The Chat House

Kornheiser	Wilbon
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With Tony Kornheiser and Michael Wilbon
Washington Post Sports Columnists

Monday, Feb. 3, 2003; 1:30 pm ET

It's time for another edition of The Chat House!

Tony and Mike are here to talk about all things sports related. For example? The NBA All Star game, the Caps, college hoops or anything else that strikes you fancy. So, come on into The Chat House.

Editor's Note: Washingtonpost.com moderators retain editorial control over Live Online discussions and choose the most relevant questions for guests and hosts; guests and hosts can decline to answer questions.

To read the most recent responses, click "Get New Responses" or select "Automatically Update Page."

Tony Kornheiser and Michael Wilbon: Good afternoon everyone and welcome back to The Chat House. Tony and Mike are here, in the flesh, on time. Let's get started. --Mary

Fairfax, Va.: Hi Tony, Mike, Mary. Love the show.

Now that football is over, can we talk college hoops? Who are your picks for cinderellas and surprise teams at this point in the season?

Thanks!

Tony Kornheiser and Michael Wilbon: Hi everyone. Both Tony and I are just getting to college hoops b/c we both are addicted to every nuance of pro-football --make that NFL football. But I'll admit to you right now that I've had my eye on 3 teams since Nov 1st. And they are: Louisville, Maryland and Oklahoma State. --Mike

Burb-land: Michael, not to distract you or anything, but Jessica Alba is Girl of the Day over on the Maxim magazine Web site. FYI.

Tony Kornheiser and Michael Wilbon: Oh, you gotta like that. --Mike

Thank you for the update. --Mary

Woodbridge, Va.: Is there any truth to the rumor that MJ will leave the Wiz front office after his contract is up to be an executive in Charlotte?

Tony Kornheiser and Michael Wilbon: It depends. Will the Wizards want him to run their front office? I think if Jordan has total control of the Wizards front office, he'll stay. I don't think he'll stay to just be an assistant to somebody, nor should he under that circumstance. --Mike

Portland, Ore.: Bobby Mitchell stands tall in my Skins Hall of Fame, and I am sad at news of his departure-- and even sadder by the circumstances. The tone in Post piece in print editions Saturday AM is milder in reporting Mitchell's comments about Dan Snyderthan was earlier AP story Friday eve, which carried harsher Mitchell comments about Snyder. Which version should we believe?

I want to believe that Mitchell is bigger than departing over the jersey issue. Wouldn't most people in his position simply have gone over and told Stephens he had one minute to turn in jersey number 49 for another number?

The issues with Cooke over GM interviews I can understand as hurting him deeply, but why not address the uniform number business at the time, and not let it fester for a full season?

Thanks.

Tony Kornheiser and Michael Wilbon: The AP story wasn't at odds w/the Post's story. As a matter of fact, Mitchell's disappointment w/the organization came through loud and clear to me.

I'm in a touchy spot here b/c through marriage Bobby Mitchell has become virtual family to me. And my relationship w/him is no longer professional. But even 10, 12, 15 years ago when it was purely professional, I was angry and wrote so about the way Mitchell was passed over by Jack Kent Cooke in favor of Charlie Casserly. One of the early columns I ever wrote was on that topic. Clearly you can see the conflict that essentially prevents me from dealing w/this topic in a column now. But, Bobby Mitchell knows as much about football as anybody I've ever known. And, the people who played w/and against him respect and even adore him, unanimously, like hardly any former player I've ever met. He was under utilized and under appreciated and under estimated by the Cookes in what should have been the prime of years of a 2nd career. --Mike

College Park, Md.: LEBRON JAMES. To play or not to play? That is the question!

Tony Kornheiser and Michael Wilbon: Play. If I was his lawyer, I'd seek an order from a judge in Ohio to reinstate him NOW. Or to make the appeal happen now. James broke a rule or multiple rules, period. But what are the adults in this issue? They sold this kid for up to $30,000 a game. Adults who told this kid is a god for 2 years and now dare him to believe it. How hypocritical is that? --Mike

Washington, D.C.: Afternoon fellas,

Can Georgetown appeal the Seton Hall game when the Hall had 6 on the floor?

