A Million Little Fleeces

Head's up folks, this article has nothing to do with sports or hip hop and it's not even a rant on people who aren't good at what they do.

Instead, it's a confession. A confession, because I don't get it.

I don't understand this being a controversy that everyone feels like they deserve an explanation.

Since becoming the talk of the literary world after being on Oprah and being lauded by the iconic host for penning a book that was "like nothing you've ever read before," James Frey has been stripped down publicly and taken out to the woodshed over the fact his best-selling novel contained some embellishments.

This is where you lose me.

It's only fair that I acknowledge I haven't read the book, but I'm aware of its plot and I'm aware of the ensuing controversy. And while I don't exactly side with the idea of a novellist penning a piece of work and passing it off as non-fiction when it isn't, I also don't accept those that have lashed back at him, most notably Oprah bringing him on TV and pretentiously lecturing like he was a grade-school troublemaker who flushed the class goldfish down the toilet and then blamed it on the immigrant student no one ever talked to.

Oprah herself said she felt "duped" and her audience certainly backed her up. Frey appearing on that stage was about as comfortable a situation for him as Strom Thurmond joining in a family cookout at Tavis Smiley's place.

So there Oprah scolded and admonished him and the audience, on cue, gasped and tisked and Frey squirmed uncomfortably undoubtedly counting the minutes until the whole thing was over.

Oprah is the frontman for this whole storyline and her celebrity, as well as her self-righteous crusade to inform the world about Frey's evil-doings, have kept the story in the public view.

Still, we're talking about a form of entertainment here. People read their books for various reasons and undoubtedly the point of Frey's was to tell a gripping and often haunting tale of one man's burdensome struggles and impending self-revelations. That people were inspired, emotionally invested and brought to tears by his words is the point that too many people are forgetting. The truth, and there is still some here, is that his book, no matter how much is deadly accurate to the actual events, did what it was written to do and the readers got something out of it.

(Don't forget the story isn't totally fictionalized, there is a much greater percentage of truth than lie.)

To be a little more colloquial here, some of this whole fuss reminds me of the Seinfeld episode The Chinese Woman where a blonde woman, through various plot twists, is mistaken over the phone as being Chinese because her last name is Chang. Not having seen Donna, George's mom Estelle takes marital advice from her that she finds particularly poignant. Later in the show, when she finds out Donna is from Long Island, Estelle loses it, renounces the advice and all decisions that came from it because: "I thought I was talking to a Chinese woman!!"

The advice itself doesn't change, does it, just because the source was different.

Well the power and emotion of this story still remains despite the fact some experiences aren't exactly as told. If someone made a promise to clean their life up because of what they read, then the book has achieved some of what it sets out to do. If someone was inspired to help a loved one, if someone was moved enough to make a change in another person's life — and surely there are many who did — then you cannot argue the validity when the bigger picture is the effect. You can't take that away from the author, nor the person who was touched by the words.

It's sad that so much of the world feels like they're owed something now. When in fact those who read Frey's work, I'd wager, already got infinitely more out of the book than the small amount of money they paid for it.

The morning after

Eighty-one, of course, is the most talked about sports topic on TV, internet and among sports fans today. Kobe's performance against the Toronto Raptors Sunday night was the greatest single feat I've ever witnessed in my lifetime and arguably the greatest performance in NBA history.

Think I'm wrong?

Marc Stein's perspective sides with mine while both si.com and sportsline.com raise the arguments of "could he hit 100?", the magic number of Wilt Chamberlain from 1962.

The argument will go on and on, as sports discussions always do, but a closer look at the facts makes it, in my mind, lean more towards Kobe's 81 than to Wilt's 100 as the greatest performance of NBA history.

Kobe used 46 field goal attempts and 20 free throws to get his 81, while Wilt needed 63 and 32. As John Hollinger, ESPN's stats guru, reports today, Kobe's "true shot percentage" was 73.9 while Wilt's was 63.9. During Wilt's game, the Philadelphia Warriors were intentionally fouling Knicks just to get Wilt the ball back while Kobe helped his team come back from a 17-point second-half deficit. Wilt's game he himself called a "farce" while the Lakers of 2006 were battling to try and get a win.

Wilt played the full 48 minutes while Kobe sat down for six minutes in the second quarter. Had he played a full 48, we could be talking about 90 points or — considering Kobe hit for 17 in the final five-plus of the fourth quarter alone, maybe we're talking about 100.

And for those who suggest the 3-point line in existence makes a difference, consider two things. One, Wilt was a 7-foot-1 monster in the middle who never swayed much outside the parameters of the key and, two, hitting 23-foot bombs with men in your face isn't exactly like shooting lay-ups. The fact a guy hits tough shots and get's an extra point for them doesn't diminish a thing. Michael Jordan himself once said the thought of reaching 100 points would be infinitely more difficult for a perimeter player than a big man, simply because of the type of shots taken and the energy a guard expends on the floor.

This will be argued, and that's what's great about sports. I would love to take on the argument and I'm sure I will for years to come.

I love sports and I love the fact that, on occasion, we get to be privy to watching some of the most remarkable, mind-blowing examples of human ability.

S'cuse me Lamar, we're looking for Vince

With all due respect to Lamar Hunt and his trophy, the Pittsburgh Steelers are out looking for the one with Vince Lombardi's name on it now.

The Steelers knocked off the Denver Broncos on Sunday and became the first No.6 seed in NFL history to make the Super Bowl and just the first team since 1985 to win three road games on their way to the big one.

