The two-headed beast of the East

Sporting News, The, Feb 2, 2004

When it comes to the NBA, the East long ago went south, but Indy and Detroit just might be worthy of being mentioned with the best in the West. Put them together, and they broke even against the Lakers, Spurs, Mavs, Kings and T-wolves through the first dozen weeks. But the hard part is telling them apart. Both P-men stress "D" and like to act tough and are coached by guys who used to coach the other guys. The discerning difference: One team has Jermaine O'Neal, and the other drafted Darko Milicic instead of Carmelo Anthony.

Darth Raider strikes again

No organization runs against the grain more than the Raiders, whose drawn-out coaching search almost netted Sean Payton. But why was Oakland hot after him in the first place? Payton was relieved of his play-calling duties with the Giants midway through 2002, then helped oversee a bad Cowboys offense in 2003 (you did see the playoffs, right?). But a wire story reported Payton was the only person brought back for a second interview after four candidates met face-to-face with owner AI Davis. Of course, a big reason for that may have been because the other three candidates turned to vapor.

And that doesn't even include his lane violations

Illinois hoopster Luther Head was arrested earlier this month for running a stop sign. Big deal? Well, not when you consider that he had nine other unpaid traffic tickets. Which would be sad if it weren't so funny when you consider what opposing coaches whisper into Fly's ear when asked for a scouting report of the Head man's game: Beware of him on the drive.

The top 5

Fly used to derisively call them the "wO's", but after signing these five, at least for now, they'll be known as the "Ohhhhhhs": 1. Miguel Tejada; 2. Jaw Lopez; 3. Sidney Ponson; 4. Rafael Palmeiro; 5. Mike De Jean.

Well, he was missing his punter

Jags coach Jack Del Rio fired special teams coach Bill Dates last week as part of his staff reorganization. That's bad for Bates and all, but after seeing the headline "Del Rio axes coach" well, it could have been much worse.

Hey, didn't you used to be Byron Scott?