Old cover-ups die hard

So Eldrick Woods is having his little pep rally tomorrow. We can't call it a press conference, since questions aren't allowed. But, with the proper credentials granted, reporters can watch from a bar a mile away, so they've got that going for them. No, this is only an assembly of Woods' "friends." It's kind of sad that ESPN and the rest of the sports media goes along with this, instead of refusing to carry this farce.

Nice try again, Urkel. You're only delaying your comeuppance, not canceling it. FAIL. Also, you're 1/3rd of a mediorce-to-good Ping Pong player, 1/64th of Curtis Martin right up until the end of his career, and 1/18th of David Eckstein (with 1/97th the amount of grit). Oh, and you're uglier than this guy. (Incidentally, that guy is married to the underrated Candace Parker. Who'd have thunk it, right?)

I wanted to spend more time crushing this dirt-bag, given new information such as the yet more women surfacing, but frankly it isn't worth that much of my computer time. I'll instead just relay a couple thoughts from others regarding what to expect tomorrow that I enjoyed - WTEM's Andy Pollin predicting that Woods has been working with an acting coach and will fake-cry...and author John Feinstein joking that pom-poms will be handed out at the door.

Wow, thanks for the honesty

Now Tiger Woods has come clean - only after being caught, of course. Among the egregious details are his cheating on his wife while she was pregnant. And how about the voicemail message to one of his mistresses that Us Magazine got a hold of, where he tells her to take her name off her phone because his wife might try to call? Classy. Also, for the entertainment value alone this Taiwanese Youtube video is worth watching - it's a computer simulation of what may have happened the night of the shady car accident. It's terrific from about the 50 second mark forward, complete with wife's face-slap, wife chasing his car on foot (a la T-1000 in Terminator 2), and telephone pole collision.

Way to go, Urkel. No credit for admitting the truth after first trying to cover it up. Going forward, I can only hope he has the kind of remorse and humility it takes to repair a marriage and family.

And yes, it does matter how sports celebrities act. Now more than ever, we need positive role models in prominent positions. One of the byproducts of guys like Tim Duncan and Peyton Manning winning championships, even if they don't play for the teams we happen to root for, is that these kinds of athletes are in the spotlight more. For this reason alone, I hope the Duncans and Mannings of the world continue to win. (My favorite squeaky clean role model athlete of all, Mariano Rivera, certainly took care of his part this year.)

Another plea for feisty journalism

Regarding this Tiger Woods phantom "car accident" at 2 AM the morning after Thanksgiving, just outside Woods's driveway...I'm going to make the same plea to the TMZs and National Enquirers of the world, that I did to the sports media when the Bill Belichick/Patriots "Spygate" scandal was covered up by the NFL. And that plea is, Please, please keep pursuing this. Don't just let them sweep it under the rug. Of course the police aren't going to investigate further. But don't let the precious, chosen one skate here.

I really don't have a personal ax to grind against the guy. I just kind of felt pushed in the non-Tiger direction by all the worship of him that goes on. It's the same reason people find Tim Tebow or Brett Favre annoying. It's not their fault they're overexposed or gushed about. In fact, I bet if the exaggerations were dialed back maybe 10%, people could appreciate them for what they are, rather than feel like they have to push back against waves of media fawning over them. And for me, with Woods that effect is multiplied by how I don't believe golf should be paid attention as a major sport at all. (But that was another post.)

So yeah, all that...plus I simply can't stand cover-ups.

Spygate continues to unfold

This thing just keeps getting bigger, and more amazing. And I will do my part not to let it get away. I'll start with this, from the Wisconsin State Journal. From the "hindsight is 20/20" department, here is the article's money shot: a quote from Packers' DB Al Harris, after the Pats beat the Pack 35-0 in in Green Bay, in 2006:

"It almost looked like they knew what we were doing, you know what I mean? They ran plays designed for us. They ran plays and made us check out some things. I don't know who calls their plays. (Belichick) is pretty good. Honestly. He's pretty good. There were things that they were doing that (got receivers open)."

Wow. Al, if only you knew. Though maybe you did have some idea. Steelers' receiver Hines Ward certainly did, after the 2002 AFC Championship game, according to this quote from a 2007 USA Today article:

"Oh, they knew. They were calling our stuff out. They knew, especially that first championship game here at Heinz Field. They knew a lot of our calls. There's no question some of their players were calling out some of our stuff."

Now, to the main monkey business - a compelling piece in today's New York Times, featuring an interview with Matt Walsh on the inner workings of the videotaping scheme. To me, here is the meat of the article:

The first time Walsh filmed an opponent’s signals was against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the 2000 preseason — Belichick’s first as the Patriots’ coach.

The Patriots then opened the regular season against the Buccaneers. Walsh said this was the first time he had seen quarterback Drew Bledsoe operate a no-huddle offense when not in a two-minute or hurry-up situation.

In the week after the game, Walsh said he asked a quarterback — again, he declined to name whom — how helpful the signals were. Walsh said the quarterback told him “probably about 75 percent of the time, Tampa Bay ran the defense we thought they were going to run — if not more.”

I can't imagine how much of an advantage that was! Well, Al Harris, Hines Ward, or anyone else who played the Patriots between 2000-2007 might. To me, it would be like sneaking a peak at my brother's controller and seeing 75% of the plays he chose in Tecmo Super Bowl. Something like that. Anyway...also in the article, there's this:

Belichick and Walsh never discussed the taping of opponents’ signals. That fell to Ernie Adams, Belichick’s right-hand man and mysterious assistant.

My reaction? Somebody should have a talk with this Ernie Adams.

This...is Bill Beeeaaaalichick

Great article by Steve Czaban today on OnMilwaukee.com about the "spygate" scandal, and how in spite of the NFL's wishes, all signs point to a brewing storm - thanks to the pending testimony of Matt Walsh. It sure is taking a while to develop, but Czabe believes it's because Walsh really has something, thus needs to make sure he has adequate protection before he reveals all the goods. I just can't wait for this to happen.

It's like waiting for Christmas, even though you don't know when Chrismas is going to be. But when it does finally come around...it's going to be a pretty darn good Christmas.