Santana's black magic contract

So the New York Mets signed Johan Santana to a seven-year, $150 million contract, and Santana became the highest-paid pitcher in history. And Santana's not even the reigning AL Cy Young winner.

What does this mean for the Indians? Obviously, it means the price just went up for C.C. Sabathia, who IS the reigning Cy Young. And this time next year, if he hasn't signed a contract in the meantime, he could be the two-time reigning Cy Young. Sabathia's not quite on Santana's level yet, but by this time next year, he may well be. But let's not forget that he absolutely tanked in the postseason in 2007. Does that mean he'll do that every year? Of course not. But it is cause for some concern.

Well, Tribe fans, it's time to face the fact that we're going to lose Carsten Charles. I'd love to keep him here, but if he's going to command something on the order of $20 million a year, AND if
it's going to be for somewhere around half-a-dozen years, you're looking at a commitment of at least $100 million to one player. The Indians simply can't afford that. They need to hold that money back to pay two or three lesser, but still very talented, players. I hated to see Manny Ramirez and Jim Thome go, but if the Indians had offered them the contracts they got in Boston and Philadelphia, they would never have had the money to sign Grady Sizemore, Travis Hafner and Victor Martinez to long-term contracts. And you're not going to tell me you wouldn't have those three players than Manny and Thome.

Assuming C.C. does go, we've got plenty of young pitching prospects ready to step up. No, Jeremy Sowers is probably never going to be another C.C. Sabathia. But what if he's another Jake Westbrook? What if Aaron Laffey turns out to be another Fausto Carmona? What if Cliff Lee becomes another ... well, Cliff Lee? What about prospects like Chuck Lofgren or Adam Miller or Matt Ginter? At least one of those guys will be at least a solid No. 3 or 4 major-league starter. It's hard to predict how pitching prospects will turn out, but the Indians have plenty of pitching talent to choose from.

What Mark Shapiro will undoubtedly do (which is what he SHOULD do) is let Sabathia play this season out, and if the Tribe should fall out of contention before the trading deadline, he'll send him to a contender for some prospects. If they stay in contention, he'll keep C.C. here until the end of the season. I'll be sorry to see him go, but not as sorry as I'd be if they busted the budget to keep him here.

Today in sports history

Thirty years ago today, at a YMCA in San Jose, California, a Caltech basketball player named Fred Newman made 88 consecutive foul shots ― blindfolded.

The ironic thing about that is that 18 years later, Caltech's basketball team would embark upon an entirely different sort of streak. The Beavers would go from 1996 until 2007 ― 207 games ― without winning a single game. And they went more than 21 years, 240 games, without winning a game in their conference. The streak was chronicled in a light-hearted romp of a documentary called "Quantum Hoops" that explored the reasons why Caltech was so bad, and the erroneous idea that there's more to life than sports. (I'm just kidding; there's definitely more to life than sports. There's also music.)

Getting back to Newman ― as incredible as his streak was, a free-throw streak by a fellow named Ted St. Martin might be more impressive. St. Martin didn't wear a blindfold for his, but on April 28, 1996, St. Martin hit 5,221 consecutive foul shots. FIVE THOUSAND TWO HUNDRED AND TWENTY-ONE. WITHOUT A MISS.

In case you're wondering, Ted St. Martin is 5'6", and he's a dairy farmer by trade.

Robert Montgomery Knight

So Northeast Ohio native Bob Knight, the chair-throwing, student-assaulting, administrator-annoying coach who happens to have won more college basketball games than anyone else in history, has decided to hang up his whistle in the middle of his eighth season at Texas Tech.

It's amazing how many fellow basketball men are falling all over themselves to praise Knight on this, the occasion of his retirement. Much classier men like Mike Krzyzewski, Rick Pitino, Digger Phelps and Dick Vitale all have overwhelmingly positive things to say about Knight. And sure, I will concede that Knight is a very smart basketball man, and he held his players to very high standards on and off the court, which was surely good for them.

