Thanks to Kris Gillespie for bringing the one-man sensation McRorie to CSTB’s attention. I hate to pit talented artists against each other, but this guy has already rendered Jason Starr redundant. Sorry, Jason, but show business is a motherfucker.
Imagine how good Jamal Crawford would be if he could hit a third of his shots from the field? Imagine how good Antoine Walker would be if he could guard anyone? Since both fantasies are up there with world peace and Jim Rome getting laryngitis, tonight’s 110-109 NY win will have to suffice, especially in light of Crawford’s 2nd ridiculous game winning heave in the past week.
(David Stern, paying tribute to Ted Turner for his role in keeping Van Earl Wright off the streets for so many years
As for Stephon Marbury, when facing bad-to-average opposition, he’s All-Universe. As was Nazr Mohammed, when facing the shitty club that traded him away last year.
I’m willing to bet that Allan Houston will return to the Knicks starting lineup sometime before Tariq Abdul-Wahad plays another game for the Mavericks. The NY Post’s Michael Morrisey catches up with the former.
It only seems that the more Allan Houston practices, the further away his return date becomes.
Yesterday, Houston participated in a full-court scrimmage for the first time this season before indicating he probably wouldn’t be ready to return Saturday in Charlotte.
The Knick shooting guard — rehabbing a sore left knee — actually mentioned it could be as much as two weeks before he rejoins his teammates, but he’s done speculating or worrying about return dates for now.
“I’m pretty happy,” a sweat-soaked Houston said. “I don’t want to get too ahead of myself and say, ‘Well, all right, now I’m ready to play.’
“I have to make sure I listen to the trainers. Because I haven’t had a training camp, this is the closest thing to a training camp that I’m having.”
Head coach Lenny Wilkens said it was “very optimistic” to think Houston could be ready by Saturday. Wilkens was pleased by Houston’s participation in the full-contact scrimmage, which replicated approximately 10 minutes of game action. But the coach wants to see a few more practices, and the next one won’t be until Thursday at the earliest.
“He didn’t shy away from contact — he ran the floor pretty good,” Wilkens said. “It’s a start. It’s a good first step.
“I need to see him do it a few times so that I know he’s comfortable and he knows he’s comfortable and the bumping is not taking a toll.”
Ending the first quarter on a 7-0 run and shooting 53% from the field, New York are up 31-21 so far in Atlanta, Nazr Mohammed dropping 10 points on his former club in the early going.
(the not-so-dandy Don. David Coverdale just called, he wants his sense of entitlement back)
Not only is Imus apparently a bitch to work for, but Tom Greenwood says he owns 8 million sneakers.
Far be it for me to suggest that a program with such deep delusions of granduer as Notre Dame doesn’t have the right to fire their coach anytime they want, particularly on the heels of a 6-5 season and a national teevee humilation at the hands of Southern Cal. But just for fun, let’s ponder the following questions :
1) if 6-5 was such a blot on the school’s record, if this season fell so short of expectations, why did Notre Dame’s A.D. accept an invitation to the Insight Bowl?
2) How dull would Division One college football be if the percentage of black players equalled the current percentage of black head coaches?
3) Utah’s Urban Meyer is said to be a contender for the Notre Dame job. Is there a less urban place on earth than Utah?
I have no idea what’s next for Willingham, but perhaps he could serve as the next Director of Homeland Security, given his expertise fighting a war he couldn’t possibly win.
By collector skum standards, this would have to be the find of the century. Slightly more thrilling than getting the first Vatican Commandos single on eBay.
from Shaun Powell in today’s Newsday :
The more you hear about the Mets, their offer to Pedro Martinez and their curious pursuit of players like him this offseason, the more you should think about Tom Glavine.
Two years ago, Glavine became a free agent and the Mets were instantly smitten. They saw a future Hall of Famer, a lefty with the craftsmanship of a Bentley, a pitcher with no arm trouble and a veteran who’d bring favorable headlines and credibility to Shea Stadium.
Meanwhile, almost everyone else in baseball saw a guy who left his best with the Braves. Including the Braves.
Atlanta didn’t make a major effort to keep a pitcher who helped keep the Braves in control of its division for more than a decade. True, the Braves were cutting payroll, but they weren’t stupid. More than anybody, they know pitchers and the value of pitching. If they felt Glavine, then approaching 37, had been worth it, they would’ve met his demands.
Well, they didn’t. They let one of the best players in franchise history take a walk, and that was enough to discourage many teams from taking a chance. They figured: If the Braves don’t want him, why should we?
That kind of sensible logic didn’t stop the Mets. No way. The Mets were too much in love to see the signals. Sometimes the heart beats too loud to hear the warnings. So they invested $35 million and three years in a yesterday player, not a today or a tomorrow player.
Well, you’ve seen the results. When Glavine heads into his final year at age 39 on Opening Day, he will bring his 20-28 record as a Met with him. His 3.60 ERA last season, while an improvement from 4.52 the year before, still wasn’t very Brave-like. Every now and then Glavine finds the corners of the plate and winds the clock back to 2000, the last time he won 20 games, but for the most part he hasn’t been worth the steep price the Mets paid.
Sad thing is, everyone saw this coming. Except the Mets.
That is what happens when you chase 11 p.m. players, also known as past-prime-time players, something the Mets do often. And something they’re doing now.
If I’m Fred Wilpon, the owner of the Mets, I’m happy to know my new GM is exploring all avenues. But there’s a limit to how far the Mets should chase after the 1999 All-Star team roster.
Pedro was looking for a big financial score, and the Mets went one better than the Red Sox. The Sox might end up treating Pedro the way the Braves once treated Glavine. While Pedro’s hardly finished as a quality starter, conventional wisdom says you don’t give three or four years at big money to a 33-year-old who averages less than seven innings a start.
Much as I love bashing Tom Glavine, with any kind of decent run support last year, his record as a Met is far better than 20-28. Powell makes solid points about offering long-term deals to old fucks, but there are a few guys, Clemens, Schilling and Johnson in particular, who have put up sick numbers in the so-called twilight of their careers. That Pedro hasn’t the build of the above cannot be argued, and his durability is questionable, too.
The New York Sun’s Tim Marchman reconsiders Billy Beane and the A’s trade for Jason Kendall :
It’s hard to change a reputation in baseball, for better or for worse. From Carl Everett, who spent years as a model citizen and is still thought of as a madman, to Jim Edmonds, who recently won a fifth straight Gold Glove out of sheer inertia, the ideas people have of public figures are rarely revisited. There are many reputations in need of scrutiny, but none more so than that of Oakland General Manager Billy Beane, who has been lauded by so many for so long that his deals are by now acclaimed out of mere habit.
This was the case with Beane’s acquisition last week of catcher Jason Kendall for starter Mark Redman and reliever Arthur Rhodes. The deal was a risk, albeit one that was arguably worth taking, and is likely to hurt the A’s more than it will help them in years to come.
Kendall’s value, coming off a superb year in which he caught 146 games and finished ninth in the National League in on-base average, is almost certainly about to collapse. He is a historically unique player, a catcher who provides solid offense based almost entirely on durability (he’s had at least 545 at-bats each of the last three years) and batting average (he’s hit .319 or better in five different seasons).
