Gerard,
My team and I are sick of hearing about Barry Bonds and other cheating liars in baseball. With my band the Dancing Bermans, I have recorded a music video called Cheating Liars to address the issue. You can see it here :
I for one am praying for an end to the scourge of PED’s in sports, if only so the Dancing Bermans are never again compelled to send me a video.
Newsday’s Neil Best is comfortable with WFAN’s choice of Boomer Esiason as the station’s replacement for Don Imus, but is puzzled by rumors that WKXW’s Craig Carton might be added in a sidekick role, “given how Imus left.”
Carton’s long rap sheet includes perceived insults of Asians, Hispanics, Poles, gays, Catholics, Italians, Jews, women, the Philadelphia Flyers and various politicians. (Then-acting New Jersey Gov. Richard Codey was apoplectic in 2005 when Carton suggested Codey’s wife try marijuana to ease her depression.)
Jun Choi, a Korean-American running for Edison mayor in ‘05, inspired a riff in which Carton used an exaggerated Asian accent and said, “I don’t care if the Chinese population in Edison has quadrupled in the last year; Chinese should never dictate the outcome of an election. Americans should.”
Later, Carton said of Asians, “I don’t like the fact that they crowd the — blackjack tables in Atlantic City with their little chain smoking and little pocket protectors . . . There should be Asian-only rooms in casinos.”
Carton later apologized. Jun Choi won in an upset behind a galvanized Asian community. This year, Carton and his “Jersey Guys” partner, Ray Rossi, angered Hispanics with a stunt called “La Cucha Gotcha” that encouraged citizens to expose illegal immigrants.
In a profile in the Star-Ledger of Newark April 8 – four days after Imus’ “nappy-headed hos” comment – Carton criticized his parents for never saying “I love you” when he was a child, suggesting such slights contributed to his personality.
I’ve been lax in covering many of the goings-on at NFL training camps, mostly because of my own personal bias against America’s new fave national pastime (ie. watching Mark Sclereth talk with his hands). But there’s been no shortage of hot stories, from the Raiders’ inability to sign no. 1 pick JaMarcus Russell, the retirement of Tarik Glenn in Indianapolis, to Pacman Jones’ flirtations with the TNA Wrestling promotion. Apparently TNA is good enough for The World’s Scrappiest Human and reprobates alike.
Typically, however, I’ll take the more cultured route and link to the following item from The New York Daily News’ Rich Cimini.
Instead of blasting hip-hop, rap and hard rock on their sideline speakers at Hofstra, a tradition that began last summer with the arrival of innovative coach Eric Mangini (above), the Jets have altered their play list, mixing in classical music-namely Mozart-with their old standbys.It makes for an almost surreal setting: 300-pound men crashing into each other, with gentle melodies in the background. It’s a ballet of behemoths.
The ever-meticulous Mangini, always looking for a psychological or physical edge, isn’t playing classical music to entertain the 3,000 or so fans who show up every day to watch practice. There’s a method to his Mozart.
“From different studies, they assume … Mozart’s music and brain waves are very similar, and it stimulates learning,” he said. “They play it in a lot of schools around the country-kind of underneath, very low-so I thought if that’s the case, why not give it a shot?”
Scientists believe that listening to Mozart can help improve concentration and the ability to make intuitive decisions. They say the music helps both sides of the brain to work together. Fourteen years ago, a study revealed a significant increase in college students’ IQs after they listened to Mozart’s “Sonata for Two Pianos in D Major.”
“Mozart, Beethoven, guys aren’t feeling that,” linebacker Jonathan Vilma said, smiling. Said defensive end Shaun Ellis: “It kind of puts you to sleep a little bit. I’m not complaining about it. They say it helps learning. As long as we get our music at the end of the day, it’s okay.”
“My hat’s off to the coach for being creative,” said John Murray, a Florida-based sports psychologist, “but I’m hesitant to take a strong stand either way. If it’s not pleasurable for the players, it’s not a good working environment.”
With the end of Sky’s monopoly on live Premiership coverage in the UK, satellite providers Setanta have dragged a familiar face out of the Brighton wing of the Suaveness Hall Of Fame reports The Guardian’s Owen Gibson.
Amid dark tales of the two broadcasters poaching one another’s staff as the kick-off approaches, Setanta yesterday declared war on Sky with an aggressive marketing campaign highlighting its cheaper prices, and unveiled its secret weapon – veteran football anchor Des Lynam.The former Match of the Day host will act more as talisman than playmaker, fronting Setanta’s high-profile ad campaign and conducting a weekly flagship interview with big names such as Sir Alex Ferguson and Martin O’Neill.
Lynam said of his decision to join Setanta: “It’s a new kid on the block. Sky could do with a rival and I think it will do great. It’s healthy for the sport to have another main player in the game.” Both are trying to present themselves as the choice of genuine football fans, with Setanta’s marketing featuring romantic images of children kicking balls against walls, emotional crowd shots and the tag line “Born out of a love for the game”.
But, Lynam aside, Setanta joint chief executive Michael O’Rourke said the emphasis for the broadcaster would be on youth. Steve McManaman, the former Liverpool and Real Madrid midfielder lined up as Setanta’s star pundit, said: “Maybe the fact myself and Les [Ferdinand] and Tim Sherwood are from the younger generation and know a lot of the players will help. We’ve all played numerous times in the Premier League and I think maybe that’s what Setanta were trying to go for – that younger generation who have been there and done that recently.”