But he didn't hold himself to such high standards, certainly not in his behavior. During the process of him losing his job at Indiana, he (allegedly) grabbed a student ― not a basketball player ― by the lapel, and this was after a videotape surfaced that appeared to show Knight choking a player. You'd think he'd have learned to stop assaulting students. But apparently not.

How many times have we seen the clip of him throwing a chair onto the court when he didn't like the officiating? How can you justify that? And he's at times been unbelievably verbally abusive to reporters, officials, players and others. Have you seen the clip of him chewing out a sports information director for saying he wasn't going to show up at a press conference? Has Knight never made a mistake? He has never in his life apologized for his boorish behavior. He said at a rally in Indiana that he'd like to be buried upside-down, "so my critics can kiss my a-."

Well, Bob, I'm one of your critics, and no matter which way they bury you, I can assure you I will not kiss you anywhere.

Give Bob Knight his due ― he's a winner. He won 902 college basketball games and three national titles. And he's frequently entertaining and informative when he speaks. But he's a jerk.

Today in sports history

On this date 15 years ago, Cincinnati Reds owner Margaret Underwear Schott (OK, her maiden name was Unnewehr, but you've got to admit, it's pretty close) was fined $25,000 and banned from running the team for the '93 season because of racist remarks and actions that had come to light in the previous few months. Among the allegations against Marge were:

* She called Eric Davis and Dave Parker "million-dollar n-s."
* She fired team controller Tim Sabo because he opposed her unwritten policy of not hiring blacks for the front office.
* She once said "I would never hire another n-. I'd rather have a trained monkey working for me than a n-."
* She kept an old Nazi swastika armband at her home.

In an attempt to defend herself publicly in November 1992, Schott dug herself a deeper hole. She admitted to saying "million-dollar n-s," but said it was meant in jest. Apparently in defense of having a Nazi armband, she said Hitler was initially good for Germany, and added that she couldn't understand how anyone could find the word "Jap" offensive.

Schott would go on to put her foot in her mouth several more times over the next few years, showing insensitivity when umpire John McSherry collapsed and died during the Reds' home opener in 1996, and later making more pro-Hitler comments. It's absolutely unbelievable that she didn't learn from her previous hubbub.

She sold the Reds in 1999, and died in 2004.

Manning family returns to Disney World

That was one heck of an effort by the New York Giants. Holy smokes, what a game!

Super Bowl XLII was probably one of the five best Super Bowls I've ever seen. It doesn't top XXXIV, which ended with Rams linebacker Mike Jones tackling Titans receiver Kevin Dyson one yard shy of the end zone as time expired. But it's not far off.

The play of the game: The Giants have gotten to their own 43, with 1:15 to go. They're down 14-10. It's third-and-five. The Giants have already converted on one fourth-down play on this drive, and would certainly go for it again if it came to fourth down, but they'd obviously rather it didn't come to that. Eli Manning takes the shotgun snap. The Patriots rush four guys. The blocking breaks down quickly. Adalius Thomas, coming from the left side, gets a hand on Manning, but he evades him by stepping up in the pocket. But there are two Patriots waiting for him there. Richard Seymour is on his right, trying to shed a block. Jarvis Green manages to get through his blocker, and has Manning by the collar with one hand, and has grabbed onto the back of Manning's jersey with the other. Manning looks like he's got no chance to get a throw off. But somehow, Manning fights his way out of Green's tackle attempt, meanwhile slipping past Seymour, then runs backward, takes a quick peek down field and flings it from the 33. Wide receiver David Tyree is in single-coverage at the Patriots' 24, and the throw is a little bit high. Tyree leaps into the air and gets the fingertips of both hands on the ball, with Patriots cornerback Rodney Harrison all over him, thinking he's got a shot at a game-saving interception. Tyree has two hands on it, and Harrison has one. Tyree still doesn't quite have control of the ball, but he keeps both hands on it, holding it against his helmet while Harrison tries to wrestle it away from him. As the two of them fall to the turf together, Tyree somehow gets the ball down to his chest area. Harrison is still trying to get the ball away from him after they're both prone on the ground, but Tyree has established possession, and the play is over. Giants' ball, first down, 24 yards to go for a go-ahead touchdown.

