11.30.05
Posted in Baseball
at 11:01 pm
From the San Diego Union Tribune’s Bill Center.
The Padres and free agent Brian Giles (above) have agreed to a new contract that will guarantee the outfielder $30 million and could be worth $36 million over the next four years, the Union-Tribune has learned.
Giles, who will turn 35 before the start of the 2006 season, will make $9 million each of the next three seasons. Plus, the club holds an option for the 2009 season at another $9 million against a $3 million buyout.
This development may ultimately have no impact on Johnny Damon’s asking price, though it is interesting to note that Giles wasn’t able to command more than 3 guaranteed years from the Padres.
It does however, kill the predictions expoused on yack radio today that Toronto were poised to blow all competitors out of the water with a massive offer to Giles. XM’s excruciating Charley Steiner proposed that the Blue Jays are always faced with overpaying “because guys don’t want to play in a foreign country. They want to watch “SportsCenter”. Not the Canadian “SportsCenter”, either. They want to see baseball highlights, not curling!”
Somehow, the likes of Joe Carter, Rickey Henderson, Fred McGriff and Roger Clemens found Toronto to be a hospitable enough work environment , so much so that Clemens was able to overcome the language barrier on the way to winning two Cy Young Awards.
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Posted in Hockey
at 10:37 pm
From the Boston Globe.
The struggling Boston Bruins traded captain Joe Thornton (above) to the San Jose Sharks on Wednesday night in exchange for three players.
The Bruins get forwards Marco Sturm and Wayne Primeau and defenseman Brad Stuart for Thornton, who signed a three-year, $20 million contract with Boston in August and was once thought to be the future of the franchise.
This season, the 26-year-old Thornton has nine goals and 24 assists for Boston, which has lost nine of its last 10 games and is in last place in the Northeast Division.
San Jose are also winless in their last 10, which begs the question which of these two teams is bailing on the season. That question aside, it’s impressive that the Bruins managed to keep a player making Thorton’s money on their payroll for all of 3 months.
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Posted in Rock Und Roll
at 4:58 pm
From Billboard.com :
Jerry Garcia’s dishwasher, toilets and other home appliances will be auctioned by a nonprofit group hoping to raise more than $100,000. The items, which also include stereo cabinets, cupboards and a freezer, will be available for bidding on the online auction site eBay from Dec. 18-24.
Revenue will benefit the Sophia Foundation, a San Francisco Bay area nonprofit that aids children and families during marital separations and divorces, said the group’s chairman, Henry Koltys.
“There’s a lot of Deadheads out there with money, and they want a piece of Jerry somehow,” he said.
This sounds like an excellent way to help a deserving charity. Perhaps the North Shore Animal League can ask Jerry Only to auction off his weed wacker?
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Posted in Baseball, Blogged Down
at 4:39 pm
(if we were on speaking terms with Murray, he’d probably remind us that great minds think alike. Not so great minds, too)
I dunno, I can totally believe that Murray Chass is mostly unfamiliar with the writings of many baseball bloggers.
Of course, I’m also completely sure that Will Leitch is only a sporadic reader of CSTB.
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Posted in Football
at 3:33 pm
The Guardian reported this morning that Portsmouth chairman Milan Mandaric has been denied permission to interview Rangers manager Alex McLeish, and Southampton assert they’ve not consented to allow Harry Redknapp to discuss a possible return to Pompey.
Sheffield Wednesday have allowed Portsmouth to negotiate with the former’s current manager, Neil Warnock, a fascinating turn given he’d earlier expressed no interest in the job.
(Luis Garcia, scoring Liverpool’s first Wednesday night)
There’s a duel for the affections of CSTB’s eyeballs this afternoon, as FSC is featuring Liverpool at Sunderland (the visitors ahead, 2-0, with neither goal by Peter Crouch, predictably enough), while Setanta has Wigan’s 4th round Carling Cup tie with Newcastle (0-0 with about 7 minutes left). With all due respect to the White Sox and Los Angeles Clippers, Wigan are the surprise team of 2005.
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Posted in Basketball
at 3:17 pm
After missing last night’s loss to old coach Mo Cheeks while on the inactively suspended / psuedo T.O.-list, Rip City has become Ultimatium City for Porland’s Ruben Patterson. From the Oregonian’s Jason Quick.
Ruben Patterson on Tuesday said that he is prepared to spend the rest of the season on the inactive list unless the Trail Blazers find a way to play him 25 minutes a game.
Patterson, who was suspended last week for two games, then placed on the inactive list for complaining about his playing time, is scheduled to meet in Portland with Blazers general manager John Nash and coach Nate McMillan either Thursday or Friday.
Nash and McMillan on Tuesday said the meeting will be to determine whether Patterson can accept a reserve role in which he plays limited minutes behind Darius Miles and Zach Randolph. Patterson averaged 19.3 minutes in the first eight games this season — down from the 28 minutes he averaged last season — which included an average of 16.3 minutes in his past three games.
“I don’t think my role of playing 13 or 15 minutes a game is acceptable,” Patterson said from his home in Columbus, Ohio. “I deserve to play 25-plus minutes, but if they want me to play 12 minutes (like he did in his last game against New York), then they can just put me on the inactive list. I mean, those are rookie minutes.”
McMillan said he can’t foresee Patterson getting 25 minutes a game.
“I think those are starter minutes,” McMillan said. “I don’t know how you can give someone off the bench 25 minutes. I mean, he’s at a position that Miles (38.5 minutes a game) and Zach (37.8 minutes) are playing.”
Patterson watched the Blazers’ 107-83 loss to Philadelphia on television Tuesday, then called afterward to get a report on what the team was saying. When told that McMillan didn’t see him getting 25 minutes, Patterson scoffed.
“Well, I ain’t going to play then,” he said.
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Posted in Religion
at 2:48 pm
Writes Sam Hunt, “finally, a church that speaks my language”. (pic from Shakespeare’s Sister)
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Posted in Baseball
at 1:21 pm
5 years, $60 million and all the eye-liner tips Jay Mariotti can dish out for 1B Paul Konerko, who today agreed to re-sign with the Chicago White Sox.
Coupled with Jim Thome, the heart of the White Sox order should be even more dangerous in 2006, and that’s not even taking into account the fact that Carl Everett is way overdue to go nuclear on a club employee or member of the working media.
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Posted in Baseball
at 9:55 am
The Baltimore Sun’s Jeff Zrebiec reports that free agent 1B Paul Konerko has turned down the Orioles’ proposed 5 year, $65 million deal. The Chicago Tribune’s Mark Gonzalez writes that Konerko, who lives in Scottsdale, would prefersigning with a club that has their spring training in Arizona.
Both the White Sox and Angels fit such a requirement, though there is speculation the White Sox are worried about Konerko’s health.
One unnamed Sox official was leery of extending an offer to Konerko, 29, to a fifth year because of an arthritic hip condition.
Neither White Sox GM Ken Williams nor Craig Landis, Konerko’s agent, returned telephone messages. Some Sox officials, however, were privately upset that Konerko’s hip condition became public.
Although not known for his speed, Konerko’s durability hasn’t been an issue since he joined the Sox before the 1999 season. He hasn’t been on the disabled list since April 1997 with the Dodgers’ Triple-A Albuquerque affiliate.
Konerko has played in 151 games or more in four of the past five seasons, including a season-high 158 in 2005. Konerko’s only noticeable injury during the 2005 season was a stiff lower back that caused him to miss two games in August against the New York Yankees.
The Fort Worth Star-Telegram’s TR Sullivan writes the Texas Rangers have made an offer to former Astros/A’s/Mets reliever Octavio Dotel, and their shopping list might also include Braden Looper.
