No Balls, Some Glory

I’m psyched to be going tomorrow to the Pennsylvania Convention Center in Philadelphia to watch the quarter-finals and final four of the Women’s Flat Track [Roller] Derby Association (WFTDA) national tournament, aka the Declaration of Derby. The tournament begins today and ends Sunday with the awarding of the Hydra trophy to the winning team.

Roller derby? Hell yeah!

To paraphrase a hackneyed phrase that appears in some form in almost every mainstream media article on modern roller derby, it’s not the roller derby of my youth. That is to say, the sport of “classic roller derby” I watched in the early ’70s on UHF TV was a scripted spectacle in which an impressive degree of athleticism was secondary to fighting and pro wrestling-style hero-and-villain posing.

Modern derby is played as legitimate sport. Unsurprisingly to me, it works. When the modern derby movement started in 2001 in Austin, TX, the founders initially planned to play it as spectacle. They quickly found it was more fun — not to mention safer — to play for real.

The movement spawned several hundred leagues and has gone international — all amateur. Most of the leagues have all-women players — with men participating as coaches, referees, announcers, and statisticians. But that’s not the only reason my post title includes “no balls”:  in fact, derby is one of the few team sports where there is no ball.

Most leagues use the flat track because it’s much more economical in terms of setup and storage than the banked track used in classic derby.  Plus, it’s easier to find opponents. The men’s version of the sport is just starting to grow, by the way.

That brings me back to the tournament. The participating teams contain the best players from their respective leagues— travel teams.

Having read the team profiles on Derby News Network (DNN) and watched DNN’s Pants-off preview show, I’m offering up predictions for how this thing will play out …

Today

First round

The temptation is to pick the higher-seeded teams, but I’ll go with one upset — Denver over KC.

MADISON, WI 141, Boston 106
ROCKY MOUNTAIN 127, Houston 77
DENVER 131, Kansas City 121
GOTHAM 118, Detroit 52

Saturday

Quarter-finals

The marquis game, assuming Gotham beats Detroit Friday, will be Gotham from NYC against the Oly Rollers (heh) from Olympia, WA. Gotham had its 18-game win streak stopped by Philly in the finals of the eastern regional tournament in Raleigh. Oly, which breezed through the western regional in Denver, features a number of former world class hockey and speed skaters. Score one for the old guard — but just barely. The other three top seeds will have easier paths to the final four.

TEXAS 156, Madison 98
PHILLY 109, Rocky Mountain 86
WINDY CITY 97, Denver 60
GOTHAM 127, Oly 119

Final four

I’ll go with a pair of what most derby fans would consider upsets.

I see Gotham, last year’s national champion, falling prey to endurance issues  and perhaps a key injury. Game time for this one will be only a few hours after the end of the Gotham-Oly game. Furthermore, Gotham is the only one of my predicted final four to have played the previous night. I’m calling it Windy City in a squeaker.

The host Philly Roller Girls Liberty Belles team goes into the tournament rated #1 in the country by DNN; their 2009 record includes one-point escapes over the teams I see meeting in the other semi-final game. I hope I’m wrong because I’ll be rooting for Philly, but against Texas I see them coming up a point short — the third time the harm, so to speak.

TEXAS 95, Philly 94
WINDY CITY 82, Gotham 80

Sunday

Third-place game

I’ll give the host team a measure of revenge for the Phillies’ recent World Series loss to the Yankees. Playing a fourth game in 41 hours will make it tough for Gotham. I reiterate that injuries may play a role in Gotham’s downfall. It’s a rough sport — some skaters will get hurt this weekend. The swami in me says Gotham will get the most attention from the EMTs.

PHILLY 89, Gotham 71

Championship game

This one should be a little anti-climactic. I see Texas hitting their stride, buoyed by their semi-final win over Philly.

TEXAS 114, Windy City 85

DNN will be carrying all of the action live on streaming video via Justin.tv starting today at 3:30 EST. Hey, that’s less than two hours from now!

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NFL — Haves and Have-Nots

Image via Wikipedia

“On any given Sunday …” the promotion arm of the National Football League used to trumpet. Pro football has become so popular the NFL put away the trumpet — heck, they probably sold it. Sure — on any given Sunday — or Monday or Thursday — a favorite can fall to a heavy underdog. Indeed, many weeks there are one or more significant upsets.

In recent years, though, there is less and less parity between NFL teams. Recall New England’s undefeated regular season in 2007 and Detroit’s winless season last year — both firsts for the league since the 16-game schedule started in 1978.

Well, the trend toward less parity is accelerating, alarmingly so, this season.

Exhibit A is this past Sunday when there were six — count ‘em, six — games with winning margins of four or more touchdowns!

• New England (5-2) 35, Tampa Bay (0-7) 7
• Green Bay (4-2) 31, Cleveland (1-6) 3
• San Diego (3-3) 37, Kansas City (1-6) 7
• Indianapolis (6-0) 42, St. Louis (0-7) 6
• NY Jets (4-3) 38, Oakland (2-5) 0
• Cincinnati (5-2) 45, Chicago (3-3) 10

Ouch — times six! A rout, a smearing, a burial, a rollover, a demolition, and a drubbing! These scores resemble early season college football — when top-ranked teams host cupcake opponents, yielding pay days for the visitors sufficient to fund their athletic programs for entire seasons.

