I Award You No Points, and May God Have Mercy on Your Soul

There have been a lot of dumb things said in the wake of Bounty-Gate, but Arizona Cardinals kicker Jay Feely may have taken the cake this week. On ESPN's First Take, Feely made the following statement in response to the audio recording of Gregg Williams' speech to the Saints Defense leading up to their playoff game with the San Francisco 49ers:

"You’re trying to excite, elevate, get your team ready. Think about a general before sending a group into battle and what he says to them. If we just see his speech we’re gonna think it’s asinine what he’s saying to his soldiers."

Leave it to a kicker... It's absurd that I even have to say this, but there is a huge difference between football and war. Football is a game. It's violent and competitive and any number of other adjectives, but at the end of the day, it is still a game. In war, you are LITERALLY trying to kill other people. Football is not, nor will it ever be, life and death. There is no comparison here. The idea that Feely would even try to make a comparison shows just how warped the mindset of some current players in the league is. 

Now, ridiculous comparison aside, Feely's first sentence makes sense. Coaches are going to say some things that shouldn't be taken literally in order to fire their teams up. And I get that. The issue with what Gregg Williams said is that it went way past the rah-rah fire' em up rhetoric that I can only assume spans every locker room in just about every level of football. You can't talk about taking out guys' ACLs or delivering headshots to guys with concussions. Once you start naming names and talking about trying to inflict specific injuries, you've crossed over from motivational and inspiring to something dark and insidious.

I mean if you want your defense to play physical, what's wrong with this quote from Remember the Titans?

All right, now, I don't want them to gain another yard! You blitz... all... night! If they cross the line of scrimmage, I'm gonna take every last one of you out! You make sure they remember, forever, the night they played the Titans!

Inspiring, right? How do we get from that to this?

We need to decide whether [Michael] Crabtree wants to be a fake-ass prima donna, or he wants to be a tough guy. We need to find out. He becomes human when we f------ take out that outside ACL.

And where does it stop? If we say that this is ok because it's the culture of the game, where do we draw the line? I mean do you really want to instruct 10 and 12 year olds playing pee-wees that the key to winning is taking out the opponents' knees. Or to keep hitting the other kids after the whistle? Kids emulate what they see from the pros and if this stuff goes unpunished, it sets a horrible precedent. Gregg Williams may not be the only offender in the league, but I think it's important for Roger Goodell to stand pat on his indefinite suspension. There's no place in football for that type of coach and that message needs to be heard loud and clear throughout the league.

Herculez: Half Man. Half God. All Power.

Photo Credit: skysports.com

It shouldn't even come as a surprise any more, but Herculez Gomez continued his 2012 goal scoring rampage tonight against Toronto FC in the semifinals of the CONCACAF Champions League. Gomez netted a pair of first half goals and added and assist in the second half of Santos's 6-2 win giving him 11 goals in his last 8 games.

2/26/12 @ Guadalajara - 1 goal
3/03/12 vs San Luis - 1 goal
3/07/12 @ Seattle Sounders - 1 goal
3/10/12 vs Puebla - 2 goals, 1 assist
3/14/12 vs Seattle Sounders - 2 goals
3/24/12 vs Querétaro - 1 goal
3/28/12 @ Toronto FC - 1 goal
4/04/12 vs Toronto FC - 2 goals

With Edson Buddle struggling with the Galaxy, Juan Agudelo sidelined with a knee injury and Teal Bunbury coming off an awful stretch during Olympic Qualifying, it's time for Gomez to get another look. Hopefully Jurgen Klinsmann agrees.

Lebanese Basketball Player Scores 113 Points in a Game

Photo Credit: inflexwetrust.com

Wilt Chamberlain has some company. Sort of. 27 year old guard Mohammad El Akkari scored a ridiculous 113 points yesterday for Moutahed of Tripoli in a Lebanese Division A League Final Eight game. Akkari connected on 32 of 59 3-pointers as he became the first player to score 100+ points in an official game in any league of the FIBA Asia National Federations. What made the accomplishment even more remarkable is that Akkari entered Tuesday's game averaging just 7.6 points in 23 games on the season. Akkari's coach, Ahmad Fadel, had this to say about his performance: "He puts in a lot of hard work in practice. I am not surprised." Not surprised??? Seriously? You have a guy who's the Lebanese equivalent of Jimmer Fredette and he goes out and makes 32 three-pointers and scores 113 points in a SINGLE GAME and you're NOT SURPRISED? Sort of makes you wonder how many points he would've had to score before it WAS surprising.