Metsblog notes that the Sporting News’ Ken Rosenthal — having a pretty amazing off-season of his own — pointed out that Cliff Floyd has a no-trade clause in his Mets contract that precludes his being dealt to Boston. So that’s one less bargaining chip for a potential Manny Ramirez trade.
MLB Trade Rumors.com is fanning the flames behind a Brad Wilkerson for Ronny Cedeno swap between the Cubs and Nationals. Which means this is as good a time as any to congratulate Roger Cedeno on receiving no speeding tickets recently (that we know of).
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Posted in Basketball
at 9:12 am
Described by the Chicago Sun-Times’ John Jackson yesterday as having moved from the inactive list to “the really inactive list”, F Tim Thomas could conceivably end up back in a Knicks uniform writes the Newark Star-Ledger’s David Waldstein.
The Knicks are starving for a starting small forward, and Larry Brown acknowledged yesterday that if Tim Thomas (above) were still on the Knicks, he would have been playing substantial minutes instead of sitting on the bench as he has been doing in Chicago.
“He’d be playing a lot of minutes here,” Brown said.
“You can’t comment on anything,” Brown said. “I don’t know if he’s a free agent or still on the team or anything. Do I like Timmy Thomas? Yeah, I like Timmy Thomas a lot. I drafted him.”
Chicago GM John Paxson said it was against league rules to trade Thomas back for Davis, but the Knicks do have a perfect match in Penny Hardaway. They make roughly the same money ($14 million) and are in the last year of their contracts. Hardaway has barely played this season — due to tendinitis in his right knee and because he doesn’t fit into Brown’s scheme.
Chicago would initially look elsewhere for more in return than just Hardaway’s expiring contract, hoping to use Thomas to acquire a valuable asset later in the season. But if they are just looking to clear more cap space for next summer, Hardaway provides that.
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Posted in Baseball
at 8:47 am
From the Oakland Tribune’s Andrew Baggerly.
Barry Bonds plans to wear red, white and blue in March.
Bonds has agreed to play for the U.S. team in the World Baseball Classic, adding instant credibility to the inaugural event and perhaps also giving the Giants some cause for concern.
Agent Jeff Borris confirmed that Bonds has told the Players’ Association that he intends to participate.
“It’s not official,” Borris said. “There are still a few details to be worked out. But he has agreed to play.”
Union special assistant Bobby Bonilla said Bonds was one of the first players that he called to recruit shortly after the regular season ended.
“I’m ecstatic,” Bonilla said. “He pretty much agreed in principle to play without hesitation. I’m just happy he’s going to be a part of it.
“It’s huge. We need the best player in the game, and we’ve got him.
Until this item appeared, I was unaware that Bobby Bonilla was employed by the union, which is kind of a shame. Much the way the Mets tried to bring Darryl Strawberry and other former Flushing fixtures back into the fold last season, I was hopeful Bonilla would receive a similar invitation — Special Ambassador To The Bronx, perhaps.
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Posted in Baseball
at 8:40 am
Newsday’s Jim Baumback reports the New York Yankees are looking to sign the free agent reliever/celebrity blogger Kyle Farnsworth.
The Yankees, in desperate need of relievers to set up for Mariano Rivera, recently focused their search on righthanders Farnsworth and Tom Gordon and lefthanders Mike Myers and Joey Eischen after striking out with B.J. Ryan, Scott Eyre and Bobby Howry.
With the Yankees still reluctant to give Gordon the three-year offer he has been seeking, they became more serious in their talks with Kyle Farnsworth’s agent, Barry Meister, and are now being viewed as a favorite to land the hard-throwing righthander.
The Yankees have proposed a three-year deal worth in the neighborhood of $15 million, according to a person familiar with the negotiations.
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Posted in Hockey
at 8:30 am
For starters, it should be stressed that Jocelyn is a perfectly acceptable name for a man. And with that, now coming to an AHL rink near you (though not nececsarily, Wilkes-Barry, PA), former Blackhawks G Jocelyn Thibault, shown above in Celebriduck form. From the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette’s Dave Molinari.
The Penguins acquired Jocelyn Thibault in the summer to provide a bridge to the time when Marc-Andre Fleury would take over as their No. 1 goalie.
And he did.
It just happened a lot quicker than anyone anticipated.
The Penguins waived Thibault yesterday, less than a day after recalling Fleury from their American Hockey League affiliate in Wilkes-Barre.
If Thibault is not claimed by noon today, he can be assigned to the Baby Penguins. Should Thibault refuse to accept the demotion, the Penguins would not be compelled to honor the two-year contract worth about $3 million that he signed after being obtained from Chicago for a fourth-round draft choice in August.
General manager Craig Patrick and coach Eddie Olczyk expressed optimism that Thibault would report to the Baby Penguins if he clears waivers, although both said they had not discussed that aspect of the situation with Thibault.
“My guess is, ‘Yes,’ but I don’t know the answer to that,” Patrick said.
Thibault did not respond to a phone message seeking his reaction to being waived.
Before he was waived, Thibault rejected a request that he go to Wilkes-Barre on a conditioning stint to get his game back in sync.
“We asked him if he’d go down for two weeks to get his game back in shape, and he’s not willing to do that at this point,” Patrick said. “So our option is to put him on waivers. You have to do what you have to do. It’s all business.
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Posted in Total Fucking Terror
at 7:28 am
From the Washington Post’s Sara Kehaulani Goo.
A new plan by the Transportation Security Administration would allow airline passengers to bring scissors and other sharp objects in their carry-on bags because the items no longer pose the greatest threat to airline security, according to sources familiar with the plans.
In a series of briefings this week, TSA Director Edmund S. “Kip” Hawley told aviation industry leaders that he plans to announce changes at airport security checkpoints that would allow scissors less than four inches long and tools, such as screwdrivers, less than seven inches long, according to people familiar with the TSA’s plans. These people spoke on condition of anonymity because the TSA intends to make the plans public Friday.
The proposed policy must already be in place, unofficially, as for months I’ve been hearing first-hand reports of persons who’ve had no trouble bringing nail clippers, pen knives, razor blades, etc. within their carry-on luggage. Either that, or the TSA is staffed by boneheaded simpletons who are otherwise unqualified to work at Taco Bell (and being a proud American who is on his way to the airport, I know that couldn’t be the case).
And I suppose the agency has to play the percentages. With only three known instances of persons successfully using box cutters to hijack a plane and crash it into a building (4, if you include the “Let’s Roll” flight, though they struggled with the 2nd half of the equation) in the past 50 months, the TSA are probably just trying to be cost efficient.
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Posted in The Woah
at 2:22 am
Though not nearly as sleazy as Will Leitch and the New York Times’ Warren St. John trading links, the LA Times’ Mark Mazzetti and Borzou Daragahi have uncovered ways in which the US Defense Department’s aspiring military journalists can be published for the first time.
As part of an information offensive in Iraq, the U.S. military is secretly paying Iraqi newspapers to publish stories written by American troops in an effort to burnish the image of the U.S. mission in Iraq.
The articles, written by U.S. military “information operations” troops, are translated into Arabic and placed in Baghdad newspapers with the help of a defense contractor, according to U.S. military officials and documents obtained by the Los Angeles Times.
Many of the articles are presented in the Iraqi press as unbiased news accounts written and reported by independent journalists. The stories trumpet the work of U.S. and Iraqi troops, denounce insurgents and tout U.S.-led efforts to rebuild the country.
