Honor

This one may offend some of you as callous, but it's honestly callous, for whatever that's worth.

Last Sunday in Washington, the Redskins inducted Sean Taylor into their Ring of Honor, then went out and got themselves stomped by the disturbingly efficient Giants. Don't worry, there will be (more) jokes about the won-loss record of Sean Taylor's Ghost in other posts.

Now, I get that the Taylor Tragedy was a John Lennon Killed moment for 'Skins Fan, and that he was many people's favorite player, given that he was large, fast, and hit people hard.

But there's a lot of difference between a fan favorite who died and a truly great player. Taylor made too many coverage and judgment mistakes to be the latter. When they field the all-time 'Skins team in Gridiron Heaven, he's probably on special teams until he can be coached up.

Tangent time that isn't really... when I was but a very wee Shooter, I watched hockey, in that it was a sport that had a professional Philadelphia team, and hence had to be watched and rooted for with abandon. (Yes, even indoor soccer. Moving on.)

One bright spring day, I found my folks sitting outside watching the Flyers on a black and white television off an extension cord in the backyard, as the weather was beautiful. The game started, but there was a long somber moment of silence and a banner being raised to the rafters. A Flyer I didn't really know very well, in that my childhood hockey fandom consisted of guys who scored, fought, and goaltender Bernie Parent, was being given the Ultimate Honor of having his jersey retired.

His name was Barry Ashbee.

When I asked my mom what was going on, she told me he had been a good player, but he was dead now, and didn't say how, in that talking about death with your very little kid tends to be a rathole of conversation that leads to nowhere pleasant. So no one was ever going to wear the number four again.

Wikipedia tells me that Ashbee was a second-team NHL All-Star on defense, and a member of the first Flyers' Stanley Cup team. After a gruesome eye injury in a playoff game (he took a slapshot straight on), and was forced to retire. I'm guessing that it was one of those things that more modern medicine might have helped with, but I'm sure it was horrible.

He was given an assistant coach's job, which he held until he received a terminal diagnosis of leukemia in 1977; he died in a month. The Flyers retired his jersey and have given an award to the team's best defenseman in his name, every year, ever since.

Now, Ashbee seems to have been a pretty good player; definitely not a goon by the penalty numbers, and a +52 in the first Stanley Cup year. He also seems to have been a genuinely good guy, having toiled for eight years in the minors until expansion opened up a slot for him in Philadelphia. He was tough and popular, in an era where the fans bonded more with hockey players from the lack of helmets and visors -- and yes, maybe the injury was one of the reasons why helmets became the rule fairly soon afterward. One suspects that Philly Fan loved him most for striking a ref on purpose, and getting suspended for it. Maybe older folks remember him for more than that, but I kind of doubt it; he didn't have the offensive or penalty numbers to be terribly memorable.

However, it's probably pretty safe to say that a guy who only played four years for the franchise, and probably didn't miss too many of the best days of his career. The eye injury happened when he was 34. Until it happened, I'm sure he wasn't really on anyone's short path to having his jersey retired.

Tragedy made Ashbee honored, and on some level, he knew it. He initially turned down the coach's job because he thought the Flyers were doing it out of pity.

Now, what teams do with their Rings of Honor and retired jerseys is their business, and if it helps their fans get on with the grieving process, there's something to be said for that.

But one assumes that these franchises are going to go on for a very long time -- honestly, it's hard to imagine a world in which someone isn't making money off pro football, and the Washington franchise doesn't exist.

It's also hard to imagine that tragic events aren't going to happen to players on the team. It is, after all, what happens, and what has always happened. You are going to see triple-digit jersey numbers eventually, or posthumous exhumations of guys like Taylor and Ashbee in 50 years.

Finally, this. Does Flyer Fan look up into the rafters and remember Barry Ashbee for anything more than being the name of the award that they give to the top defenseman every year, and that he has a memorial fund to fight leukemia?

And in 20 to 30 years, will Redskins Fan see Taylor's name and think of anything more than a botched home invasion?

Um, can someone please kill this thing now?

Seen on my Lemur crawler... the WNBA will disband the Houston Comets, who won the first four seasons of the league, because they couldn't find a new owner.