There are problems with this. First, even when he hits .320, Kendall is merely a decent hitter: His OPS, after adjusting for park effects, was just 10% better than league average this year. When he hits .280, as he did in 2002, that figure drops to 20% worse than average. Other than hitting singles and drawing walks, he has no offensive skills. This hasn’t been a problem yet, because when you combine that on base ability with great durability, you have a significant asset.
Unfortunately, Kendall is not going to endure. In the postwar history of baseball, there are all of 26 player seasons in which a catcher older than 30 has had at least 500 at-bats. Interestingly, the only good campaigns among these were had by power hitters.
Kendall will be 31 this coming year. His tenure in Oakland will see him lose batting average due to age, as knees that have taken years of pounding behind the plate will prevent him from running as fast as he has, and it will see him lose durability, also due to age. For him to keep the only two talents that make him a good player would be historically unprecedented – most likely, he’ll be a solid player along the lines of A.J. Pierzynski, but never again a star.
The left-handers Beane sent to Pittsburgh for Kendall aren’t particularly exciting at this point in their careers, but they’re the sort of average performers who become suddenly conspicuous when the lack of them costs a team a playoff spot. Had the 2004 Chicago White Sox roster included Redman and Rhodes, for instance, the AL Central race would have been much closer than it actually was.
This deal isn’t about Redman and Rhodes, though, nor even about Kendall. It’s about money, specifically the poor management of it by an Oakland team that’s never fulfilled its potential, and whose actions just don’t match up with its philosophies. “Moneyball” is a damn good book, and Beane ought to read it for some tips on baseball management.
Pittsburgh has been trying to unload Kendall’s contract for quite some time. His 6-year, $60 million deal, which lasts through the 2007 season, looks bad in retrospect, because of the changed labor climate that’s driven salaries down, and due to a freak injury that cost Kendall two productive years.
Kendall is owed $34 million over the next three years, of which Pittsburgh will apparently pay $3 million; Redman and Rhodes are due $14.75 million over the same span. In essence, then, the A’s are paying $16.25 million for the upgrade from Rhodes and Redman to Kendall over the next three years. This year, when Kendall played at the top of his range, Redman was mediocre, and Rhodes had an awful year, the difference was worth about three wins. With that figure likely to narrow greatly, this looks like a lot of money to pay for a moderately improved chance of winning a pennant, especially given that Oakland owner Steve Schott is apparently set to continue his stingy ways.
Whether trading for a pricey and apparently injured Octavio Dotel to fix the mess he made by signing Rhodes to be his closer, or acquiring outfielder Bobby Kielty on the strength of a three-month stretch in 2002 when he drew some walks, Beane has done very little that’s impressive, and an awful lot that doesn’t help his team. Trading for Kendall to replace Jermaine Dye as an overpaid albatross is just another in a growing list of baffling moves where Beane covers up a self-inflicted wound with a player in decline.
Oakland has done a lot in Beane’s tenure, and there’s little doubt that he still ranks as among the best executives in the game. But with moves like the Kendall trade, the “genius” tag that hangs on his neck is starting to look in need of a bit of polishing. He’s earned the benefit of the doubt, but for him to earn a return to the playoffs he’ll have to do a lot more than keep playing his shell game.
From MSNBC, recent quotes from the still-working Dan Ackroyd.
“Greetings and death to our enemies,” Aykroyd began the interview. When one reporter asked what enemy the star was referring to, Aykroyd replied: “Well, the common enemy in North America is the Western consumer. The consumer has driven oil up to $50 a barrel so we have to have these wars.”
Regarding George Bush’s re-election, Aykroyd said, “We’ve got to support [Bush] as the commander in chief and we’ve got to support those young men and women who are out there protecting our big, fat, bloated lifestyle.”
Benitez, who resurrected his career with a stellar campaign for Florida last season (47 saves in 51 chances), saved 157 games for the Mets between 1999 and 2003 before a loss of confidence and control (and some pretty big games) greased the wheels for his trade to the Yankees.
Whether Butch Davis has jumped or was pushed, we’ll not know for a while. What does seem curious is the Browns’ decision to let the players pick their interim coach. After having 58 points hung on them by the Bengals, perhaps they’ll not want to select defensive coordinator Dave Campo?
…is the one whose celeb fans include Billy Crystal and….uh, Arsenio Hall.
I’m talking, of course, about the emerging Clippers, who at 9-6 are off to their best start in 20 years. Elton Brand (above) torched the Cavs for 30 points and Chris Wilcox and Bobby Simmons combined for 22 rebounds en route to Los Angeles’ 94-82 victory.
From Tuesday’s Financial Times :
Top of the Pops, the pop music programme, has been axed from BBC1 after 41 years on the main television channel. The move follows the programme’s struggle with declining interest in the singles charts and comes a year after a high profile relaunch. From next spring, the show will be broadcast on BBC2 on Sunday evenings, forging closer links with BBC Radio 1’s Chart Show. It will have a new format, featuring music archives already exploited by TOTP2, the show’s spin-off on BBC2.
(sickening no-talents prepare to prance and pout for even fewer eyeballs)
The Mets have submitted a contract proposal to Pedro Martínez that is more lucrative than the one offered by the Boston Red Sox, according to a major league executive with knowledge of the discussions.
In making a run at Martínez, the Mets are among the first teams to put their cash on the table for a premium player. The Red Sox have offered Martínez a two-year guaranteed contract worth $25.5 million with an easily attainable third-year option. The Mets countered late Sunday with a three-year guaranteed contract worth approximately $38 million with a vesting option for a fourth year. Neither the Mets nor Martínez’s agent Fernando Cuza would confirm or deny the offer.
With the offer, the Mets have conveyed that they are serious about signing Martínez and want to make an impact in the 2005 season. Although there is obvious skepticism as to why Martínez would leave a World Series champion to play for the Mets, who barely avoided finishing in last place for the third year in a row, there are also indications that he is considering the idea. Martínez has previously had success in the National League, coming up with the Los Angeles Dodgers and establishing himself in Montreal, where he won the first of his three Cy Young awards.
The Red Sox indicated that they would not change their initial offer to Martínez until they knew there was competition. Now, the 33-year-old Martínez has something to take back to Boston, whether the Mets are just a bargaining chip or a legitimate destination.
Finally, an heir apparent from Nellie’s staff of some 16,000 assistant coaches. From the Associated Press :
Dallas Mavericks coach Don Nelson will step aside for Tuesday night’s game against San Antonio and let his top assistant Avery Johnson (above) run the team.
Nelson will still be on the bench against the Spurs, but will leave it to Johnson to make decisions.
“I’ll give him my opinion and he’ll have to make the call,” Nelson said. “Just like when he gives me his opinion, I reject some of them, he can reject mine.”
Faced with Ron Artest dominating the news for much of the autumn, the hyper-competitive Milton Bradley has responded like a true gamer — challenging a traffic cop who had stopped another motorist to arrest him.