U.S. Drubs Brazil 3-0 in Kirin Cup Action

It's not often that both Abby Wambach and Alex Morgan get shutout in a U.S. victory. The two biggest weapons in the U.S. offense had combined for 21 goals and 13 assists this year heading into today, but they weren't factors in the U.S.'s 3-0 win over Brazil. Instead it was veterans Carli Lloyd and Shannon Boxx who put the U.S. ahead in the first half with both goals coming off of free kicks. Amy Rodriguez then sealed the victory adding an insurance goal late in the second half after coming on as a substitute for Morgan as the U.S. converted on yet another dangerous free kick. The win was the U.S.'s largest against Brazil since a 5-1 win back in 2004. The win puts the U.S. in great position to win the Kirin Cup as now Japan will need to deliver a similar victory over the Brazilians on Thursday in order to not lose the tiebreaker.

Tuesday Trivia

Last week's question:

What was the U.S.'s starting lineup for the 'Miracle on Ice' game versus the Soviet Union back in 1980?

Answer:

The U.S. starters for the Miracle on Ice game were:

Jim Craig (G)

Photo Credit: upinthemorninb4day.blogspot.com

Ken Morrow (D)

Photo Credit: greatesthockeylegends.com

Mike Ramsey (D)

Photo Credit: penguins-hockey-cards.com

Mark Johnson (C)

Photo Credit: blogs.thetimes-tribune.com

Rob McClanahan (LW)

Photo Credit: sabreslegends.blogspot.com

and Dave Silk (RW).

Photo Credit: curtiswalker.com

This week's question:

Photo Credit: kentuckybasketballforum.com

Kentucky won the NCAA Men's Basketball Championship last night, their first title since 1998. How many players from the '98 Kentucky team went on to play in the NBA?

Monday Mailbag

DaMarcus Beasley got on the scoresheet for his club team in Mexico the other day. Is it just me, or does this guy disappear when he turns sideways? I mean, I know soccer is a sport for guys who are in shape and like to run, but this guy looks like he hasn't eaten anything in the last few years. - Cory L., Raceland, LA

Photo Credit: zimbio.com

ESPN.com lists Beasley at 137 pounds while standing 5'8", so he's certainly not a large man. But let's face it, that's not compared to England's Peter Crouch (Stoke City) who despite standing 6'7" only weighs 156 pounds.

What are your thoughts on this whole situation with Bill Parcells and the New Orleans Saints? - The Dude, Chesapeake, VA

Photo Credit: businessinsider.com

If I'm Sean Payton, someone like Bill Parcells is exactly the kind of person that I'd want stepping in for me. There's basically three scenarios that I can see happening: 1) New Orleans promotes from within, 2) New Orleans hires a proven coach still in their prime or 3) New Orleans hires a proven coach whose coaching career is over, but could be tempted into one last hurrah (i.e. Parcells). Scenario one seems ideal because you'd have someone stepping in who already knows the system, but what happens if the Saints go 15-1 and win the Super Bowl without Payton? Suddenly you've got a cheaper option who stepped in and was just as effective. Are you going to fire or demote him after that? I think not. You've gotta ride the hot hand, right? Scenario two is the same thing. I heard Jon Gruden's name tossed around, so we'll use him as an example. Even he was interested, a guy like that isn't going to come back for one year. He's going to want a multi-year deal or some guarantee that he's not going to be unemployed after the season's over. In scenario three you can basically have you cake and eat it too. Bill Parcells is 70 years old. He's a more than competent replacement, but he's not looking to resurrect his coaching career. He's got a great relationship with Sean Payton and when his suspension is up, there's reason to believe that there could be pain-free transition back to the way things were before bounty-gate. I think it makes a lot of sense when you think about it.


Special thanks as always to everyone who wrote in this week. And remember, as the great G$ Meyer says Reading is for Winners, especially when you read Smitty's Mailbag.

Got a question for the mailbag? Click on the link at the top of the page or email us directly at smittysports.blogspot@hotmail.com.

U.S. Women Draw with Japan at Kirin Cup

The U.S. Women's Soccer Team has had a number of rivals over the years: China, Brazil, Germany, and Sweden just to name a few... But it would appear the U.S. has found a new nemesis in Japan. For the third time in the last nine months, the U.S. faced off against the Japanese and failed to emerge victorious being forced to settle for a 1-1 draw this morning at the Kirin Cup in Japan. This draw comes on the heels of a 1-0 loss at this year's Algarve Cup and the all too memorable World Cup Final that the U.S. lost in a shootout. The U.S. fell behind early in this one thanks to a goal by 27 year old defender Yukari Kinga, but Alex Morgan - as she's done all year - bailed the U.S. out with a 72nd minute left-footed strike from just outside the penalty spot. Morgan now has 12 goals in ten games for the U.S. this year to lead the team.

The U.S. now has just a day's rest before taking on Brazil in their final game of the 3-team tournament. The last time these two teams met, Abby Wambach scored her famous header in the closing seconds of extra time to force a shootout which the U.S. would go on to win knocking Brazil out of the World Cup. Brazil will then conclude the tourney by taking on Japan on Thursday.