe I look back and have some regrets about," said Federer, "but you can't have them all, can't always play your best. He hung in there. In the end he was just too tough."

Federer's failing was what normally is his strength, the serve. He was successful on only 50 percent of his first serves, compared to 65 percent for Del Potro. And while Federer had 13 aces, he also had 11 double faults.

And so for the first time, someone other than Rafael Nadal, whom Del Potro knocked out in Sunday's semifinals, beat Federer in a Grand Slam final. And now, another Argentinean has won a Slam. Guillermo Vilas won four major titles in the 1970s, including the 1977 U.S. Open.

Don't cry for them, Argentina. Stand up and cheer. The soccer team may not make the World Cup, but Del Potro is atop the world of tennis.

"I thought Juan Martin played great," said a gracious Federer. "He hung in there and gave himself chances and in the end was a better man."

In the beginning, however, you wondered if he would win a set. Not until the middle of the second set did Del Potro even have a break point, and when he got the break, Federer, as usual, broke right back.

But Del Potro fought Federer and also fought himself, winning both battles.

"When I won the second set," Del Potro said, "I think if I continue playing the same way, maybe I have chance to win. But after I lost the third set, after going a break up, I start to think bad things, you know. It was so difficult to keep trying. But the crowd helped me a lot to fight until the last point. I have to say thank you to everyone for that."

Federer didn't want to thank the people who developed the electronic line decider known as Hawk-Eye. He's never liked it. And when a Del Potro shot Federer thought was out was shown on the big screen to be in, Del Potro prevented Federer was taking a two-sets-to-none lead.

Later, in another incident, when Del Potro was going to ask for another ruling -- each player has three challenges -- he delayed and then didn't request electronic verification. Federer came over to the umpire and grumbled, "The guy has two seconds [for a decision] and he takes 10."

When chair umpire Jake Garner told Federer to be quiet, Federer, out of character, yelled back, "Don't tell me to be quiet. I'm going to talk. I don't give a spit what you say." Federer didn't say spit.

Federer had won 40 straight matches in the Open since he was beaten in 2003 by David Nalbandian. He's from, yes, Argentina. They're doing something right down there.

For the last year-and-a-half, Del Potro, who entered the Open ranked No. 6 in the world, has been doing a lot right. The question was when he could win a big one. We have the answer.

"At the beginning of the match, I was so nervous," said Del Potro, who added that he couldn't sleep the previous night and couldn't eat breakfast Monday morning.

He can dine now. He took the winner's trophy and $1.85 million in prize money and bonus money. He also took the glory, at least temporarily, from Roger Federer. If it wasn't unbelievable, it certainly was remarkable.

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http://www.cbssports.com/tennis/story/12207912
© 2009 CBS Interactive. All rights reserved.

CBSSports.com: Mommy dearest: Clijsters caps amazing two-week run at U.S. Open

By Art Spander
The Sports Xchange/CBSSports.com

NEW YORK -- Mamma mia, can that young lady play tennis.

In a summer of marvelous sports stories, from Tom Watson's great run at the British Open to Derek Jeter overtaking Lou Gehrig as the Yankees' all-time hit leader to the ascent of Melanie Oudin, maybe nothing compares to that of Kim Clijsters.

Out of competition for two years to marry and give birth, Clijsters stepped from the past, an accidental tourist with an effective forehand, and won the U.S. Open.

In a match no one would have foreseen two weeks ago when this tournament began, Clijsters on Sunday night defeated teenager Caroline Wozniacki, 7-5, 6-3, then fell to the court in tearful bliss.

A tournament that's been battered by a literal storm, rain delaying the women's final 24 hours, and a figurative one, the expletive-filled tirade by Serena Williams in losing her semifinal to Clijsters, came to a poignant conclusion before 23,351 fans at Arthur Ashe Stadium.

Among those fans, in the loosest definition of the word, was Clijsters' 18-month-old daughter, Jada Elly, happily chomping on a pacifier in a nanny's lap while her mother overcame Wozniacki's offsetting moon balls.

In a sense, this also was a title defense for the 26-year-old Clijsters, the Belgian who won the championship in 2005, was unable to defend in 2006 and then retired from tennis in 2007. Or so she thought.

But after playing in a requested exhibition last spring with Tim Henman against husband and wife Andre Agassi and Steffi Graff to inaugurate the new roof at Wimbledon, Clijsters remembered the joy of the game, hustled to get into shape and returned to the women's tour -- with child and husband Brian Lynch along for the ride.

This U.S. Open was only her third tournament after the comeback -- she was able to enter on a wild card given because of her reputation by the U.S. Tennis Association. Then she wins. It's a script too unbelievable but very acceptable.

"I don't have words for this," said Clijsters, who then joked, "I'm just glad I got to come back to defend my title of 2005.

"This is so exciting for me. This was not really in our plan. I just wanted to get back into the rhythm of playing tennis. I have to thank the USTA for giving me the wild card to come back here."

Wozniacki, the first Danish woman to get to a Grand Slam final, was the No. 9 seed. She's a fashion-model blonde who enjoys the attention and plays a counter-punching game that threw off Clijsters for a while. The 19-year-old Wozniacki won four straight games in the first set.

But she was in uncharted territory. And even if Wozniacki had played and won more matches on tour in the last year while Clijsters only a few months ago was playing housewife, not tennis, Kim's experience showed. Winners never lose the skill or the drive that made them winners.

Four other mothers had previously won Grand Slams: Hazel Hotchkiss Wightman, Sarah Palfrey Cooke, Margaret Court and, in 1980, Evonne Goolagong Cawley.

"I didn't think it could happen again," said Mary Carillo, the astute TV commentator. "But it did. Amazing."

Because of the weather problems, both women's semis were held simultaneously late Saturday night. And while Clijsters was beating Serena on Ashe, Wozniacki was whipping Yanina Wickmayer next door at Louis Armstrong Stadium -- before only 500 fans.

So, before a very full house at Ashe, she thanked the crowd, in English, Danish and Polish -- her parents immigrated from Poland before she was born. Then, maybe feeling sympathetic to Wozniacki or maybe just a bit confused, USTA president Lucy Garvin introduced Wozniacki as the champion, drawing chuckles from both Wozniacki and Clijsters.

Clijsters earned $1.6 million for the victory and said, understandably, it's been a great two weeks in New York but she couldn't wait to return to the domestic life.

"It's the greatest feeling, being a mother," said Clijsters. "I just can't wait to spend the next few weeks with [Jada]. We tried to plan her nap a little later today.

"When I played my first round here two weeks ago, it meant so much to me. How warm the people were. It embarrassed me. But it helped me keep my focus. I had to keep fighting, especially the last few matches."

On the way, Clijsters, unseeded, defeated both the Williams sisters, Venus in a strange fourth-round match with a 6-0, 0-6, 6-4 score, and then Serena in an even stranger match, Serena losing because of a code violation for cursing a line judge. That was enough drama for a while.

Before she won the 2005 Open, Clijsters was known as someone who collapsed under pressure. And Sunday night she admitted to a bit of nerves during the final game.

She overcame those nerves and the two-year layoff. She's the once and current champ and arguably the mother of the year.

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http://www.cbssports.com/tennis/story/12201999
© 2009 CBS Interactive. All rights reserved.