The Red Sox beating Pat Tillman for Sports Illustrated’s Sportsman Of The Year award, I can accept, but Bradley oughta demand a recount.
Seriously, folks, when I saw the headline reading “Bradley Held In Traffic Dispute”, I was praying the cops had violated Shawn Bradley’s civil rights.
The AP is reporting that satellite radio co. Sirius has signed a 3 year deal with the NCAA to broadcast the Men’s Basketball Tournament. While this is great news for those that love having too many devices in their car, the real March Madness will ensue when you try to figure out how to have Sirius and XM Radio installed in the same vehicle. As of this moment, Sirius has college hoops, the NFL and in 2006, Howard Stern. XM will feature MLB programming starting next spring. I’ve not opted for one of these services as I’m waiting for either (or both) to sign a pledge that they’ll not employ Scott Ferrell.
There are just two words to explain what’s wrong with the 6-9 Houston Rockets: Jeff Van Gundy. Or is that three words?
This is not to say Van Gundy is a bad coach. He’s just the wrong coach for the Rockets.
We see it more in college than in pro ball, but this is a classic case of a coach demanding his players adjust to him rather than him adjusting to them. And this is not one of those disciplinary, make-them-work, good-for-the-coach, teach-the-bums values things. The Rockets have a good group of players, by most accounts serious-minded and committed.
They’re playing a slow game, mostly walking the ball up and running a half-court offense. It was a good tactic for Van Gundy with a team like his aging New York Knicks, a slower, possession game that can keep a less talented team in the game and steal some wins.
Now he has young talent in YaoMing and Tracy McGrady, although Houston, to be fair, doesn’t have that much overall talent after giving away three starters to get McGrady.
But the Rockets need to run, or at least play more in transition. Defenses are setting up against them, turning them perimeter-oriented, thus limiting McGrady to jump shots and surrounding Yao and making him work too hard for baskets. It has tired him, and he has had trouble finishing games.
The Rockets’ statistics reflect their style, not their talent. They are 29th in scoring, 28th in rebounding, 27th in steals and 23rd in blocks even with Yao (above). Their field-goal attempts are 26th most, and they are 29th in free throws, showing a lack of penetration to the basket.
McGrady, the league’s leading scorer the last two seasons with a combined average of more than 30 points per game, has had only two games this season over 25 points. Yao, averaging 17.8, has been in single digits five times this season, twice in the last two games against teams without dominating centers.
“My game right now, I’m hesitant on the offensive end and I can’t get into a rhythm,” McGrady said after Saturday’s loss to the Jazz. “I really don’t feel in sync on the court. I can’t get into the flow at all. I don’t know what it is.”
I do. McGrady needs to get easy baskets in transition to open up his perimeter game. Of course, better rebounding would help. Yao is one of the league’s best running centers, but he’s walking into the defense too much.
“Neither of those guys has played like we need them to play to win down the stretch,” Van Gundy said last week.
The style Van Gundy favors wears out players. The Rockets aren’t great, but they have too much talent to allow lesser teams to stay in the game with limited possessions.
From The Star’s Dave Perkins, link courtesy of Jon Solomon :
The Blue Jays finally will own their own ball yard, possibly as soon as today.
The long-awaited sale of the SkyDome to Rogers Communications was in the final stages of being negotiated on the weekend, including last night. It should be formally completed and announced this week and possibly today, according to multiple sources.
The stadium was state of the art when it opened, mostly at taxpayer expense, in 1989 with a final cost of more than $600 million (all figures Canadian). Rogers will buy it from U.S.-based Sportsco International LP (limited partners) for something approaching $30 million.
Due diligence had been taking place over the past several weeks, since Sportsco, which bought the stadium out of bankruptcy proceedings six years ago, began to feel a financial crunch and became more agreeable to selling. The death this past summer of Alan Cohen, one of the principals in Sportsco who lived in Florida, also played a factor.
This deal has been rumoured before as being imminent. This time, apparently, they’ve either tied the knot or are at least at the altar.
So let the speculation begin about the future. The Jays, with the SkyDome as part of the package to maximize value, will become more attractive to a buyer should anyone wish to come up with the cash to take the money-losing team off Ted Rogers’ hands. He has owned the club for five years, losing large but decreasing amounts on baseball operations, yet still gaining the all-important television programming — Canadian content, too — so vital to his media empire.
If ownership of the SkyDome can make the Jays a profitable venture, Rogers may wish to maintain his ownership position. He has said he intends to stay with the Blue Jays for the long haul, although executives within his own company suggest it should get out of the baseball business. The constant financial squeeze on team payroll has led to frustration being openly voiced by general manager J.P. Ricciardi, but it remains to be seen how the synergy of team and stadium will change the dynamic of spending.
There have been reports, most reasonably well founded, that Ted Rogers intends to rename the building the Rogers SkyDome. It has lacked a corporate name since it opened, but expect that to change once the deal does down. Which should be any time now.
(Stephon working his way around Milt Palacio Saturday afternoon)
Frayed tempers and hurt feelings were the order of the day following New York’s 108-102 win over Toronto the other day (72 hours after the Raptors had routed the Knicks) and the Toronto Sun’s Mike Koreen and Steve Buffery were on the scene with the kleenex.
Raptors Coach Sam Mitchell does not care what Stephon Marbury thinks about his coaching style. Mitchell didn’t mince words yesterday when asked about the York Knicks guard, who said that the Raptors do not run many plays for Vince Carter following a win over Toronto on Saturday.
(Mitchell’s management style was often questioned in Walford, too)
“I should not have to waste my time answering questions about what someone on another team that’s struggling like we’re struggling (said) about how we should play,” said Mitchell.
“It’s not worth my time, my thought or my energy to even have to respond to that.
“When we beat (the Knicks) by 25 (on Wednesday), (what) did he say … when we ran up and down the court and everybody scored? They beat us by six (Saturday) and all of a sudden (Marbury has an opinion).”
Martínez could soon receive a contract offer from the Mets that is competitive with the one he has already received from Boston. The notion of leaving the Red Sox for the Mets is just crazy enough for Martínez to consider. Part of his appeal has always been his free-flinging nature, and signing with the Mets would only add to his unpredictable persona.
Martínez and the Mets would make a strange but not inconceivable match. They are desperate for attention and eager to reassert their relevance. Curt Schilling has overshadowed Martínez for the past year, the Yankees have overshadowed the Mets for the past decade and now they are discussing a union of the scorned.
Besides sellout crowds, a supportive clubhouse and another chance at the World Series, the Red Sox have offered Martínez a two-year deal worth $25.5 million, with an easily attainable option year that would bring the package to $38.5 million with $2 million in performance incentives.
To outbid Boston for Martínez, the Mets will probably have to offer him at least a three-year guaranteed contract worth more than $13 million a season with an equally attainable option year.
Omar Minaya wants to make a statement in his first off-season as the Mets’ general manager, but it is risky to give the 33-year-old Martínez a four-year deal, considering his slight physique and the velocity he lost last season.