A few plays later, Manning found Plaxico Burress, his favorite big-play target, in the end zone, with just 35 seconds to go. It was just Plaxico's second catch of the evening. Tom Brady has led some great comebacks in his time, but the way the Giants' defense was going, he didn't really have a shot. He took a sack on second down, then missed on two desperation heaves, both intended for Randy Moss, both into double-coverage. And the Patriots' perfect season was suddenly quite imperfect indeed.

And Don Shula, Bob Griese, Mercury Morris and the rest of the 1972 Miami Dolphins drank some champagne. They remain the only team to run the table for an entire NFL season, counting the post-season.

Archie Manning's quarterback sons are now both Super Bowl MVPs, something he never got within a mile of. And I'm sure he couldn't be prouder.

I don't believe I heard a single word about Spygate during the Super Bowl broadcast, though I did hear it mentioned in some of the talk earlier in the day on ESPN. I don't always know why I'm rooting for a particular team to win a particular game, but I can tell you that was the primary reason I was rooting for the Patriots to lose this game. I generally root for the underdog, so there was also that. But when I see Bill Belichick's face now, I no longer think "Failed former Browns coach." I think "Cheater."

I haven't felt this good about a sporting result not directly involving one of my teams since the Diamondbacks came from behind to beat the Yankees in Game 7 of the 2001 World Series.

It's the big day

This matchup reminds me, ironically, of the matchup six years ago, when the Patriots and Rams met in Super Bowl XXXVI. The Patriots were in the opposite position then. The Rams were clear favorites, having won it all two years before in one of the most thrilling Super Bowls ever, and they were 15-3 going into the game, to the Patriots' 13-5. But the Pats were playing awfully well going in, and won a game that was about as exciting as the one two years earlier. Of course, there's now some question about whether they pulled the same scam in that game that they pulled this year. If they did film the Rams, that calls into question every game Bill Belichick has ever won in his career, including his years with the Browns. If they didn't, Belichick has no one but himself to blame for the doubt cast upon him, as he has shown himself willing to cheat for a victory.

Anyway, the gap between records is bigger with these Patriots (18-0) and the Giants (13-6), but the parallels are there nonetheless. The Pats are 12-point favorites, and to hear the talking heads on ESPN, you'd think they'd won the game already. But don't underestimate these Giants. They're playing great, and the last game they lost was by just three points — to these Patriots. Any idiot can see that the Patriots are the better team, but in an individual game, I wouldn't be that surprised if the New Yorkers pull the upset.

Speaking of the betting line, you wouldn't believe what crazy crap you can bet on in this game. You can put money on not just whether the Patriots will win today, but whether they'll win the next THREE Super Bowls. They're giving 25-1 odds on that one. You can bet on whether the coin toss will be heads or tails — and you're a complete moron if you do that, because you have to bet $105 to win $100. You can even put down some action on what will be the higher number: the Patriots' and Giants' combined punts for the game, or the number of points Eric Dampier scores for the Mavericks against the Pistons this afternoon. I swear to God, I'm not making that up. Those bookies are pretty creative.

Apparently, you can't bet on how many marriage proposals Tom Brady will field from foreign reporters during the game. Oh, well.

Today in sports history

Ten years ago today, Brian Cashman was named to the easiest, and yet most difficult, job in North American professional sports ― general manager of the New York Yankees. For a full decade now, he has been able to cover up all his mistakes by spending more of George Steinbrenner's money. But with that power comes the extreme pressure of being expected to build a World Series champion every single year. By that measure, Cashman has failed for seven years in a row, even though the Yankees have gotten to the playoffs all of those years.

Today in sports history

The greatest boxer of his day, and one of the best-known athletes of the 19th century, John L. Sullivan, died 90 years ago today at age 59.

There were no formal championships in those days, but Sullivan was the first boxer to be considered heavyweight champion of the world, after he beat fellow fighting Irishman Paddy Ryan in 1882. He was given a belt in 1887 with the inscription "Presented to the Champion of Champions, John L. Sullivan, by the Citizens of the United States."

