Odds and Sods

Tottenham 4 - Aston Villa 4

Spurs celebrated after the miraculous comeback, storming back from a 4-1 deficit at home to tie on Kaboul’s late equalizer.  However, it doesn’t bode well that they went down 4-1 in the first place, particularly to Aston Villa.  Tottenham still sit in the relegation zone with a terrible six points from eight matches.  That nauseating smell is Martin Jol’s patented tracksuit burning on the hotseat.

Chelsea 0 - Fulham 0

Both sides had a number of chances left begging.  Has anyone actually seen Shevchenko even break into a sweat in a Chelsea shirt?  He was terrible.  Terry is starting to resemble the Black Knight flopping on the ground.  “It’s just a flesh wound!”  The iconic moment was the Chelsea faithful singing “Jose Mourinho, Jose Mourinho.”  They are in trouble.

Portsmouth 7 - Reading 4

Someone must have drugged the goalkeepers before this match.  Marcus Hahnemann looked completely lost and out of position on nearly every goal attempt.  One would think that a high-scoring match would be exciting, but this was just a disgusting spectacle.  They could have pulled someone out of the crowd to play in goal and gotten a similar result.

Wigan 0 - Liverpool 1

Benayoun saved Rafa the Gaffer the further embarrassment of yet another bore draw in the league against a rubbish squad.  Liverpool resemble last year’s squad more with every performance.  The rotation system works, when you have the players.

West Ham 0 - Arsenal 1

This was a match that last year’s squad probably would have lost.  The squad held their composure in the derby match and got the win.  The true measure of a championship squad is not dominating everyone, but being able to go into a tough away tie and come out with three points.  The Ewing theory may need to be renamed the Henry theory.

The AP is reporting that Michigan may have to forfeit their 14-9 victory over Penn St. on Sept. 22 for fielding an ineligible player.

Freshman Safety Artis Chambers, who enrolled at the school in January, was discovered to be ineligible under the Big Ten’s freshman eligibility rules.  The University reported the violation immediately.
Neither the Big Ten nor the University of Michigan would comment on the specifics of the case.

The Detroit Free Press is reporting, based on an interview with Chambers’ high school coach, that  the issue was grade related.  Chambers allegedly did not have a high enough GPA from the Winter semester at Michigan to play in the fall.  The University had thought that his improved grades during the summer semester would count toward his eligibility, but they did not.

Chambers played in three games for the Wolverines this season.  He did not make the trip to Northwestern with the team.

The case is going before a special compliance subcommittee, which should decide within the next three weeks whether Michigan will face sanctions, which could include the forfeiture of the game.

Never a stranger to accepting money, Chris Webber is reportedly mulling an offer to join Greek club Olympiakos. The offer is estimated to be worth between $10-12 million over two years.

Webber played last season with the Detroit Pistons and the team showed some interest in having him return. However, Detroit wanted to wait until after training camp for salary cap reasons. It is unclear whether they would be willing or able to match the offer in terms of contract length or salary. He made $407,000 with the Pistons last season after reaching a buyout with Philadelphia.

The former Michigan standout has averaged 20.9 ppg and 9.8 rpg over the course of his 14 year career. He was rookie of the year in 1994, and a 5-time NBA all-star. Though previous injuries have taken their toll, Webber was still productive for the Pistons last season averaging 11.3 ppg and 7.2 rpg.

Should he choose to sign with Olympiakos, Webber would be the most high-profile American player to play overseas, discounting Scottie Pippen’s alleged deal to play two games for Finnish club Torpan Pojat.

Knicks guard Stephon Marbury has also stated a desire to play in Italy when his Knicks contract expires.

Is there a danger of an American talent drain to Europe? Not likely. But, if contract offers like that keep coming, there will be a shortage of veterans hanging around to get that 12th spot on the bench and that last veterans’ minimum contract.

ESPN is now reporting that Webber will remain with the Pistons for the coming season.

(AP Photo/Kelly Willens)

Now is the winter of their discontent, as the New York Mets were defeated 8-1 on Sunday eliminating them from post-season play. A win would have tied the Mets with the Phillies for 1st place in the division and tied them for the Wild Card, giving them two chances to get into the post-season. However, Tom Glavine allowed 7 runs in the first inning, and the team never recovered.

The Mets endured one of the worst collapse in baseball history, watching a 7 game lead over the Phillies disappear in the last 17 games of the season. No team had ever had a 7 game lead with 17 games to go and not won the division.

They lost 12 out of their last 17 games, committing 21 errors and sporting an awful 5.96 ERA over that stretch. They also lost six out of their last seven at home.

Many expected the Mets to easily make the post-season. Their lineup was easily the best in the National League, with multiple superstars like Carlos Beltran, Carlos Delgado, David Wright, and Jose Reyes. Their starting pitching was a bit suspect, but the solid bullpen from last season as well as the return of Pedro Martinez and the potential of acquiring another arm was expected to alleviate that issue.

The worst part was that they believed their own hype. It was pure unadulterated arrogance to not realize that they were a fundamentally flawed team and that the lack of starting pitching would come back to bite them.

A rotation of Pedro, El Duque, and Glavine would have struck fear into opposing batters, eight years ago. Instead, there was Pedro coming off a torn rotator cuff and a shell of his former self, El Duque whose listed age is 41, and Glavine who was just hanging around to try to get to 300 and pitched with the passion of a mental patient doing the thorazine shuffle.

Yes, their numbers ended up being ok. But is there anyone in that rotation whom you would confidence in pitching in a Game 7? Or say, a must win game to get your team into the playoffs? Wasn’t this also the flaw last season.

Willie Randolph will obviously be the initial target for blame. The manager did not exactly inspire the troops over the stretch run. But should Omar Minaya really get a free pass here?

Minaya has a sterling repuation as a brilliant GM, but for what exactly? Yes, he did a fairly good job keeping the Expos from becoming the Rupert Mundys and keeping the egg out of Selig’s face for what was a travesty. He is a nice guy and willing to wheel and deal, earning him the respect of other GMs. He is a great ambassador for the Dominican community. But how good of a job has he done with the Mets?

His major signings were Pedro Martinez and Carlos Beltran. Beltran, despite the awful 2005, has settled in with the Mets. No one quivers on fear at night about the thought of facng Beltran, but he puts up numbers.

The Pedro signing, however, was another matter. He had a great first year going 15-8 with a 2.82 ERA. However, injuries plagued him in 2006, and he managed a mere five starts this year. Unless you subscribe to the ESPN argument that the Pedro signing was essential because it encouraged other Latin free agents to come to New York (because it is so hard to entice players to come to New York and play for a club that can spend more than just about anyone), it’s hard to argue that this was a shrewd piece of business.

Everyone with half a brain knew that the Mets needed a starter. Yet Minaya did NOTHING.

Has he been Jim Duquette Scott Kazmir for Victor Zambrano bad? No, but he hasn’t exactly done well enough that he should be speaking from a position of authority as though his job is safe.