As someone who has witnessed ESPN’s roaring success employing the youthful likes of John Kruk and Dee Brown, O’Rourke might be on to something with this ex-jockery. Or perhaps, not.
“It’s really a sad day in this country when somehow … Michael Vick would have been better off raping a woman if you look at the outcry of what happened. Had he done that, he probably would have been suspended for four games and he’d be back on the field. But because this has become a political issue, all of a sudden the commissioner has lost his stomach for it.”
– Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reporter Paul Zeise, Sunday on KDKA-TV’s “Sports Showdown.”
I regret the poor choice of analogies I used to characterize a professional athlete’s legal situation.
- Zeise on Monday.
Of course, in his own inadvertent, callous way, Zeise may have still said something true about sports culture.
On a semi-related note, the Philllies have shored up their bullpen with Julio Mateo (above), who apparently has Brett Myers-like stuff.
Michael Radano reports that Mateo, who had 12 saves and a 0.79 ERA for AAA Tacoma, will join – at least for now – the Phillies AA team in Reading rather than the AAA affiliate in Ottawa. Why? The outstanding charge against him means he cannot enter Canada.
Look, I’m all for innocent-until-proven-guilty as well as counseling and rehabilitation, but actions speak louder than press releases.
(For the love of God, the man just wants to make more money than Captivity did!)
Already reeling from the way New York Islanders center Mike Comrie is infringing on his “hockey player that you haven’t heard of dates dubiously talented hottie” turf, New York Rangers super-pest Sean Avery now has to endure being dissed by his own GM.
As the Post’s Larry Brooks reports, Glen Sather described the winger as “a reasonably effective player as well as a detriment to the team.”
Maybe the “team” Sather meant was the L.A. Kings. The Blueshirts were 17-6-6 after acqiring Avery, who is asking for $2.6 million to the Rangers’ $1.3.
Because this is an NHL salary arbitration item, I’m obligated to conclude it by mentioning Tommy Salo.
From Fox Sports’ Ken Rosenthal :
The Red Sox are on the verge of acquiring closer Eric Gagne (above), but their talks with the White Sox involving right fielder Jermaine Dye seemingly are dead, according to a major-league source.
The two teams apparently could not come to an agreement on players. Dye never was formally approached for his permission to approve a deal.
It is still possible that Dye could be traded before the non-waiver deadline at 4 p.m. ET. The Cubs, Diamondbacks and Angels could be possibilities.
The Diamondbacks have been shopping right fielder Carlos Quentin for pitching help. However, they are more likely to promote Justin Upton from Class AA than trade for Dye.
One possibility for the Diamondbacks is to trade for Nationals closer Chad Cordero, then ship him to the Mets in a three-way deal.
The Mets, though, are balking at the asking price for Cordero from both the Nationals and Diamondbacks.
The Boston Globe is reporting Texas would received outfielders David Murphy, Engle Beltre and P Kason Gabbard in exchange for Gagne.
SI.com’s Jon Heyman claims the Mets have offered Phillip Humber for Corder, but have balked at the Nats’ requests for Fernando Martinez, Mike Pelfrey, Carlos Gomez or Da Edge.
Will Death Wish be taking his (unlistenable) act to The Earl? The Braves are supposedly making a last minute push for Cincy’s Bronson Arroyo.
With Tom Glavine gunning for career win no. 300 tonight, the New York Sun’s Tim Marchman, while offering qualified praise for the lefthander (”he’ sreached greatness simply because of consistency, from pitch to pitch and from year to year, from his early career with a wretched Braves team through the last few seasons that have seen him chipping away toward the 58 wins he needed to reach immortality,”) can’t resist wondering what Glavine’s doing in a Mets uniform, anyway.
Any baseball writer who isn’t lying will admit to some prejudices, and I was, at the time, prejudiced against the Braves. For their offensive team nickname and the ridiculous tomahawk chop, for the maddening layout of their sprawling city and its past as a stronghold of the Confederacy, for John Rocker and the presence of a grown man named Chipper on their roster, I never could stand the Braves. This never carried over to the likes of Glavine, Bobby Cox, or Greg Maddux, but there still seemed to be a certain justice in a senescent Glavine retiring to the old folk’s home in Queens with Mo Vaughn, Roberto Alomar and their ilk and suffering through several wretched seasons of losing baseball And something to make up for Kenny Rogers walking home the winning run in the 1999 playoffs.
Five years on, I still think the sight of Glavine in a Mets uniform is only slightly less bizarre than the sight of Reggie Miller in a Knicks uniform would have been, and I still don’t understand the impulse to self-degradation that allowed the Mets to bring the hated enemy into their own camp and exalt him. How could a team have so little pride?
While Cole Hamels was terrific last night (8 IP, 3 hits, one earned run) in the Phillies’ 4-1 win at Wrigley, the visitors lost Shane Victorino and Michael Bourn to injuries. Said mishaps, along with Chase Utley’s recent broken hand, are undoubtedly a bummer for the Phils, but Todd Zolekci submits that no injury has been nearly as costly for Charlie Manuel’s charges as Freddy Garcia’s damaged shoulder.
While Eric Gagne remains one of the more coveted commodities at today’s trade deadline, the Yankees have swapped reliever Scott Proctor for the Dodgers’ IF Wilson Betemit.
The following note regarding the passing of director Michelangelo Antonioni comes to us courtesy of Tim Cook :
Wow, two titans of world seeneemah gone in 24 hrs. I’ll have a good thought today for Kon Ichikawa, 92, Eric Roemer, 87, and the relatively young Jean Luc-Goddard, 77. Hang in there, guys!