It will be difficult to match the good will that Boston has built up with Martínez. He is perhaps Boston’s most famous athlete over the past seven years, and even when he was struggling last season, the Red Sox gave him every possible concession. When the Mets had discussions about Martínez, some in the organization were concerned that he would need a separate set of rules.
While playing for Boston, Martínez was allowed to report late to the stadium on days he did not pitch and was coddled after he called the Yankees “my daddy” after a loss in September. In Game 7 of the American League Championship Series, with the Red Sox drubbing the Yankees, Manager Terry Francona allowed Martínez to pitch, presumably because Martínez wanted to participate in the excitement.
Free Agent SS Orlando Cabrera is asking for 4-5 year, a request that the Boston Herald’s Michael Silverman doubts the Red Sox will honor.
With shortstop prospect Hanley Ramirez expected to be ready for prime time perhaps as early as 2006, the Red Sox do not have an interest in wrapping up any shortstop in a three-, never mind a four- or five-year minimum deal. With free agent catcher Jason Varitek still seeking a five-year deal and the Red Sox offering four, and the club apparently willing to sign Pedro Martinez to three guaranteed years, a long-term deal for Cabrera seems next to impossible to imagine.
The one way Cabrera could conceivably come back: by accepting an offer of salary arbitration from the Red Sox, who would not mind if the shortstop accepted and cost them $7 million to $8 million for next year. The Sox also would not mind if Cabrera rejected arbitration and signed elsewhere, meaning the club could gain a draft pick next June.
The Red Sox are expected to pursue a number of veteran options in the shortstop market. Some of the names that have already come up, or are expected to shortly, are Royce Clayton, Jose Valentin and Barry Larkin. The club made a two-year proposal to Omar Vizquel, who instead inked a three-year deal with the Giants
from Ken Rosenthal’s latest Sporting News column :
Look for the Giants to make a push for free-agent closer Armando Benitez. The team appears stalled in its negotiations with closer Dustin Hermanson, who is believed to be seeking a two-year deal in the $6 million range. Benitez’s price also is high — he wants a three-year contract between $21 million and $24 million — but he’s coming off a season in which he converted 47 of 51 saves and posted a 1.29 ERA. He likely would be comfortable under Giants manager Felipe Alou, a fellow Dominican.
Following the news earlier this week that the Cardinals opted not to exercise their option, on P Woody Williams the Chicago Tribune’s Phil Rogers takes a gander at St. Louis’ plans.
Between them, Woody Williams and Matt Morris earned $19 million last season. Their impending departures give Cardinals GM Walt Jocketty the financial flexibility to pursue a Randy Johnson deal.
The White Sox, Yankees and Angels also are exploring possible Johnson trades. The Cardinals appear to be offering Reggie Sanders in a package that probably includes 26-year-old first baseman-outfielder John Gall, who hit .292 with 22 homers at Triple-A Memphis. But the Diamondbacks probably could get more firepower from the Sox in Konerko and one top minor-league outfielder, either Brian Anderson or Ryan Sweeney.
“We’re interested in Randy Johnson,” Cardinals manager Tony La Russa said. “We were interested in him at the trading deadline. But a lot of things have to fall into place.”
Teams know they will have to give Johnson an extension to get him in 2005, which is the last year on his deal with Arizona. He could prefer to stay in the pitcher-friendly National League.
“The only way to make it work is if we have him for more than one year,” Jocketty said. “He wants to win 300 games.”
The 41-year-old Johnson is at 246, including only 22 in the last two years. He will need to pitch at least three more years, and probably four, to reach 300.
Williams could wind up as the latest native returning to Houston, replacing a retiring Roger Clemens in the Astros’ rotation. But new GM Tim Purpura must wait to see if Clemens is really ready to go.
While the Cardinals won’t offer arbitration to either Morris or Williams, there’s an outside chance they’d sign Morris to a one-year contract before Dec. 7, when they essentially would lose the chance to keep him.
For the record, I’d like to make it clear that my extended stay in Great Britain was hassle-free and I didn’t have to sleep with any civil servants to get a special stamp on my passport. From tomorrow’s Independent and Colin Brown :
David Blunkett’s cabinet career hung in the balance last night after he ordered an independent inquiry into allegations by his former lover, Kimberly Quinn, that he abused his powers as Home Secretary to fast-track a visa for her Filipina nanny.
Downing Street was standing by Mr Blunkett but a cabinet colleague said: “We don’t know if David can survive.”
The Home Secretary’s friends accused Mrs Quinn, wife of a publisher, of waging a vendetta against Mr Blunkett because DNA tests proved he is the father of her two-year-old son, William, rather than her husband, Stephen. Mr Blunkett also claims to be the father of a second child, due in the new year.
Mrs Quinn’s most serious allegation came in an e-mail claiming that Mr Blunkett helped to fast-track an application for a visa for Leoncia “Luz” Casalme, 36, who was challenged by a newspaper about it. If that is proved, Mr Blunkett could be forced to resign.
(Blunkett, shown with one of his bitches)
(Jim Plunkett, who has nothing to do with this story)
The leaked e-mail by Mrs Quinn to a friend on Thursday last week said: “I have had Luz on the phone very tearful, saying that she had been contacted about the passport [visa] application that David fast-tracked for her … he’s so paranoid he’ll think it’s me and try and nail me.”
Mrs Quinn also claimed Mr Blunkett had given her two first-class rail tickets assigned to him for his work as an MP; put pressure on the US embassy for a passport for her son to travel with Mr Blunkett on holiday in France; had used a government driver to take Mrs Quinn to his home in Derbyshire for weekend trysts; took Mrs Quinn to Spain with a driver and four security officers; tipped off Mrs Quinn that her American parents should avoid Newark airport because of a security scare; and stationed police outside her £2m Mayfair home as protection against May Day rioters.
With about 10 minutes remaining in the long-awaited Billick/Belicheck Bowl, there were only 2 points left to ponder :
1) Do the pigtails really work for Bonnie Bernstein? Discuss.
2) Is the “BB” monogram on Belicheck’s sweatshirt really necessary, and would it really do him any good with kleptomaniacs like Brian Billick and Bonnie Bernstein prowling the sidelines?
So what got people more bent out of shape, the actual broadcast of T.O. & Nicolette Sheridan in (and out) of a towel, or the constant reminders that said footage was supposedly offensive? The New York Times’ Frank Rich thinks it over.
Though seen nationwide, and as early as 6 p.m. on the West Coast, the spot initially caused so little stir that the next morning only two newspapers in the country, both in Philadelphia, reported on it. ABC’s switchboards were not swamped by shocked viewers on Monday night. A spokesman for ABC Sports told The Philadelphia Inquirer that he hadn’t received a single phone call or e-mail in the immediate aftermath of the broadcast.
