My behind-the-scenes memories of Matt Stover

Tags

Brian Kinchen, Cleveland Browns, Greg Montgomery, Kyle Richardson, Matt Stover, Memorial Stadium, Russ Purnell, Scott O'Brien

It is an exciting day, recognizing kicker Matt Stover as he officially retires at the Baltimore Ravens training facility in Owings Mills, MD.

P Greg Montgomery, special teams coordinator Scotty O'Brien, me, K Matt Stover at the end of the final practice of the 1997 season.

There is great coverage of his career and what he meant to both Baltimore and the NFL starting at Baltimoreravens.com and Baltimoresun.com, but you can find many other stories as well.

Stories and bios will tell of his records, Super Bowl appearances, work in the community and impact throughout the football franchise of Art Modell and now Steve Bisciotti.

I’m going to a little more of a personal level, seeing as I was Stover’s ground camera for 3 seasons, from 1997-1999.

As a video intern and then coordinator, the bulk of my duties during practice were following the specialists and the special teams coach, getting ground level views of their techniques while kicking, punting or doing kickoffs.

It was there, spending hours upon hours with Stove, that I really learned to appreciate him as a person and a professional. He was always focused and had a plan. He could be a little goofy at times, but would turn around and joke about how much of a dork he was, so it was okay.

During my first year in 1997, this was written by Peter King with the guys I worked with each day: Art of the Field Goal (Sports Illustrated, October 06, 1997).

Instead of simply rambling on, I’ll honor Stove’s #3 and share three quick memories of him.

Greg Montgomery holds as Matt Stover warms up at Memorial Stadium in Baltimore (1997 - Ross Hollebon)

1) Pizza Fridays: Every Friday of the season as team drills would get going, the Pizza Hut delivery guy would pull up behind the building, right near the field and drop off what I imagine was 30-40 pizzas (maybe more?) to the players dining room.

Being the veteran that he is, Stove pulled me aside that first week and let me know the drill for Fridays. Seeing O’Brien always ran extra special teams plays at the end of practice, a majority of the players would make their way in for lunch while Stove would often be one of the last guys back in the building.

My responsibility, from then forward, was to sneak in and find the single large, thin crust pepperoni and jalapeno pizza, hide it in Stove’s locker and get back out on the field before anyone noticed, while he guarded the camera.

That happened at the end of every week for 3 seasons – and Stove would always come through with a generous holiday bonus for me and my extra effort on his behalf. I still pick up a slice of jalapeno and pepperoni now and then.

Autographed cleat Stover gave me.

2) McDaniel College Parking Lot (Training camp 1999): It was Brian Billick’s rookie year as a head coach and he came in wanting to make a mark and establish “his” team in Baltimore. By mid-August it looked like Stove may not be a part of that plan as seen in Mike Preston and Brent Jones’ note Bentley/Stover showdown `a dead heat,’ Billick says (The Baltimore Sun August 11, 1999).

I had stayed on the field late to shoot some free agent try-outs and bumped into Stove in the parking lot outside the locker room as we both were ready to make our way back to the team hotel.

He stopped me and asked to talk. In typical Stover fashion he jumped straight to the point and didn’t hold back. He knew I had been very upset when punter Greg Montgomery was cut at the end of the 1998 training camp (no offense, Kyle) so wanted to prepare me for the worse.

Stove explained he had no idea what Coach Billick was going to decide and wanted me to know, in case he wasn’t there the next day or the day after, that he appreciated all I had done for him. I was shocked.

Special teams coordinator Russ Purnell, Stover and P Kyle Richardson (1999 - Ross Hollebon)

We all know now that Coach Billick made the correct decision in the coming days/weeks. And as much as that moment rattled me, the fact Stove went out of his way to tell the lowly 3rd video guy meant a ton and helps guide me in dealing with people everyday.

3) Jaguars 6, Ravens 3 (November 14, 1999): It was one of the toughest and most hard-fought games I have ever been around. The Ravens defense had 6 sacks and allowed only 132 yards of offense. The Jaguars #1 ranked defense also did an incredible job, rallying behind the 8 punts Bryan Barker pinned inside the 20-yard line (boxscore of the game).        

On game days I operated the black and white fax printers on the sideline. They are the pictures that go out to the coaches and players and you may have seen John Madden circle them with his telestrator at some point. They are set up against the wall on the sideline, and Jacksonville had a canopy in case it rained, meaning I had to crane my neck to see the scoreboard and screen at times.  

Stover and Chris Boniol at 1997 training camp scrimmage with Eagles at Lehigh University (Ross Hollebon)

In the 4th quarter the tension was incredible and I was definitely on the edge of my seat, literally. And then as I began biting a fingernail, Stove happened to look over, smiled and laughed at me. The one guy in the stadium you would expect to be tight and nervous waiting for an opportunity to tie the game was cool, relaxed and ready. He never got another chance that day, but he was prepared and confident.  

There are many more stories I could share, but I think these three really help to describe, from a different vantage point of most sports writers or athletes, the Matt Stover of the Baltimore Ravens I experienced and still know today.

Stove – thanks for everything you’ve done for the NFL, Baltimore, Cleveland and me over the years. You and your wonderful family deserve to be celebrated.

Please be sure to visit www.baltimoreravens.com to learn more about Matt earning his place in the Ring of Honor at M&T Bank Stadium.

