Bud Shaw addresses the 2014 Super Bowl in New York, Phil Jackson's coaching future and more in his Spin column.
Sure, these are happy New Yorkers after Tuesday's announcement that the 2014 Super Bowl was awarded to the new East Rutherford, N.J. stadium shared by the Jets and Giants. But it's not like any casual fans -- even those in mighty Manhattan -- are going to be able to afford the tickets.
CLEVELAND, Ohio -- In sports, the spin cycle just never seems to end.
Plus, this will lift the spirits of the tired, the poor, the huddled masses of Wall Street bankers.
New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft was a big proponent of the NFL choosing New York-New Jersey as the site of its first cold weather, outdoor Super Bowl in 2014."It's New York," Kraft told a gaggle of reporters at the owners' spring meetings. "It's unique. It's what I suggested a few years back when we discussed it -- a New York Super Bowl would be more symbolic of our resilience and recovery from 9/11."
Take that, Al Qaeda. Thirteen years later.
There's more where that came from.
If somebody in another cold weather city spends a billion-six or so on another football stadium any time soon -- and holding a Super Bowl there can match the financial bonanza of staging one in New York -- the NFL will step right up and send another tough message to those who would harm America.
By Kraft's definition, Major League Baseball made a similar statement not only at home but to the global community when the Yankees bought yet another World Series last season.
Try us, Taliban. Go ahead. Make our day.
And if the Knicks or Nets sign LeBron James, the NBA should follow Kraft's lead and soothe the pain felt here by framing it in patriotic terms.
I can hear David Stern now:
"Sorry, Cavs fans, but I think I speak for every American when I say we cannot let the terrorists win."
We'll be right back with the opening kickoff ... as soon as the teams can escape their Times Square hotel rooms.According to Kraft, though, a Super Bowl outdoors in New York isn't all about coming back from a catastrophe that happened in 2001. It's about coming back from a more recent economic crisis, too.
"Then you take what these owners [with the Giants and Jets] put into this, all they've endured with the economy while they got this stadium going, and it's just the right thing to do," he said.
True enough, nobody you or I know has felt the economic pain of the recession more than owners of sports teams.
That's something everyone can rally around.
What does L.A. have that we don't -- other than good weather, the Pacific, Jeanie Buss...
Phil Jackson said no to the idea of coaching in Chicago next year. But he laughingly said when asked about the Nets that he wouldn't mind having a vodka with new team owner Mikhail Prokhorov.
The English to English translation: L.A. owner Jerry Buss would like Jackson to take a pay cut from the $12 million he makes this season. Jackson knows Jerry Reinsdorf isn't going to pay that in Chicago. Prokhorov spends that much on a week's supply of Beluga caviar.
Jackson has no intention of going to New Jersey, either. He's just tweaking Buss.
Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert, who might happily pay Jackson $12 million if it meant keeping James, will probably make a run at the Lakers head coach. But he shouldn't get his hopes up.
Have you seen this poor guy walk? Washington's men at Valley Forge looked like "Dancing With The Stars" candidates by comparison.
Jackson is not coming to this climate. Not at his age.
Not with his resume. He doesn't need it.
There's zero chance.
I've been wrong once before, though I can't remember what it was about.
Here's my hedge. I'm saying that if he takes the job, it'll be a historic first.
The first time somebody coached an entire NBA season via "Skype."
SPINOFFS
C'mon, is the NFL really saying that Green Bay isn't ... equipped ... to handle the excitement of a Super Bowl? Really?It's nice of Jackson to spend some time coaching in the Western Conference finals in and around entertaining questions about his future...
To the argument that an outdoor Super Bowl could be "memorable," I'd say so was the Blizzard of 1978. But I wouldn't pay to watch it...
Doesn't the NFL know that baseball has cornered the market on putting its crown jewel, the World Series, on display in inclement weather?
Now that the cold-weather outdoor Super Bowl barrier has been broken, Packers fans are clamoring for the event to come to Lambeau Field. ... With Green Bay's shortage of hotel rooms, there's not enough No Doz in the world to keep that many people awake through a week's worth of festivities...
The Suns' Grant Hill voiced his opinion that Mike Krzyzewski won't leave Duke to coach the Cavaliers next season. I agree. Krzyzewski is one of those rock-solid low-ego people who knows who he is ... damn him.
Why, as a native of Philadelphia, did I know the story was about a fan at a Phillies, Eagles, Flyers or Sixers game as soon as I saw the headline on an Internet site: "Vomit Man Admits He Threw Up on Cop, Kid..."
Bingo. Phillies...
Diego Maradona, Argentina's coach, says he will run naked through the center of Buenos Aires if his country wins the World Cup. Argentina is a power. It's not as if he coaches Vatican City. It sounds as he's looking a little too forward to getting naked in public...
YOU SAID IT
"Bud:
"If LeBron James turns down New Jersey's offer, will Mikhail Prokhorov change their name to the Nyets?" -- Pat
Don't know. My best sources are closer to the Knicks. And last I heard, Spike Lee has scheduled a July 1 surgery to have himself grafted to LeBron's pant leg.
"Bud:
"Has the giant LeBron portrait downtown been replaced by a mural of Colt McCoy yet?" -- Tom H.
They are still working on it: "Not born here, not raised here, stays on the bench here" doesn't have much of a ring to it.
"Bud:
"If the Indians' afternoon game last Thursday had been played at night, would Luis Valbuena have been bothered on ground balls by moon glare?" -- Lloyd
Usually ball park lights are more of a problem at night, but Valbuena did recently report losing one grounder in the faint glow of the orbiting space station.
"Hey Bud:
"Here's two separated-at-birth for ya. Casey Blake/Woody Harrelson and Eric Wedge/Jane Curtin." -- Jacque
Any chance you live in a state that has legalized marijuana?
"Hi Bud:
"Will LeBron start wearing one of Jim Thome's 'This Time We Get The Ring' T-shirts?" -- Chuck
Since Thome never played for the Yankees, LeBron is said to be unfamiliar with the name.
"Bud:
"Any insight you can offer into the big decision over which the city is holding its breath? Where does a guy in this town have to go to get his Brett Favre updates?" -- Wayne
First-time You Said It winners receive a T-shirt from the Mental Floss collection. Repeat winners get a copy of Favre's "Favorite Retirement Speeches."