Even the stunned Rush Limbaugh, curiously enough, didn’t get around to mounting his own diatribe until Wednesday. Mr. Owens’s agent, David Joseph, says that the flood of complaints at his office and Mr. Owens’s Web site also didn’t start until more than 24 hours after the incident – late Tuesday and early Wednesday. Were any of these complainants actual victims (or even viewers) of “Monday Night Football” or were they just a mob assembled after the fact by “family” groups, emboldened by their triumph in smiting “Saving Private Ryan” from 66 ABC stations the week before? Though the F.C.C. said on Wednesday that it had received 50,000 complaints about the N.F.L. affair, it couldn’t determine how many of them were duplicates – the kind generated by e-mail campaigns run by political organizations posting form letters ready to be clicked into cyberspace ad infinitum by anyone who has an index finger and two seconds of idle time.
Like the Janet Jackson video before it, the new N.F.L. sex tape was now being rebroadcast around the clock so we could revel incessantly in the shock of it all. “People were so outraged they had to see it 10 times,” joked Aaron Brown of CNN, which was no slacker in filling that need in the marketplace. And yet when I spoke to an F.C.C. enforcement spokesman after more than two days of such replays, the agency had not yet received a single complaint about the spot’s constant recycling on other TV shows, among them the highly rated talk show “The View,” where Ms. Sheridan’s bare back had been merrily paraded at the child-friendly hour of 11 a.m.
The hypocrisy embedded in this tale is becoming a national running gag. As in the Super Bowl brouhaha, in which the N.F.L. maintained it had no idea that MTV might produce a racy halftime show, the league has denied any prior inkling of the salaciousness on tap this time – even though the spot featured the actress playing the sluttiest character in prime time’s most libidinous series and was shot with the full permission of one of the league’s teams in its own locker room. Again as in the Jackson case, we are also asked to believe that pro football is what Pat Buchanan calls “the family entertainment, the family sports show” rather than what it actually is: a Boschian jamboree of bumping-and-grinding cheerleaders, erectile-dysfunction pageantry and, as Don Imus puts it, “wife-beating drug addicts slamming the hell out of each other” on the field.
“Desperate Housewives” is hardly a blue-state phenomenon. A hit everywhere, it is even a bigger hit in Oklahoma City than it is in Los Angeles, bigger in Kansas City than it is in New York. All those public moralists who wail about all the kids watching Ms. Sheridan on “Monday Night Football” would probably have apoplexy if they actually watched what Ms. Sheridan was up to in her own series – and then looked closely at its Nielsen numbers. Though children ages 2 to 11 make up a small percentage of the audience of either show, there are actually more in that age group tuning into Mr. Cherry’s marital brawls (870,000) than into the N.F.L.’s fisticuffs (540,000). “Desperate Housewives” also ranks No. 5 among all prime-time shows for ages 12-17. (”Monday Night Football” is No. 18.) This may explain in part why its current advertisers include products like Fisher-Price toys, the DVD of “Elf” and the forthcoming Tim Allen holiday vehicle, “Christmas With the Kranks.”
So many ways to finish no higher than 3rd next year, as the Baltimore Sun’s Roch Kubatko surveys the scene.
Pitcher Carl Pavano and his representative, Scott Shapiro, will fly into Baltimore the night of Dec. 5 and meet the following day with Flanagan and executive vice president Jim Beattie. Shapiro is hopeful that his client also will be introduced to majority owner Peter Angelos and pitching coach Ray Miller. The crab cakes can wait.
Pavano will be the first free agent to visit the Orioles, but he has already stopped in Boston and also is scheduled to meet officials from the Detroit Tigers, New York Yankees, Seattle Mariners and Anaheim Angels.
Not much has changed for the Orioles since they left the general managers’ meetings last month in Key Biscayne, Fla. They still want to add at least one front-line starter, with Brad Radke, Derek Lowe and Eric Milton also on their radar. They still want a first baseman, and regard Carlos Delgado, Richie Sexson and Troy Glaus as possibilities — though Glaus wants to stay at third base. They are sorting through their options in center and right field, which keeps Carlos Beltran and Magglio Ordonez in play.
Presented with these names over the weekend, Flanagan said: “Those haven’t changed. They have not been eliminated — by them or by us.”
Former Oriole Steve Finley, 39, would be a solution in center field, though shorter-term than Beltran, and the two sides have talked.
It’s believed that Finley will command a two-year deal with an annual salary exceeding the $6.75 million he earned last season. The Tigers have been aggressively pursuing him, but an Orioles source said, “He’s not a major player for us right now. They touched base with us and we haven’t eliminated anything, but it hasn’t gone any further than that.”
Like many teams, the Orioles appear to be keeping Finley on the back burner until determining whether they can sign Beltran, who most likely will string along teams for most of the winter. The Orioles don’t want to wait too long and lose out on other players, and Finley eventually should be in hot demand.
The Orioles need bullpen help after Jason Grimsley underwent ligament-replacement surgery on his right elbow. They’re still deciding whether to add a closer and return B.J. Ryan (above) to a setup role.
They never inquired about free agent Troy Percival, who signed a two-year, $12 million deal with the Tigers, and aren’t expected to bid for former Oriole Armando Benitez because of the expected cost, which soared after he posted 47 saves and a 1.29 ERA with the Florida Marlins last season.
One team official described Benitez as “a long shot.”
In any event, you can count on the Orioles to sign their 3rd or 4th choice in most instances, either that or grossly overpay for the guy they really wanted.
Health permitting, Hubie, 71, was on course to coach out his three-year, $11 million contract. Next season the plan was to reward him big time ($5M) with a one-year farewell tour after which he’d retire simultaneously with West, 66, the draftsman responsible for the Hall of Fame TV analyst returning to his preferred profession following a 16-year absence.
Judging by the sorrowful sight and sound of Jerry West (above) at Friday’s press conference, Hubie’s untimely exit could easily hasten his own premature exodus. Coming off last season’s 50-win, first-round playoff finish, losing your league-honored coach and eight of the first 13 games is definitely not how things are supposed to be going in Memphis.
A confessed serial skeptic, I, nonetheless, almost certainly would’ve believed Hubie had he stated health as his singular cause for leaving. In all probability, I would’ve allowed West to ease into hiring Mike Fratello – whom he enthusiastically endorsed to Rod Thorn just before the Nets’ boss appointed Byron Scott – and kept any follow-up cynicism behind this sudden flight to a bare minimum.
Clearly, Hubie tried his best to take the ultimate high road. Then he added shortness of oomph to the equation. Offered a second motive for hightailing it. Declared his spirit, energy and passion were kaput; therefore, he had to go, too. Hubie could’ve left it with really not feeling all that well (”there’s nothing specific,” says a source, “but close to it”), but, perhaps, in all good conscience, was compelled to take his startling sendoff a step further.
Consequently, so must we. After 50 or so years around the game you don’t just lose your passion overnight, or over two or three weeks, it has to be pounded out of you. Something had to happen to turn off and shut down Hubie so completely.
So, what happened? To begin with, resentment abounded when retread Brian Cardinal arrived flaunting a 6-year, $37M free agent contract and Pau Gasol was rewarded with $86M over the same span.
Several players were overcome with envy, expressly rising free agents Bonzi Wells, who half-stepped through pre-season with a pulled hamstring, and Stromile Swift, who was unable to leverage a $10M per long-term deal out of Memphis and thus was forced to “settle” for the one-year, $6M qualifier.
