Fun with Quotes!
As you know, sports provides us with gems on a day-to-day basis that the real world could not possible provide (but people continually falling off cruise ships is pretty damn funny)....so here are some of the most memorable quotes of 2008, in no particular order.
Help us rank them!

St. Charles East head football coach Ted Monken on the Geneva Vikings
"What is Geneva going to do to those programs? It's going to be scary. Those poor kids. They're going to put 100 points on 'em and knock a half a dozen of 'em out of the game."

Veteran Northern Illinois trainer Phil Voorhis on the always-in-motion former Kaneland & NIU star PJ Fleck -
"And he doesn"t even drink coffee."

Illinois coach Bruce Weber on West Aurora alumnus Shaun Pruitt
"I don't think he took the big step this year, which I'm sure he's disappointed, we're disappointed. When it's not going good, he always doesn't do the other things that help us, that's what's maybe, for me, the most disappointing thing."

Waubonsie Valley alumnus and Aurora native Michael Bowden on March 30. He made his major league debut for Boston against the White Sox on Aug. 30."I remember my goal being (in the majors) by age 21, and I will have that opportunity this year and I think that will be a great stepping stone. That'd be awesome to achieve that."

Ozzie Guillen - "We're horse$@#& no matter how many World Series' we win."

Bruce Weber on the Big Ten
"The league should be wide open and we can be right in the middle of it. I do know one thing, though. I think Indiana will suck. Don't put that on the Internet."

Denis Savard - "They gotta commit to the Indian."

First year Marmion baseball coach Dave Rakow on his first ever varsity win, an 8-7 called game on March 21 over West Aurora.
"This is a new one for me. It's the first win of my career and I've never seen this in my life, anywhere. We won 8-7, I guess."

Mike Singletary - "Cannot play with 'em. Cannot win with 'em. Cannot coach with 'em. Can't do it."

Chicago Cubs starter Ryan Dempster - "Maybe we underestimated how prepared you have to be, how ready you have to be, especially in a five-game series."

Batavia basketball player Jordan Smith in January on his role on the team -
"This year, we have three scorers in Nick (Fruendt), Phil (Albrecht) and
David (Bryant). Me and (fellow front-liner) Ricky (Clopton) are just garbage guys, I guess you could say."

Aurora native and Cleveland Cavaliers broadcaster Joe Tait on himself -
"You could sum me up as an old fart who is tired and still breathing on a regular basis."

Former Hinckley Big-Rock basketball assistant coach David Maxam on former head coach Larry Peppers, who was fired in June - "Sure, he says things once in a while that somebody's mother might not
like, but you have been on the sidelines when we make fun of each other. What are we supposed to do, act like we are at a funeral? Some parents just never grow up."

(Matt) Ryan collected 44 votes, far in front of Titans running back Chris Johnson with three. Broncos tackle Ryan Clady had two and Bears running back Matt Forte got one.

Look, I know quarterbacks get all the love. After all, they are the only players (besides centers) that touch the ball literally every time their team is on the field offensively.

But how does ATL QB Matt Ryan just blow everyone away in the ROY voting?

I wonder if things would've been different if the Bears had held on to beat the Falcons, or Panthers, or Bucs, or Texans, won the division and had a bye week.
I mean - Forte was nearly 40-percent of the Bears entire offense

Matt Ryan was fortunate enough to have perhaps the best RB in the NFC in NIU product Michael Turner. Forte had Ortman.
Forte had John St. Clair
and Josh Beekman

gotta love this time of year....
the Eagles pounded Tony Romo and the 'Boys into oblivion, the Bears choked again behind Ortman.bmp....all good stuff!

Also - The Daily Dose must have a fan in Waubonsie Valley boys basketball coach Steve Weemer, who said of his Warriors on Saturday:
"We played with some passion and fire tonight and that was good to see. We got in the gym this morning and got our focus. It was a good test of our character to see where we¹re at at this point of the season."

Happy Trails <Romeo Crennel....

Rod Marinelli....Eric "Man-Genius" Mangini

gotta love this time of year....
the Eagles pounded Tony Romo and the 'Boys into oblivion, the Bears choked again behind Ortman.bmp....all good stuff!

Also - The Daily Dose must have a fan in Waubonsie Valley boys basketball coach Steve Weemer, who said of his Warriors on Saturday:
"We played with some passion and fire tonight and that was good to see. We got in the gym this morning and got our focus. It was a good test of our character to see where we¹re at at this point of the season."