Is Georgetown going to be a national contender any time soon?

Thanks.

Tony Kornheiser and Michael Wilbon: I'd like to see an attempt to appeal, actually. I'd love to see the commissioner, a very smart guy named Mike Trangese, whose name many of who might recognize as being the head of the BCS, just order the teams back to the court to replay whatever time is necessary.... whatever time it was they had six people on the floor. --Mike

Somewhere, USA: So far, there has been little or no mention of LeBron James's father in all the stories about him. Do you think the apparent lack of a strong male figure in his life, besides that of his coach, may be having an impact on the manner in which his life and basketball career are now intersecting? I imagine it has to be difficult for his mother to negotiate all the twists and turns of this young man's burgeoning career, let alone his emergence into manhood.

Tony Kornheiser and Michael Wilbon: Damn good observation. That has gone overlooked in much of this. There is no coincidence that Kobe Bryant didn't have this kind of junk around him. James' mother is in her mid 30's. She's a kid too. She was certainly a kid when she had him. That's a great observation you make. It's hard enough to be a single parent, I would imagine, in any circumstance. Now, we are asking a woman who is living in government subsized housing w/no marketable skills (it's reported she doesn't work) to negotiate something this complex w/shoe company people and agents and TV execs and private school administrators? Please. You are so right. --Mike

Washington, D.C.: In light of your sentiments to let Lebron play, I ask you this question. When do rules matter?

Tony Kornheiser and Michael Wilbon: When the adults follow them first. When the adults set an example and demonstrate some kind of ethical behavior and moral authority. THAT'S when the rules matter, before we ask an 18 yr old kid to follow rules that he sees adults all around him break every single day of every single week. --Mike

Washington, D.C.: Going back to the Mitchell issue, did anyone outside of Mr. Mitchell himself, notice that #49 was used?

Did anyone, I'm looking in the direction of two friendly neighborhood columnists, think there should be outrage at this? Sadly, I think using his number was just a simple mistake.

Tony Kornheiser and Michael Wilbon: I didn't grow up here and even though I know Bobby wore #49, it didn't hit me immediately. We all know the numbers worn by the players where we grew up. I know numbers of great Bears players who retired before I was born and I'm sure most Redskin fans who are 40 yrs old noticed #49 being worn. Again, if you read the earlier comment on Bobby that I probably won't be able to write about this and you'll understand why. --Mike

Washington, D.C.: Is there a precident for replaying portions of games?

Tony Kornheiser and Michael Wilbon: I don't know. Good question. I'm sure that at some high schools and college situations there is. It's not going to happen. I just said I would like to have seen it. I don't care if there is a precedent or not. I'm not a laywer. I don't need previous cases to lead me to a judgement. --Mike

Burke, Va.: What's up with The Post? A Washington Capital won the MVP in the Young Stars game Saturday night. All that was in the Sunday Post was one sentence at the end of an article. Granted, it isn't a Golden Glove or anything, but a little more mention might have been worth it.

Tony Kornheiser and Michael Wilbon: You must have seen an early edition story which was filed on deadline by Jason LaCanfora at the precise moment the game ended which is before the MVP is announced. We are not TV. We are lucky we got it into that edition at all. The story that we call in the biz "the write-through," which appeared in about 1/2 the editions had a full accounting of the MVP and it was high in the story. --Mike

Check out washingtonpost.com. --Mary

Washington, D.C.: I've loved seeing Maryland play this year, but I'm not really sure they have that, not sure how to put this, player of "will" that they had last year. I love Steve Blake and Drew Nicolas, but I don't think either of them have that ability to take over a game the way that Juan Dixon had last year. How far do you think they can go without someone to -will- them to win like the great college players often do?