Sullivan knocked out Jake Kilrain in round 75 (That's right: ROUND SEVENTY-FIVE) on July 8, 1889, in Richburg, Mississippi, in the last bare-knuckle heavyweight championship ever fought. Sullivan vomited in the 44th round, but recovered, and Kilrain gave up 31 rounds later. The number of rounds is a bit misleading, however, as the fight was under the London Prize Ring Rules, and not the Queensbury Rules that govern boxing today. Under the London rules, a round ended whenever one of the fighters fell or got knocked down, rather than being timed. Still, the outdoor fight lasted several hours, and it gets pretty hot in Mississippi in July.

Sullivan, a heavy drinker in his younger years, became a teetotaler and temperance advocate later in life. But it was too late to save him; he died of a liver ailment.

Sam Rutigliano

Sam Rutigliano, the coach of the "Kardiac Kids" Browns who got to the playoffs in 1980, is still kicking around the Cleveland area, and still coaching professional football at age 74 (thanks again to Jeff Brown for the link).

That 1980 Browns team might have been the best shot we've had at a title in the last 40 years in Cleveland. I can't remember which Brown said it, but one of our guys predicted, before the frigid AFC playoff game between the Browns and Raiders in January 1981, that whoever won that game would win the Super Bowl. He was right, whoever it was. Unfortunately, that team was the Raiders. That was the Red Right 88 game, and I will never forget it. I told my dad it was Don Cockroft's fault we lost that game, because he had missed two field goals and an extra point in the game. He didn't make a kick the whole game. In an odd symmetry, the score was 7-6 at halftime, and it ended 14-12. But if Brian Sipe had found a young Ozzie Newsome in the corner of the end zone (he was open), we Generation X Cleveland fans might not to this day be lamenting our lifelong professional sports championship drought.

There's a key difference between Red Right 88, on one hand, and The Drive and The Fumble, on the other. Yes, The Drive and The Fumble both happened in AFC Championship games, and Red Right 88 was in a divisional playoff. But The Drive and The Fumble were both against Denver Broncos teams that went on to get embarrassed in the ensuing Super Bowls (they lost Super Bowl XXI to Phil Simms' Giants, 39-20, in a game that wasn't as close as the final score indicated; and they lost Super Bowl XXII to Doug Williams' Redskins, 42-10). The 1980 Oakland Raiders went on to be crowned champions after blowing out Ron Jaworski's Eagles 27-10 in Super Bowl XV. Losing in dramatic fashion to a team that would go on to get trounced is one thing; losing in dramatic fashion to the eventual champions is quite another.

That was Sam Rutigliano's only playoff team in Cleveland, though he was here for six years. He never won a playoff game as an NFL coach; he never got another chance after Art Modell fired him and gave his job to his defensive coordinator, Marty Schottenheimer. He coached at Liberty University for 11 years, retiring in 1999. The last few years, he's been an assistant coach in NFL Europe, which is the closest thing the NFL has to a minor league.

Sam Rutigliano is a good man, and I wish him well. I heard him speak a few years after the Browns let him go, and I honestly can't remember what the occasion was, but my dad took me to the event. I'll have to ask my dad what that was about. But I remember it was shortly after the Browns had traded Chip Banks for the draft pick they used on Mike Junkin, and Rutigliano, answering a question from the audience, correctly predicted it would turn out to be a mistake.

Today in sports history

Happy 40th birthday, former Indian Kent Mercker.

A native of Dublin, Ohio, Mercker pitched in 10 games for the Tribe in 1996. He pitched for nine teams in his 17-year career.

Yeah, I know, I'm reaching, but I'm looking for five-year increments, and it's hard on some dates. Five years ago today was the Space Shuttle Columbia disaster, but I don't know of any tie to sports. So it's probably best if I don't even mention it.

