A grave rebuke
This week's top 10:
- 10. For hate's sake, I spit my last breath at thee. A hockey fan from Canada (is there any other kind?) went all Melville on the NHL and the union, using his obituary to bag on the lockout that robbed him of hockey in his dying days.
According to The Associated Press, Archie Bennitz, 84, called commissioner Gary Bettman and union head Bob Goodenow "skunks for denying him the pleasure of watching the NHL on TV this year," in the obituary in the Ottawa Citizen.
I hope that I still have it together enough when the end is staring me in the face to take pot shots at stupidity like this. I know I'm already bitter enough.
- 9. The Mumme strikes. This one slipped under my radar when it happened, but New Mexico State hired former Kentucky coach Hal Mumme to lead its moribund football program.
Hal Mumme, huh? Apparently Bobby Collins wasn't available.
(Collins was the head coach at SMU in the 1980s when the NCAA leveled the Death Penalty on the Mustangs for repeated rules violations. Mumme had to resign Kentucky amid an investigation over major recruiting violations.)
- 8. Kiss of death. Naturally, as soon as I sing the praises of the Phoenix Suns, they go on a six-game slide. Granted, most of those losses came with guard Steve Nash on the bench with a thigh bruise, but still. I'm trying to remove the stink from the Montana-James Madison prediction, and then this happens.
- 7. So long, Lenny. The inevitable happened Saturday when Knicks coach Lenny Wilkens resigned, getting out before Isiah Thomas fired him. (Yeah, Isiah says he wasn't going to drop the hammer, but he also said he wasn't going to bankrupt the CBA and that he would be a good TV analyst.)
So does anyone else remember all the praise heaped on Isiah last year when he made all those trades and "transformed" the Knicks into playoff contenders? Now they're described as "salary-cap challenged."
Isiah Thomas is just Scott Layden in better suits.
- 6. Don't believe the hype. Wasn't it just last week that all the talking heads were touting Georgia Tech as the best team in the country? Now the Yellow Jackets have lost three straight conference games.
It's almost as if I picked them to win it all.
- 5. Fourth time's a charm. I have no rooting interest in the NFC championship, other than I would like to avoid having to listen to an entire offseason of stories about the Eagles failing yet again to reach the Super Bowl.
First there will be the initial comparisons to the Buffalo Bills, but then people will realize that Philadelphia isn't even as good as the Bills, then they'll start searching for more adequate analogies, probably doing some lame crossover with the Atlanta Braves.
So for that reason, and that alone, I'm hoping the Eagles win.
- 4. Still the champs. I've always been of the belief you don't pick against the defending champs. If I ever get a vote in the AP football or basketball poll, my preseason No. 1 will always be the previous year's champion. Until somebody has proved otherwise, they are the champs.
In the three seasons Tom Brady, Bill Belichick, et al. have led New England to the playoffs, no one has beaten them. And there is no reason to think any different this week.
The Patriots win, avenging a regular season loss to the Steelers and setting themselves up for a three Super Bowl wins in four years run that only the Dallas Cowboys have managed before.
- 3. Hope he's requested time off for the Grammys. The Indiana Pacers say that Ron Artest has been cleared to resume practicing with the team this week. He won't be reinstated to play, just practice.
The Pacers want him back in the fold to give Artest a sense of belonging, to know that there are still people who care about him. If by care about him they mean keep him in shape so they can trade him in the offseason, I can believe it.
- 2. Update. A few weeks back, after Oregon State humiliated Notre Dame in the Insight Bowl thus improving the Beavers' record against the Irish to 2-0, I wondered how many teams have played the Domers more than once without a loss.
Since I am nothing if not an educational Well of Knowledge (and I never miss a chance to slam the Irish), I got my hands on a Notre Dame football media guide and it turns out there are two such schools.
Chicago is 4-0 against Notre Dame, though the last game was played in 1899, and the other is my Beavers (though that phrase sounds vaguely suggestive - it's no fun when you're alma mater's mascot is a euphemism).
Four teams are 1-0 versus the Irish - North Carolina State (28-6 winners in 2002), Georgia (17-10 in 1980), Yale (28-0 in 1914) and Indianapolis Artillery (18-0 in 1895).
-1. Sometimes, it's just too easy. We have a new clubhouse leader for dumbest idea of 2005, and perhaps a contender for dumbest idea of the decade: the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim.
Andrew Hinkelman is a sports writer for The Daily Inter Lake. He can be reached at