Happy Trails <a href="http://www.sportsnetwork.com/merge/tsnform.aspx?c=sportsnetwork&page=nfl/news/newstest.aspx?id=4200053">Romeo Crennel....Rod Marinelli....Eric "Man-Genius" Mangini

gotta love this time of year....
the Eagles pounded Tony Romo and the 'Boys into oblivion, the Bears choked again behind Ortman.bmp....all good stuff!

Also - The Daily Dose must have a fan in Waubonsie Valley boys basketball coach Steve Weemer, who said of his Warriors on Saturday:
"We played with some passion and fire tonight and that was good to see. We got in the gym this morning and got our focus. It was a good test of our character to see where we¹re at at this point of the season."

Happy Trails <a href="http://www.sportsnetwork.com/merge/tsnform.aspx?c=sportsnetwork&page=nfl/news/newstest.aspx?id=4200053">Romeo Crennel....Rod Marinelli....Eric "Man-Genius" Mangini

unreal.

The Yanks land Mark Teixeira - to go with CC Sabathia and AJ Burnett (so far) this offseason. And who's to say Manny won't be next?

This sentence boggles my mind: Teixeira's deal now raises the Yankees' offseason spending spree to $423.5 million

Now, we all know how this will play out - Burnett will spend most of his five years on the DL, and Sabathia will continue to choke his postseason starts away, much like A-Rod does his at bats.

Oh well, it is a material world....

but it's not.

If I had a vote, I'd have to put Chad Pennington's name down for NFL MVP.

I had this conversation with a colleague the other day, saying I would have to put him within the top three...but now I would have to consider him as the guy.

That's right. Chad Pennington.

Here's the funny thing - you can't even find the guy in a Dolphins uni on the first two pages of Google image searching.

Here's a quick rundown after week 15:
2nd in rating
2nd in completion percentage
10th in yards
t12th in TDs
t4th in fewest interceptions

and oh yeah - the most important thing - he took a team that went 1-15 last season to one game away from an AFC East crown

So, it's not that crazy now is it?

is this message from Jason Bauman, one my sports editors/designers at the Beacon News.

we'll miss you Shawn.

It's a little after 11 pm (CT) and I had pretty much given up any hopes of finding a daily dose ... until I was directed to ESPN The Magazine's year in review story. Now, I canceled my subscription to that thing awhile ago because there was well, just too much crap in it.

Anyway - the piece was written by Chris Jones and while i'm not sure how it reads in print, or how it's laid out, i can tell you I didn't click any further than that home page because of the fact it ranked Yankee Stadium above every other "story of the year."

Sorry - NOTHING that happened in sports in 2008 tops Michael Phelps' amazing feat in Beijing. NOTH-ING.

This type of crap infuriates me. It's a BUILDING.
Yes, lots and lots of great players played there. Millions have hit the john there. But it doesn't compare to what SOMEONE ACTUALLY DID.

I'll give you that it was one of the top storylines of the entire year. But it shouldn't rank anywhere near the top 50. It's unreal how much garbage is stuffed down the nation's throats when it comes to the Red Sox and Yankees. Not everyone cares. Not EVERYTHING they do matters.

I can only hope that we don't get inundated with all kinds of crap of the "new" Yankee Stadium opens....

I'm watching ESPNews, well, not really "watching" as I'm about to send over a story for tomorrow's paper - but then I hear The Immortal, The King, The Man, Mr. Wrangler, Brett Favre, at the podium.

I hear him talking about the first place Jets, and how great it is they are in the playoff and division hunt.

And then he offers this up: "They could be my last. They could be my last three games."

Yes. PLEASE. let it happen. GO AWAY.

just as i'm getting the itch to play golf again (we're supposed to get up to 5 inches of snow tonight, by the way), my thoughts have turned to the upcoming Hall of Fame elections for Major League Baseball.

And my favorite player of all time, the man whose batting stance and headfirst slide I emulated, will be elected - Rickey Henderson.

Unfortunately, some schmo's will purposely leave him off the ballot so he's not unanimously elected, but that's neither here nor there.

Henderson.bmp was everything you could love and hate about pro sports. He was a show off. He was arrogant. He wanted to get paid. But he loved the game. He bumped around the independent leagues just because. I actually don't remember him officially retiring from the sport. He was the best teammate you could ask for because the man took walks, stole bases and above all else, scored runs. That's what matters in baseball.

He was power and speed and the most disruptive offensive force in the game for nearly 15 years. That's just amazing.