I’d say now on any given NFL Sunday — or Monday or Thursday — there is a pretty good chance your crappy team will get blown out by my playoff-contending team.

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Think of “The Zink”

UPDATED 6/25/09, 9:54 pm:
I found this 1984 Sports Illustrated article on The Zink. (H/T “rlee” on the Association for Professional Basketball Research forum)

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As many Philadelphians know, the 42-year old Wachovia Spectrum arena — simply “the Spectrum” to aged purists like myself — is scheduled for demolition later this year. The Philadelphia 76ers of the NBA, one of the Spectrum’s principal tenants from its opening in 1967 until the opening of the CoreStates Center (now the Wachovia Center) in 1996, will return to the Spectrum for a single nostalgic farewell game this Friday night, March 13, against the Chicago Bulls.

I am happy to pass along word that the Sixers will not neglect to pay tribute Friday to their legendary former public address announcer, the late Dave Zinkoff. I loved “The Zink”. He worked the Sixer games at the Spectrum and before that, Convention Hall, until his death on Christmas Day, 1985. (In this 1982 picture, from Wikipedia, he evidently was working a pro wrestling event — look at the build of the athlete next to him.)

As reported by Dan Gross in the Philadelphia Daily News via Philly.com:

Late great PA announcer Dave Zinkoff’s voice could be heard booming through the Spectrum the other day. It wasn’t Zinkoff, or a ghost, but comedian and master impressionist Joe Conklin, who was rehearsing and recording classic “Zinkisms” that the Sixers will play Friday when they face the Bulls in the team’s final game at the Spectrum, their longtime home.

Awesome! I’ll skip the game, as fun as it would be to be there, due to budgetary constraints (tickets were still available as of this morning starting at $19.76). I will, though, count on Conklin’s recordings eventually finding their way online at Sixers.com or JoeConklin.com.

Batting Cleanup — Moe Howard

UPDATED 3/10/09, 7:50 am:
Joe Conklin posted the Moe Howard/Ryan Howard comedy bit described in this post on his own site. To hear it go to Conklin’s media page. The bit is in the “Audio” column; it’s currently at the bottom.

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Yesterday morning comedian Joe Conklin did a 3 Stooges bit on the WIP radio morning show. The inspiration for the bit was an interview in which retired baseball star/manager/disgraced gambler Pete Rose referred to Ryan Howard (pictured), the slugging first baseman of the Philadelphia Phillies, as head Stooge Moe Howard.

It took several minutes searching, but thanks to Google and USA Today, I found the interview. It turns out the interviewer was WIP’s veteran afternoon drive host Howard Eskin and the interview was originally broadcast on, not surprisingly, WIP. Rose’s gaffe occurs about three-tenths of the way into the interview — unfortunately the WIP audio player doesn’t display elapsed time.

Now Rose’s error is funny on its own. Most current events relatable to the Stooges are — to me at least.

The error becomes doubly funny when one recalls Rose wore his hair in the “bowl cut” style as an active player — the same hair style sported by Moe Howard when he was in character. One need only google “Pete Rose” “Moe Howard” to verify that this comparison has been made by many over the years.

Raining in Baskets

What a day brightener! Only minimal basketball knowledge is needed to enjoy this CBS Evening News clip (running time 2:45):

Thanks to my friend Pete S. for posting it on his Facebook profile.

An ESPN clip on McElway has more detail and the game footage is in color, but the cheesy music is distracting in my opinion — plus it’s twice as long as the one I’ve embedded. The detail I thought most interesting is that McElway actually missed not two but six shots. But that hardly detracts from his achievement.

I can imagine Tom McGinnis, the excitable Philadelphia 76ers radio play by play announcer, calling McElway’s hot streak. By McElway’s third three-pointer, you’d hear McGinnis’ trademark “ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!?”. The fifth would cause McGinnis’ head to explode — leaving you to deduce from the crowd reaction and buzzer that McElway hit a sixth to end the game.

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Yeah, But Can He Do It with Hands in His Face?

In this three-and-a-half-minute video, Australian David Black proves shooting baskets is easy when no one’s defending you.

“Wow” seems insufficient. Talk about honing a skill …

(Music: “Good Times” by Tommy Lee)

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“Mo Mentum” Changes Sides

It’s fun when watching a football game to see a quick, dramatic change in momentum, especially when a team’s offense immediately capitalizes on a momentum change initiated by its defense (or vice-versa). Throw in a record-breaking or record-equaling play and it’s a sequence worth a post here.

Last night I watched on TV as the Minnesota Vikings defense made a goal-line stand to prevent the visiting Chicago Bears from expanding a four-point second quarter lead to 11 points. The Vikings offense then took the field with the ball on their own 1-yard line, and on the next play, 99 37-year old Vikings quarterback Gus Frerotte (#12) hooked up with wide receiver Bernard Berrian (#87) on a 99-yard bomb.

