Eric Bickel Archive
March is one of the best sports months on the calendar. You have the NHL and the NBA beginning their stretch drives toward the playoffs. The NFL is in the middle of free agency and gearing up for the draft. Major League Baseball is in the middle of spring ... Read More
It's not been a good year for Ben Roethlisberger. Last July Big Ben was accused of sexual assault by an employee of a Lake Tahoe hotel and resort. He wasn't charged in that case and it appeared the woman may have had some serious credibility issues. But after being ... Read More
For the first time in years, we had a Maryland basketball party this weekend. It wasn't a big party - just a few friends from college. But we hadn't really gotten together to watch Maryland since the magical run in 2002. But for some reason, this team is starting ... Read More
By now we've all watched and re-watched the 13-minute Tiger Woods apology. Even if we don't want to, ESPN and CNN and every other broadcast outlet is going to make sure we see this thing over and over again. As awkward and contrived as it was, it was darn ... Read More
Without question the New Orleans Saints deserve to be Super Bowl Champions. In fact there aren't many teams that deserve it more. They completely took the aggressive line against the Indianapolis Colts and dominated the second half to win the Lombardi Trophy. Drew Brees was nearly perfect after the ... Read More
It's great to see Jim Zorn land on his feet so quickly in Baltimore. This might be the perfect situation for him, as he would be able to keep his family in Great Falls if that's what he preferred and commute or rent a condo in Baltimore. He'll be ... Read More
Brett Favre is a first ballot Hall of Fame quarterback. Nobody is more exciting than he is on Sunday, even at age 40. But somewhere along the way, this good 'ole boy tough guy from Mississippi turned into a whiny, teary-eyed, wishy wash, mush mouth that most of us ... Read More
Gilbert Arenas is better than you. I'm sorry, he is. So please stop comparing your situation to his. Are you world class in your field? Are you an integral part of a multibillion dollar business? Are you the face of your franchise? If not, please stop acting like the ... Read More
1) The Skins would struggle to score 51 points in a game, even if you spotted them 30. I hope Jim Zorn was at home taking notes. Not that it matters for the Redskins. But if he ever gets a chance to run an offense again, he needs to ... Read More
Somebody made the list three times. Happy New Year everybody. ... Read More
As we all enjoy the Christmas and holiday season, hopefully with loved ones nearby, it's always important to look back at the past year and appreciate the good and the not so good memories. Every year has highs and lows unfortunately. It's the nature of being among the living. ... Read More
Admit it. Even though we say we aren't surprised another icon has fallen from grace - we really are shocked that arguably the greatest athlete of his generation, Tiger Woods, has crashed and burned this quickly. Two weeks ago Tiger was on top of the world. He recently locked ... Read More
I only met Abe Pollin once in my life. As a quasi member of the media I got an invite to the annual media dinner at Abe's house in Washington DC in the late 90s. For the mainstream media, this was no big deal; a standard evening with the ... Read More
They did it again. For the second time in three tries the Navy Midshipmen went into South Bend and knocked off one of the most storied programs in college football history. While many of Notre Dame's players dream of BCS bowl games and playing on Sunday, Navy quietly takes ... Read More
First let me preface this by saying I picked the Washington Redskins to win the NFC East. Despite all the evidence to the contrary I conjured up glorious scenarios of Albert Haynesworth manhandling offensive lines and freeing up Brian Orakpo and those old fogies Andre Carter and Philip Daniels. ... Read More
After losing to the worst team in the NFL three weeks ago, squeaking over the Buccaneers last week, and now losing to the Carolina Panthers, it's obvious the Washington Redskins are a disaster. No set of fresh eyes can cure what ails this team. This team is sick. It's ... Read More
I've never thought a coach should be fired after a win before. In fact, other than winning the last game of a dreadful season, has a coach ever been fired after a win, let alone after one midseason? I bet it's never happened. I'm sure it's happened in baseball ... Read More
Today on The Sports Junkies on 106.7 The Fan, we had another heated argument about the Redskins, quarterback play, and how quarterbacks are evaluated. My argument is that as far as well known available stats are concerned, QB rating is the most all encompassing stat that we have to ... Read More
God bless Eli Manning. I'm not going to hate on the man for signing a six-year $97.5 million dollar extension. Are you kidding? I'd let somebody webcast my bathroom activity for a lot less than that. I'd run with the Bulls naked in Pamplona for that kind of scratch. ... Read More
We have been debating Jason Campbell's ability for a few years now. I can hear my on-air partner JP in my sleep. "I already know who Jason Campbell is as a quarterback. He is who he is, an average QB". Campbell has been in the league for four years ... Read More
It's official, the mighty talk station that changed radio around the country is being laid to rest: WJFK 106.7 FM becomes 106.7 The Fan at 6 am Monday morning. The Junkies, now The Sports Junkies once again, kick off a new sports station in the DC metro area that ... Read More
Men's Soccer in the United States had been left for dead. This country's most storied coach, Bruce Arena left after a disappointing World Cup in 2006. He had taken the National team from a world ranking of #19 to a peak of #4 after the 2002 World Cup when ... Read More
Tiger Woods won The Memorial two weeks ago, shooting 65 on Sunday and birdieing the last two holes to win by one shot. He hit every fairway on Sunday and proved to everybody that he once again is the heavy favorite heading into the US Open at Bethpage Black ... Read More
1) Lebron should have shook hands and talked to the media after being eliminated by the Orlando Magic. I don't think it was a catastrophic mistake. I'm not going to overreact and say he's a bad guy, and I'm not going to forget about how great he's acted since ... Read More
