The Best of Lee Russakoff Archive

Thu Feb 26, 10:25 PM UTC

Cancer Patients Not Worried About K.G.
Can we all stop pretending attacking Kevin Garnett in any way is defending the sick. Cancer patients don't care about NBA trash talk.

McNabb Saga Pretty Ugly
It was Donovan McNabb's Pretty Woman moment. He had just beaten his old team and announced to the world that letting him go was a huge mistake. But now it's gone horribly wrong.

Buck Up, Philadelphia
For the Phillies, 2010 ultimately was a disappointment. For Philadelphia fans, it was filled with memories that will last forever.

Pain Does Not Exist in this Dojo
It certainly wasn’t pretty. But when you’re fighting for your season, when you’re one loss away from going home, style points don’t mean much. There is one goal. Survive at any cost.

It's Orange! Your Aura Is Orange!
When Philadelphia won the World Series in 2008, there was an aura about the team. There was a feeling that the Phils were going to find a way to win. The Giants have that this year.

Cody, Cody, Cody Has Done It Again
No one really gave the Giants a chance in the NLCS. At least, no one outside San Francisco. And yet here we are.

Jimmy Believes in Jimmy
Jimmy Rollins has to be feeling a bit of deja vu this morning. After taking some hometown criticism for an autumn slumber at the plate, Rollins broke out in a big way Sunday night.

It's a Jersey Thing?
With all the stars on the field, Cody Ross winds up the hero of Game 1 of the NLCS? That just doesn't compute.

Sacked Like a Sacker: Long Live the King!
We all knew this time would come ... it just wasn't supposed to come this early. At 16 years old, Justin Bieber is the king of the world. There's no sense denying it anymore.

27 Broken Faces
Roy Halladay gave us something we will share with the people closest to us – fathers, sons, mothers, daughters, brothers, sisters and friends – for the rest of our lives. For that, we all owe him big time.

Vick Named Eagles Starting QB? Unbelievable
Michael Vick is the starting quarterback for the Eagles? And none of this has anything to do with Kevin Kolb? Don't believe it

Philly Fans Need to Find Some Patience
Eagles fans, stop it. Stop it right now. You’re making us look silly. Kevin Kolb is your QBk for the near-future, and hopefully long after that.

NCAA, Heisman Trophy Trust Have No Shame
If the NCAA wants us to take Reggie Bush's offenses seriously, it needs to return the money it made off of him.

Defending Michael Vick
These days, the only thing less popular than defending Michael Vick is defending Jeffrey Lurie and Joe Banner. I'll do both.

Rules Made to Be Broken
It’s an outrage. A debacle. A travesty. I’m fired up. And I’m talking about men’s slow-pitch softball. I'll explain.

For All Our Sakes, Can We Please Shut Up and Listen?
We want instant analysis in under 140 characters. I get that. But I never thought the desire for fast news would commandeer common sense.

Fill the Sports Vacuum ... Please
Every year we come to the vacuum of a sports day that is the day after the MLB All-Star game, and every year I start to get angry (Don’t make me angry. You wouldn’t like me when I’m angry).

LeBron's a Diva ... And It's Our Fault
When LeBron broke the news that he was making his free-agency decision on live TV – announcing the announcement – I wanted to tear him apart.

Glory, Glory States United!
We still have a shot at saving the sport in this country and capitalizing on the national soccer mojo Landon Donovan et. al. stirred up during their valiant World Cup run.

Phillies Have No Lee-Way
Ruben Amaro was right. OK, half right. OK, not right at all … but he had a good reason for ultimately making a bad decision.

Kings Don't Move
As a non-Cleveland fan, it would be fun to see LeBron elsewhere. But if James knows what's best for him, he won't go anywhere.

Koman Coulibaly: We Salute You
Sure, the ref from Mali blew a call that hurt the U.S. But is American soccer better off?

One Hundred Million Dollar Baby
Albert Haynesworth is kidding, right? He's not really refusing to play for a team that just gave him $100 million.

Give Me Replay or Give Me Death
Baseball owes an apology to Armando Galarraga. The time for MLB replay isn't now. It was 10 years ago.

Time to Bring the Super Bowl Home
The Super Bowl, like every other playoff game, should be a home game for the highest-seeded team left standing.

I Have One Simple Request: Sharks with Frickin’ Tasers Attached to Their Heads
If you're dumb enough to run on the field, you deserve no mercy. Feed these idiots to the lions.

Ben Roethlisberger, a Product of the Diagnosis Generation
The NIH wants to blame head trauma for Ben's boorish behavior. Perhaps — and I’m just spit- balling here — but perhaps he's just a horse’s ass.

From Now on, Refer to Me as Nostradamus
A broken clock is right twice a day. "Russakoff Rules" is now officially only one behind that clock. That's because I was just right, very right, on a big one.

I’m Sorry Donovan; It Was Me, Not You
Donovan McNabb, I think I owe you an apology. Not as a writer. As a fan. Now that I'm with Kevin, I can honestly say, I just want you to be happy.

Hey Media, [Bleep] You
When Tiger Woods hit a “big snipe” off the first hole, he was upset. When he banged a “low quack hook” (ooh, that sounds dirty) on the fifth hole, he was absolutely irate.

McNabb in D.C.? You Gotta Love It
From the beginning, it was an arranged marriage … the two forced together by authority figures who thought they knew what was best for each.

Expansion to 96 Teams 'Probable'
Remember yesterday when I wrote that the 96-team bracket may just be a cunning PR smokescreen for a planned smaller expansion?

An NCAA Conspiracy Theory
Is it possible that the NCAA is secretly brilliant? Is it within the realm of possibility that the tourney committee has been playing us from Day One? Could some PR guru have come up with a way to turn water into wine?

Eagles QBs: Time to Pull the Trigger
As it turns out, Donovan McNabb may not be wearing Eagles green next year. Trade rumors and speculation the organization once insisted were fabricated have suddenly not only materialized, but are also being "entertained."

Talking Points for Tiger, Tiger Woods Y'all
I’m glad – for the sake of humanity – that Tiger Woods is a fan of mine. Just hours after I penned Tiger … Please Stop the Insanity, Mr. Woods decided to listen to me and announced plans to hold a press conference. Clearly, we all have me to thank for this development (no other explanation seems remotely plausible).

Super Bowl XLV Odds
The 2009-10 NFL season ended all of three days ago. The vomit along Bourbon Street still hasn't dried. So, you'd have to be really sick to already be thinking about who is going be playing for a ring in Dallas next February. Unfortunately for my wife, I'm incurably infected with NFL ague. Though, luckily for me, I'm not the only one suffering.

From Here Forward, 'Payton' Is Spelled with an 'A'
I still say that if the Colts and Saints played 10 times, the Colts would win seven. But the Saints won the one that mattered. And that’s all that matters. New Orleans won Super Bowl XLIV, 31-17. The Saints won because they outcoached, outplayed and outsmarted the Colts for 60 minutes.

A Cy for a Cy? ... Sigh
Deep breath Philadelphia. You can't always get what you want. But if you try, sometimes you might find, you get what you need. Roy Halladay has gone from savior to consolation prize in a matter of 18 hours.

Que Sera Sera
So I’m standing on the Yankee Stadium field, watching Alex Rodriguez and Jorge Posada celebrate … and I feel like I’m going to throw up. It wasn’t supposed to be this way.