It can be said that Antonioni made two or three of the greatest films I ever saw, “L’avventura” and “The Passenger”, even if “meaning” was often dangled at the end of every dazzling shot, and just as often denied, it was replaced some of the most incredible tracking shots and in-frame compositions on offer in cinema.
This is from the “Zabriskie Point” imdb page:
“Remembering the scoring sessions for this film, members of Pink Floyd later commented that Michelangelo Antonioni was very difficult to please, offering vague comments like (quoting the bandmembers, mimicking Michelangelo Antonioni ’s accent) ‘Eets nice, but too slow’ or ‘Eets a leetle bit too soft.’”
Those guys should’ve been fetching coffee, but they’d prob’ly screw that up, too.
Though we’ve already seen ample evidence that some Mets fans (present company not included) tend to have coping problems, an item from the Village Voice’s Michael Clancy, dated July 30, takes things to a new, tragic low.
Michael Anthony— no relation to the former bassist of Van Halen— stabbed his mother in the head and beat her to death with a twenty-pound barbell on Saturday night after she tried to break up a fight between him and his father during a Mets game, Queens District Attorney Richard Brown said Monday. Anthony, 25, of Fresh Meadows, started pounding on the walls while watching the Mets play the Nationals, Brown said. When his father, Fred Fischman, told him to stop, Anthony punched him in the face and threw him on the ground, Brown said. When his 61-year-old mother, Maria, intervened, Anthony attacked her, authorities said.
Anthony faces up to 25 years to life on second-degree murder, third-degree assault and fourth-degree criminal possession of a weapon charges. The Mets lost to the Nationals 6-5.
As noted earlier, I was kinda surprised Saturday night to see Barry Bonds acting like a giddy Little Leaguer (albeit a hulking, bald Little Leaguer with bad knees) after Ray Durham’s walk-off hit that clinched the Giants’ come from behind, 4-3 win over the Marlins. CBS Sportsline’s Gregg Doyel (above) noticed the same thing, and along with acknowledging the Sultan Of Surly’s unreported acts of kindness towards U.S. servicemen, tiny children and Rod Beck’s widow, finds a number of other reasons to commend the soon-to-be-crowned career home run king.
I like that Bonds went after Bob Costas, calling him “that little midget man who absolutely knows jack s— about baseball.” That’s a brave stand considering Costas wields a large microphone and is almost as important as he thinks he is.
I like that Bonds speaks to the media, even if he doesn’t do it every day. He doesn’t have to speak to us at all, and a smaller person — Albert Belle comes to mind — wouldn’t. The media, me included, have gone after Bonds with fury. Yet several times a week he talks to us, and sometimes he almost seems to enjoy it.
I like that Bonds grabbed teammate Ryan Klesko’s hunting bow Friday night, squinted an eye and scanned the room for a target. “Where’s Pedro Gomez?” he said quietly, referring to the ESPN reporter who has been tracking Bonds for more than a year.
I like Bonds’ response to the surprisingly petty words of shortstop Omar Vizquel, who told USA Today: “We might have someone throw a no-hitter one night and nobody will care. … Everyone will just walk over and stand by Barry Bonds’ locker.” That was Thursday night. On Friday, Bonds spent part of batting practice at short, chatting amiably with Vizquel.
So there you have it, folks. Not only is Barry actually a swell guy, but more importantly, he’s given Gregg Doyel an opportunity to take a gratuitous shot at Bob Costas.
Gerard may be showing good news judgment in not rushing into covering the apparent trade of Kevin Garnett to the Celtics; the deal reported by the Boston Globe as being in the “serious discussion” stage this AM and currently being reported by the AP as actually happening does not rhyme with the one being reported by Marc Stein at ESPN, by the fairly wide margin of a backup forward and a couple of first-round picks. Either way, it seems like there’s something going on here. Because I like him the most, I’ll run Steinski’s version of the deal; to stack it up with the deal the AP is reporting, click one of the above links or subtract Ryan Gomes and the two picks from the deal. Then divide by Troy Hudson’s album sales.
Multiple sources told ESPN.com on Sunday night that former teammates Kevin McHale and Danny Ainge revived discussions of a deal that would end Garnett’s 12-season association with Minnesota by sending him to Ainge’s Celtics, with the Wolves believed to be getting back two of the assets McHale coveted most last month — Al Jefferson and Theo Ratliff’s expiring contract.
It’s believed that the latest incarnation of the deal also would have Minnesota acquiring youngsters Gerald Green, Sebastian Telfair and Ryan Gomes. The salary-cap math involved would require both teams to account for Garnett’s $6.75 million trade kicker.
The Wolves would also receive a future first-round pick from Boston and take back the future first-round pick it sent to the Celtics in the Wally Szczerbiak-Ricky Davis trade in January 2006. (Minnesota still owes the Los Angeles Clippers one first-rounder as part of the Sam Cassell-Marko Jaric deal in the summer of 2005.)
The deal depends on Garnett backing off his well-chronicled unwillingness to play in Boston. Yet sources indicated late Sunday that Garnett was warming to the idea, raising hopes on both sides that the deal will finally go through.
There’s more Stein-ian detail in there, detailing the hows and whys of the Suns and Warriors dropping out of the Garnett sweepstakes. But while this doesn’t seem official yet, it does seem more likely than it has at any point prior. The newfound absence of KG-related pics from the Timberwolves official site doesn’t make it seem any less so. That can’t have been easy. I wonder how many season tickets that heavily retouched photo of Craig Smith is selling.
