“If there’s one thing worse than being told you’re not good enough,” mused The Guardian’s Rob Smyth and Paolo Bandini, “it’s being patronised.” Remarkably, they’re not talking about a former Mets utility man being dubbed “‘Super’ Joe McEwing”, but instead Manchester City’s referring to their reserve team as “The Elite Squad”.
Of the Elitist approach employed by City, Red Force Rising opines, “you™ll be happy to know that United™s reserves team is still known as ‘The Reserves’ and not œ’the Supreme Second String’ or ‘The Best Team After The First’”.
(Damon, waving to the CHB in the Fenway press box in 2005)
Of Tigers OF Johnny Damon rejecting a proposed wavier deadline return to Fenway Park, the Boston Globe’s Dan Shaughnessy sneers, “his decision to stay with the Tigers is downright idiotic . . . or there is some larger force at work.” And with that, the columnist who routinely questions the character of players who’d love to stay in Boston forever, takes a dagger to one who’d prefer to stay away.
Were the Sox that insulting? Did they look Damon in the eye and tell him that they thought Coco Crisp was a better player? Did John Henry, Tom Werner, and Larry Lucchino tell Damon he was lucky when he hit those two homers in Game 7 of the ALCS at Yankee Stadium? Did Shonda Schilling say something insulting about Michelle Damon™s scarves?
Think about it: For the next five weeks, you could live in downtown Boston and your wife could shop on Newbury Street. Or you could live in downtown Detroit, amid the boarded-up buildings and the proverbial skeleton frames of burned-out Chevrolets. Is this really a tough call?
Maybe it is. Damon’s already got two rings and helping the Red Sox erase a considerable deficit to Tampa or New York might not be the biggest thing on his mind right now. And if you’re gonna measure Boston vs. Detroit in terms of Newbury Street shopping vs. “boarded up buildings”, then you might just as well applaud Damon for picking the home of Tyvek over the big DYS reunion this weekend.
Pro Wrestling Insider’s Mike Johnson reports the newly formed Florida-based Worldwide Wrestling Promotions (aka WWP), a partnership between Milton Wilpon and R. Sean Pascoe (aka Sean Davis, above)), has scrapped plans for an Autumn 2010 launch. The promotion, said to be targeting talent from a succession of independent organizations, supposedly was promising medical benefits despite no television deal in place.
In the email, which PWInsider.com acquired from numerous sources, Davis wrote that “the financing side” of the company told the wrestling side, “our original time table is not at all feasible. While we were all committed to launching in October we know now that has become an impossible goal. Our new goal is to start operations in the first part of the new year however we do not as of today have a firm date. That unfortunately means that contracts will have to be changed to a new starting date.”
Pascoe went on to explain that while he “fought this decision KICKING AND SCREAMING (literally)”, that the “corporate side of the company” feels the delay has to happen. He warned the roster that “unfortunately it comes down to either this move is made or this company does not move forward.”
Pascoe told the wrestlers and staffers that they would be issued contract addendums drawn up by WWP’s attorney and if the talent didn’t wish to sign them, he understood. Pascoe told those emailed, “You will still be welcome to come back to work for us in the future once we are up and running in the early part of the new year. For those of you that sign the contract addendums you will be receiving extra shares of company stock and the addendums will also spell out our full health and benefits plan that will be made available to you.”
Pascoe noted that the company has been hit with “more than our fair share of bumps”, blaming it on “many forces in the wrestling business.” Pascoe wrote these forces were “doing whatever they can to sabotage everything we are trying to do and doing everything in their power to make sure that this company will never launch. I can promise you though that no matter how many hurdles we have to jump over that there are people here dedicated to doing everything they can to make sure this company WILL launch and we will be a long time player in this industry.”
DCRTV.com reported Monday that Preston Moon, son of the Rev. Sun Myung Moon who runs the paper, planned to break the news via press release on Friday that he planned to shutter the paper.
In DCRTV’s report, the closure was halted due to a last-minute offer from an unknown bidder to purchase the conservative newspaper. Preston Moon and his family have long been fighting over the future of the former daily. DCRTV’s unnamed source told the Web site that Preston Moon has had it with the paper and isn’t interested in making a deal.