Encouraging

As the final period dawned last night in Seattle, things appeared pretty hopeless for our boys. They were down 17, and playing without Mr. Fourth Quarter, who had sprained his ankle Wednesday in Portland. And of course, they were also without Sasha Pavlovic and Anderson Varejao; not superstars, but nice weapons to have. So that meant guys like Shannon Brown, the Jones boys and Ira Newble would have to key the comeback, along with regulars Big Z, Boobie and Hughes. It would have been easy for those guys to pack it in and save their energy for Saturday's game against the Clippers. But they didn't do that.

The Cavs outscored the Sonics 27-16 in that fourth quarter, and got within three points with 2:50 to go, after Z hit two free throws. That was as close as they'd get, as they missed shots on each of their next three trips to the offensive end, and failed to get any offensive rebounds. That's a bit disappointing, but you know, they were all good shots to take. Hughes missed an 8-foot jumper, Ilgauskas missed a short turnaround, and Damon Jones missed a three. By that point, it was near-desperation time, as our guys had failed to get any defensive stops in the meantime, and we were down nine with 1:16 to go. I think they just ran out of juice, which is understandable, considering how short-handed they were. They nevertheless managed to cut it to four after a Dwayne Jones layup, a Boobie Gibson three-pointer and a Larry Hughes lay-in. Had Boobie not been called for charging while hitting a shot with 8 seconds left, it would have been 99-97, and a quick foul on the inbounds could have kept us in it. But it was a good call; the defender clearly had his feet set, and was outside the circle.

I can't help but notice that all of this happened with Drew Gooden on the bench. In fact, three of the men who started the game wound up playing fewer than 20 minutes. Gooden and Newble each played 19, and Devin Brown, starting for LeBron, played nine. But Newble was in there in the waning seconds. Where was Gooden? He came out halfway through the third period, and never got back in. I'm not necessarily criticizing Mike Brown; Gooden's 19 minutes had been fairly uninspired, but he did put in 10 points on 3-of-8 shooting, but with just three rebounds. You'd like to see a better effort on the glass from your starting power forward. He also committed three turnovers and three fouls. This is the guy we got to make up for losing Carlos Liar, but unfortunately, he's a pretty pale imitation. He's a better man than Boozer, to be sure (not that that's saying much), but if he can't contribute in the fourth quarter of a close game with three key players hurt, I don't think the club's getting its money's worth.

Regardless, it was a good effort by our scrubs, and I'm proud of them, even though they fell short.

On a side note, the game had one of those "Did I really see that?" moments. Donyell Marshall, getting into his first game since Nov. 2 due to wrist and finger injuries, got sent in for Boobie with 2:35 left in the first quarter. He pulled off his warm-up jersey ... and his game jersey came off with it. I don't think he noticed right away; he was walking onto the floor in some sort of blue tighty underwear thing before someone pointed out to him that his number wasn't showing. He looked pretty ridiculous, and you could see he was embarrassed. But he laughed about it later.

Today in sports history

Happy 40th birthday, retired NFL quarterback Doug Pederson.

Who can forget the eight games Pederson started for the Browns in 2000, our boys' second year after expansion, after Tim Couch got hurt playing behind a practically nonexistent offensive line. Original backup Ty Detmer had been injured in the preseason and was not available. Pederson had been the starter for much of 1999 in Philadelphia, while the Eagles waited for Donovan McNabb to mature. The nine games he started in '99, added to the eight he started in '00, are the only NFL starts Pederson would ever make. And it's no wonder. For his career, he threw 12 touchdowns against 19 interceptions, and completed just 54.8 percent of his passes. The Browns went 1-7 with him under center. After he and fourth-stringer Spergon Wynn both got hurt, wide receivers Kevin Johnson and Dennis Northcutt played quarterback in the last game of the season, Chris Palmer's last game as the Browns' coach. The Browns lost 24-0 to the Tennessee Titans, in a game we Browns fans will remember for a long time.

Still, a lot of failed quarterbacks would trade places with Dougie-boy. He was on an NFL roster for 12 seasons, 1993-2004. I don't have any idea how much money he made in those 12 seasons, but I'm pretty sure it's more than I've made in my journalism career. The last four of those years, he only played in mop-up duty for Brett Favre in Green Bay, but he was also the holder on place-kicks. Six of the 12 years of his career, he didn't throw a single pass the entire year. But he could still call himself an NFL quarterback, which not many people can say.