Generally, I leave the rumination to those above my hoops-wisdom station, but a couple of things strike me about this deal on first gloss. I love Garnett, he’s probably my favorite NBA player, and I’m sad to see him leave even though I have little vested emotional interest in the Wolves. He’s a one-of-a-kind player — none more loyal, none tougher, and historically speaking few have ever been more productive — and I 1) liked him with Minnesota and 2) will not like watching him push around my Nets.
Repercussion-wise, while I’m not exactly sure how the Celtics will fare with three superstars, a 20-year old point guard, and Brian Scalabrine as their first forward off the bench, it’s hard for me to imagine a way in which a team with three all-timers in its starting lineup doesn’t go deep in the NBA Playoffs, weak Eastern Conference or no. I know Doc Rivers isn’t the best coach, I know that they’re currently four players short of the minimum roster requirements and will be nearly $6 million over the cap from the three salaries of Ray Allen, Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett alone. That doesn’t sound good, but if they’re willing to go the Dolan-ian extra mile and pick up the right complimentary guys (or even get the best of the marginal free agents left for the signing — Matt Barnes: holler) they’ll have compiled a pretty good roster.
For a fantasy basketball team, that is. They have three big-time stars, two of whom absolutely require 20-plus shots per game (Allen and Pierce), and an inexperienced point guard with a rookie backup (Smilin’ Gabe Pruitt: you have not been traded). They’ve clearly got faith in Rondo, and everything I’ve seen of him says it’s not misplaced. But that roster seems weirdly top-heavy to me, and it’s oddly easy for me to see it not working. If it’s possible for a team with three potential Hall of Famers not to make the NBA Finals — and I think it is — then these could be your dudes. There’s probably an extension for Garnett in the deal, but if things don’t work, and Garnett opts out next summer, then the C’s just traded everything promising about their team for one shot at an NBA title. And I thought Mormons didn’t gamble.
Also, the Timberwolves basically turn into the ‘06-07 Celtics, except with Mark Madsen filling Scalabrine’s role and, uh, Ricky Davis in the Paul Pierce veteran-go-to-scorer role. Lots of young talent up there, though. Early polling of my Minnesota friends reveals depression at the departure of the beloved star they — and no one else, to my knowledge — call “The Pharaoh” and relief that McHale seems to have managed a pretty good haul in exchange. (Such is their faith in McHale that Ben Polk wrote to me: “I’m just glad McHale didn’t draft John Cougar Mellencamp this year. I heard he was thinking about it after hearing “Jack and Diane” in the car on the way home from a game.”) One certainty: I will need to do a fairly extensive rewrite of the Celtics ‘07-08 team preview I filed for Athlon last week.
The emergence of Ruben Gotay aside, I’m hoping there’s smoke to the fire described below by the Newark Star-Ledger’s Dan Graziano and Ed Price.
According to officials with two different major league teams, who requested anonymity because the deal has yet to be announced, the Mets and the Minnesota Twins were closing in on a deal that would bring second baseman Luis Castillo to Queens in exhange for two minor-league prospects, possibly Double-A Binghamton catcher Drew Butera and Class A St. Lucie outfielder Dustin Martin.
Castillo would give the Mets the second baseman they need with Jose Valentin out for the year with a leg injury. He likely would bat second in the batting order, behind Jose Reyes. The Mets have had problems getting consistent production from that No. 2 spot in their lineup this year, and the speedy Castillo could help there as well as shore up the infield defense.
While Gordon Edes is cynical about Boston’s chances of prying Jermaine Dye from the White Sox, it would appear the Braves have made their 2nd manuever of the afternoon, as the KC Star’s Bob Dutton reports they’re on the brink of obtaining former Mets reliever Octavio Dotel from the Royals in exchange for righty Kyle Davies.
Yahoo’s Tim Brown claims Texas’ Eric Gagne is a Red Sox target, but the goggle-faced Canadian will require a serious payoff to accept a) a trade to one of the 16 clubs on his veto list or b) any scenario where he’ll not be closing.
Only those with very short memories will fail to recall that Houston’s Jason Jennings gave up 11 earned runs while retiring just two batters in the Astros’ 18-11 loss to the Padres on Sunday. In case you forgot, the Houston Chronicle’s Richard Justice would love to rub it in :
If you’re keeping score, Jason Hirsh has two more quality starts than Jennings. Hirsh’s ERA is lower, his record better. He has pitched more innings and is making $4 million less.
For a couple of months, the Jennings trade was evaluated in terms of all he players involved. That’s no longer necessary. Had Purpura traded either Hirsh or Willy Taveras to Colorado for Jennings, the hair of the Astros general manager would still be on fire.
If it were one of Jennings’ few bad days, that would be one thing. It wasn’t. In five July starts, Jennings is 1-4 with an 11.35 ERA. Hopefully, he’ll never have another outing like Sunday’s, in which he was lit up for 11 earned runs in two-thirds of an inning as the Astros suffered an 18-11 loss to San Diego.
I asked a friend with another team if he could check where this start ranked on the all-time stinkeroo list. An hour later, he e-mails: “Sorry, but our database only goes back 50 years.”
When you’ve had a bad start and someone says, “Eisenhower administration,” you know it’s not good.
Former San Francisco head coach Bill Walsh, architect of the West Coast Offense and a 3 time Super Bowl winner during the Niners’ dominant run in the 1980’s, has passed away at the age of 75 following a long battle with leukemia.