Though the articles are basically factual, they present only one side of events and omit information that might reflect poorly on the U.S. or Iraqi governments, officials said. Records and interviews indicate that the U.S. has paid Iraqi newspapers to run dozens of such articles, with headlines such as “Iraqis Insist on Living Despite Terrorism,” since the effort began this year.
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Posted in Baseball
at 1:56 am
The Atlanta Journal-Constituion’s Dave O’Brien tips Rafael Furcal to re-sign with the Braves.
From the few conversations I’ve had with baseball types in past couple of days, I’m more convinced than ever that Braves are keeping Furcal. Not 100 percent certain, but definitely moved closer to that than the 50-50 proposition I felt it was when I left town a week ago. We’ll see. Not really expecting a decision from him until end of winter meetings next week in Dallas, but I think the Cubs would have to pay far more than they’re willing to offer to pry Furcal away from Bobby Cox and the Braves.
So what would that mean for the future, if the Braves sign Furcal to, say, a four-year contract? What about all the young middle-infield prospects coming up the pipeline? Well, I think if they sign Furcal, Marcus Giles wouldn’t be part of the long-term plans. Maybe he’ll be back this year at more than $4 mill through arbitration but after that, the Braves could move one of the young studs from shortstop to second base and have him ready to step in and play for a few years at a very low salary. And another of the youngsters could move into utility role once Pete Orr becomes arbi-eligible in a couple years and too expensive to keep as a utility guy. But that’s just me speculating, looking ahead.
As for closer, obviously with Billy Wagner and B.J. Ryan off the market and both having signed even bigger deals than anyone projected, it’s going to drive up the price of the remaining options, including two the Braves have considered — Kyle Farnsworth and Trevor Hoffman. The Braves liked Farnsworth enough in his three-plus months with them to feel comfortable with him as their closer for next couple years, but it just depends how high the Yankees and possibly other suitors drive up the price.
Wednesday morning on XM’s Home Plate channel, Mark Patrick and Buck Martinez suggested that if the Braves failed to keep Furcal after failing to woo BJ Ryan or Billy Wagner, Chipper Jones would be justified in asking for his defered money back.
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Posted in Gridiron
at 1:39 am
Sam Frank says the footage is “bananas” and the New York Times’ Lee Jenkins concurs.
Helix High School conveniently stores its old highlight tape of Reggie Bush (above) in the sports medicine center.
“You’ll see some stuff on here,” Helix Athletic Director Damon Chase cautioned, “that is really pretty sickening.”
Despite the lack of a warning label, the footage of Helix’s most aerodynamic alumnus can induce dizzy spells, even for that jaded viewer numbed by hours of cable highlight shows.
The tape includes eight minutes of cutbacks, jump stops, spin moves and slipped tackles that have not yet been broadcast on national television.
With limited sound and only one slow-motion replay, the tape acts as an underground treasure in Southern California. Watching it feels sort of like listening to a bootlegged copy of a Bob Dylan basement concert. “I don’t know who exactly has the tape right now,” Chase said. “But I know it’s been copied a lot.”
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11.29.05
Posted in The World Of Entertainment
at 8:17 pm
Borat’s reply to the Kazakhstan Government (Windows Media Player required, link courtesy Brian Turner.)
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Posted in Baseball
at 8:07 pm
Thanks to Paul Sommerstein for passing along the sad news that 1B Vic Power, whose big league career spanned 12 years with the A’s (Philly and K.C.), the Twins, Angels and Phillies, has died at the age of 78.
Power stole home twice in a 1958 game for the Indians ; he won the Gold Glove for his work at 1st on seven occasions. Though there are a couple of obituaries making the rounds, Sommerstein submits the following quotes from The Bill James Baseball Abstract :
Power was a spectacular defensive first baseman, an acrobat who would dive for ground balls half way to second base; he had the athletic ability we normally associate with a very good second baseman, but had applied it to playing first base. Power had the same problem as Siebern and McQuinn: he came along in the Yankee farm system at a time when the Yankees were not exactly desperate for help. He had two additional problems: one, that he would be a right-handed hitter in Yankee Stadium, and two, that he was a dark-skinned Latin player before the Yankees had broken the color line.
One odd thing about Power is that his power zone was right between his eyes; if you threw at his head (which a lot of people did) he was liable to line the knock down pitch into the left field bleachers.
He hit .300 several times in the majors (.288 or better six seasons as a regular), hit 14-19 homers a year, led the league in triples one year, won seven Gold Gloves at first base, and would have won two or three more before that, but they didn’t start giving the award until the middle of his career.
Power was an emotional player, great sense of humor, always laughing, joking, cutting up, playing practical jokes, but he was also a sensitive man with a hair-trigger temper. He would get “hurt angry” rather than “fighting angry,” not that he didn’t get into his share of fights, but sometimes he would take things the wrong way. Bigots just couldn’t stand him. In the vernacular of the 1950s, Power was one of “them” who “didn’t know his place.” He was a showboat, and he was an uppity n-word who dated white girls.
My favorite Vic Power story…Vic Power in a restaurant in Syracuse, 1951. An embarrassed waiter shuffles up to him and explains, “I’m sorry, sir, we don’t serve colored people.”
“That’s OK,” says Power. “I don’t eat colored people.”
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Posted in Baseball
at 3:41 pm
Chicago’s WMVP claims the Cubs might be sending Todd Walker to Los Angeles in exchange for the cool, calm and collected Milton Bradley.
With Jeff Kent ensconced at 2B, Walker — an unlikely Gold Glove candidate at any position — would play third base.
If Bradley does indeed, come to Wrigley, Jay Mariotti can finish most of next year’s columns by January 1.
Sports Illustrated’s Tom Verducci does a fine job breaking down the Mets’ financial picture (ie. “where is all the money coming from?”) but the part about the club anticipating a gate of 3 million plus is interesting. There were a lot of empty seats at Shea last September, and while the team are unquestionably a hotter product with the additions of Delgado and Wagner, tickets haven’t gotten any cheaper (and the stadium hasn’t improved one iota) since the last time the Mets drew 3 million.
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Posted in Gridiron, The Law
at 1:43 pm
From the AP, courtesy Jon Solomon.
(one of these guys needs a new shirt)
A New York man has been charged with stabbing two people in a restroom during a Jets game at Giants Stadium.
Thomas J. Conwell, 21, of Brooklyn, was charged with aggravated assault, accused of stabbing Shawn Hundley, 19, of Roselle, and Henry Finnila, 24, of Freehold, during Sunday’s loss to the New Orleans Saints.
State police said Conwell began taunting Hundley, who was wearing a Jets jersey bearing the name and number of injured quarterback Chad Pennington. Conwell then took out a knife and stabbed Hundley in the face, neck and ears, authorities said.
Finnila, a bystander who tried to break up the fight, also was stabbed in the head and neck.
(UPDATE : exciting details on the stabber and stabee from the NY Daily News.)
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Posted in Football
at 1:03 pm
(the former Leeds star wonders if the “Tim Roth did it, I was watching TV” defense was such a good idea)
From the Guardian :
Lee Bowyer has agreed an out-of-court settlement with the Asian student he was cleared of assaulting, his law firm confirmed today.
The reported £170,000 payout brings to an end a long-running legal battle involving the Newcastle midfielder and Sarfraz Najeib. Bowyer’s solicitors Barker Gillette confirmed a cash settlement had also been agreed with Mr Najeib’s brother Shahzad.
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Posted in Basketball
at 12:48 pm
Of all the people you could steal millions of dollars from, is Latrell Sprewell really the guy to cheat? If telling Spree to “put a little mustard” on a lazy pass was enough to provoke attempted murder, what happens when you really get in the way of Spree feeding his family?