Try to imagine that happening in any other league, um, ever. No, I couldn't either. David Stern, can you please step aside from your devouring of the hopes and dreams of Seattle basketball fans and end this thing, please?

MNF Notes: Texans-Jaguars

In a game that I was only watching for fantasy purposes (honest!), the Texans continue their odd defensive mastery of the highly disappointing Jags, who look like they've just quit on coach Jack del Rio. Given that del Rio doesn't seem very smart and that the organization keeps doing things like paying Jerry Porter a lot of money to not catch footballs for them, I can see the logic in the decision. A few points...

> I'm not one for caring too much about a jersey; laundry is laundry, and it's not like my Eagles have impeccable taste in clothing, especially when they go with those black things that literally everyone I know hates. But the red-on-red that they are wearing looks like it belongs in I-AA or the CFL. Seriously, people, change that, or risk a very long gestation period that will resemble the Buccaneers' tangerine orange days.

> When Matt Jones and his very occasional ability to get off the line of scrimmage is your best receiver -- and maybe it's actually tight end Mercedes Lewis, who they don't throw to enough -- you shouldn't win a lot of games. I'm not sure how this team was good last year, in retrospect, but I'm prone to underrating the importance of the offensive line.

> Speaking of Jones, you've never seen a guy with more skills who does less. Tall, strong, fast, blah.

> You'd never know that Houston is a terrible defensive team from watching this game tonight. Or that David Garrard is a threat to run at quarterback. He looked pudgy to me tonight.

> After scoring their first points tonight (a short field goal), del Rio chose to go for an obvious onside kick, with two kickers on the field, that was recovered fairly easily by the Texans. A long Steve Slaton screen later, and the Texans had the field goal back. It's not as if their defense was really struggling, either. del Rio's confidence in his defense wasn't, um, encouraging.

> With 12:21 left and a fourth and goal from the five, del Rio chose to go for it, rather than kick a field goal. Garrard stumbled coming away from center, then threw it up for grabs for an incompletion. And that, honestly, was the ball game, though it got points-wacky at the end.

> According to the MNF chuckleheads, Sage Rosenfels would do his mid-air breakdance fumble against the Colts again. No, seriously. Honestly, there's a reason why Sage Rosenfels should not start NFL games.

> With 2:45 left and the game out of reach, Maurice Jones-Drew took a ball out of the flat and proceeded to head-smash his way through three guys. MJD might not have a terribly long career, but you've still got to love the guy.

> Fred Taylor picked up his 70th touchdown in the late going, setting a new Jaguars team record (Jimmy Smith had 69). Considering how many years he got vultured at the goal line or fought lingering injuries, it really is a meaningful mark... and while he's not exactly someone you think of when you say the words "Hall of Fame", he probably gets there.

> I'd like to really thank the Jags' for failing to touch or care about Steve Slaton late, who took it to the house on his last two carries of the game, doubling his fantasy points for the game and putting me back in first in my points league. Way to show some holiday spirit! You're too kind!

The year's NASCAR moment and post

You are looking live at the Thomas Kinkade NASCAR painting, which was advertised to me during tonight's MNF action.

I present it here just so that I can bathe in the beauty of its sheer awesomeness. As a relative who shall remain nameless has said, it's an entirely different painting in afternoon light, as opposed to morning light. (Yes, really.)

Either that, or I'm mocking the very existence of these two great frauds that go so wrong together, as part of a lovable character trait of mocking what other people like. You make the call!

Epic Drop: Top 10 ways for the Knicks to resolve the Stephon Marbury situation

I know, I know, the last thing you want from me is more about a guy that doesn't play, shouldn't play, and won't make any difference to anyone but the Dolan's bottom line... but there is something about this man and experience that makes people just go batshit loco. I've heard people actually talk about how this is the Knicks' fault for not just paying him to go away, and how since the Starchild Has Been Disrespected -- may we all find such moments of disrespect! -- the Knicks are merely reaping what they sow.

To which I have only one question...

Are Marbury's checks clearing, and being deposited?

Because, well, if they are... he has no standing. If it's that big of a problem, if the disrespect is so egregious, just refuse the payment and walk away from your contract.

He won't, of course, because he's a sack of crap. End of story.