Though I’d recommend you read all of it, here’s an excerpt from Tom Fitzgerald’s obit in Monday’s SF Chronicle.
After losing their first two games in 1981, the 49ers would win 15 of their next 16 games in a methodical yet astonishing march. Behind Montana and wide receivers Dwight Clark and Freddy Solomon and a defense led by linebacker Jack “Hacksaw” Reynolds, pass rushing whiz Fred Dean and a secondary that started three rookies — Ronnie Lott, Eric Wright and Carlton Williamson — they became the first NFL team in 34 years to go from the worst record to the best in just three seasons.
To do it, they had to shock the Dallas Cowboys 28-27 in the NFC Championship Game. They won it on Montana’s scrambling 6-yard pass to a leaping Clark with 51 seconds left. The play, dubbed “The Catch,” is the most celebrated moment in Bay Area sports history.
“That was a practiced play,” Walsh said. “Now, we didn’t expect three guys right down his throat. That was Joe who got the pass off in that situation, putting it where only Clark could come up with it.”
Walsh showed his zany side two weeks later in Pontiac, Mich. Arriving before the team, he borrowed a bellman’s uniform at the hotel and collected the players’ bags at the curb, even holding out his hand for tips. His players didn’t immediately recognize him, including Montana, who got into a brief tug-of-war with him when Walsh tried to grab his briefcase.
He was named the “Coach of the ’80s” by the selection committee of the Hall of Fame. His impact on the NFL was evident in the number of his assistants who went on to head coaching jobs, including Seifert, Dennis Green, Mike Holmgren, Ray Rhodes, Sam Wyche, Bruce Coslet, Mike White and Paul Hackett. Those coaches in turn spawned a host of other coaches, all imbued with Walsh’s distinctive offensive schemes.
In 1966 he took his first pro job with the Raiders and made the switch from defense to offense, coaching the backfield. Although John Rauch was the head coach, Walsh later called owner Al Davis one of his mentors. Another was Paul Brown, who was awarded an expansion franchise in Cincinnati and hired Walsh as quarterbacks and receivers coach for the first Bengals team in 1968.
Brown gave Walsh free rein to refine his sophisticated passing game, but when Brown retired in 1976, he named offensive line coach Bill Johnson as his successor. Had Brown named Walsh, it’s conceivable that the Bengals, rather than the 49ers, would have been the Team of the ’80s.
Walsh, who had turned down several promising jobs because he was sure he was Brown’s heir apparent, was devastated. Miffed that “nobody would take me seriously,” he considered leaving football. “It was beginning to look as if I would never make it as a head coach,” he said.
Deion Sanders weighed in on the Michael Vick situation with a rambling column for his hometown (Fort Myers) News-Press last week. Along with comparing Vick to Wesley Snipes’ Nino Brown character from “New Jack City”, Sanders asked his readers to go inside Vick’s mind “so you can understand where he might be coming from. ” (”It reminds me of when I wore a lot of jewelry back in the day because I always wanted to have the biggest chain or the biggest, baddest car. It gives you status.”)
The NFL Network, who hold exclusive rights to Sanders’ public commentary, have axed his follow-up. From the News-Press’ Ed Reed.
Understandably, the NFL did not like that one of the faces of its network was being portrayed as a Vick apologist. Deion sent a column responding to the criticism to The News-Press and the NFL Network on Friday morning.
That night, I received an e-mail from Thomas George, the NFL Network managing editor, which read: “This column and subsequent variations of it (are) not approved by NFL Network. It cannot run.”
It’s unfortunate because Deion really wanted you to see it. It was his best work since he started writing his column in January.
I’m sure if Tim McCarver was available for comment, he’d be sure to advise Sanders that all kinds of negative things can happen when a journalist is just trying to do his or her job.
(Barry Melrose : anticipating at least as much face time as those NASCAR schmoes)
From the Sports Business Journal’s John Ourand and Tripp Mickle :
The NHL and ESPN are in discussions about bringing the league’s games back to ESPN2 as soon as the 2008-09 season.
Multiple sources described the conversations as preliminary. The two started talking the week of July 16 when the NHL approached ESPN about NBC’s nine-game regular-season schedule, plus the playoffs. NBC holds the rights to air the coming season as part of a revenue-sharing agreement, and the network holds a one-year option for the 2008-09 season.
It’s not certain that NBC would exercise that option, given the sport’s tepid ratings on the network. Regular-season ratings on NBC averaged a 0.9 during the 2006-07 season and a 1.0 during the 2007-08 season over nine telecasts.
The key to this whole scenario is Versus, which holds cable exclusivity to all of the league’s games through 2011 and is paying the league a rights fee in excess of $70 million annually. Sources close to the Comcast-owned network, however, indicated that Versus would be willing to waive that clause, but only if it gets something in return — either a lower rights
fee, a stronger schedule or a deal extension.
The talks with ESPN mark a turnaround from three years ago, when Mark Shapiro, then-executive vice president of programming and production, publicly questioned the value of having the league on TV — remarks that still make league executives bristle. The arrival of Skipper in October 2005 could allow both sides to overcome that, as sources close to the league believe that Skipper values hockey more than Shapiro.
Not only is this potentially bad, bad news for the New York Mets, but I’m also dreading the prospect of watching TV most of Tuesday afternoon for the sole purpose of learning Kyle Lohse’s next destination. From the Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s David O’Brien :
The Braves have finalized a major trade for Texas Rangers first baseman Mark Teixeira, a deal that will also bring them much-needed bullpen help in the form of veteran left-hander Ron Mahay. An announcement is expected soon.