“It is now about showing Daddy Moon who has the bigger cajones,” the source told DCRTV. “If this offer — and it is a reasonable one — is rejected, the paper could close its doors this week, just shy of 30 years in the nation’s capital.”
The source continues, “The paper has large debt load but there is a buyer. Normally, this would be a good thing for a seller. In the zany world of the Moon family, and the son’s disregard for the family’s wishes, it looks like the final edition is imminent.”
As noted over the weekend, SNY.TV has recovered old footage from the Mets’ old WOR postgame show, “Kiner’s Korner”, koupling the klips with kontemporary (sorry) konversations between Kiner and Ted Berg. Via MetsBlog, here’s one such webisode, featuring a 1986 chat with Tom Sizemore tribute artist Pete Rose.
Grizzlies owner Michael Heisley addressed the progress or lack thereof of talks with first-rounder Xavier Henry on Memphis Fox 730 yesterday, a condescension-heavy chat with host Chris Vernon that CBS Sports’ Matt Moore described as “an abject trainwreck.” Though you really need to hear the entire thing, the portion in which Vernon grills Heisley on the latter’s familiarity with the CBA, is nothing short of squirm-city, particularly when the latter loses his shit. “I don’t understand why you’d want a college player on draft night praying he doesn’t get drafted by the Grizzlies,” sighed Vernon, though the same question could be applied to any future free agents taking note of the Memphis owner’s tone and temper. The Memphis Flyer’s Chris Herrington finds the entire episode disheartening (“It seems like Heisley thinks his bluster is charming ” or maybe he just doesn’t think about it at all”), in slight contrast to his colleagues at the Commerical-Appeal, who had nothing to say on the matter whatsoever.
Intimate knowledge of the collective bargaining agreement may not be a prerequisite for NBA owners, since, typically, general managers and other executives are charged with that. But the problem here, again, is that Heisley has appointed himself the de facto president of basketball ops. Owners always have the final say on major decisions, but this has become something a little different from that norm. And if Heisley is going to be directly driving much of the day-to-day operation of the team (down to something as ostensibly minor as negotiating rookie contracts) then it is not okay that he knows less about the contents of the CBA ” essentially the league’s team-building rule book ” than I do. Have I read the CBA? No. But I’ve read pretty much all of Larry Coon’s essential CBA FAQ. Many who cover the NBA and even many fans of the sport appear to have a broader working knowledge of the league’s rules than the primary decision maker of the Memphis Grizzlies. Make you feel good, Grizzlies fans?
“Ok, you throw a pitch, it bothers your arm, and you immediately call out the manager and the trainer? Suck it up, kid. This is your profession. You chose to be a baseball player. You can’t have the cavalry come in and save your butt every time you feel a little stiff shoulder, sore elbow.
“I mean, excuse me. There’s guys I played with that had screws holding their elbows together. Chris Sabo played two weeks on a broken ankle. I put a steel plate in my wrist so I could be back in five weeks instead of three months. So, this is your choice. You can either suck it up and be a man at 22 making $2 million a year [with] a $15 million contract, or every time you get an ache and pain you can go out of the game and say I’m gonna let down the other 24 guys right here and possibly end up forfeiting the game.”
“What Mike Rizzo and Jim Riggleman do, that’s totally different,” Dibble said. “They have to think of the long-term ramifications of what they’re doing right now with this kid’s career. As far as this kid? Stop crying, go out there and pitch. Period. “
During his spell in charge of the Washington Wizards, Michael Jordan selected high schooler Kwame Brown as the no. 1 overall pick in the 2001 NBA Draft, taking a pass on the likes of Pau Gasol, Shane Battier, Jason Richardson and Tony Parker in the process. We all know how well that turned out, if not for Jordan, then certainly for the Lakers, Grizzlies and Pistons, all of whom hoped against home that the oft unmotivated Brown would bounce back from being slurred by a pair of Hall Of Famers. And who better to assist Brown, than one of those very legends? From the Charlotte Observer’s Ron Green :
Brown, 28, has signed a one-year deal with the Bobcats, giving the team owned by Jordan a shot-blocking presence inside to offset the loss of Tyson Chandler.