99 yards! Successful plays from scrimmage don’t get any longer than that — because they can’t. The touchdown gave the Vikings the lead for the first time in the game, 10–7, and they would not relinquish it, winning 34–14.

Big O-men: Not Speculation If I Foresee It

One of my favorite George Costanza lines from Seinfeld is “Jerry, just remember, it’s not a lie — if you believe it“.

With that in mind, I make the following statement, part fact and part speculation: Last night the Philadelphia Phillies won baseball’s World Series, bringing a major pro sports championship to Philly for the first time since 1983 and ensuring the election of Barack Obama, “The Big O”, as the next U.S. president.

In response to the last part, I imagine George looking at me earnestly and saying “QC, just remember, it’s not speculation — if you foresee it“.

Truthfully, I do predict victory for Obama — I’ll post specifics Sunday morning — but not as an effect of the Phillies’ winning the series. Rather, my prediction is based on polls showing Obama has leads — ample leads — in states totaling significantly more than the 270 electoral votes required to win.

A few related notes not worthy of separate posts …

• The game 5 suspension actually worked out pretty well for Phillies fans, particularly casual ones like myself. The spectators in Citizens Bank Park were able to watch the deciding game without getting (further) soaked. Those watching on TV here in the chronically sleep-deprived Eastern time zone, were able to see the final pitch at a decent hour, 10:00, at least an hour and a half earlier than they would have otherwise.
• The Phillies’ combined record for this playoff/series run of 11-3 was almost as gaudy as the 76ers 12-1 in 1983. Not too shabby. Based on this very limited sample size of two, there is a trend suggesting that when Philly teams win championships, they do it in dominating fashion.
• The continuation of game 5 was preceded on TV by what I’ll call “The Big O Show”, Obama’s exceptionally well-produced 30-minute infomercial. Admittedly I am an Obama supporter, but I must say I was moved by it. I expect it will stop and probably reverse his recent slow slide in the national “horse race” polls.

By the way, earlier today I appended an update two updates to my recent post about rapidly declining gasoline prices.

Photo credit: Flickr user alpineinc, used here in accordance with the terms of the Creative Commons license.

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Obama’s Fortunes Tied to Phillies’? (Updated!)

original version crossposted, with poll, as a diary at Daily Kos

“Cosmic” presidential election predictors, both sports-oriented and not, are often cited as elections approach. Depending on one’s candidate preference, these predictors serve either as reinforcement of or counterpoint to poll results.

The most famous sports-oriented predictor is based on the fortunes of the hometown pro football team for White House residents, the Washington Redskins. From the CBSNews.com article linked above:

If the Washington Redskins win their last home game before election, it means the incumbent party will get to stay in the White House.

This predictor’s long streak of accuracy, dating back to 1936, came to an end with the 2004 election.

I propose a one-time predictor for the pending election based on the results of baseball’s World Series — or as I annoyingly refer to it, the “world serious”. If this predictor turns out to be accurate, my pet name for baseball’s championship will be appropriate — or at least, less stupid.

With the resumption of World Series game 5 between the Philadelphia Phillies and the Tampa Bay Rays just an hour away, I suggest a Phillies championship, whether finalized in game 5, 6, or 7, would portend a Barack Obama victory.

Here’s why.

Matching Mismatches

I’ve heard one of my favorite songs, “My Old School” by Steely Dan, hundreds of times. However, it was not until this past Saturday, October 18, just hours before I went to a college football game in Newark, Delaware between the University of Delaware and The College of William and Mary, that I realized this part of the song lyrics specifies the commonly used moniker of the visiting school:

I was smoking with the boys upstairs
When I heard about the whole affair
I said oh no
William and Mary won’t do

Is this lyric a reference to the college? When I told Mrs. QC of my revelation, she insisted it has to be a reference to the college. Color me skeptical. I’ll revisit this controversy at the end of this post.

Now to the topic at hand — the football game. The University of Delaware is “my old school” for both myself and Mrs. QC. We went to grad school there. I previously wrote how I used to attend Delaware games when I was growing up.

It was a beautiful day for football — sunny, not too breezy, temperature pushing 60°. Mrs. QC and I bought subs on the way to Newark and then tailgated briefly before going into the stadium.

The game was a mismatch. Au contraire, Steely Dan — William and Mary did do — they rolled to a 27-3 victory. It was the first time Delaware failed to score a touchdown in a home game since 1990.

My thanks to Mrs. QC for taking these pictures. Click ‘em to enlarge to 800 × 531 pixels.

The west stands at Tubby Raymond Field at Delaware Stadium, University of Delaware, Newark, DE.

The Delaware Fightin' Blue Hens (in blue) and the William and Mary Tribe at the line of scrimmage prior to one of the first plays of the game.

The Jumbotron (video display) is new at Delaware this season. It's not all that jumbo-sized, though. I couldn't see it very well from my seat at the 15-yard line near the other end of Tubby Raymond Field.