They’re paying a hefty price, sending a four-prospect package to the Rangers that includes switch-hitting rookie catcher Jarrod Saltalamacchia, slick-fielding infield prospect Elvis Andrus, left-handed prospect Matt Harrison and another, lesser pitching prospect whose identity wasn’t yet known.
The Braves decided it was a price worth paying to fill arguably their most glaring weaknesses. They had no left-handed reliever, and their first basemen ranked last in the majors in most major offensive categories.
It could be the most significant midseason trade for the Braves in 14 years, since they got first baseman Fred McGriff from San Diego on July 18, 1993. The Braves hope Teixeira will help spark a playoff drive just as McGriff did.
ESPN.com’s Buster Olney is amongst those who figure Rangers GM Jon Daniels did pretty well today considering the circumstances.
Teixeira will be eligible for free agency in 15 months, and he’s represented by agent Scott Boras, who takes his clients into free agency almost every opportunity he gets, and Texas had no plans for signing Teixeira; rival executives became convinced early last week that Teixeira was going to be traded.
But despite all of that, Daniels wound up getting Saltalamacchia, a 22-year-old catcher who is thought by some of his teammates to be at least the equal of solid Atlanta catcher Brian McCann, and perhaps even better — and Saltalamacchia can flat-out rake. In 141 big-league at-bats, he’s hitting .284, after hitting well at every level in the minors. In Texas’ bandbox, he is liable to become a 30-homer threat sometime in the next few years. Andrus is probably years away from playing in the big leagues, and he is rough around the edges — he has 25 errors in Class A this year — but he has a chance to be very good, according to the evaluators who’ve seen him.
The deal reminds me a little of the fire-sale trades made by the Padres in 1993. At the time, San Diego swapped perennial All-Star Gary Sheffield for young players that casual fans wouldn’t know, and Padres GM Randy Smith was excoriated for the deal. And one of those three young players is going to the Hall of Fame — Trevor Hoffman — rather then just a middle reliever with a great arm.
Baseball Prospectus’ Joe Sheenan goes a bit further in praise of Daniels, implying that Atlanta’s John Shuerholz might’ve been fleeced.
Not to take anything away from Teixeira, but I just don’t see where he’s going to be so much better than Saltalamacchia over the next 800 ABs to warrant throwing Andrus and pitchers into a deal.
The Braves could have played Saltalamacchia at first this year–they were prior to adding Julio Franco–gotten 85% of Teixeira in the process and retained considerable trade value for this winter. Teixeira makes them a little better, but–and I may be overrating Salty–I don’t think it’s a massive upgrade.
The one caveat I have to mention is John Schuerholz’s track record. The Braves seem to do a very good job of trading away prospects at or near their peak value, prospects who often go on to disappoint. It’s worth keeping in mind.
Granted, Katie Couric has some rating issues, but I hope for the sake of the nation, stories like this aren’t a way out of the hole.
No disrespect intended to 12 year old Kyle Kirchbaum — otherwise known in his neighborhood as “The Human Punching Bag” — but why should it have been so hard to admit to his true inspiration?
One of the few advantages — if you could call it that — of being an insomniac is the ability to find out about important or interesting news stories before your neighbors are awake. Which brings us to what I suppose is today’s third important death after Mike Reid and Bill Robinson — the great Swedish film director Ingmar Bergman.
There are no details as of yet, but AP is reporting that he died this morning in Faro, Sweden. As Bergman (above) was one of the most influential stylists of the 20th Century, I’m sure there will be lengthy obits in tomorrow’s papers chronicaling his fantastic career. Over the course of that career, Bergman’s films won 7 Academy Awards (for “The Virgin Spring,” “Through A Glass Darkly,” “Cries and Whispers” and “Fanny and Alexander”), though he is probably best known for the iconic “The Seventh Seal,” in which Max von Sydow plays chess with Death.
Which in turn inspired “Bill and Ted’s Bogus Journey” in which the heroes of San Dimas High played Death in Battleship and Twister, among other challenges. Um. Anyway, you can read about Bergman’s fantastic life and work in his Wikipedia entry.
Update: Bergman’s full AP obituary is now available.
Double Death (?) Update: AP is now reporting that Tom Snyder has died. So forget about the rule of threes, I guess. No mention in the brief obit of his interview of Johnny Lydon, one of his funnier moments.
A day after the Globe’s Peter May pondered whether or not the Celtics would offer 22 year old Al Jefferson a new pact prior to October, Fox Sports’ Jeff Goodman has something else for night owls to consider :
The on-again, off-again deal with the Boston Celtics acquiring Kevin Garnett apparently is back on.
According to sources, the current deal on the table has the 6-foot-11 Garnett heading to Boston and the Celtics dealing away Al Jefferson (above), Theo Ratliff’s hefty expiring contract and Rajon Rondo. There may also be other players and draft picks involved.
The deal would give Ainge a team that could compete with anyone in the Eastern Conference with the trio of Paul Pierce, Garnett and Allen. The Celtics would also have nearly $60 million in salaries between the three players for next season alone.
The Wolves would get one of the league’s top young players in the 22-year-old Jefferson, who averaged 16 points and 11 boards in 69 games a year ago, and a second-year point guard in Rondo with plenty of potential. They would also get Ratliff’s $11.7 million salary, which will come off the books after this season.
The only reason I won’t claim Michael Wilbon is unavailable for comment is because it’s almost 3 in the morning.
Used car bargains up in heaven, folks. How will you tell when Frank wasn’t telling the truth? His lips were moving.
