Larry Brown Sports

Much like Tiger who knocked up his wife while he was out with a knee injury, Tom Brady has been busy putting his personal time to use while he recovers from knee surgery. The Patriots’ QB wed his supermodel girlfriend, Gisele Bundchen on Thursday in Santa Monica, confirming the reports I posted back in August that they were planning to get hitched. The details from US Magazine:

The ceremony — which began at dusk — was “very small and intimate,” a source tells Us, adding that guests mostly consisted of immediate family. Brady’s son with ex-girlfriend Bridget Moynahan, John Edward Thomas Moynahan, was also present.
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A pal close to the couple told Us Bundchen and Brady are perfect together.

“She’s definitely ‘The One,’” the source said. “She really makes him comfortable and just happy.”

Perfect together, huh? The only perfect completion for Brady that I know of involves him and #81 or #83, as long as they’re on my fantasy team. Two thoughts here: amazing how Brady is able to date a famous supermodel and wed her without much distractions, while Tony Romo can’t get through a month without a new Jessica Simpson issue. Secondly, how could something so big as the ultimate marriage go on in my town without me knowing it? I must be slipping in my old age. Meanwhile, I’m guessing Tom just did it for the money.

I’ve been playing miniature golf since I was five and I still haven’t sunk two aces in the same round. But someone did that on a real course in Lake Placid two weeks ago. That person also happens to be the aunt of the venerable SpinMax. Barbara Lockwood defied the odds (67 million to one they say) by picking up a couple of aces in the same round, and she shared her story:

I was screaming and jumping up and down, and the lady that was with Logan, she was saying ‘Girl Power!’ On the second one, I got up on the green and was waving the flag back and forth.
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It was crazy. I called my nephew in Ohio, and he couldn’t believe it, he was going crazy because he never had one. And then I called my 90-year old mother after the first one, in her nursing home.

The nephew in Ohio? That’s right — SpinMax. Poor guy. First he can’t shoot the buck in his backyard, now he has to see his aunt pick up three aces before he gets one. Maybe next round will be your lucky day. Just make sure your aunt splits her lottery winnings with you afterwards.

I’ve been wondering about this question the past week considering the blitzkrieg of WBC press by ESPN lately. First of all, don’t get me started on the World Baseball Classic to begin with — we get to watch the best players in the entire world compete 162 times from April-September in something called Major League Baseball, what good does the WBC serve besides tiring out my team’s pitching staff? Anyway, every time I see the ESPN WBC commercial play (which I’ll admit is pretty cool in a nationalistic sense), I wonder why they would choose Alex Rodriguez — an admitted steroids user, not to mention a U.S. citizen — as the player to represent the Dominican Republic. Yes, this admitted cheater is now headlining the WBC as a representative for a country where he wasn’t even born. Here’s the commercial in case you’ve missed it:

Of all the players on the Dominican Republic roster — superstars like David Ortiz, Hanley Ramirez, and Jose Reyes — you pick the admitted cheat who wasn’t even born in the freaking country? And what kind of slap in the face is that to the U.S.? As we were discussing on The Arnie Spanier Show on Sporting News Radio Wednesday, why would a guy who was born in the U.S. and has made like $300 million here, choose to represent the D.R. in the WBC, especially considering he played for the U.S. team last time? It’s bad enough seeing this guy used as a “face” in advertising a product considering his latest admission, but it’s rubbing salt in the wound by having A-Rod draped in a Dominican Republic jersey. I’m very surprised that ESPN not only continued to run the commercial, but that they didn’t just splice in a new player to represent the Dominican while leaving the rest of the commercial the same. It’s highly disappointing and makes me wonder why they decided to pick him for the spot and why they continued to run it even after the steroids issue.

If you were watching the end of the Indiana/Northwestern game on Wednesday night (and God help you if you’re not an alum of either school and were still watching), you may have been wondering who that 5’9″ tiny white guy on the floor was. You might also be wondering why that J.V. high schooler was wearing an Indiana jersey. Well, turns out Indiana coach Tom Crean told team manager Michael Santa that the kid would be suiting up for the Hoosiers’ game against Northwestern, and he made good on that promise.

“I never dreamed that would be possible, and when he told me that, I didn’t know what to think, to be honest,” Santa said. “He pulled me off to the side after practice and told me to get a jersey on, and get ready to suit up and keep playing hard like I had been in practice.”
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“Our managers come out here and work and we hold them to a pretty high standard,” Crean said. “They come in here and they make it more competitive for our guys. I didn’t (put him on the team) as a reward. I didn’t do it as an end-of-the-season deal.”