Would it be inappropriate to ask to see the wine list at Vin Baker’s Saybrook Fish House?
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Posted in Gridiron, Rock Und Roll
at 12:02 pm
(another potential replacement for Michael Irvin on “NFL Countdown” flashes his credentials)
The only nice thing about this story is that Steven Tyler can finally, to coin the Bill Simmons phrase, die in peace. After their early days of being derided as Stones copyists, Aerosmith can now sit back and watch the Rolling Stones emulate Aerosmith.
Reigning Sound have been installed as the early favorites for the Super Bowl C halftime show.
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Posted in Baseball
at 11:52 am
While the rest of planet continues to absorb the impact of Omar Minaya’s supermarket sweep, things are uncharacteristically quiet in the Bronx. BJ Ryan didn’t consider setting up Mariano Rivera, Brian Giles seems to be dragging his feet, and as the Daily News’ Sam Borden reports, Johnny Damon would appear to be an unlikely candidate for pinstripes in 2006.
As of now, there’s no substantive dialog since Boras wants a seven-year deal for Damon. Scott Boras didn’t return a phone message yesterday but he’s believed to be waiting until next week’s winter meetings in Dallas before accepting potential offers from interested clubs, though one executive said he expects the list will be short if seven years remains the price.
Regardless, the Yankees are still looking at former Padre Brian Giles but are concerned that their chances are dwindling. Giles’ agent, Joe Bick, said yesterday that with San Diego now out of the mix – the Padres and Giles broke off negotiations after it became clear they didn’t have a financial match – Giles’ options are wide open but the Yanks are privately skeptical that Giles truly wants to come to the East Coast.
The Dodgers have emerged as a strong candidate to land Giles, 34. Adding a corner outfielder is one of the Dodgers’ offseason priorities and new GM Ned Colletti knows that it likely will take a contract in the neighborhood of three years and $30 million to sign Giles.
The Yanks have expressed interest in Phillies outfielder Jason Michaels, but are waiting to hear back from the Phils about possible trade talks. They’ve also discussed troubled Dodgers outfielder Milton Bradley (most team insiders are against acquiring him) and could opt to use Bubba Crosby at the start of the season and then hope the trade market loosens up during the summer.
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Posted in Baseball
at 7:58 am
(Flushing’s new company man imagines Wally Matthews pitching batting practice without a safety net)
Newly acquired Mets 1B Carlos Delgado is in a bit of a quandry. Were he to continue his ongoing protest against the Iraq War by refusing to stand during the Sunday playing of “God Bless America”, he risks the ire of his new bosses, and some portion of the yack radio corps. By agreeing to take part in this dubious patriotic display, Delgado is now labelled a sell-out by Newsday’s Wallace Matthews.
In 1966, Muhammad Ali refused to submit to the draft and fight in a war he opposed on religious grounds. That decision cost Ali nearly four years of his athletic prime and countless millions.
Nearly 40 years later, Carlos Delgado, with more than $40 million guaranteed him over the next four seasons, has been faced with a choice not nearly so gut-wrenching and with none of the consequences that confronted Ali.
He could continue the silent protest he had begun as a member of the Toronto Blue Jays and continued during his one season as a Florida Marlin, in which he would slip away to the clubhouse while his teammates stood for the playing of “God Bless America.”
Or, if he wanted to fit in with the Mets, he could swallow his convictions and stand like everyone else.
Delgado chose the latter.
“Fred has asked and I’ve asked him to respect what the country wants to do,” said Mets senior executive vice president and first son Jeff Wilpon, who must not read the front of the newspaper. “If the team rule is everybody stands for ‘God Bless America,’ he’s going to stand. We told him we would like it if he did.”
The official line of Mets thinking is that to allow Delgado to continue his protest would create “a distraction” on the team. Delgado was asked yesterday if that was the case in Toronto or Florida.
“Not at all,” he replied. “It was never an issue.”
And yet, here, in a city that considers itself the most sophisticated in the country, if not the world, it seems as if conformity ranks second only to offensive production. “If you hit, they’re gonna like you,” Delgado said. “If you don’t hit, they’re gonna boo.”
No matter how well he performs as a Met, he already is less than he could have been.
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Posted in Basketball
at 5:33 am
While the Houston Chronicle’s Johnathan Feigen suggests the Rockets’ inability to win without Tracy McGrady makes the MIA T-Mac an MVP candidate, the NY Post’s Peter Vescey is unimpressed with the way Jeff Van Gundy is coping with bad fortune.
Sounding very Larry Browntide-ish following his team’s seventh straight loss, Jeff Van Gundy podiumized the Rockets’ front line. For a minute straight, Houston’s Town Crier blanket indicted Yao Ming, Stromile Swift, Juwan Howard, et al., a half a dozen different ways for their alleged flagrant failure, game in and game out, to cover the pick and roll as per his faultless instructions.
Van Gundy, adding a page to Jim Bouton’s ageless book, “I managed good but, boy, did they play bad,” says he spends every waking hour trying to figure out how to get through to his imbecilic bigs regarding that particular defensive approach. This is just the latest working example, I submit, that infidelity has become the fastest spreading communicable disease. If there’s nothing holy within the Junior Mafia, if Lil’ Cease (above) had no compunction about turning on Lil’ Kim, and real life mafia members are turncoating every other trial, it’s no wonder coaches are giving up their players on an everyday basis.
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Posted in The World Of Entertainment
at 1:09 am
Ladies and Gentlemen, the impossible has happened. TV yackmeister Jonathan Ross has managed to make Scott Weiland (above, right) seem like a sympathetic figure. From the Independent’s Arifa Akbar.
Five months ago, Jonathan Ross was the media anchorman for the Live8 Concert in Hyde Park where a line-up of famous artists performed to raise awareness of Third World debt.
Dressed in a characteristically flamboyant suit, he interviewed music icons such as Paul McCartney, Robbie Williams and Annie Lennox and spoke of the urgent need to “make poverty history”.
But this weekend, the television presenter was sounding a rather different note. Speaking to the singer, Damon Albarn, on his chat show, Friday Night with Jonathan Ross, he admitted he was filled with “regret” at not having spoken out against the lack of African performers at the event on 6 July and singling out bands such as Velvet Revolver and Pink Floyd’s reunion as part of his criticism.
“It was, at times, very patronising. I could have swapped Velvet Revolver for just about anyone. I can understand why they did it. They wanted maximum exposure in the Western media and to do that they need stories. Pink Floyd reforming gets you an awful lot of attention.
“Other acts were chosen to attract different parts of a Western audience, certainly to get the media attention, which they achieved and which they wouldn’t with African musicians,” he said.
But Michael Eboda, editor of the black newspaper, New Nation, which ran an investigation into how many blacks acts had been asked to perform, said Ross’s comments were too little, too late.
“Everyone’s forgotten about Live8 now. It’s a shame he [Ross] didn’t say this at the time. It may have had some impact, whereas now, it has very little effect,” he said.
I’m not sure what the big deal is. Surely Tim McGraw qualified as an African performer?
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11.28.05
Posted in Baseball
at 9:17 pm
From the Associated Press :
Pete Rose’s eligibility for the baseball writers’ Hall of Fame ballot expired Monday when the 2006 candidates were announced, a group that includes Cy Young Award winners Orel Hershiser and Dwight Gooden.
Albert Belle, Will Clark and Chicago White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen were among 14 first-time candidates on the 29-man ballot. Bruce Sutter is the holdover who came closest to election, falling 43 votes shy last year
The headline above comes from Ben Schwartz who elaborates,
In other words, Pete Rose’s motivation to go public, publish books, and act contrite for crimes he still doesn’t admit he committed ALSO ENDS WITH his eligibility for the Hall of Fame EXPIRING. That means, Rose can go back to hustling without apologies and claim permanent martyr status in baseball next Shoeless Joe Jackson and Buck Weaver.