œWe think this is a critical year for Kwame to get his career turned around and headed in the right direction, Brown™s agent, Mark Bartlestein, said Monday.
œThe challenge of going to Charlotte and playing for Michael again and getting to play for Larry Brown, a great teacher, will be good for him. They spent a lot of time recruiting him.
Jordan™s decision to make Brown the No. 1 pick in the 2001 draft has often been cited as one of the biggest draft blunders in recent years. In his nine NBA seasons, Brown has averaged just 6.7 points and 5.4 rebounds while playing for four teams, most recently the Detroit Pistons.
œMost people would think (Brown) would run away from going back to play for Michael again. That™s not the case. Kwame welcomes it, Bartlestein said.
Kwame Brown will fill a needed role for the Bobcats, who lacked a strong defender and rebounder in the middle since Chandler™s departure. Brown is not primarily a scorer and he will supplement a roster that includes Nazr Mohammed, Erick Dampier and DeSagana Diop inside.
œKwame is one of the best post defenders in the league, everyone agrees on that, Bartlestein said. œIs he going to average 20 points a game? No, but he can be a terrific starting center in this league.
No, really. THE Jeff MacGregor. The divorce between Tiger Woods and Elin Nordegren was declared official earlier today, and while financial arrangements weren’t made available to the media, ESPN.com’s MacGregor declares Monday “the day on which the zombie sporting press can stop pretending to care about Tiger’s wife and kids (what were their names again?) and get back to worrying about his hand action and club selection.” Of course, MacGregor’s no mere zombie. He’s a moralistic zombie.
I’d like to wish him well. I would. But I cannot. He’s been given everything, been touched by every celestial gift, and in return has found a way to corrupt everything he’s ever touched. In the months and years ahead, when he shovels money at his children and calls it love, I won’t be there to transcribe the lie.
With me or without me he’ll get at last, as must we all, whatever he deserves.
Because at the end of things — with records broken or records unbroken, with families broken and families unrestored — who that he might care about will be left to care about him?
Who that he might care about will be left to care about anything he’s ever done?
And who, pray tell, gives a flying fuck about Jeff MacGregor’s opinion of Tiger Woods, The Person or Parent? MacGregor’s own biography claims “he has done many things, most of which he chooses to keep to himself”, and presumably, not bearing the burden of being one of the 4 or 5 most famous persons on planet earth, there’s relatively few people concerned about the journalist/author’s sex life or whether or not he’s a man of integrity. It’s a massive stretch to say Woods has ruined his children’s lives or that his infidelity — something hardly uncommon within the hallways of ESPN — is on the level of some sort of war crime.
Harrelson talked about the umpiring for literally innings at a time and his broadcast partner Frank Thomas, who was subbing for a vacationing Steve Stone, frequently chimed in to agree.
After every close pitch that was called a ball for a White Sox pitcher or a strike for a Royals pitcher, Harrelson launched into another monologue about the umpires conspiring against the White Sox. He frequently used words like “disgusting” and “disgraceful” to describe the situation, and called it a “travesty” that West was even allowed to work White Sox games after his incident with Mark Buehrle earlier this season.
At one point Thomas noted that “back when I was playing” the catcher and pitcher would intentionally get “crossed up” on a pitch and let it hit the umpire, which seemed to be mostly a joke because a) Thomas laughed, b) “back when I was playing” was all of two years ago, and c) that rarely, if ever, actually happens. But then Harrelson liked the sound of Thomas’ “idea” and suggested the White Sox actually do it to West.
After Jason Kendall’s walk-off RBI single won the contest in the 10th inning, Thomas burnished his broadcasting credentials with the following analysis ; “this really sucks.”
