Wilbon: Stop campaigning for LeBron to go to Chicago – nobody cares that you’re from Chicago

July 7, 2010

Tomorrow night at 9 on ESPN Michael Wilbon will be part of LeBron James’ hour-long special on where James will play.  It’s a conflict of interest because Wilbon has campaigned for LeBron to go to Chicago or New York. Wilbon says LeBron doesn’t have a good chance to win titles in Cleveland, but that’s not true at all.  He has just as good a chance there as anywhere else. The Cavs have won an average of 63 games the past two seasons and even if they have the same team as last year, they’d be the second best team in the east, with Orlando barely edging them out.  LeBron’s best chance to win is in Cleveland and they’ll surely add another good free agent or two. They won’t have Shaq anymore – that will immediately make them better.

Another thing about Wilbon is he’s constantly talking about Chicago, where he lived more than 30 years ago. Who cares? The answer is nobody, outside of those in Chicago. Wilbon is a good writer, but I’d rather see the Post hire someone who isn’t constantly talking about where he lived as a kid. At least Mike Wise doesn’t constantly talk about Hawaii or New York where he worked previously.  It’s bad enough we have to listen to Kornheiser constantly crowing about New York.

Soccer drills for children with autism spectrum disorders and other disabilities should be easy, fun

July 4, 2010

With the U.S. soccer team advancing to the second round of the World Cup last month, soccer got a bump in interest in the U.S.

Though the U.S. is long gone from the tournament, the semifinals and finals coming up this week and next weekend present a good opportunity for children to watch the games on TV and get interested in the sport.

For children with autism and other disabilities, soccer is one of the best team sports to attempt, since it is fairly simple and doesn’t require a lot of equipment.

Playing soccer and other sports, exercising, and developing motor skills are areas that are often overlooked and under appreciated when it comes to therapy for children with autism. Sports and exercise can even improve social and cognitive skills for children with autism. Most importantly, soccer and other sports are fun.

To see the rest of my article on Examiner.com, click here.

Strasmas in July: Fireworks by Rodriguez, Dunn in 9th spark Nationals’ comeback over Mets, 6-5

July 4, 2010

Pudge Rodriguez hit a walk-off single to right field to give the Nationals an improbable 6-5 come from behind win over the Mets Saturday.  Stephen Strasburg only gave up two runs in five innings, but once again the Nationals failed to give him much support – until well after after he exited the game.

The game-winning hit off Mets closer Francisco Rodriguez set off a wild celebration after Ryan Zimmerman crossed home plate. Then the Nats set off fireworks in front of what was left of a sellout crowd of 39,214 one day before the 4th of July.

In the bottom of the ninth inning, Adam Dunn hit what appeared to be a home run to the right of the 402-foot sign in center field, but replays showed the ball hit the top of the fence and it was ruled a ground rule double, scoring two runs.

To see the rest of my article on Examiner.com, please click here.

Funeral held for former Washington Bullet Manute Bol, 7’7″ giant devoted life to help war-torn Sudan

July 1, 2010

The funeral for former Washington Bullets 7’7″ center Manute Bol was held Tuesday at the National Cathedral in Washington, D.C. Bol played 10 seasons in the NBA and became a prolific shot blocker, but was best known for his humanitarian work in his native war-torn Sudan.

Bol died at the age of 47 of kidney failure and complications from the skin condition Stevens-Johnson syndrome at University of Virginia Hospital in Charlottesville June 19. Bol had made trips to Sudan in recent years and was given medication that may have resulted in side effects that caused Stevens-Johnson syndrome.

Approximately 150 people attended Bol’s funeral, where former National Security Advisor Robert McFarlane, U.S. Senator Sam Brownback (R-Kansas), friends, and relatives spoke. Former teammates including Chris Mullin attended the funeral, as did former Bullets General Manager Bob Ferry, who drafted Bol in the second round in 1985, and former NBA players Buck Williams and Rory Sparrow.

Bol was a great humanitarian and will be sorely missed. To see the rest of my article on Examiner.com, click here.  All photos below by Mike Frandsen.

ESPN’s World Cup coverage has been great. Now they need to do the same for MLS.

June 27, 2010

ESPN’s coverage of the World Cup has been excellent.  Chris Fowler, Mike Tirico, and Bob Ley have done a great job of hosting pre-match, halftime, and post-match shows. Color commentators Alexi Lalas, Steve McManaman, Ruud Gullit, Roberto Martinez, Jurgen Klinsmann and Shaun Bartlett have been spot on. The questions asked by Fowler, Tirico, and Ley shows they have done their homework, and ESPN is treating the World Cup with great respect – of course they have the broadcast rights to it along with ABC.

“Show it and they will come” – just like “Build it and they will come.”

Now ESPN needs to cover MLS more.  There are hour long SportsCenters in which ESPN not only doesn’t show any MLS highlights, but they don’t even mention any scores. Hockey has grown in the U.S. in large part because ESPN covers it so much. They should do the same for soccer, and MLS should try to get a contract with ESPN. If hockey can make it in the U.S., soccer can. A lot more Americans have played soccer than hockey.

Most people under 50 played soccer when they were young.  So there are more people who have played soccer than ever before in the U.S. The sport may never overtake football and basketball in America, but it may overtake hockey and baseball within 30 years.