Then again, if Albert Belle makes it, the Hall will have all the bad attitude it needs to more than make up for Rose.
I would like to point out that Tom Sizemore is still very eligible for the Fake Penis Hall Of Fame. And congratulations, by the way, to John Lydon on his election to an equally rarified club.
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Posted in Baseball
at 6:38 pm
As the Winter Meetings loom in Dallas next week, Tampa prepares for their own variation on house cleaning. From the St. Petersberg Times’ Damian Christodero.
The most advanced talks apparently concern centerfielder Joey Gathright (above), who it is believed has drawn interest from 10 teams, including the Dodgers, Marlins, White Sox, Cubs, Angels and Giants; and catcher Toby Hall, with inquires from the Dodgers, Mets, Marlins, Rockies and Diamondbacks.
Friedman would not specify what he wants in return. Speculation is he asked the Mets about pitcher Aaron Heilman, the Dodgers about catching prospect Russ Martin and the Marlins about minor-league pitchers Josh Johnson, Yusmeiro Petit and Anibal Sanchez.
Friedman said he wants prospects for any position who will be big-league ready some time in 2006.
“We do not see them as mutually exclusive,” Friedman said of obtaining youth and immediate help.
Helping the trade value of closer Danys Baez was the signing of B.J. Ryan by the Blue Jays for $47-million over five years. With Billy Wagner expected to get at least that much, Baez, at $4-million next season, is a bargain.
Baez’s contract is such a bargain that he’s considered a luxury the Devil Rays cannot afford, hence his trade bait status for the past year.
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Posted in Gridiron, Sports TV
at 6:31 pm
A very determined Sean Salisbury is running a passing drill of some sort on “SportsCenter”, assisted by Tom Jackson, Ron Jaworski and…..Stuart Scott.
Kinda makes you wish the network would’ve hired someone with Hall Of Fame pass-catching credentials.
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Posted in Baseball
at 5:44 pm
The A’s have inked right-handed starter Esteban Loaiza to a three year, $21 million deal.
Loaiza, who will be 34 on opening day, was 12-10 (3.77 ERA, 173 K’s, 55 BB’s) for the Washington Nationals last season.
I’m no Nick Denton, but I count 7 bona fide starters on the A’s roster for ‘06, and only one of them — Barry Zito — is entering his walk year.
Supposedly, the Cubs have signed free agent John Mabry to a one year deal. No financial details are available, nor has anyone explained how Mabry was able to find work so easily .
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Posted in Baseball
at 4:00 pm
The Sporting News’ Ken Rosenthal is reporting the Mets have signed reliever Billy Wagner to a 4 year, $43 million contract — all 4 years are guaranteed, with the Mets holding an option for a 5th year that could push the value of the deal to $50 million.
WFAN’s Chris Russo says the Mets’ opting for Billy Wagner (35 years old) over Trevor Hoffman (38) is “a tough call”. Replied Mike Francesca, “I didn’t see Hoffman pitch once last year.”, which makes sense considering the Padres play a lot of late games and Francesca probably has to get up by noon.
Earlier today, the Mets announced the acquisition of Pirates OF Tike Redman.
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Posted in Basketball, The World Of Entertainment
at 2:19 pm
From the New York Post’s Richard Johnson.
Ashlee Simpson can handle hecklers, but she couldn’t deal with the menacing Lower East Side artist Peter Missing. Simpson was in the middle of a sweatshirt shopping spree at Loft Shoe Productions on Ludlow Street last Wednesday when the toothless, grizzled anarchist, best known for his graffiti of an upside-down martini glass to protest drunk driving checkpoints, came into the store. According to witnesses, Missing nastily stared Simpson down until she fled next door, leaving her mother, Tina, to sort out her $600 tab. “We’ve had to kick him out before,” said owner Anne Hanavan. “He’s not appealing, and he tries to sell his paintings to our celebrity clients.”
Shame they couldn’t at least have a chatted — there was a great mash-up in here somewhere.
In a completely unrelated story, Cincinnati assistant basketball coach Keith LeGree has resigned after being charged with driving while under the influence over the weekend. Presumably under the influence of alcohol, as opposed to the new Bun B. CD, but they didn’t really specify.
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Posted in Baseball
at 12:58 pm
(Omar, Willie, Carlos and Jeff all say “Fuckin’-A, USA!”
From the AP :
Now that he’s been traded to the New York Mets, Carlos Delgado says he is willing to stand on the field during the playing of “God Bless America.”
After putting on a Mets jersey at a Shea Stadium news conference Monday, Delgado said he spoke about his anti-war protest with New York chief operating officer Jeff Wilpon.
“I gave him my views on that subject and I also said I would not put myself in front of the team,” Delgado said. “The Mets have a policy that everybody should stand for ‘God Bless America’ and I will be there. I will not cause any distractions to the ballclub.”
In a completely unrelated story, free agent C Mike Piazza has told prospective employers that he’ll stand for the duration of Queensryche’s “Operation : Mindcrime”
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Posted in Football
at 12:02 pm
The Associated Press is reporting that Detroit Lions head coach Steve Mariucci has been fired:
After Detroit lost 27-7 to the Atlanta Falcons on Thanksgiving to fall to 4-7, reports swirled that the team was considering firing Mariucci. When Mariucci was not let go over the weekend, some thought his job was safe for the final five games of the regular season.
Mariucci and the assistants were fired late Monday morning, said a team official, who spoke with the AP on the condition of anonymity because the team had not yet made the official announcement.
Mariucci’s record with the Lions was 15-28. His hiring was hailed by fans and media alike, but he was not able to turn around a team that has won one playoff game since 1957.
Mariucci has more than two years remaining on the $25 million contract he signed in 2003. The Michigan native came to the Lions from San Francisco, where he was 60-43 over six seasons.
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Posted in Baseball
at 9:24 am
I sincerely hope Todd Hundley and Pete Harnisch have cancelled their home deliveries of the Washington Post. In a piece scarily reminiscent of the Ron Howard film “Gung Ho”, the Washington Post’s Anthony Faiola credits Chiba Lotte Marines manager Bobby Valentine with “having triggered a social earthquake in Japan.” (link courtesy Baseball Think Factory)
The success of the “Bobby Way” is being hailed by many here as a home run for a growing movement to curb the Japanese tradition of harsh management. Hiroshi Miyata, president of Nippon Metal Industry Co., called on corporate Japan in a newspaper editorial last week to start “treating our employees in the same way that Bobby does.” The current and former managers of three of Japan’s top baseball teams offered rare praise for Valentine’s methods, suggesting that the notion of severe training should be reexamined in the wake of the once-lowly Marines’ victory.
This month, the Tokyo-based Macro Mill research company conducted a survey of Japanese job hunters, asking them to list their ideal boss. Valentine was the only foreigner in the top 10.
“Bobby is a role model for Japan,” said Naoki Fujiya, a 36-year-old house painter who waited hours in line to catch a glimpse of Valentine and the Marines at last week’s parade. Fujiya said his boss had hit him several times for making errors. “But I think we all see now that you can do your best even when you treat the people who work for you with respect,” he said. “I wish Bobby was my boss.”
Anger at harsh management tactics boiled into a national debate in April, following a West Japan Railway crash near Osaka in which 107 people died. The train’s 23-year-old driver was believed to have been in a panic because he was running behind schedule, exceeding safe speed limits in an attempt to make up time.