Inside the Hall says watching a team manager suit up while Indiana lost to Northwestern for the first time ever at Assembly Hall was a sign of the ugliest times ever at IU. It’s hard to disagree, but I’ll add some positive spin to the story. For the second time in weeks, I find myself complimenting Tom Crean for his actions. He treats people fairly, disciplines evenly, and looks to reward hard workers. I’ve always wondered what my answer to the question “If you were recruited by every team in the country, for which coach would you choose to play?” and now I know it. My choice would be Tom Crean. I appreciate coaches like him who do things the right way, and who also know the game pretty darn well, too.

Those chaps over at Maker’s Mark are probably patting themselves on the back for the extra publicity they’ve received from their ad. Maybe this will be a trend in the advertising field. Or not, considering mgoblog is considering a boycott on behalf of Michigan. Anyway, check out the large banner appearing in Columbus that has Michigan fans so upset, from mgoblog via Will Brinson at FanHouse.

Well, give them an “A” for creativity, and another prize for honesty considering Wolverine fans probably needed lots of liquid to get them through a 3-9 season last year. I guess the one downside to this sort of “attack ad” would be Michael Jordan’s famous quote on why he didn’t endorse Democrats in politics — “Republicans buy sneakers, too” he famously said. Maybe Maker’s never heard that one.

This was one of the more bizarre stories that I saw today. Not that I can’t understand someone growing “disenchanted” with new Browns head coach, Eric Mangini, because I certainly can, but I was surprised to read that defensive tackle Shaun Rogers would rather ask the Browns to be released rather than get paid a $6 million bonus in March. Here’s Rogers’ reasoning, according to Adam Schefter, via Rotoworld:

Some of Rogers’ feelings stem back to two offseason incidents in which he believes Mangini disrespected him. The first time, Mangini walked into the Browns’ training room and failed to say hello to Rogers. The next time, at a public charity function in which both men were in the green room, neither said hello to the other, and Mangini later said he didn’t know Rogers was there.

Mangini says he didn’t see Rogers, which would be pretty miraculous in itself considering Rogers is 6’4″ and like 350-plus pounds. Sounds pretty in-character given Mangini’s notorious history. To make matters worse, John Clayton says Rogers even requested a one-on-one meeting with Mangini and was rebuffed. Uh oh. Hey, I wouldn’t want to play for the Browns either, but I’m not sure I’d give up $6 million to get out. Maybe he would. But I do agree with Rogers that Mangini strikes me as a coach for whom I wouldn’t love to play.

Dwight Howard has rapidly become one of the more likable stars in the NBA. He’s super-strong and has become probably the most dominant big man in the game, leading Orlando to one of the top records in the league this year, and a strong record last season. Howard raised his profile in the dunk contest last year with the Superman act, and then showed what a good sport he was (and how insignificant his ego is) when he let Nate Robinson dunk over him to win the Slam Dunk Competition. And yet once again, Howard’s likability rating when through the roof when he answered this question about his pre-game ritual for the Chicago-specific sports site, Mouthpiece Sports. Believe me, you’re going to love it.

If that’s all it takes to be successful in the league, I’d be the second coming of Wilt effing Chamberlain. Seriously though, Howard may have taken the spot in the league vacated by the now “disappeared” Gilbert Arenas. Howard clowns around, is unafraid to speak his mind, has a million-dollar smile and he’s extremely skilled. Let’s just hope a knee injury (or three) doesn’t ruin his career while he’s on top.

My buddy Botros sent me a text today suggesting I “Do a story on David Buehler’s combine performance. Amazing.” Naturally I had not effing clue who this David Buehler guy was, so I inquired for further details. “He out-lifted 27 olineman at the combine and ran a 4.56 40 which was faster than Kahlil Bell. And he’s a ****ing placekicker!” were the clues to the puzzle. Both of us are Bruins, so to hear that USC’s kicker is faster than our starting running back pretty much sums up the crosstown rivalry the past decade. But Botros was right; that little tidbit was nothing of which we should be ashamed — this David Buehler character seems like quite the athlete.

Upon further review, Buehler was a transfer from Santa Ana JC where he also went both ways as a linebacker and running back, in addition to serving as the team’s kicker. He also comes from some great football pedigree — two of his uncles played at Stanford, one of whom also went on to play for the Raiders and Browns. On the surface this seemed like a crazy story (the combine stats Botros texted me are accurate), but after digging deeper it makes a lot more sense. I think it really speaks to the all-around talent of Buehler as an athlete more than anything else. And do you think some of the top offensive lineman like Michael Oher and Eugene Monroe will be embarrassed to have been out-lifted by a kicker? Maybe not anymore. I’ll just leave it at this: If Buehler makes it to the NFL as a kicker, just watch out for the fakes. You have been forewarned.