The King reigns

With a little bit more than four minutes left in last night's game against the Portland Trail Blazers, the Cleveland Cavaliers were losing by 11, 81-70. It wasn't looking good for the defending Eastern Conference champions.

But then a heckler in the crowd on the Cavs' offensive end pissed off LeBron James.

LeBron hit a three-pointer with 4:03 to go, cutting the Portland lead to eight. After a defensive stop, Drew Gooden hit a nine-footer to cut it to six. After another defensive stop, LeBron hit another trey, and suddenly, it's 81-78. Zydrunas Ilgauskas came up big on the other end, blocking Steve Blake's five-footer, and Blake fouled Gooden going after the rebound. Playing off a pick set by Drew and Z, LeBron hit another three. And with 2:26 left, the game was tied.

Travis Outlaw responded with a long jumper to make it 83-81, and then Gooden got fouled on the other end, hitting one of two free throws with 1:39 left. Then the teams traded scoreless possessions until the Cavs finally got the ball back with 4.9 seconds left, down 83-82.

LeBron took the ball at the top of the arc, with Blazers star Brandon Roy trying to guard him.

Poor Brandon Roy. He never had a chance.

LeBron went to his right, and blew past Roy like he was standing still. The King made a couple of moves on Portland's big men, then hit a layup from the left side of the bucket. Score: 84-83, Cleveland. Time remaining: three-tenths of a second.

Fittingly, King James himself stole the Blazers' desperation inbounds pass, and the Cavs had won yet another game they had no business winning, simply because they've got the best fourth-quarter player in the NBA. LeBron scored 37 for the night, 17 of which came in the last 12 minutes.

My goodness, am I glad he plays for Cleveland.

Today in sports history

I seem to be doing this a lot, but it's this time of year that the Baseball Hall of Famers are announced, and 30 years ago today, one of the tragic figures in Tribe history got in: Addie Joss, the only Hall member who's had the 10-year career minimum waived. There's a good reason for that. He died after his ninth major-league season.

Many fans may know that the Indians were the first team to have two pitchers throw perfect games. Joss' perfecto on October 2, 1908, was one of the great clutch performances of all time. He beat fellow Hall of Famer Ed Walsh and the White Sox 1-0 in the midst of a four-team pennant race, needing just 74 pitches (!) to send 27 men back to the dugout. Walsh tossed a four-hitter himself. The Naps, as they were then known, wound up losing the pennant by half a game to Ty Cobb's Tigers, but Joss certainly did his best. He finished 24-11 with a 1.16 ERA. This was the dead-ball era, of course, but 1.16 is still pretty damned impressive, and it was good enough to lead the league.

Joss died of tubercular meningitis on April 14, 1911, just as what would have been his 10th season was starting. He was 31 years old. Had he lived 100 years later, he'd have probably spent a few days in the hospital and been ready to pitch again by mid-May. But medical science wasn't there yet. He was a well-loved man by teammates and opponents alike, and the first "all-star game" was organized that year to raise money for his family. As the great Cy Young said of Addie, "He was a great man. I feel sure he never made an enemy."

I seem to be posting a lot of sad stories lately. Sorry about that. I'll try to find something more cheerful for my next post.

Belichick's trial by fire in Cleveland

Here's an interesting look at what Bill Belichick learned from his failures in Cleveland (thanks to my good friend Jeff Brown for sending it to me). Of particular interest is the comparison between cutting our beloved Bernie Kosar and giving Tom Brady the QB job over Drew Bledsoe.

Of course, any Browns fan who's tempted to think "what if" has to remember that the franchise that gave Belichick his first coaching job is not in Cleveland now, but Baltimore. But when the new Browns came into existence in 1999, he was available. He took the New England job in 2000. I can't say I've ever come around to liking, or even really respecting, Belichick, but if he were on the cusp of winning his fourth Super Bowl for Cleveland, how would we feel about him? Let's be honest, we'd be ready to build a solid-gold statue of him and put it in Moses Cleaveland's place on Public Square.