Public outrage ensued after company employees began to speak out. A group of employees filed a lawsuit against the company this month in which one train driver said he was forced to undergo 71 days of “reeducation” — including cleaning trains and writing essays reflecting on his mistake — after overshooting a train platform by two yards. Another driver, who was subjected to reeducation after departing a station 50 seconds late, committed suicide during his ordeal.
Some have questioned whether the Japanese would perform successfully under alternative management methods. The 55-year-old Valentine, still muscular from daily workouts and with traces of gray in his dusty brown hair, put those arguments to rest this year.
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Posted in Sports Journalism
at 9:09 am
Along with protesting what he calls “the NFL’s Traditional Salute To Lap Dancing” during the Falcons/Eagles halftime show, the New York Post’s Phil Mushnick — having ignored my fan mail for years — prints the following observation from another loyal reader :
From Dan Brady of Hamilton, N.J.: “Nick and Jessica isn’t a break-up. Joe and Marilyn, now that was a break-up.”
And with that, ladies and gentlemen, I think we’ve learned all we need to know about the sensibilities of Phil’s target audience.
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Posted in Basketball
at 9:02 am
Whether he picks and chooses when to leave his feet or rather, there’s just an overall lack of effort from Celtics C Mark Blount, coach Doc Rivers chose the time-honored “send a message” tact of benching Blount this past Friday night against the Bobcats.
Blount (above), for his part, would appreciate some clarity. From the Boston Herald’s Steve Bulpett.
“There was no explanation,” Blount said. “I didn’t know.”
What he would like to know now is the team’s plan for his future. While Doc Rivers insists Blount can play an important role off the pine, the coach is committed for now to Kendrick Perkins as the starter. If Blount’s minutes dwindle, he may be checking his options.
“Then I’ve got to go call Mark (Bartelstein), my agent, and got to let him know what’s going on,” he said. “You know, we’ve got to sit down and talk.
“If they want to go in a different direction, what can I do about that? I’m still here. I still can work. I’m still practicing.”
Asked about speaking with Blount, Rivers said, “No, we’re not going to have any meetings. You earn your time on the floor, and that’s how we’ll do it. And when that happens he’ll play – and he did; he played hard (yesterday), which is good. That’s a good start.”
Following the practice, Blount engaged in an often circuitous discussion. On how he is doing, he said, “I’m here. I don’t know how to be scared. I don’t know how to hide. I’m here.”
On whether Friday was disappointing for him, Blount replied, “Naw. Hey, whatever you want to know – whatever you need to tell me – I’m a real man. Call me or say what you’ve got to say. That’s it. You know what I mean? It is what it is.”
Was it hard to sit like that?
“Hey, you know, I’m here, and anything you’ve got to say just call me and let me know what’s up,” he said. “I mean, that’s it. Talk to me.”
“You tell me what’s going on. I would like to know, too. Nobody’s said nothing to me. . . . I don’t know. All I know is Mark Blount’s here and Mark Blount don’t know how to hide or be scared or whatever. So it is what it is, man.”
When Rivers’ comments about his good effort yesterday were relayed to him, Blount shrugged.
“They pay me to do my job,” he said. “What do you want me to do? If I don’t play, what do you want me to do?
“I don’t know how to run from nobody. I’m from the old school – an old school New York guy. So just keep hammering the nails in, baby.”
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Posted in Baseball
at 8:51 am
As Newsday’s Jon Heyman noted yesterday, acquiring Carlos Delgado has not quelled the Mets’ interest in Manny Ramirez. From the Bergen Record’s Bob Klapisch.
Omar Minaya spent the entire Thanksgiving holiday working the phones – or, to be more specific, working the Red Sox for a possible deal for Manny Ramirez. According to a National League executive, the Mets made notable progress, a development that was seconded by a club official who said Sunday night, “We have a shot.”
Ramirez is, and always has been, Minaya’s biggest prey, although the hunt until now has been slowed by two obstacles. First, Ramirez’ $20 million annual salary was more than the Wilpon family was willing to spend. And second, Ramirez, 33, would almost certainly cost the Mets hot-shot outfield prospect Lastings Milledge.
That’s one reason Minaya was exploring a deal for Alfonso Soriano – until the Rangers’ demands included Milledge, said the NL source. Once the price tag became too steep, Minaya resumed an earlier dialogue with the Red Sox, who were surprisingly receptive. It’s still unclear whom, exactly, the Red Sox would demand in addition to Milledge, but Minaya may be willing to convince ownership that with Ramirez in a lineup that already has Carlos Delgado, the East can be conquered outright in 2006.
Perhaps resigned to the likelihood of losing Billy Wagner, the Phillies, according to the Sporting News’ Ken Rosenthal, have stepped up their efforts to sign Tom Gordon.
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Posted in Gridiron
at 8:39 am
From ESPN.com :
Former Dallas Cowboys receiver Michael Irvin said Sunday night that a drug pipe police found in his car belonged to a longtime friend whom he’s trying to help recover from an addiction.
Irvin, an ESPN studio analyst and semifinalist for the Pro Football Hall of Fame, was charged with misdemeanor possession of drug paraphernalia after police searched his vehicle during a traffic stop Friday.
Irvin told The Associated Press late Sunday the pipe belonged to a friend of 17 years who left a Houston rehab center and came to Irvin’s house in Carrollton for Thanksgiving. Irvin wouldn’t reveal his friend’s name.
I’ll say one thing for Michael Irvin. Unlike some people, he can open his mouth without rolling over on Pedro Guerrero.
It should be an interesting day of chat radio. If, for example, Darryl Strawberry found himself in a similar situation, we can safely assume that for Colin Cowherd, Jim Rome, Dan Patrick, etc., the chronic Mets recidivist would be the object of ridicule. Whether or not similar treatment will extend to an ESPN colleague remains to be seen, but I suspect they’ll tread carefully.
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11.27.05
Posted in Baseball
at 8:10 pm
ESPN.com’s Jerry Crasnick is reporting the Los Angeles Dodgers have added former Boston manager Grady Little (above) to their growing list of managerial candidates, along with Angels pitching coach Bud Black, former Angels/Phillies manager Jim Fregosi and Devil Rays bench coach John McLaren.
Little is currently employed as a roving catching instructor by the Chicago Cubs. Coincidently, MLB Trade Rumors.com made the unsubstantiated claim Sunday that if the Cubs fail in their attempt to acquire Florida’s Juan Pierre, Dodgers OF Milton Bradley would represent Plan B. As in, “Plan Boo Fucking Hoo, We’re Waiting For Milton Bradley To Go Nuts”.
The trade value for LA’s Ticking Time Bomb is unquestionably low, so perhaps the right to negotiate with Little plus Corey Patterson would be in order?
Likely to lose B.J. Ryan to Toronto, Baltimore are honing in on free agent P Paul Byrd, reports the Baltimore Sun’s Jeff Zrebic and Dan Connolly.
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Posted in Gridiron
at 7:50 pm
(this is what happens when you associate with the wrong crowd)
From USA Today.
Former Dallas Cowboys receiver Michael Irvin was charged with misdemeanor possession of drug paraphernalia after police searched his vehicle during a traffic stop, Plano police said Sunday.
Irvin, an ESPN analyst and semifinalist for the Pro Football Hall of Fame, was arrested on an outstanding warrant for speeding in Irving after being pulled over Friday afternoon for speeding in Plano, the Plano Police Department said. Police spokesman Mike Johnson said he didn’t know what kind of paraphernalia was found.
Irvin paid a fine on the speeding ticket and posted bond on the drug paraphernalia possession charge. He was released about an hour after he was pulled over.