I'll be honest with you, I'm not sure what I'm going to do over the next two weeks. It seems like a long time from now, but on the plus side it's a little extra time to savour in what was the best effort the Steelers had put forth all season. Third down conversions, big plays, taking advantage of opportunities. It was fun to watch but it still doesn't mean I'm going to talk about the next game coming up. I'm still superstitious.

Hard to think that, for me, anything could trump the feeling of watching the Steelers earn just their second berth in the Super Bowl in — essentially — my lifetime. (Born in 1976, the Super Bowls of the 1970s weren't even a memory to me). And it's true that there isn't anything that trumps it.

Although Kobe Bryant tried.

Say what you want about Kobe and you either love him or hate him — and I've said before that if he wasn't playing for the Lakers I probably wouldn't like him that much — but what he did Sunday night against the Toronto Raptors is something that any sports fan has to be thankful they were around to witness.

I watched roughly the final 5:32 of the game, at the office, and Kobe had 64 at that point and thought back to Bill Simmons' piece about Kobe's decision to not go after 80 in a win over the Mavericks. Seems Kobe's damned if he does and damned if he doesn't after all. The guy is harped on for being a selfish player but yet here's a columnist who outright wants him to take that game on his own.

Anyway, I thought about 80 and thought, with five minutes left, it's silly to think he's going to do it. Then he hit a three — a tough one — then he came off a screen and the Raptors defended it like they would have defended the 12th man off the bench in garbage time, left him open to drain another three. Then a shooting foul, then a three-point shooting foul, etc. etc. Suddenly there went Elgin Baylor's 71, then David Thompson's 73 and then 80 is only a couple points away with a couple minutes to play.

We all know how it ends. Eighty-one points.

Adding to the beauty of the moment was the fact the Raptors held a lead at the half and, of course the bigger picture, was that the 55 in the second half gave the Lakers the W.

As a pure sports fan, The 81 Game is one of the moments I will remember forever. Not as a Lakers fan but as a guy who appreciates when you've seen the rarest of rare feats or something exceptional. Twenty-seven points in the third quarter, 28 in the fourth and 55 for the second half, outscoring the entire Raptors team in the second half.

In a world that is often polluted with hyperbole — the Associated Press said the Steelers-Seahawks Super Bowl could go down as one of the best of all time. C'mon now — anyone who watched that game Sunday can say they watched one of the greatest performances in the history of sport and not be remotely exaggerating.

That's something special.

---

Also of note, Tim Duncan turned down a chance to play for the Olympic team and even said "I have no interest in that" while Kobe has said he's excited to compete for the U.S. in the world championship and Olympic games. So there's Duncan, the NBA golden child, seemingly scoffing at the chance to play ball for his country while Kobe's jumping at the chance. Just an interesting comparison between a guy everyone seems to love to hate (unless he's on your team) and the man who can do no wrong.

Heart-stopper

You had to know I was going to talk about this

But, of course, those who know me know I will not discuss next week's game against the Denver Broncos because of superstition. I'm superstitious. Please leave it at that.

Alright, back to last Sunday and the Steelers' huge win over Indy. Jerome Bettis' fumble in the final minute of the game, was one of the most gut-wrenching moments of my life as a sports fan.

Check, the most gut-wrenching moment ever.

Anyone who dislikes Jerome Bettis, I don't know what to say to you. One of the hardest-working and classiest players in the NFL for the past decade-plus, Bettis is everything you'd want an athlete to be. At the slipt second of the fumble — and the ensuing stoppage of all time and existence that occured during that play — my thoughts were more towards Bettis and the thought that that fumble could end up being the last play of his career. I said last week that unequivocally Jerome Bettis has become my favourite athlete of all time. He's surpassed Magic Johnson, but just barely. So when that play happened I swear to you that I was thinking more about him and that play being his last then "oh God we're going to lose this game." (Although that happened to cross my mind too). I felt like I was going to cry.

That said, I think this guy and me would get along.

Obviously I couldn't get enough of highlight packages all through Sunday evening. I wanted to watch the highlights over and over again, and I did. But the thing that happens when you have a wild finish like that (think Nebraska v. Michigan, Dec. 28/2005), is that the focus tends to shift to the final crazy moments and away from the bulk of what got you to that point. In fact, many highlight packages essentially ignored the two dominating scoring drives the Steelers put together in the first three possessions.

(Side note: You often forget about all the other stuff that happened in this game too.)

What is also forgotten about in this game is that the Steelers had a glorious chance to make the contest a three-possession game very early on but an obvious pass interference call in the second quarter, on 3rd and 2, against Indianapolis wasn't called and Pittsburgh was forced to punt instead of getting possession around the Indy 10. Even that early on in the game, the non-call was critical. Pittsburgh could have essentially put the foot on the throat of the Colts instead of playing in the dangerous spot that is a two-possession game against a prolific offence.

People forget that part and, unfortunately, Bettis' fumble, Ben Roethlisberger's season-saving tackle and Mike Vanderjagt's ensuing missed FG will be the images most associated with the game.

Ah, who cares? We won.

The NFL came out publicly on Monday and admitted the refereeing crew headed by Phil Morelli got the interception-turned-incompletion call wrong. Let me preface this by saying that, YES, if the Steelers had lost that game I would be fuming and spewing more venom than all the snakes ever chased out of Ireland.

Still, my viewpoint on this has always been the same: I credit the NFL for at least being professional enough to admit when their crews make mistakes. We all know my feelings on the CFL here where the status quo is accepted and no one is ever wrong. The CFL falls all over itself in a defensive stance to say they don't get it wrong that it just enfuriates you more when you know damn well they do get it wrong. So the NFL admitting a mistake is appreciated.

The NFL refs making the misake is another thing, though.