Today in sports history

On this date 20 years ago, the "Bad Boys" of Detroit beat the smug boys of Boston 125-108 before an NBA-record 61,938 fans in the Pontiac Silverdome, a few months before the Pistons' current home, the Palace of Auburn Hills, opened. Larry Bird led all scorers with 25 points, and Adrian Dantley led the Pistons with 22.

The match-up was between two of the NBA's elite teams, but they were going in opposite directions. Both teams would go on to win division titles that year, in the days when each conference had just two divisions. They would go on to meet in the Eastern Conference finals, which Detroit won four games to two, putting an end to the Bird-McHale-Parrish Celtics dynasty.

Boston had won its last (to date) NBA title in 1986, then lost to the Lakers in the Finals in '87. In '89, they finished 42-40; Bird played just six games that year due to injury, and though he would play three more years after that, the Celtics didn't so much as reach the conference finals in that time. His career ended with an Eastern Conference semifinals loss to our Cavaliers in 1992. His last game was played at the Richfield Coliseum, a contest the Cavs won 122-104 to take the series four games to three. I remember seeing someone holding a sign at that game that said "Larry Legend: Nance, that is."

Back to 1988, the Pistons would go on to lose the NBA Finals to the "Showtime" Lakers, but they'd get a rematch in '89, and Detroit took home the trophy that time. They successfully defended their title in '90 against the Portland Trail Blazers, before being dethroned in '91 by Michael and Scottie's Bulls.

Oh, Romeo

The Browns are negotiating with Romeo Crennel on a two-year contract extension, which would mean that he, Eric Wedge and Mike Brown will have all gotten two-year extensions in rapid succession. The extension is reportedly going to be worth about $4 million a year, which is just further proof that I took the wrong career path.

Crennel got the Brownies turned around this year, his third with the club. They missed the playoffs, but as I covered a few days ago, they deserved to get in more than the Titans did. But let's not forget that Romeo's three-year record is still 20-28. I'm glad he's here, and I look forward to seeing how we do next year with him calling the shots, but I don't think he's the second coming of Paul Brown.

Next year will probably depend more on signing Derek Anderson and Jamal Lewis than it will on anything the coaching staff might do. Don't get me wrong — the much-improved offensive line has a lot to do with it too. And Brady Quinn just might be the budding superstar many people think he might be. But an offense needs playmakers, and these guys showed in '07 that they're playmakers.

Today in sports history

Fifty years ago today, a car crash tragically paralyzed Hall of Fame catcher Roy Campanella, ending his baseball career at age 36. With intense physical therapy, he eventually regained the use of his arms and hands, but he never walked again. However, there's a silver lining to this story, as you will learn in a few moments, if you'll be kind enough to bear with me.

Campanella's career was cut short on both ends. He didn't get his first shot until age 26, in 1948, because of the color of his skin. But he was comparatively lucky in that regard; if he'd been 10 years older (as fellow black catcher Josh Gibson was), he might never have gotten his shot (as Gibson didn't). But he became the Brooklyn Dodgers' second black player, after Jackie Robinson. Given that he was playing in the Negro Leagues at age 15, it seems likely that Campy would have reached the majors several years earlier, had it not been for the poisonous and euphemistically named "gentleman's agreement" that barred black players from the majors.

On a side note, 2008 will mark the 62nd major-league season since Robinson broke the color barrier in 1947. Before that, the last black players to play major-league games were Moses Fleetwood Walker and his brother Welday Walker, who played catcher and outfield, respectively, for the now-defunct Toledo Blue Stockings of the now-defunct American Association in 1884 before racist pressure from the other teams' owners forced Toledo to drop them from the team. So the majors still haven't been integrated as long as they were segregated. What a dirty shame. I've often been bothered by the extent to which race is still an issue in American politics, but when you consider where we came from, it's hardly surprising.

So anyway, Campanella played 10 years for the Dodgers. They were moving to Los Angeles in 1958, so he'd have had to pack up and move out there. He was running a liquor store in Harlem, and was on his way home to Long Island from said store on January 28, 1958, when his car hit an icy patch, skidded into a telephone pole and overturned.