“One of the downsides of the instant information age is that we increasingly expect and demand instant explanations, before all of the information is gathered and processed.” So testified the Yamill Valley News-Register’s Carl Dubois, a day after it turned out a further 3 McMinnvile High School (OR) players were hospitalized after a prior 7 kids were admitted for medical treatment. Of the furor over coach Jeff Kearin “total immersion” football camp (and resulting procedures to drain toxic fluids from the boys’ arms), Dubios warns, “In the instant information age, there is a rush to post, a rush to be first, a rush to tell and a rush to judgment.” As such, I feel much better about being really late with this story.
In high school athletics across the country, coaches ask a lot of their players. Parents place a lot of trust in the coaches. And the three-way relationship can break down at any of a number of points along the way.
The reality is that teenagers aren™t under supervision 24 hours a day, at least not most of the year, so parents and coaches have to hope the young people in their family and on their team are doing the right things when they™re on their own.
Are they eating a diet appropriate for high-stress and high-level football camp? Are they hydrating often and extensively enough? Are they getting enough sleep?
Are they, away from those with the wisdom of experience, drinking or consuming anything that offsets their hydration schedule? Combined with strenuous exercise and hot temperatures, could that tax their kidneys?
Mac High football has been mediocre or worse for a long time.
The new coach is trying to change the culture to one of winning, and that™s often a painful process.
Beginning during the 2010 season, a poster on concussion in sports will be displayed in every NFL locker room nationwide. The poster, developed for NFL players, is the result of a joint effort between the NFL, NFL Players Association, CDC, Professional Football Athletic Trainers Society, and the NFL Physicians Society and describes the importance of recognizing a concussion, taking time to recover, and not returning to play too soon.
CDC encourages you to talk with your coaches, parents, athletes, and others about concussion in all sports and the steps to take to help prevent, recognize, and respond to this serious injury.
Remarkably, the above poster is appearing in NFL locker rooms at the same time one franchise seeks to publicly humiliate a player who is complaining of dizziness and nausea. Such a practice is only slightly mitigated by virtually everyone on the planet not named Albert Haynesworth siding with the Redskins.
The Cincinnati Reds recently sought and obtained permission from Major League Baseball to honor the banned-from-organized-ball Pete Ross on the 25th anniversary of his setting the all-time career hit record. Though the actually event took place on September 11, 1985, Rose has a prior engagement at a casino that day, and rather than appease CSTB readers by booking Tom Sizemore, Cincy plans to hold ceremonies on September 12. Sought for a quote by the New York Post’s Fred Kerber and Phil Mushnick, former MLB commissioner Fay Vincent pulled no punches in his assessment of Bud Selig allowing Rose to appear at the Great American Ballpark.
” ‘When the keeper of the Rules does not enforce the Rules, there are no Rules,’ ” Vincent wrote in an e-mail to The Post. “That was the quote from John Dowd [Thursday] when we discussed what Bud had done. John is correct.
“I totally disagree with the Selig position. Either enforce the Rules or reinstate him. Bud is trying, again, to please everyone,” wrote Vincent, who was succeeded by Selig. “He did the same thing when he let Rose be honored at the [1999 World Series] — hence the Jim Gray interview — and his decision caused much confusion about a Rose reinstatement. I do not believe Selig wants to bring Rose back. But he wants to be loved in Cincinnati.”