Jealousy quickly deteriorated into selfishness, and did it ever show. The team’s first three games against the Wizards (seven short of a rotation), Rockets and Mavericks were disgraceful exhibitions of individualism, though, for the most part, the team concept has prevailed since.
Hubie’s pet, James Posey, made matters worse by showing up in camp with a swelled head and a bloated body; it’s uncertain when he sprained his foot, but after three games he was ordered to the injured list to rehab his act and ailment.
Furthermore, West was unable to acquire Erick Dampier in a sign-and-trade with the Warriors, but did match the Cavaliers’ three-year, $1.9M per offer sheet to Jake Tsakalidis. Meaning Hubie again had three centers he’s not especially fond of – Lorenzen Wright, Swift and Tsakalidis.
With apologies to the Chicago Tribune’s Sam Smith, whose perspective I incorrectly refuted, West and Hubie were hardly friction-free. It seems the coaching staff was upset with West’s decision to release Bo Outlaw and Troy Bell versus two second-rounders. Hubie was particularly unhappy to be the one forced to notify them when he caught wind GM Dick Versace was about to alert the media.
On top of that, when Tennessee was burning, West was in Europe. When the team was losing ugly early and often, players were going off on their own agendas and Williams was in Brendan Brown’s face, giving him a profane earful, the Grizzlies’ boss was on an extended scouting trip. When such flagrant disrespect demanded discipline, the franchise commander was overseas.
“Of course, Hubie’s health is bothering him,” I heard Warner Wolf duly note on radio the other day. “He’s sick of the NBA.”
You want a stat that helps you get into this game? OK, try 148.
That would be the number of tickets the Raiders returned to the Broncos because they could neither sell them, give them away, or threaten potential litigants with them. One hundred and forty-eight.
And here’s another stat. Fifteen and four. That is Denver’s record against The Swords In The Skull since Mike Shanahan took the job here, which indicates if nothing else Shanahan has gotten back the $250,000 he says the Raiders never paid him, and gotten it back at a rate of interest that would shame a usurer.
Now, let’s understand the likeliest way we know the Raiders couldn’t get rid of their ticket allotment is that some happy imp in the Broncos’ front office made sure the media learned it. This is not information made readily available to the public, and yet it miraculously appeared here Friday.
As for the other number, well, everyone knows it, or can get to it easily. And it proves, more dramatically than anything else, that the Raiders and the Raiders alone have let this once-extraordinary rivalry take on root rot.
I mean, this match has become an absurdity, because when you peel away the history and the mean-spirited recriminations that warm Al Davis’ and Pat Bowlen’s respective hearts, the teams aren’t remotely comparable, which is how you get 15 for one side and four for the other.
Now nothing in football is preordained, and it is supposed to snow like Al Roker’s Own Hell this evening, but because this game is considered the gateway to the Raiders’ doom in 2004, there is reason to watch with rapt attention, because the Broncos already have logged a 31-3 win at Oakland, need the game to stay with San Diego in the AFC West, and could very well hasten the removal of Oakland’s wheels on a season already gone through bad, heading for worse and on target for worst in the Al Era.
Al Hirt must be turning over in his grave. Though that would, of course, defy everything I’ve learned about the decomposition of a human body.
How this news will impact the placement of the Saints-mobile atop the roof of Austin, TX’s Shoal Creek Saloon , I do not know, but this cannot be considered good news for the patrons of said establishment.
Congrats to the AHL’s Philadelphia Phantoms and their legion of degenerate fans on the club winning a record 17th consecutive games, following last night’s 3-1 defeat of the Hershey Bears.
(Philly’s Ben Stafford scored a power play goal in the first period, his 3rd in two games)
During a period in which hockey in the U.S. has been reduced to a mere footnote in the sports pages (from its prior status as a slightly longer footnote), hopefully the Phantoms’ achievement will serve as a reminder to the NHL Owners and Players Union alike of the remarkable things that can be accomplished…without anyone noticing.
So maybe that pogo action on the Louisville logo wasn’t the greatest idea? And who knew the Cards would be so sensitive about that kinda thing, given that they sold naming rights to their stadium to that lowest of the low rent pizza chains, Papa John’s?
A little more to be proud of, then, for Cincinnati’s Men’s basketball team, after beating Purdue 79-59 as part of the John Wooden Tradition doubleheader. And who better to soak up the glory of this made-for-TV showcase than Bob Huggins., truly the modern incarnation of the Wizard Of Westwood, what with the former’s committment to the student-athlete, staying puke-free, etc.
The following are QB’s more deserving of a shot in ‘04 than Jeff George :
Doug Flutie
David Woodley
Dave Brown
Chris Simms
Bubby Brister
Ryan Leaf
Todd Marinovich
Akili Smith
From T.R. Sullivan in last Wednesday’s Fort Worth Star-Telegram :
Free-agent infielder Todd Walker, who lives in Louisiana, might be in town over the Thanksgiving to visit family, and a face-to-face visit with Rangers officials is a possibility. Walker and Tino Martinez are two free agents the Rangers have targeted to fill their designated-hitter position.
Speaking of designated-hitter candidates, word is Mo Vaughn is looking for a job and is willing to come into somebody’s camp as a non-roster player on an incentive-laden contract. The idea has intrigued the Rangers.
You might be saying, “what do they have to lose?” How about some springtime AB’s for someone who might still have a career ahead of him? Do players like Michael Young and Alfonso Soriano really need any help finding which strip joint in the Sunrise, AZ area has the best all-you-can-eat buffet, or can”t they figure that out on their own?
Phil’s kids get JFK Reloaded (if only T.O. could be the lone gunman!) and Dad gets a gander of this, for a column that should write itself.
If you’re gonna take a stand against rampant consumerism and all-encompassing commercial exploitation of everything that moves, abstaining for a day is pretty fucking weak. How about “Buy Nothing EVER”? Certainly a more ambitious plan, but if you’re gonna be cheap most of the time anyway, you might as well embrace an activist agenda (hopefully distracting others from your personality defects).
There is something on the Adbusters site about “Buy Nothing All Year” which eloquently talks about bartering for goods and services, but I’ve got two non-philosophical hang-ups with this :
1) my ISP isn’t down with this bartering thing. They want cash, cheque or credit card payment in exchange for reading Adbusters’ wildly entertaining fantasies. I offered to mow their lawn, but no dice.
2) the plan seems sensible, if a bit utopian. But nowhere does Adbusters explain how I’m supposed to get a $29 DVD player
(Xmas shoppers go berserk upon hearing the news that Jandek’s ‘The Door Behind’ is on sale for $7.99)
In the midst of MP3/flat-screen mania, I am feeling a bit sad for the toy companies. Perhaps they shouldn’t have laughed so hard when I proposed the Fur-covered Slinky.
The Associated Press is reporting that free agent P Pedro Martinez had dinner with Mets GM Omar Minaya on Thursday evening. The AP neglected to mention what either man ordered, if there was wine, if they had desert or went to a movie afterwards. In any event, I hope they didn’t attend a screening of “Bridget Jones : The Edge Of Reason” because I have it on good authority that film really sucks.