Tony Kornheiser and Michael Wilbon: You raise THE critical issue about this team and its ability to get far in March. Will is the most underestimated of the intangibles important to a championship team and Juan Dixon brought that last year and to a lesser extent Lonnie Baxter. We don't know if they have that this year. Chances are they don't have it this year. But I'm not certain who out there in college basketball does have it. I don't know that Duke has it now that Jason Williams is gone. So therefore, I think Maryland has a shot. But, some team, somewhere, may be a team we have no real appreciation for at the beginning of February may demonstrate they have a player like that come the beginning of March. --Mike

Baltimore, Md.: Tony and Mike,

The one thing I haven't heard mentioned very much in the Lebron James debacle is the role of his mother. I truly believe if she wouldn't haven't gotten him the Humvee that this jersey issue would be a moot point, with him returning them and being let off the hook. If everyone is going to talk about the hypocrisy of the Ohio State Athlete Association the reason James was suspended, shouldn't his mother be taken to task as well. I really think Lebron could have survived another month or two without the Hummer.

Mark

Tony Kornheiser and Michael Wilbon: Mark, see Mike's comments from earlier in the Chat. --Mary

From a "PTI" fan with TIVO: Guys,

I love "PTI," but I'm usually not home for it. Luckily I have a TiVo! Unluckily, ESPN is HORRIBLE and providing guide data for the Tivo, and the TiVo doesn't know if the show is a repeat or a new one.

This isn't TiVo's fault, but ESPN's. The result is that the TiVo records either three shows of repeats a day, or it doesn't record it at all.

Mike (because Tony doesn't know or care what the hell I'm talking about), PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE say something to the powers that be at ESPN to rectify the situation.

Thanks.

Tony Kornheiser and Michael Wilbon: We'll pass it along. --The Chat House

Matt from PTI says put the repeating time on the TiVo on "manual record." --Mary

Alexandria, Va., Re: Replaying Games: Here is the ASA (Amateur Softball Association of America) for replaying games. Games can only be replayed if a formal protest is filed. Protests can only be filed if in the player's opinion the umpire has made a mistake in the interpretation of the rules (note, not a mistake in a judgement call like ball/strike or out/safe). The protest must be filed at that time, and the game continues. If the umpire was wrong in the rule interpretation, the game continues from the point where the protest was filed. I am a softball umpire and know these procedures. I also referee high school basketball and know of no similar mechanism in the rules of basketball.

Tony Kornheiser and Michael Wilbon: Thanks Alexandria. --The Chat House

Alexandria, Va.: I read reports about 10 days ago that Georgetown was about to extend Esherick's contract. Could this be the dreaded vote of confidence before a change is made? Georgetown basketball certainly has fallen far in the last five years. Any thoughts on this?

Tony Kornheiser and Michael Wilbon: I don't know how long Esherick's contract is for. But I would be SHOCKED if Georgetown fired him, if that's what you are suggesting. SHOCKED. You know how Tony always says SHOCKED about everything, including stuff he shouldn't even be mildly surprised over? Well, I'd be SHOCKED if Georgetown fires Craig Esherick. --Mike

Jersey City, N.J.: Did either of you make it to Saturday's game where MJ dropped 45 on the Hornets? You think he might have another season in him?

Tony Kornheiser and Michael Wilbon: See, I think he might. He says no, but I think he might. Tony agrees w/MJ that he's gotten it all out of himself. I don't know that it's that simple. If this team was better and going to finish 4th or 5th in the East, I might really push my position on this. But they'll be lucky to make the playoffs. So, I guess he's done. --Mike

Washington, D.C.: Could you guys talk about the Peyton Manning/Mike Vanderjagt situation? I know you don't like to talk about football in the offseason, but this has to be the funniest thing I've ever seen.