Grace on O’s woes : “they’ve been playing in the AL East for years” True, but advent of YES and NESN are contemporary disadvantages. #
Mariotti arrest is on ESPN’s lower screen ticker ; might as well delete my letter to the ombudsman #
Fraschilla on D. Rose’s fancy passing ; “worry about the lob when you’re up 20″. #
fair enuff. Mets were prob. gonna drop ‘em, too RT @AdamRubinESPN: Word is Fox likely to drop two upcoming Saturday games involving Mets. #
much conjecture over Buzz blasting the Redbirds, but maybe he’s right? http://bit.ly/a7bsjp#
FBI investigations of Bear Bryant, ‘Bama program deemed unworthy of mention in today’s Birmingham News. at least the web version #
last time QPR won their first league matches : 1947 #
behind a pair of neat passes from Adel Taarabt, QPR’s 2-0 defeat of Scunthorpe puts the Super Hoops at the top of the table. Rubbing eyes. #
Wigan 0, Chelsea 6 (FT). Chelsea on pace to score 228 goals this season. #
Stoke striker Mamady Sidibe, probably done for 2010-11 after tearing his achilles tendon vs. Spurs earlier today #
dunno about you but I can’t wait to see the Russell Branyan plaque in Monument Park next year #
Vazquez’ poor location cited. Indeed, he’s standing on the pitcher’s mound #
Marlins-esque amont of empty seats for Coventry City v Derby Co. earlier today. Acres of empty sections for Wigan v Chelsea right now. #Read the rest of this entry »
(bad news no. 1 : there are no “Kiner’s Korner” klips on YouTube. bad news no. 2 : the above phone number to identify the Foamy Famous Face has been disconnected)
The ascents of Jonathan Niese , Angel Pagan and R.A. Dickey aside, the most positive Mets story of 2010 might well have appeared in this morning’s New York Times, as Richard Sandomir reports the Wilpon-owned SNY plans to make old episodes of “Kiner’s Korner” available online.
Starting Tuesday, SNY.tv. will post the first of nine weekly webisodes that combine clips from Kiner™s postgame interviews and new chats between him and the host Ted Berg for the Mets network™s dip into nostalgia.
The footage that will be seen is about all that is known to have been rediscovered. Only some of it is usable.
Nearly all the œKorners are gone, tossed out or taped over at a time when few local stations, networks or teams understood the value of a video archive of their history and broadcasts.
The guests on the SNY webisodes are Pete Rose, Bobby Valentine, Johnny Bench, Richie Ashburn, Ed Kranepool (a two-parter), Eric Davis, and Johnson and Tommy Lasorda (also in two parts). In a clip from the 1980s, Rose and Kiner discuss why Rose™s continuing to play would delay induction into the Baseball Hall of Fame.
The interview with Ashburn leads inevitably into a discussion of the 1962 Mets, when Kiner was calling the games with Lindsey Nelson and Bob Murphy, and Ashburn was in the outfield and batting .306.
Kiner recalled that guests received $50 or so for appearing on the show, but in the early days, they could instead choose merchandise from a catalog as compensation. One year, Kiner said that he balked at an offer to be paid $75 a show. He missed a couple of shows (Murphy filled in) while he bargained for more money.
And to be truthful, I figured it would be a lame cameo (as himself) on “Entourage” before this. Mariotti’s former employer, the Chicago Sun-Times, provides a few details, as reported elsewhere :
Former Sun-Times sports columnist Jay Mariotti was arrested in Los Angeles overnight for an alleged domestic disturbance involving his girlfriend, the Los Angeles Times is reporting.
LAPD sources said Mariotti and his girlfriend initially began arguing at a Santa Monica club.
The argument continued at the couple™s Venice apartment, where the verbal confrontation escalated to a physical altercation, the L.A. Times is reporting.
Police were called to the apartment, and Mariotti was arrested and ordered held in lieu of $50,000 bail at the 77th Street station.
I don’t know what sort of war chest AOL has to bail out their columnists, but Mariotti could well be in serious danger. Inner city jails / holding tanks are chock-a-block with disgruntled bloggers, “Around The Horn” viewers and other sociopaths who’d love an opportunity to settle scores real or imagined with Jay. We can only hope that the legal system is allowed to do-it’s-thing and Mariotti is judged by a jury of his peers (ie. other mascara wearing sportswriters) rather than subjected to the bloodlust of an angry mob.
Rick Horton and “The Mad Hungarian” Al Hrabosky are working tonight’s Giants/Cards tilt without the assistance of Dan McLaughlin. Fox Sports Midwest’s regular play-by-play announcer for St. Louis is taking some much needed time off, as the Post-Dispatch’s Dan Caesar explains.
Cardinals broadcaster Dan McLaughlin was arrested Monday night on suspicion of drunken driving, according to police.
Chesterfield police Lt. Steve Lewis said McLaughlin was pulled over about 10:45 p.m. on eastbound Highway 40 (Interstate 64) after an officer responded to a report of an erratic driver.