(Rangers’ Marc Bircham celebrates Danny Shittu’s first half goal with a questionable public display of affection)
Rangers scored some measure of revenge against their foes from the ‘03 Div. 2 Playoff Final, beating Cardiff City 1-0 in a late morning contest at Loftus Road. Defender Danny Shittu, seemingly all the way back from his devestating knee injury, struck QPR’s winner past Tony Warner in the 23rd minute. Following this impressive rebound from last week’s 6-1 drubbing at Leeds, Rangers solidified their hold on the 5th spot (36 points) in the Fizzy Drinks League Championship, and trail 2nd place Wigan (who drew today at Reading) by 5 points for the 2nd automatic promotion spot.
QPR manager Ian Holloway, hospitalized following the massacre at Elland Road, had the weekend off to recuperate and/or watch his name fall out of contention for the Wolverhampton job.
(bhuna on the burner in Oldham)
From Paul McInnes in today’s Guardian :
Here’s a word from Alan Hardy, the chief executive of Oldham Athletic: “Chicken tikka massala has become the country’s favourite takeaway dish outstripping the traditional fish and chips in recent years.” Interesting. “So the suggestion from a fan about introducing a curry dish got me thinking.” It wasn’t long before that thinking resulted in a tie-up with top Oldham curry house New Holland Tandoori, making the Latics the first club to flog authentic curry inside a football ground. Next Tuesday, for the LDV Vans tie with Hartlepool, chicken bhuna will be available in the main stand. The future is served.
While Boston’s negotiations with C Jason Varitek continue, ‘Tek’s capable back-up, Doug Mirabelli, is expected to sign an extension with the club shortly writes the Boston Globe’s Bob Hohler.
Mirabelli, a free agent for the first time, appeared poised to nearly double his salary from the $825,000 he earned last season. While serving primarily as Tim Wakefield’s personal catcher, Mirabelli set career highs in batting average (.281), runs (27), RBIs (32), on-base percentage (.368), and slugging percentage (.525).
The Sox reached the tentative accord while a number of teams eyed Mirabelli as a prospective backup amid significant movement in the catching ranks. In recent days, the Brewers signed Oakland free agent Damian Miller, the Twins picked up Florida free agent Mike Redmond, the Angels exercised Bengie Molina’s option, and the A’s were close to acquiring Jason Kendall from the Pirates for lefthanders Mark Redman and Arthur Rhodes.
Though the Sox placed a high priority on retaining Mirabelli, they have no plans to significantly expand his backup role and remain committed to pursuing Varitek, the top catcher on the free agent market. The Sox have offered Varitek about $36 million over four years while he has sought $55 million over five years, and the sides may need a while to resolve their differences. (With the Sox expected to offer Varitek salary arbitration by Dec. 7, he would have until Dec. 19 to decide whether to accept. If he were to reject the offer, the sides would have until Jan. 8 to reach a deal or forfeit their rights to negotiate until May 1.)
All cranky on Saturday morning, Ben writes
So what’s going through the minds of New York media hacks who seriously think Sammy Sosa can’t wait to play in Shea? Ken Davidoff’s Newsday column is as retarded as Mike Lupica’s a week ago on Sammy. The average Cub fan “hates” Sosa like Barry Bonds is supposedly the most hated man in baseball. Keep this in mind: Sammy has trade approval. Do people think the Mets will give Sammy MORE money than the Cubs? Will they somehow convince him that the Mets will make the playoffs this season? Do they think this is A-Rod 2005? Sammy is supposed to take a multi-million dollar pay cut to hang out with Minaya? Why doesn’t he just hire him as his personal trainer and keep the money? Meanwhile, Sammy’s own agent (and Moises Alou) are downplaying Sammy’s problems with Dusty Baker, backpedaling from asking MLB for leeway in Sammy’s options, and Sammy himself hasn’t shot off his mouth in nearly a month about it. He’s currently in Paris where he has a better chance of playing next year than New York. Jeeziz, even the pizza’s better in Chicago.
Ben, I hope you would agree that the Daily News’ Adam Rubin is very much a member of the New York media. The following is from his column on Thanksgiving day.
Faced with a large financial gap with the Cubs, Mets insiders portray the chances of obtaining the 36-year-old slugger as increasingly unlikely. The pessimism comes despite the apparent willingness of the players’ association to allow Sosa to waive a clause in his contract that guarantees his 2006 salary if he’s traded.
The Cubs, who want to unload Sosa, owe the slugger $17.5 million in 2005, with an option for `06 of $18 million that can be bought out for $4.5 million. If Sosa is traded, the contract automatically kicks in for `06, and a $19 million option for `07 with the same buyout going into effect. Either way, there’s also a $3.5 million termination fee on top of the buyout.
While the Cubs are believed to be willing to eat the $8 million buyout and termination fee, there still would be a roughly $4.5 million gap between Sosa’s `05 salary and the money owed to Cliff Floyd during the final two years of his contract. Floyd, midway through a four-year, $26 million deal, is the logical choice to be shipped to Wrigley Field in a Sosa swap. Sosa likely would want compensation for waiving his clause, also undermining a deal.
(”Mrs. Jones is 17 and 6 and 24″ makes absolutely no sense)
It was the Psychedelic Furs’ Richard Butler who wrote “Mr. Jones can turn you on / and turn you off again.” I have no idea what that means, though I suspect he wasn’t talking about Indiana’s’ Fred Jones.
(Fred – into you like a train)
With the Pacers trying to survive without Ron Artest, Stephen Jackson, Jermaine O’Neal, Rik Smits or Geoge McGinnis, Jones’ performances this week have been a revelation, none more so than tonight’s 23 point performance in the Pacers’ 82-77 win over the Bobcats.
In my nearly 4 decades of watching college football, I’ve never seen a ball dislodged during a goal-line leap, run back the length of the field for a touchdown. And I’ve never seen a blocked PAT attempt recovered by the defense in the end zone, only to be ruled a one-point safety.
Today, I saw both of these things take place within an hour of each other. It was either this local derby, the Bridget Jones sequel, the Shelley Long death watch or go buy Ben Schwartz his Cubs smoking jacket. I’m sure you’ll agree I made the right choice.
As expected, Rick Down was named the new hitting coach of the New York Mets today. What wasn’t expected was that said hiring would be announced prior to January. The New York Times’ Lee Jenkins explains in tomorrow’s paper.
George Steinbrenner and the Yankees fired Rick Down twice in the past 10 years, but they balked at the notion of giving him up when their crosstown rivals came calling earlier this month.
After a tug of war between New York’s baseball neighbors, the Mets announced yesterday that they had hired Down to be their hitting coach. Willie Randolph, the Mets’ first-year manager, completed his staff by adding Tom Nieto as the major league catching instructor.
The other coaches were introduced earlier in the week, but the Mets had to wait for permission from the Yankees to announce an agreement with Down. Although Randolph spoke with Down in early November, Steinbrenner did not believe Randolph had gone through the proper channels and refused to give permission for a formal interview.