Tony Kornheiser and Michael Wilbon: BTW, Kwame Brown is in The Chat House. Well kind of. He's here at PTI talking to TK.... so that's why TK has been MIA. So, be sure to read TK's column tomorrow. If don't get The Post at home, read TK's column here at washingtonpost.com --Mary

No, it's great. I love it. The best part was when Peyton called Vanderjagt the "bat boy." That's great. See, sometimes the messenger is the problem. I don't think they should suspend or cut him or take any action against him, officially. But I believe in hazing and ridicule which I said on PTI last week. --Mike

Not a LeBron fan: While I agree that it's disgusting that his school was making lots of money off of him, his mother isn't exactly the best influence on him. The Cleveland Plain Dealer reported that his mother was taunting the oppposing team's student section during games. I would still like to know what bank made her a loan for $50,000 when she's not working. The Ohio high school rules are similar to college rules. What if Ohio State had given Maurice Clarett money to fly home for a friend's funeral during the Fiesta Bowl? It was OK for Ohio State to follow the rules, but not OK for the Ohio High School Athletic Commission?

Tony Kornheiser and Michael Wilbon: You're right. His mother has her hand out too. She's poor. Does this come as a news flash to you or anyone out there? I've got plenty of rich friends who have their hands out. She doesn't even have to have her hand out. He doesn't have to have his hand out. People will give him stuff for just showing up. He doesn't have to ask. Neither does she. You think someone living in public housing is not going to take a gift for her son who is essentially her lottery ticket? Are you kidding me? You're talking about rules and people are struggling to eat? Are we that cavalier? Or you that comfortable and that far from poverty that you can't understand want and inability to have, unless there is a patron? I make a lot of money, but I'm not so far from this that I can't try to imagine her circumstance. --Mike

Rockville, Md.: Hey guys. Regarding the reader from D.C. who asked if there is precident for replaying a portion of the game well after the fact. I can think of one incident, though it's not from basketball: the infamous "Pine Tar" game between the Royals and the Yankees. Didn't the commisioner at the time later give Brett his homer back and order the two teams to replay the rest of the game from the point at which the homer was originally disallowed?

Tony Kornheiser and Michael Wilbon: Great example. Thank you. --Mike

Washington, D.C.: Why would you be SHOCKED? It is not like he exactly added value to the program.

Tony Kornheiser and Michael Wilbon: He's not John Wooden or even John Thompson. But his team is not getting blown out or having their butts kicked every night. I give that they have had some embarassing losses when it comes to the circumstances of those defeats. But he's not Rich Kotite, is he? --Mike

Silver Spring, Md.: I recently saw "25th Hour" with Edward Norton. I found the movie fascinating and interesting. Have either of you seen it? What are your thoughts on the flick?

Danny

Tony Kornheiser and Michael Wilbon: I've got to go and see 25th hour this week. I'm remiss in not having seen it yet. I've got to go. Have a good week. --Mike

Let me get TK to jump in for a little bit. --Mary

Baltimore, Md.: Tony--

Heard your comments today on the radio regarding Columbia and thought they were very poignant.

Although you're probably right that these men and women don't become test pilots in order to go into space and conduct experiments on rats, I think the research aspect does become an interesting part of their mission.

(Joel Achenbach's and Guy Gugliotta's (sp?) column today was very good on explaining the precise scientific mission on STS-107).

Also agree with you that "The Right Stuff" was a fantastic movie. If you haven't already checked out "Apollo 13," and Tom Hanks' television follow up to that movie on HBO, "From the Earth to the Moon," you might enjoy them as well.

One of the best episodes in that mini-series is when a scientist takes a later Apollo crew into the desert where, prior to going to the moon, they become experts in geology. The episode portrays the astronauts as they go from initial ambivalence about studying moon rocks to being excited on the moon when they find a specific type of moon rock no one expected to find up there.

Tony Kornheiser and Michael Wilbon: Thank you for the comment Baltimore. --Tony

Washington, D.C.: What happened to Georgetown? They seemed so promising in that loss to Duke, now they're spiraling downward rapidly and losing every winnable game.

Tony Kornheiser and Michael Wilbon: Hey folks, sorry. I can't chat today... I'm too slammed w/PTI stuff and a column I'm going to write for tomorrow. Sorry. I'll try for next week. Have a good one. --Tony

washingtonpost.com:

That wraps up today's show. Thanks to everyone who joined the discussion.

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