The officer suspected McLaughlin had been drinking and requested McLaughlin take a breath test. McLaughlin refused and was arrested, Lewis said. He was taken to Chesterfield police headquarters and charged with operating a vehicle while intoxicated. He was released on bond at 9:30 a.m. Tuesday, according to Chesterfield police.
Fox Sports Midwest said in a statement that McLaughlin is taking time off for “personal reasons” and is expected to return for Monday’s telecast in Pittsburgh.
Is there an institutional drinking-and-driving problem within the Cardinals organization? McLaughlin’s arrest comes 3 years and change after Tony La Genius’ own DUI escapades, and nearly the same amount of time after St. Louis pitcher Josh Hancock died in what one of Casear’s own colleagues claimed was an alcohol-related traffic fatality.
Congrats to Bell Enviromental’s Roscoe — recently misidentified by the usually unflappable Jerry Seinfeid (perhaps recalling a Beefarino chomping horse) as “Rusty” – on making WABC’s evening news tonight. With production values not seen since the last season of “Tim & Eric”, Bell Environmental’s frequent spots on SNY Mets telecasts not only coincide neatly with New York’s current bed bug infestation, but without these commercials the paychecks of such hardworking professional athletes as Oliver Perez, Francisco Rodriguez and Jeff Francoeur might bounce!
Entering play this evening at PNC Park in Pittsburgh, the Pirates trail the first place Reds by 30 games ; 28.5 games separated the Bucs from the Wild Card leading Phillies. As such, writes the Post-Gazette’s Dejan Kovacevic, “those holding tickets for the series opener tonight against the New York Mets can see history made.” Unpleasant history, but history nonetheless.
This one would have its own niche, too: It would be the earliest point for loss No. 82 in any of the 18 consecutive losing seasons, roughly a week earlier than the previous earliest, Aug. 27, 2001. And that, of course, is a sign that this is the worst of any of the seasons, on course for a 53-109 finish, worst since 1952.
“It’s definitely frustrating,” first baseman Garrett Jones said of all the losing, three of four in this series, 10 of the past 11. “You’re just looking for something to go your way.”
The Pirates’ overall record is 40-81. Since the All-Star break, they are 10-23. Since the Fourth of July, they are 10-29..
They pitch sporadically.
They hit rarely, held to two or fewer runs in eight of those past 10 losses.
And, promising rookies or not, high-priced teenaged acquisitions or not, the current outcomes on the field look as bad as ever, worse in some ways.
Perhaps the one plus for the Pirates of late is that the public appears to be tuning them out: Crowds for this four-game series, of which the Marlins took the past three, were 13,396, 14,156, 12,242 and the 15,783 Thursday.
“Tony Dungy has a history of passing judgment on others and criticizing their life-styles,” writes the New York Daily News’ Bob Raissman in response to the recent firestorm over the former Colts head coach taking umbrage at Rex Ryan’s liberal use of expletives when addressing his squad. “Using the cover of his religious beliefs, he’s preaching intolerance and inequality,” argues Raissman, reminding us of Dungy’s support for the anti-gay marriage movement.
Dungy and the rest of the NFL coaching brotherhood (many who choose not to wear their religion on their sleeve), serve as generals in the cutthroat culture of NFL violence. Please, sir, don’t curse, but do go out on the field every Sunday and try to cripple the guy on the other side of the line. It’s cool. You’re doing this on programming that’s G-rated.
Dungy was part of that culture. A culture that also condones cheating on many different levels. Does Dungy actually believe God alone “blessed” those defensive linemen with freakish, super-sized bodies?
Come to think of it, what’s worse? Encouraging violence or telling someone to go f— himself?
Dungy’s criticism of Ryan comes wrapped in a blanket of hypocrisy. It’s ridiculous, laughable. Still, there ain’t many folks snickering, not many calling Dungy out or ridiculing him. Other coaches with a low tolerance for cussing have been hammered. Unfortunately for them, they didn’t have Dungy’s cachet with the media