My favorite personal Rickey moment: I have only one, because I only saw him play live, once. It was Aug. 1, 1999 and he was with the Mets playing at Wrigley Field.
Now, he was past his prime, but the 10th inning was vintage Rickey.

He led off the top of the 10th and coaxed a walk.
Then, he stole second base! - trust me, seeing that was like watching Jordan a little bit in his Washington days...it wasn't all there all the time, but every now and then there was a flashback to the glory days, when you saw one of the greatest players of all time doing the exact thing that made them great. It was fabulous.
He advanced to third on an errant throw, and then scored on a sac fly.
It was baseball poetry. and I still have the scorecard
It was Rickey.

And I cannot wait until he's inducted. It'll be one of the few times I make an effort to watch the ceremony.

On a lighter note - one of the best parts of Rickey's career in baseball are his quotes.
I have rounded up some of the better ones, so read on in the extended body.
here's a taste
In June 1999, when Henderson was playing with the Mets, he saw reporters running around the clubhouse before a game. He asked a teammate what was going on and he was told that Tom Robson, the team's hitting coach, had just been fired. Henderson said, "Who's he?"

on an equally funny note, here are all the players that were traded for Rickey in his career:
1984 - Yankees sent Stan Javier, Jay Howell, Jose Rijo, Eric Plunk and Tim Birtsas to the A's.
1989 - A's sent Greg Cadaret, Eric Plunk and Luis Polonia to the Yankees.
1993 - Blue Jays sent Steve Karsay and Jose Herrera to the A's.
1997 - Angels sent Ryan Hancock, Stevenson Agosto and George Arias to the Padres.

in the winter!

yes!

It's funny - I was just watching a replay of the US Open yesterday, and it gave me goosebumps all over again.

and i was remembering how it was supposed to be the duel between Phil and Tiger because it was a home course matchup for Philly Mick....

and then Tiger's caddie Stevie Williams blasted Lefty the other day, which prompted up followup statements from both Phil and Tiger, so you know it was good.

and oh, it was. Here you go

for nicknames had to be the '85 Bears (it's amazing what you think about when you're watching bad NFL games on Thursday nights)

But i was thinking about it - I can't recall the last time one team had so many long-lasting, and flat out cool, nicknames.

nowadays, people resort to the easy $%&^t like A-Rod, I-Rod, ManRam, A-Ram, D-Lee...no one has any creativity....

If you can think of a team with as many legit nicknames, i'd love to see it. Here's the thing - I was five years old when the Bears won that Super Bowl, and these are the names I could come up with just off the top of my head - feel free to add any i've missed.

Team
Monsters of the Midway (ok, ok, the term was first coined in the 40's, but let's be honest, who paid any attention then?)

Defense
Junkyard Dogs

Offensive line
Black and Blues Brothers

Coach
Iron Mike

Offensive players
The Punky QB
Sweetness
Silky D

Defensive players
Danimal
The Refrigerator
Mongo
The Colonel
Samurai
L.A. Mike
Chico

Special Teams
Butthead

but completely sick of....

Terrell Owens selfishly crying.....

The Yankees buying everyone....

The Twins may acquire another grindy player who would inevitably hit .400 against the White Sox in 2009....

and a little bit of crap.

Joe Barton needs to go crawl in a hole and squeeze his Roger Clemens autograph....

Look - i'm all for government involvement in sports when sports can't seem to police themselves (i.e. steroids; collusion etc) but sometimes, these elected public officials need to do things that elected public officials need to do - like serve the public that elected them.

even if we were in the middle of a trillion dollar economic boom, rather than bust, i don't want to read about this:
"(Barton) said the bill -- being co-sponsored by Reps. Bobby Rush, an Illinois Democrat, and Michael McCaul, a Texas Republican -- "will prohibit the marketing, promotion, and advertising of a postseason game as a 'national championship' football game, unless it is the result of a playoff system. Violations of the prohibition will be treated as violations of the Federal Trade Commission Act as an unfair or deceptive act or practice."

honestly - who gives a crap right now (if ever)? The government sure as hell shouldn't. Sure, college FB fans, especially those in Texas and Alabama, are up in arms about the BCS system. They have a right to be. But every year we're talking about a couple hundred thousand disgruntled fans .... sorry....

Apparently, the Arena Football League is having financial issues and the 16-year-old league may fold shortly.

While people wonder how (or when) the current economy will affect their most beloved sports franchises in MLB, NFL, NBA and NHL - it's these satellite pro sports leagues that will be hit the hardest.