The sad thing is that everyone will assume that “drug paraphernalia” is code for “crack pipe”, when it could have been any number of things. Including a crack pipe.
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Posted in Gridiron
at 7:40 pm
Seahawks 24 Giants 21
There’s no truth to the rumor that Bill Parcells has already invited Jay Feely to Cowboys practice tomorrow.
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Posted in Basketball
at 5:03 pm
From the Associated Press :
Mardy Collins scored 19 points and had seven assists, and Dustin Salisbery added 16 points to lead Temple to a 73-56 win over Miami on Sunday.
With Temple (2-1) stretching its lead to 16 points in the final minutes, an object was thrown on the court, temporarily halting play and drawing the ire of coach John Chaney. He grabbed the microphone and told the crowd it wasn’t Temple’s way to be seen as “idiots.”
“Stupid is forever,” Chaney told the crowd. “You can’t change stupidity.”
Hopefully, once he’s removed from the heat of the moment, Coach Chaney will remember that everyone deserves another chance.
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Posted in Gridiron
at 4:08 pm
Kansas City 26, New England 16
I’m not listening to any Boston talk radio today, so someone else will have to tell me how much time elapsed after the final whistle before the first calls to put in Doug Flutie were taken.
All of that said, if the Pats weren’t missing something like a dozen guys, Tom Brady might not have been forcing so many throws into double or triple coverage. Likewise, if he had the luxury of a RB of Larry Johnson’s caliber (and I suspect he’d gladly settle for a healthy Corey Dillon), New England would have a wider margin in the AFC Least.
Despite their beating the Bucs and laissez-faire QB Chris Simms 13-10 earlier today, I’m one of the few who isn’t ready to proclaim the current Bears the new incanation of ’85’s Super Bowl Shufflers. For one thing, neither Thomas Jones nor Cedric Benson equate to Walter Payton, nor are Rex Grossman or Kyle Orton as talented (or annoying) as Jim McMahon in his prime. Though I’ll take nothing away from the genuinely imposing Brian Urlacher, I find his current Nike commericals to be intensely creepy, much like a shorter version of “Friday Night Lights” without the Explosions In The Sky score.
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Posted in College Spurts, Gridiron
at 3:32 pm
The New York Times’ Pete Thamel and Duff Wilson deserve congratulations for Sunday’s runaway top story, the saga of University High, a correspondence school that for the miserly sum of $399, has helped many GPA-challenged student athletes gain scholarships with Division 1 schools.
University High, which has no classes and no educational accreditation, appears to have offered the players little more than a speedy academic makeover.
The school’s program illustrates that even as the N.C.A.A. presses for academic reforms, its loopholes are quickly recognized and exploited.
Athletes who graduated from University High acknowledged that they learned little there, but were grateful that it enabled them to qualify for college scholarships.
Lorenzo Ferguson, a second-year defensive back at Auburn, said he left Miami Southridge High School for University High, where after one month he had raised his average to 2.6 from 2.0.
“You take each course you failed in ninth or 10th grade,” he said. “If it was applied math, you do them on the packets they give you. It didn’t take that long. The answers were basically in the book.”
The N.C.A.A. has allowed students to use correspondence school courses to meet eligibility requirements since 2000. That year, the N.C.A.A. also shifted the power to determine which classes count as core courses to high school administrators. In doing so, it essentially left schools to determine their own legitimacy.
“We’re not the educational accreditation police,” Diane Dickman, the N.C.A.A.’s managing director for membership services, said in September.
The man who founded University High School and owned it until last year, Stanley J. Simmons, served 10 months in a federal prison camp from 1989 to 1990 after pleading guilty to conspiracy to commit mail fraud for his involvement with a college diploma mill in Arizona. Among the activities Simmons acknowledged in court documents were awarding degrees without academic achievement and awarding degrees based on studies he was unqualified to evaluate.
In interviews last week, he said he should never have pleaded guilty and that he operated legitimate correspondence schools for adults.
In 2004, Simmons sold University High to Michael R. Kinney, its director. Kinney, 27, who was arrested on a marijuana possession charge in 2003 and is wanted on a bench warrant, declined to comment, despite requests by phone, fax and visits to his apartment.
Several University High graduates said they found the school through Antron Wright, a former XFL and Arena Football League player who is prominent in Miami’s high school athletic circles. He is considered a savior by some players, but one principal has barred Wright from his building for luring athletes to a rival school and introducing them to University High.
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Posted in Basketball
at 2:58 pm
Though beating up on the Sonics’ Vladimir Radmanovich is about as dignified as pushing George Wallace down the stairs, who’s to say the former Alabama Governor wouldn’t have deserved it? From Fox Sports’ Charley Rosen.
Radmanovic turned down a six-year, $42 million pact from the Sonics, opting for a lesser one-year deal that will make him an unrestricted free agent next year. Even though he can’t handle the ball, can’t pass, doesn’t play defense, and is a totally one-dimensional player who must shoot close to fifty percent to benefit his ball club, Radmanovic can’t understand not only why he’s not getting beaucoup minutes, but why he isn’t starting in the first place.
Perhaps V-Rad should take a look at his stats — he’s shooting less than 37 percent, has averaged less than three rebounds per game, has nearly as many turnovers as assists, and attempts less than one free throw per game.
Here’s what an ex-teammate had to say about Radmanovic: “The more this stiff played, the less chance we had of winning.”
So who’s more of a numbskull? Radmanovic? Or Seattle’s GM, Wally Walker, who made the original and outrageous long-term offer to begin with?
The Boston Globe’s Peter May reports on a Shammond Williams sighting.
It seems that the coach of FC Barcelona, Dusko Ivanovic, was more than a bit upset after his team lost, 82-70, to Llanera Menorca. Ivanovic, who has a reputation for being a bit of wing nut, lashed out at Shammond Williams (above), who called Boston home for a while. Williams picked up a technical and then, according to the game report, struck an opponent in the face near the end of the game. ”There are players who have shown me they don’t have any character, and if that’s the case, it’s going to be hard for them to stay at the club,” Ivanovic fumed. Well, a couple of days later, Williams redeemed himself with a 24-point performance in a 65-60 victory, and all was well again.
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Posted in Baseball
at 1:51 pm
(any excuse, however flimsy, to show the same photograph of Jean Louis Costes, is good enough for me)
From the NY Daily News’ Bob Raissman.
As part of their recruitment of Billy Wagner, Mets suits shipped him a DVD featuring celebrities praising the city. Tim McGraw, Kevin James, Jerry Seinfeld and Costas all made appearances in the DVD.
This was news to Costas.
“No one (from the Mets) contacted me to do anything,” Costas said. “If I’m in it, maybe they used an old clip. For all I know they used something from ‘Ken Burns: Baseball’ (the documentary). I didn’t do anything specifically for the Mets, let alone take part in the wooing of Billy Wagner.”
Presumably, the Mets didn’t use the Tim McGraw segments from “Jazz : A Film By Ken Burns”. But full credit to Omar Minaya — there are few NY icons more appealing than the former voice of the Cardinals, nor the author of such hits as “Indian Outlaw” and “Refried Dreams”.
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Posted in Gridiron
at 10:19 am
In the aftermath of Dolphins coach Nick Saban’s poorly-received “results don’t matter” press conference last week, the Chicago Sun-Times’ Mike Mulligan has no quarrel with Miami’s long term goals. He’d just prefer that Saban not talk about them.
The role of a general manager is to save the team from the coach. The GM looks at the bigger picture, evaluates personnel on a game-to-game basis against the rest of the league and tries to direct the coach toward lasting success instead of the shortsighted type that fuels successful seasons. Saban (above) was talking like a general manager when he evaluated his 3-7 team after last week’s loss.