Supposedly, there’s a clip of Stephon Marbury being interviewed by MSG’s Gus Johnson that almost as entertaining as the self proclaimed No. 1 Point Guard In The NBA’s recent chat with Bruce Beck. And until the former pops up on YouTube, you’ll have to be satisfied with this heartwarming encounter with a devoted fan.
The Dodgers confirmed the death Sunday of minor league hitting instructor Bill Robinson.
Robinson, 64, was a 16 year big league vet who hit 24 homers for the 1979 World Champion Pirates. During his coaching career, Robinson earned rings as hitting coach for the ‘86 Mets, and again as first base coach for the 2003 Marlins.
The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette’s obituary can be found here.
With apologies to, uh, Todd Snider, Charles Oakley claims to be living “the rock star life” while biding his time for a) another comeback attempt (”"I’m not coming back cheap,” he said. “If you read this article and you think you can get me cheap, there’s another thought coming.”) and prepping what could be a scintillating tell-all bio. From the Sun’s Doug Smith :
“I’m not pulling any punches, true stories. It ain’t one of those Charles Barkley fake books, it’s a Charles Oakley book,” Oakley said. “It’s not an O.J. book, it’s an Oakley book.”
Any book that chronicles Oakley’s life is sure to have its fair share of explosive anecdotes. He was a guy who got suspended for a Raptor game for drilling a basketball at Jeff McInnis’s head at a shootaround. He got tossed from a pre-season game before it began for slapping Tyrone Hill in the head to remind him about a gambling debt.
Oakley has a long list of memorable sayings, ranging from `If it ain’t broke, don’t break it,” to “Just because there’s glass on the road don’t mean there’s been an accident.”
If you put those thoughts and others like it to paper, it may not be Shakespeare, but a whole lot of people will read it.
But there’s one thing he won’t reveal. Oakley, who never came across a subject he wouldn’t pontificate on, won’t give out the juiciest of book details, or the co-author’s name.
“People might try to come after us and take us down, maybe send a hit man,” he said. “I have to protect myself, can’t let it get out.”
The New York Times’ Vincent M.Mallozzi attended Topps/Upper Deck’s photoshoot for the new rookie cards and garnered this gem of a quote from Kevin Durant :
“When a kid out there gets my card, I want him to be excited about it,” Durant added. “When I was a little younger, I got Allen Iverson’s rookie card and I was ecstatic. But then I’d get other cards, and I’d be like, Oh, man, why did I get this guy? I remember getting a Howard Eisley card and not being too thrilled about it.”
Diplomatic understatement of the week comes from Miami’s newly acquired Smush Parker, who calls D-Wade “more of a people person” than Kobe Bryant.
David Stern got a little testy this week when asked how the NBA could’ve allowed rogue ref Tim Donaghy to have advanced so far in the league’s officiating ranks. Sunday’s New York Post reports that Donaghy cheated on his SAT’s, while the Daily News goes back in further, claiming Public Enemy No. 1 copied someone else’s homework in high school. No word yet on how Donaghy treats dogs, however, and until such time, I’m refraining from judgement.
(Morgan explains to a young fan the importance of being circumcised as soon as possible why wearing a Nike baseball glove is tantamount to using a Rawlings I.U.D.)
In the wake of yesterday’s Ty Wigginton acquisition, the Astros will part ways with Morgan Ensberg.
“I understand this is just how the game goes,” Ensberg said. “We sign up for it. And I was expecting something to happen, although I didn’t know for sure what.
“The toughest part for me is that I met some just great guys here in Houston. Adam Everett is one of my best friends and will be for life. And I got to play with a Jeff Bagwell and Craig Biggio.”
Everett was just as moved as he gave Ensberg a hug while they talked about the sudden news.
It’s not only sad for him, but lousy business for the ‘Stros, who now lose Ensberg for nothing or next to it when they could have raked some value for him last year (hindsight and a grain of salt I know, but he was rumored to be part of a package for Miguel Tejada, and the Padres and the Phillies eyed him too).
In addition to his contributions at the major league level (including 36 home runs in 2005) Ensberg will always be remembered – by some of us, anyway – as one of the jewels of the inaugural (and title-winning) Round Rock Express club (along with the great Keith Ginter).
Posh-pit seats and garlic fries aside, I have little to say about last night’s 4-3 victory for the Giants over the Marlins except for the following ;
a) all hail the D-Train, who went right after Barry Bonds on the 3 occasions the Sultan came to the plate with runners in scoring position. Willis blew the Sultan Of Surly away on the first instance, and caught Barry guessing wrong (and popping up) on the other two. OK, so Barry’s walk in the his 3rd at bat did lead to SF’s crucial 2nd run, but I was duly impressed that Dontrelle — perhaps taking a tip from the Dodgers two weekends ago, showed so little deference to the soon-to-be-crowned HR king.
b) Believe it or not, there’s somewhere on earth where Armando Benitez is even less popular than he is in Flushing.
c) The weekend’s questionable strategy award goes to Fish skipper Fredi Gonzalez, who had closer Kevin Gregg pitch to Ray Durham with the game tied at 3, one out and runners on 3rd and 2nd in the bottom of the 9th. Sure, Durham has looked brutal recently, but Gonzalez was betting that Gregg could prevent a fly or a grounder past a drawn-in inflield rather than face Bonds with the bases loaded. As it stood, Durham hit a fly to the right field warning track with Jeremy Hermida playing shallow to end the game…leading to the incongruous scenes of a giddy Bonds hopping up and down with the likes of Mark Sweeney and Fred Lewis.
d) Just what exactly is the Giants marketing department trying to say about Noah Lowery when they have LCD Soundsystem’s “North American Scum” as the soundtrack for his Jumbotron profile?