ESPN should pay more attention to soccer and treat it with respect like Fowler, Tirico, and Ley have. Some of the anchors still joke about it when they show highlights because they think it’s a stupid sport or they don’t like the fact that some of the names of players are foreign-sounding.

ESPN: just cover MLS. You don’t have to do it a lot, just a few minutes each show, and do the occasional feature.  Whoever thinks that a ratio of 20 minutes of baseball highlights to 6 minutes of golf highlights to 0 minutes of soccer is best for the network is flat out wrong.  How about a ratio of 18 minutes of baseball to 6 minutes of golf to 2 minutes of MLS.  At least that’s better than nothing.

Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) can enhance speech, social skills for kids with autism

June 27, 2010

Last month the top 10 mistakes and lessons learned from therapy programs for children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) were examined in this column.

Now here’s number 11: Parents (or teachers) refusing to try augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) for non-verbal or minimally verbal children or adults with autism.

People with autism often have delays or deficits in communication, especially speech. However, many children and adults with autism have considerably better receptive than expressive skills. That means that they understand a lot more than it appears.

AAC systems can take the place of, or supplement and enhance speech by enabling people who don’t have typical verbal abilities communicate better. AAC systems can improve the ability of children and adults with autism and other disabilities to initiate requests and respond to questions.

To see the rest of my article on Examiner.com, click here.

U.S. soccer team wastes an opportunity in losing to Ghana

June 26, 2010

Overall it was a decent showing by the U.S. soccer team to make it to the knockout round in the World Cup but they wasted an opportunity in losing to Ghana. The U.S. played well in the second half but it wasn’t good enough. Jozy Altidore didn’t do much although he made a nice attempt on a goal with his left foot after he was tripped – that could have been called a penalty.

Robbie Findley made a weak shot right at the goalie, near the ground, and Michael Bradley did the same thing, though he had a great tournament.  It’s called not coming up big when it counts. I’m happy the shots didn’t go 100 yards over the goal like a lot of other shots at the World Cup did, but they could have made better efforts.  We’ll never know if the Americans’ defense would have been better if Oguchi Onyewu had played. Tim Howard had a bad angle on the goal too.

It was a failure, but there’s always 2014. The players should feel badly.  They may never get another chance like that again.  It’s just that both Ghana and Uruguay were beatable – the U.S. could have made it to the semis for the first time ever. At least now a team from Africa has made it to the final 8.

NBC’s Sports Report: no mention at all of U.S. World Cup soccer game? Disgraceful.

June 26, 2010

I just watched an NBC Sports Report during Wimbledon coverage at 1:55 p.m., five minutes before ABC’s coverage of the World Cup soccer match between the U.S. and Ghana was about to begin.  Andrea Joyce first did a promo for the U.S. Track and Field Championships, then did a promo for some Mountain Dew extreme sports event.  Then she said, “Let’s start with baseball.” After doing baseball stories for a couple of minutes, she finished the “Sports Report” without even mentioning the soccer match.  Shame on NBC. Sure they have competing coverage of another sport, but they could have at least mentioned it – even in just one sentence.  That was disgraceful.

NBA Draft: Wizards get Wall with top pick, Hoyas’ Monroe goes to Detroit, Terps’ Vasquez to Memphis

June 24, 2010

As has been expected ever sinceWashington won the NBA Draft Lottery last month, the Wizards selected Kentucky point guard John Wall with the first selection in the draft Thursday night.

Also in the first round, former Georgetown center Greg Monroe was selected seventh by the Detroit Pistons and former Maryland point guard Greivis Vasquez was taken 28th by the Memphis Grizzlies.

Vasquez, Maryland’s second all-time leading scorer, jumped up and down when his name was called and hugged his parents. Vasquez told ESPN, “We have a great roster. Rudy Gay and O.J. Mayo…I just can’t wait to get to training camp and work hard. This means a lot to me and my country back in Venezuela.”

The only other time the Wizards had the number one pick was in 2001 when they selected Kwame Brown right out of high school, but Brown turned out to be a bust. Wall, however, is expected to be close to a sure thing. He averaged 16.6 points and 6.5 assists during his only season at Kentucky and was a Consensus First Team All-America.

To see the rest of my article on Examiner.com, click here.

Isner and Mahut in epic battle at Wimbledon – longest match in history

June 23, 2010

John Isner of the U.S. and Nicolas Mahut of France are playing a marathon tennis match at Wimbledon. Isner leads Mahut 41 games to 40 in the fifth set.  It’s the longest match in tennis history.  Records have already been set for the longest set and match ever in number of games and length of time. Also most aces combined.

Isner, the 23rd seed, leads the match 6-4, 3-6, 6-7, 7-6, 41-40.  Watch it on ESPN2 to see history being made.

I once played a long set in a match that would determine who got the final singles spot on the high school tennis team. The loser would play number one doubles.  You had to play an 8-game pro-set, so the first to 8 games would win, but you had to win by two games.  So I ended up losing, 17-15.  It was my worst loss ever, absolutely devastating, because I felt sure I was going to play singles.  My mistake was going for a water break up 15-14.  I lost some momentum then.  But I ended up going 12-3 in doubles.  In singles I probably would’ve been closer to .500.

When will it end?  I have to go now, but I’ll guess that it’ll be something like 48-46.  Unbelievable and awesome.  What a great sports day with the earlier drama of the U.S. beating Algeria in soccer in the final minute to advance in the World Cup.