If the AFL folds - there's no way you can convince me that more WNBA teams and MLS franchises won't be in jeopardy.

And you sure as heck can't say fringe pro sporst leagues, like pro women's softball, lacrosse, indoor soccer, ABA basketball et al all might fall like a house of cards built by Blago.

And speaking of - he for sure is on the way out! Wow. We've got a great track record peeps!

besides me, of course.

You would think a lot happened in sports this past week while the Daily Dose was on vacation. I mean, Tony Romo choked (again), Nick Saban got his @$$ handed to him, Notre Dame watched the guy they should've hired march his way into his second national title game, the White Sox traded Javy Vasquez and the Cubs still aren't sold....

but that's not the big news of the week. Nope...

I mean, I'm sure you missed that:
Northern Illinois is in a bowl game! wha???

Plaxico Burress is an idiot
From a Google search: Results 1 - 10 of about 70,800 for Plaxico Burress + idiot.

Derrick Rose joined the list of other athletes doing stupid things to hurt themselves at home....

The Houston Comets disbanded....but all you're eligible for is free shipping....make sure you snap up those $60 customized replica road jerseys!!

I'm sure some other crap happened along the way too this week, but I just wanted to make sure I caught you up on some stuff I'm sure you missed....

ok, ok - couldn't stay completely away, but it's not every day a Beacon coverage area team makes the Yahoo! home page (forgive my bad attempt at screen capturing, or whatever they call it)
right now, at 6:33 p.m. Michael Ratay and an o-lineman are up there...
Alas, the Vikes did not make Rivals.com's top 100 football teams in the country, but they are No. 17 on the "great lakes" list, whatever that means...

And Stacey King's "analysis" here is just as good as The Rose...great, great stuff all around

the Bears are bad.

This is one of the guys who took them behind the woodshed on Sunday:

And this is the other (a former player they couldn't afford, by the way):

So in the last two games against "real" football teams (no, beating the Rams doesn't count -- I think Geneva might be able to give them a game) the Monsters of the Midway have been outscored 71-17 and outgained 805-462.

Which now begs the question: when the heck is Languishing Lovie going to hit the panic button? And here is another: does he even know where the panic button is located?

This team is spiraling into nowhere and he at least publicly gives off the idea that he doesn't care. Beyond wins and losses, fans ask for two things: play hard and at least play like you care. It doesn't seem like this team is concerned much about the latter two, because they sure aren't playing like a team that still, believe it or not, has something to play for.

Then again, maybe the players know the truth: their bosses are incompetent failures who are in over their heads. If I'm wrong, then why does a guy who wasn't on the roster until Saturday (Jason Davis) get the ball in a key situation on offense, and why does the gazillion-dollar defense look like they are outschemed week after week?

Please do something! I'm not on the meathead bandwagon that says bring Ditka back as the coach or elevate Caleb Hanie to starting quarterback, but jeez, can they at least throw us a bone? Run the no-huddle for more than one series, blitz like there is no tomorrow, draw up something that will get Devin Hester's confidence back.

In short, stop playing CYA football and start winning games by doing whatever it takes instead of what the little card you are holding in front of you tells you what to do.

deal with it!

But here are some useful links and other great "only in sports" stories that we love so much....

first, Don Beebe is opening up a Football Academy today - for you Aurora and west suburban parents and athletes, check it out.

Plaxico Burress pleads not guilty to criminally possessing a handgun, despite the fact that the handgun in his possession was the one that shot his own leg...

Cincinnati coach Brian Kelly says he's staying at the Big East school...which means he's already got his bags packed and one foot out the door...countdown begins....now!

There is something infinitely wrong with this statement from Tom Verducci:
"When you judge Mussina against his peers, he never had the peak of Maddux, Pedro Martinez, Randy Johnson or Roger Clemens. But his durability and elite consistency in a hostile environment makes him worthy of Cooperstown."

No. It's the Hall of FAME. Not Hall of Very Good. Not Hall of Guys Who Played a Long Time. Not Hall of Guys Who Played on the East Coast. Not Hall of Guys Who Played in Hostile Environments.
If that's the case, seriously, then every negro leaguer and African American and Latino baseball player who suited up prior to the 70's should be in the HOF.

and then these two items - only in college foo-ball
1. USC willing to give up timeouts to wear red at UCLA

"(Steve Spurrier), who had a history of taking verbal jabs at Kiffin's predecessor, Phillip Fulmer, questioned whether Kiffin broke NCAA recruiting rules by contacting Tennessee recruits before he was cleared to do so." Nice.