He started backpedaling like the old defensive back he is when he realized the big story in Miami was the coach had raised a white flag on the season. Forget talk about a playoff run, the Dolphins were trying to figure out whom they wanted to replace for next season. How about a new quarterback, for one?
The fact of the matter is that Miami is coming off its second-worst season. And the unit the Dolphins were built around in the past, the defense, is aging rapidly and losing longtime stars to injury.
Saban, a former defensive coordinator under Bill Belichick back in Cleveland, might know the secret formula for success that Belichick and his family tree have been spreading around the NFL. Saban has reportedly been teaching his handpicked GM Randy Mueller a system of evaluating players that takes into account intelligence and character as well as physical ability.
It all sounds great. But in many ways, some of the things that Saban has struggled with — controlling the media, staying on message, keeping the fans happy — are problems Belichick had in Cleveland in his first go-around as a head coach. Saban has been a head coach on the college level, but he has been out of the NFL for 10 years. A lot of solid football people believe Saban eventually will win. He needs to talk like a coach until he does.
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Posted in Basketball
at 10:06 am
The New York Post’s Peter Vescey on Knicks coach Larry Brown, from whom never is heard an encouraging word.
After each and every loss, sometimes even following a win, you can count on Brown to unravel at least one of his players and glorify an opponent.
“That’s Larry in a nutshell,” one of his former prized pupils substantiates. “He loves everyone on the other side and hates everyone on his team, except the last guy on the roster whose hustle and attitude Larry uses as an example to motivate everyone else.”
So far, off the top of my head, Brown has professed love for Eric Snow, Larry Hughes, Baron Davis, Kevin Ollie, George Lynch and Brevin Knight.
Give Brown a little more time and a few more leading questions and Brown is bound to playa hate 99 percent of the payroll, including Allan Houston, in the same manner he’s dishonorably mentioned Stephon Marbury, Nate Robinson, Jerome James, Quentin Richardson, Jamaal Crawford and Eddy Curry; I apologize if I’ve left anyone out.
It’s worthy of note that Red Holzman, the man Brown supposedly emulates and idolizes, never spoke unfavorably about one of his players, on or off the record. If they deserved it, Holzman would let them know what he thought of their effort or execution. But once he left the locker room to meet the media, he never came close to uttering a disparaging word about the team or any individual.
If Holzman were alive, I guarantee you he’d seek out Brown, one Hall of Famer to another, and try to impress upon him how disloyal his nightly exposés make him look.
It’s a shame nobody living off Brown has ever been man enough to do it. Either that, or he doesn’t want to listen to anybody who tells him something he doesn’t want to hear.
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Posted in Basketball
at 9:51 am
Fayetteville 100, Austin 95
A fairly mixed bag for Austin’s home NBDL debut Saturday — despite a handful of sublime moments from Ezra Williams and former Texas Tech standout Andre Emmett, much of last night’s loss to the Patriots was characterized by sloppy passing, lackadaisical defense and curious shot selection.
As a follower of the New York Knicks, I felt right at home.
I thought Toros management didn’t do a bad job of making the Austin Convention Center vaguely resemble a basketball venue — though it would help if the scoreboard operator reviews the manual before the next game. Likewise, the usual cheesy trappings of most minor league sporting events were in abundance. “Couldn’t they get real cheerleaders instead of these cheap sluts?” inquired a friend. I’m sorry, but that’s no way to talk about Mayor Wynn.
Kermit Washington sparring partner Rudy Tomjanovich was introduced and given a warm ovation before the game. Having seen a sprightly Rudy T. exiting the Men’s Room at halftime, I can report that no longer having to coach Kobe Bryant seems to have done wonders for his appearance.
Permalink
Posted in Baseball
at 9:12 am
Here we go again. Newsday’s Jon Heyman writes that despite the addition of Carlos Delgado, the ever-ambitious Mets aren’t quite finished looking for star power.
Mets and Red Sox execs have agreed to discuss Manny Ramirez at the winter meetings in Dallas in early December, and Omar Minaya recently told one baseball person, “I’m going for it.”
One thing about Minaya, he loves offense. Another thing: When he falls in love, he falls hard.
While one Mets official characterized their chances to squeeze Ramirez into their budget as “not impossible,” he acknowledged that a deal for Ramirez, which would necessitate clearing significant salary space and involve “several moving pieces,” won’t be easy. And that’s only if Ramirez consents to coming home.
Minaya’s infatuation is so well known that one of Carlos Delgado’s first questions about his new employers was, “Are they going to trade me to Boston for Manny?” The answer, Delgado was told, is no. He’s here to stay.
The Angels, deep in young pitching, competed with the Mets for Delgado. Their next logical target could be Ramirez. With Ramirez preferring a slow-paced lifestyle, perhaps they can sell him by changing their name back to Anaheim.
Though Delgado is technically allowed to demand a trade after 2006, there’s NO SHOT (the first- ever appearance of all caps in this column) he’d follow through and walk away from his heavily backloaded contract ($34.5 million total in ‘07 and ‘08). Which means the Mets have him for three years if they like, whether he likes it or not.
Just guessing here, but it would take Milledge, Cliff Floyd and Steve Trachsel and perhaps further bodies to get this done. And as tantalizing as the Mets’ near term future might be, what do you reckon the vibe around Shea will be like in 3 years when Martinez, Delgado and Ramirez are making a combined $45 million or so (at the combined age of 111?).
With the Marlins folding, Phillies and Nationals obviously vulnerable and the Braves less imposing than anytime in the past 15 years (pending Rafael Furcal’s status), Omar Minaya can see the wide-open window of opportunity. Of course, the Mets have yet to resolve their closer situation, add a top flight catcher, appoint a right fielder (unless Nady and Victor Diaz are expected to platoon) nor determine if the Kaz Matsui Disaster is allowed to continue for a 3rd season.
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Posted in Baseball
at 2:44 am
Until Major League Baseball finally determines which of the 8 competiting consortiums will be allowed to purchase the Washington Nationals, the team remains at a competitive disadvantage argues the NY Times’ Murray Chass.
Bob DuPuy, the president of Major League Baseball, told reporters at the recent owners meeting in Milwaukee that the delay in selecting an owner isn’t affecting the Nationals. But of course, it is. No matter how well the staff representing the current owner is doing its job, the eventual owner is being deprived of a chance to make his own player moves.
If there’s a free agent or two a new owner may covet, if there’s a trade or two a new owner may want to make, the moves cannot be made. The incumbent regime is not empowered to spend someone else’s money.
For example, the caretaker regime would like to sign the free-agent pitcher A. J. Burnett. The Nationals have spoken with Darek Braunecker, Burnett’s agent, but they have not made an offer. They will probably not be able to make a competitive offer because no new owner is in place to authorize it.
General Manager Jim Bowden (above) and before him Omar Minaya have had to stay within a budget dictated by baseball, forcing them to make difficult choices and pass on players they might have wanted.
Commissioner Bud Selig has said that all teams face similar decisions. But the owners of those teams are free to make decisions. Bowden and Tony Tavares, the Nationals’ president, are not similarly free to make decisions for their team.
If Jerry Reinsdorf wanted to give Jermaine Dye $10 million to play for the Chicago White Sox for two years, he was free to make that decision, a good one as it turned out because Dye was the World Series most valuable player. If Frank McCourt wanted to give the oft-injured J. D. Drew $11 million a year to play for the Dodgers for five years, only to see injury limit him to 72 games this year, it was his money and his prerogative to do it.
The Nationals are not free to be smart or foolish.
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