Mets General Manager Omar Minaya and Yankees General Manager Brian Cashman cleared up the disagreement and said it was the result of miscommunication. With Down and Randolph, the Mets now have the Yankees’ former hitting coach and third-base coach, who became friends while on the same staff.
“Beyond a professional relationship, Willie and I are friends,” Down said in a telephone interview yesterday. “It’s nice to have somebody who wants you.”
There’s something a bit disengenious about the St. John’s athletic department volunteering to skip the next two years of post-season appearances given that the odds of their earning a berth in anything other than the N.I.T. were pretty slim to begin with.
On the bright side for St. John’s, new hire Norm Roberts’ head coaching C.V.. includes 24 wins and 84 losses at national powerhouse Queens College, a record almost as impressive as fellow Q.C. alum Jerry Seinfeld’s 0-0 mark.
…and in a terribly weak Atlantic Division, Iverson’s Sixers resemble a playoff team, despite Iverson’s suspect backing cast (and his propensity to hoist ‘em up whether he has a shot or not).
…and the Raptors, clearly unnerved by someone promising to buy a ticket, were prepared to deal with the crisis.
“The person who wrote the message said: ‘I’m coming to the game and I’m going to raise hell and make an issue,’ and it was clear that this person was upset with the quality of Vince Carte’s play.
“So we weren’t taking chances and we closely monitored the situation. Gladly, as we had anticipated, nothing came out of it.”
I don’t mean to be so flippant about this. Perhaps in Canada, “I’m coming to the game…and I’m gonna make an issue” is a euphamism for “I’m going to stab Vince Carter in the face”.
Though my subscription to FHM has lapsed, I’d like to thank the gutter-minded Jon Solomon for forwarding .the following item from today’s New York Post and gossip-hound Richard Johnson.
Mets pitcher Kris Benson’s outspoken wife, Anna, is at it again. The blabbermouthed bombshell — who peels down in the new FHM — told the mag about how she helped her hubby when he couldn’t stomach his pain medication after arm surgery. “We were flying home from the hospital and we had to squeeze into the plane’s bathroom together so I could stick suppositories up his [bleep] to keep him from throwing up,” she revealed. Benson also shared that the couple hasn’t had sex at Shea Stadium yet. “We’ve done Three Rivers, PNC Park and the Pirates’ spring-training camp,” Anna said.
Yeah, well, far be for me to suggest that Anna and Kris aren’t a worldly couple until they’ve done it in the Harbor Park men’s room. If nothing else, David Cone can always vouch for Shea’s bullpen as a suitable masturbation venue.
Despite a report on Toronto-area radio Wednesday night, the Mariners continue to be the front-runner in the Carlos Delgado sweepstakes.
Baseball sources said the Mariners have asked Delgado, the first baseman and cleanup hitter for the Toronto Blue Jays for the better part of a decade, if he would be willing to bat third in Seattle.
Delgado has confirmed that he’d be willing to make the switch, the sources said. That would leave the Mariners free to follow the addition of Delgado with another move in free agency, adding either first baseman Richie Sexson or third baseman Troy Glaus.
Seattle could still use Delgado as the cleanup hitter if the Mariners are unable to land Sexson or Glaus. But the idea in the Mariners front office seems to be that in an ideal world, Sexson or Glaus would bat cleanup and Delgado third in the 2005 Seattle lineup.
I anticipate a run on copies of “Hijinx” and “Hijinx 2″ at the local video store.
(Update : kudos to the programming gods at Turner South for their sensitivity in scheduling a showing of “Troop Beverley Hills” for this morning.)
71 year old Hubie Brown has quit as coach of the Memphis Grizzlies, citing previously unforseen “health-related issues” (though being 71 years old and having to deal with Jason Williams every day is probably reason enough).
Brown, whose previous coaching tenures included stops in Atlanta, New York and Kentucky, will be replaced by Lionel Hollins on an interim basis. Former Cavs/Hawks coach Mike Fratello, so close to taking the Knicks job last year, would be the bookies’ choice to take over, if the bookies were awake yet.
With Jacques Santini and Harry Redknapp have bolted Premiership jobs in recent weeks, ex-Coventry boss Gordon Strachan (above) takes a dim view of those dubbed Director Of Football in tomorrow’s Guardian.
If you ask British managers what a director of football is, a lot would probably answer: “A spy.” I don’t want to be disrespectful, but I think they’re mainly a way for chairmen to make sure they know what’s going on throughout their club. They want to know what training’s like, what are the players thinking, whether they’re happy with the manager.
It gives them a legitimate way to find these things out. As it is, some chairmen will go to a player, a coach or someone behind the scenes, like a physio or masseur, and ask questions. But the manager gets to know because there are no secrets at a football club. It’s like having 20 old women together.
I wonder whether anyone can assure me that a director of football really makes a positive difference. And if the director of football is so important, why doesn’t he go when the coach gets sacked?
Newsday’s Michael Dobie on the evolution of gluttony-as-sport.
Signs of social acceptance abound. Cable television, such as ESPN and the Food Network, broadcasts events, and top eaters appear regularly on Jay Leno, Carson Daly and “Good Morning America.” The puzzle page in this weekend’s Life magazine asks readers to match the eater’s face with his or her food of choice.
“It’s been a very steep rise the last couple of years,” said George Shea, who along with his brother Richard used to do public relations for the Nathan’s contest. Sensing possibilities for expansion, the Manhattan-based duo founded the International Federation for Competitive Eating in 1997 and turned an innocent pastime into, well, something of a niche sport so serious it’s funny. Or vice versa.
“We’re serious about it without question. No one can doubt our chili record or our corn on the cob record is legitimate,” said Richard Shea, his tongue planted firmly in cheek.
So, too, the brothers say, no one can doubt their enterprise is a sport. It might be an “entertainment product,” they admit, but that’s true of every sport.
“The definition of sport is any physical activity governed by a set of rules. An awful lot of things are that, but ours is clearly that,” Richard Shea said. “Eating is as inherent to man as running or jumping or other survival skills that are in the Olympics.”
Competitive eating certainly has the trappings of modern sport.
There’s a clock. There’s a final score (the weight or pieces of food consumed). There’s prize money. There are world records and rankings.
There is scouting. Badlands, a 35-year-old conductor on the No. 7 subway line, watches tapes of Japan’s Takeru Kobayashi, the four-time Nathan’s champion universally considered the best in the business.
There are rules. Vomiting, for example, is not allowed (the V word never is used in the business; the IFOCE prefers “reversal of fortune” or “the Roman method”). Competitors must be at least 18. And as in football, every sanctioned competition has an emergency medical technician.
Perhaps the simplest justification is the one offered by 38-year-old Ed “Cookie” Jarvis, a 6-6, 409-pound real-estate agent from Nesconset who holds 11 world records: “They wouldn’t put it on ESPN if it wasn’t a sport.”
The Associated Press is reporting that T-Wolves center Michael Olowokandi was tasered and stunned by Indianpolis police early this morning when he refused to leave a local nightclub.
Surely the authorities knew the Allure record release party would an intense affair?