LeBron James is even better than we thought. His game-winning three pointer at the buzzer in Game 2 was, in his words, the biggest shot of his career so far. He's just scratching the surface too. He'll have even more spectacular buzzer beaters as his career progresses. I wouldn't ... Read More
I know everybody is jumping off the bandwagon because the Caps are floundering in the second round of the playoffs against their nemesis the Pittsburgh Penguins. I understand the frustration. This team has so much potential. But if it doesn't happen this year, it will happen sooner rather than ... Read More
The most important piece of the Washington Capitals playoff run hasn't played one second for the team. I'm not talking about their passionate owner Ted Leonsis. He's been tremendously supportive and even said on our show a few months ago he still expected to lose $10 million dollars this ... Read More
I'll be honest, I'm not the man I want to be. But you probably already knew this. Believe me, I want to be a stud. I'd kill to run a chain saw, change my own oil or tell my wife to back off as I fix the broken refrigerator. ... Read More
Rob Dibble is a beast. Frankly I'm scared of him. I remember meeting him in Plant City Florida in the spring of 1990; when I asked him for an autograph, I thought he was going to eat me for breakfast. He didn't appear to be the happiest guy I've ... Read More
John Calipari is apparently taking the head coaching gig at Kentucky. At first glance, who could argue. Kentucky is one of those storied jobs in college basketball that puts you in the center of the college hoops universe. I'd say UCLA, Duke, UNC, Indiana, and Kentucky are probably your ... Read More
I'm so distraught. The World Baseball Classic is over. What am I going to do with myself now that Japan disposed of Korea for their 2nd straight world title. How will I pass the time? What a letdown. Not. Baseball is tedious enough for 162 games. Now you are ... Read More
I wonder if Debbie Yow was as excited as Gary Williams when Maryland's name was announced as a 10th seed on Sunday? Even though Yow publicly supported Gary a month and a half ago, I get the sense she has a Gary Williams voodoo doll somewhere. Gary has proven ... Read More
Kobe Bryant or LeBron James? Who's your guy? It's the great debate right now in the NBA. Prior to this season I would have said Kobe hands down. All things being equal as players, Kobe has the championships that easily put him over the edge. But this season LeBron ... Read More
Here we go again. Big surprise, Redskins owner Dan Snyder has apparently already come to an agreement with Titans free agent defensive end Albert Haynesworth. His agent is denying this of course, because any agreement before the signing period begins would be considered tampering and against league rules. This ... Read More
Nobody is 100% who we think they are. We all make mistakes. We all have a dark side. Is there anybody out there who doesn't let us down eventually? Alex Rodriguez is in spin control mode after denying for years that he ever used performance enhancing drugs. Mark McGwire ... Read More
1) Will Michael Phelps eventually "blow" the opportunity of a lifetime? ` He's obviously not off to a good start and his track record isn't very good with a DUI on his resume a few years ago. Coming off the unbelievable 8 Olympic Golds Phelps was postioned to potentially ... Read More
The Maryland men's basketball program is at a crossroads. They just aren't very good. For whatever reason--recruiting, lack of administrative support, parity in college basketball, coaching, bad luck or anything else--the team is not performing at a standard Gary Williams has set. Missing the NCAA tournament recently and losing ... Read More
Growing up as a kid, my parents used to yank me out of the front yard playing football or baseball for family dinners. It used to irritate me to no end. My parents would tell the neighbor kids they had to go home because it was "family time". Those ... Read More
Let me be clear. I fully support the Maryland Terrapins. I went there for six years as an undergraduate and graduate student and suffered through the Bob Wade years and the early absurd sanctions during Gary Williams' tenure. I sat in the 2nd row as a student in the ... Read More
I'm definitely not an animal lover. Give me a couple fish and a bowl and I'm happy. My mom always has a cat and they're boring. Dogs can be really loveable or ferocious; there never seems to be an in between. But either way, they usually live 8-10 years ... Read More
I'm on the bandwagon. I admit it. I wasn't there in the beginning. In fact, I couldn't wait until my Redskins drummed the Ravens and made everybody in Baltimore shut up. Oops. Of course my Skins crashed and burned. They always do these days. I'm cursed apparently. I'm a ... Read More
This one is a no brainer. Go get Bill Parcells right now. Lock it up Dan Snyder. This one would make up for the Marty, Spurrier and Gibbs version 2.0 debacles. Apparently there was a clause in Parcells' contract that allows him to leave the Dolpins if the team ... Read More
It's fair to say the season has been pretty catastrophic. What a roller coaster of emotions for the Redskins organization and it's fans. Everyone remembers the circus that was the coaching search in the offseason. We were all raising our eyebrows when Dan Snyder and Vinny Cerrato tapped their ... Read More
I was thinking about so many different ideas to write about that I figured I'd pay tribute to the old Larry King columns that used to appear in the Life section of USA Today. Here's my version of random nonsecuitors minus the suspenders. Did I mention I'm much better ... Read More
Yesterday we interviewed Jason Taylor on The Junkies on WJFK 106.7 FM in the morning. (A pretty damn good interview too! If I do say so myself). He was honest, candid, self deprecating and very open about his struggles this year and the team's fall from 6-2 to suddenly ... Read More
Hello World! Those were Tiger's first words when he turned pro right? I'll steal them as we become professional bloggers for MASN. We are super excited to share our thoughts and insights beyond our regular radio hijinks on WJFK 106.7 FM. For those of you who don't know us, ... Read More
Eric Bickel, also known as E.B., grew up in Bowie, Maryland along with J.P. and Cakes. Eric went to DeMatha High School in Hyattsville along with Jason and played tennis and golf. He then attended the University of Maryland where he majored in psychology. During college, E.B. was an ... Read More