Jeremy Roenick’s dirty joke

Tags

Jeremy Roenick, Versus

During the 1st period intermission between the Boston Bruins and Tampa Bay Lightning on Versus, studio analyst sent hockey fans into a tizzy, inspiring the NHL faithful to Tweet about the following monologue and “come with speed” joke.

Enjoy…

Rangers Boogaard taken too early; impacts NHL and Capitals

Tags

Alex Ovechkin, Concussions, DJ King, Jason Chimera, John Erskine, Madison Square Garden, Matt Bradley, Matt Carkner, Matt Hendricks, Mike Green, Minnesota Wild, New York Rangers, Ottawa Senators, Versus

Boogaard commemorative graphic from Versus

New York Rangers’ forward Derek Boogaard, 28, was found dead in his Minneapolis, MN apartment Friday evening and though autopsy results are not expected for multiple weeks, the “Boogeyman,” as he was lovingly known by fans of the Minnesota Wild and Rangers, should be haunting NHL executives and wearing on the minds of his peers.

Regardless of what the medical examiner determines to be the cause, this is another young man victimized by concussions, many of which could be avoided by a culture shift in the NHL to work away from accepting fighting as self-policing, who has lost all he had worked for.

The Saskatoon, Saskatchewan native experienced a professional whirlwind in 2010 after 5 years and 255 games played for the Wild, who selected Boogaard in the 7th round (202nd overall) of the 2001 NHL Entry Draft.

After establishing himself as a top flight heavyweight enforcer amongst the ranks of NHL players, the Rangers swooped in and lured the free-agent from Minnesota with a 4 year contract worth $6.5 million, in order to toughen up the neighborhood on the ice at Madison Square Garden.

Unfortunately for the Rangers and Boogaard, because he did his job, he only suited up in his Rangers sweater 22 times in 2010, sustaining a concussion and an injured shoulder while fighting Matt Carkner of the Ottawa Senators during a December 9th game. It was his 70th and final NHL fight.

Boogaard will be missed by the hockey community he was a part of and gave back to. Opponents will not miss being on the receiving end of his policing rounds, but they can hopefully learn something from the man and his experience.

The Washington Capitals and fighting

I have sat in the stands at the Capital Center and Verizon Center pleading for Alan May, Keith Jones, Al Iafrate, Donald Brashear and numerous others to drop the gloves and spike the adrenaline and crowd investment at Capitals games.

Erskine vs. Rupp: December 31, 2010 - Photo by Jamie Sabau/Getty Images North America

It is documented and celebrated by the site Hockeyfights.com.

But as I learn more and more about the impact of concussions in both the NHL and NFL, I find myself toning down the blood-thirst and hoping for an aggressive game showcasing the skills of the superstars.

Jarring hits will still occur and so will concussions, based on the nature of the sport, but I’d hate to lose Matt Hendricks, John Erskine, Matt Bradley or anyone else for a game – much less an abbreviated career – for a few moments of fists flying.

According to HockeyFights.com the 2010 season broke down like this for the Caps:

• Matt Hendricks – 14 fights
• Matt Bradley – 10
• John Erskine/DJ King – 6
• Jason Chimera – 4
• Mike Green/David Steckel – 2
• Alex Ovechkin – 1

I know a fight can set the tone of a game, energize a team and its fan base, but at some point the decision makers at the league office need to decide if stories of injuries, concussions, chronic traumatic encephalopathy (according to The New York Times: a degenerative disease of brain tissue associated with repeated concussions) are the topics they want discussed the weekend the puck is dropped for the 2010-2011 Stanley Cup Conference Finals.

Washington Capitals forward Matt Hendricks

I’ll close by referring to a post recapping the 2nd episode of HBO’s 24/7 Winter Classic series.

It is provided by Dan Steinberg’s D.C. Sports Bog and showcases the reality Hendricks’ has been forced into by the pugilistic culture of the NHL:

“It comes down to having a job and making a career,” Hendricks told HBO. “I think it all started last year when I went into training camp. The season before that, I had a really good camp, had some goals, and still got sent down to the minors. I got called up for four games throughout the year, but it wasn’t enough. I needed to figure out a way to make the opening night roster. And talking to a good friend of mine, he said ‘You’ve got to fight.’ He said, ‘If you don’t do it, someone else will,’ and I kind of stick by that motto now.”

Articles for both sides of the fighting argument in the NHL:

Professional Hockey: Days Lost Per Concussion in NHL Increasing

ScienceDaily (Apr. 24, 2011) — A major University of Calgary study of concussions, conducted over seven National Hockey League seasons and led by sports medicine researchers within the Faculty of Kinesiology, indicates that while the rate of injuries leveled out over the study period, the number of days lost per concussion has increased.

Many in N.H.L. View Fighting as Necessary

Efforts to outlaw fighting in hockey go back decades. But though the number of fights in the N.H.L. has dropped significantly in recent years, fighting persists, preserved by the idea that it is a deterrent against cheap shots, a safety valve against more serious mayhem and something that fans like to watch.

Ex-Enforcer Says Fights Aren’t Real Problem

Marty McSorley is no stranger to hockey violence. He fought 273 times in a 17-year N.H.L. career. In 2000, he was convicted of assault after swinging his stick at the head of Donald Brashear, another feared enforcer, and was suspended for a year, effectively ending his career. He had numerous concussions as a player and today, at 47, has memory loss and other symptoms often associated with brain injury.