The Dodgers retained Campanella as a spring training instructor for the young catchers in the organization, and in 1959, he wrote (with a ghost writer) the inspirational "It's Good to Be Alive." The book chronicles his recovery from the crash that nearly took his life, and expresses his refusal to succumb to self-pity. I admit I've never read it, but I'd like to. Michael Landon, of "Little House" and "Highway to Heaven" fame, made his directorial debut in a TV-movie version of the book, in which Paul Winfield played Campy.

Roy Campanella died of a heart attack in 1993. He'd been named to the Hall of Fame in 1969 (he was first eligible in 1963; why it took the voters so long is beyond me), and the Dodgers retired his number 39 in 1972. He was posthumously named the 50th best player of all time by the Sporting News in 1999, and in 2006, the Dodgers created the Roy Campanella Award, given to the Dodger who best exemplifies his spirit and leadership. That same year, he was featured on a U.S. postage stamp, along with Mickey Mantle, Hank Greenberg and Mel Ott.

Fumbles at the Forum, er, Staples Center

That was a satisfying win over the Lakers, despite the comedy of errors in the closing seconds. For those who missed it, after L.A.'s Ronny Turiaf hit a layup with 13 seconds left to put the Lakers within 96-95, Larry Hughes took the ball on the end line to try to inbound it to someone who could hit foul shots. Boobie Gibson's good at that, so he figured he'd get it to Boobie. But Boobie, trying to make a move that would let him elude Kobe Bryant just enough to get the ball, slipped and fell, and barely got a hand on the ball. Luke Walton picked it up and tossed it to Kobe under the hoop. With the other three Cavs down the floor, Kobe had only Hughes to beat for a layup, but Larry managed to get a hand on it. It went off the rim and bounced back to Bryant, who knocked bodies with Boobie and fell down himself. Hughes picked it up and got a quick time-out, after which LeBron got the ball and hit his free throws with nine seconds left. Bryant and Walton tossed the ball back and forth to each other for nine seconds, neither able to get off a three without a hand in his face. Walton probably should have taken the shot; he got the ball with about two seconds left, and LeBron scrambling over to him. It wouldn't have been wide open, but he's got to take that shot. Instead, he wussed and sent it back to Kobe, but it was too late for him to get a shot off. He did throw up a prayer after the buzzer went off, but it didn't go in anyway.

Of course, this win was not without its price. Anderson Varejao hurt his ankle in the third quarter. X-rays were negative, but he's got an MRI scheduled. We'll see how that turns out. Maybe he won't be out long. Fingers crossed. When Z fouled out with about four minutes left, it sure would have been nice to have Andy come in for him.

How about that rain delay in the first quarter? It looked like the roof was leaking, but it turned out that some roofers had left their soaking-wet clothes on a catwalk over the court, and that's where the water was coming from. I guess that's what happens when you make roofers work on a Sunday.

Partners on the ice ...

I don't often watch figure skating, but I couldn't help but take note of John Baldwin Jr.'s proposal to his skating partner, Rena Inoue, yesterday at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships in St. Paul, Minnesota. Baldwin and Inoue skated through their routine, then bowed to the opposite sides of the crowd, and then Inoue turned to see Baldwin on his knee. Neither one of them were miked, but you could see that Baldwin was saying something to Inoue, and she couldn't quite hear him over the din. He repeated himself, and you could see her nodding "yes," and then they kissed. The ice melted beneath them, just a little.

Bob Costas had a nice line: "This is something new for me. In all the sports I usually cover, the only proposal I can recall hearing was that they eliminate the designated hitter."

Whenever I see a public proposal like that, I can't help but think, what if she doesn't want to marry him? Does she break his heart on national television? Does she say yes just to avoid embarrassing him, and then give him the bad news later? Does she change her mind just because he proposed in such a romantic, public way?

In any case, congratulations to John Baldwin Jr. and Rena Inoue. May you stay upright and stick all your landings together.