In contrast to the Daily News’ Bob Raissman hateful words about SNY’s Keith Hernandez — tempting a player reaction today with his measured criticism of the Mets’ offense, as quoted by John Harper — Newsday’s Neil Best prefer to celebrate Mex’s unusual worldview.
On Wednesday when the Mets hosted the lowly Pirates. Hernandez (above, right) seemed to veer off course at times.
There were discussions in the booth — on the air and off — about old movies, Hernandez’s colorful scoring system, lollipops, the favorite colors of various staff members and Hernandez’s dental work.
During a pitching change, he blurted out a seemingly out-of-leftfield remark, saying his scorecard soon would be singing “Tales of Brave Ulysses.”
It was a reference to something he said before the game, comparing his cards to the psychedelic cover of Cream’s 1967 “Disraeli Gears” album, on which “Tales of Brave Ulysses” appears.
Mostly, Hernandez sticks to poking fun at himself and his quirks. Recently, he said it would be nice for players to wear their own uniforms in the All-Star Game. Cohen informed him they do.
“I screwed up, yes,” he said. “I have not watched an All-Star Game in an ice age.”
Game days usually begin for Hernandez with a half-hour nap at his home in Sag Harbor, followed at 3 p.m. by the (minimum) 90-minute drive to Flushing.
Said Ron Darling: “He has to have his nap. I don’t want to work with him when he hasn’t.”
Brockton Rox promotions department, this is what happens when you fall asleep on the job. From the Minneapolis Star-Tribune’s Mark Craig.
The St. Paul Saints are making plans to give away 2,500 “Michael Vick” dog chew toys designed with the Atlanta Falcons’ team colors and the No. 7 worn by the team’s embattled quarterback.
“People expect so many crazy things from us,” said Sean Aronson, director of media relations for the American Association baseball team. “When the idea was presented to us, we simply couldn’t resist.”
Sunday, the Long Beach (Calif.) Armada minor league baseball team will hold a “Michael Vick Animal Awareness Day.” Any fan who brings in a Vick shirt or jersey to be thrown into a bonfire receives free admission and a donation in their name to a local animal rights organization.
A Saints fan, who doesn’t want his name published, came up with the chew toy idea and emailed it to Aronson.
Aronson said the Saints would have more details on the promotion on Monday. He added: “We think it’s a great idea. It’s a way for our fans to let their dogs get back at Michael Vick”.
I guess the Armada can’t get nearly as many people to come out for “Jose Canseco Awareness Day”. Hey, I’m all for creativity but Long Beach’s scheme is a little too close to hanging the innocent-until-proven-guilty QB in effigy for my tastes.
First Antoine Walker, now Eddy Curry. If you’re an NBA player living in greater Chicago, you should probably follow ‘Toine out of town and look into moving to Gary, Indiana. It’s apparently safer, and Leon Smith doesn’t seem to be playing there anymore. WCBS TV’s online arm details the recent robbery at the Knicks’ pivot’s home:
New York Knicks Center Eddy Curry was robbed in his suburban Chicago home early Saturday morning.
Police do not believe the robbery at Curry’s home was a random act.
Family friend and brother of Knicks coach and general manager Isiah Thomas, Mark Thomas, spoke on behalf of Curry after the basketball player and his family went through a robbery that involved three masked men that restrained the Curry family and an employee at around 12:15 a.m. The invaders fled the home with cash and jewelry, according to Burr Ridge Deputy Chief John Madden.
“At this time they’re fine, everybody’s doing well and at this time, they don’t have any comment,” said Thomas.
Police are investigating how the three men, armed with handguns, got into the house. They’re going over surveillance video from the camera mounted at Curry’s front door.
A few unusual tidbits buried in the Oregonian’s front page thumbsucker on the Week That Was, as you can reliably expect from Ryan White.
First, we learn that Joey Harrington is one of the many Portland Trail Blazers fans swept up by the We-Got-Oden-Zack-Is-Gone excitement.
The former Oregon Ducks QB bought season tickets after what the piece says was a six-year boycott of the team (a fact that ought to be amusing to the folks at FireMillen.com).
Then, to tie a bow around the piece, White turns to a past profile subject.
Individually, none of this is new, and for some time now professional athletes have been moving through the world like rock stars scoffing at authority. It’s not been an ideal week, but it’s not the end of the world, either. Just ask a rock star.
“Some of the actions they take part in even I couldn’t condone,” Beaverton native and East Nashville, Tenn.-based singer-songwriter Todd Snider (above) wrote in an e-mail. “But being a rocker, I have to say, I see many of these efforts to be less upstanding as an overall source of comfort.”
On his blog, White mentions that the “slightly-toned down” story was originally meant to be his usual Sunday sports-section rant-and-round-up. He also reprints Snider’s e-mail in its entirety (well… except – apparently – for the word “titty”).
finally some jocks i understand…
actually the vick thing blows my mind
life says “write your ticket”
and your idea of the “ticket” is killing dogs with your homies
sweet jesus
ever water ski or anything?
poker?
even a (nudie) bar?
this guy should hang out with pack man a little to improve his reputation
honestly i dont know what happened to the jocks
and some of the actions they take part in even i couldn’t condone
but being a rocker
i have to say
i see many of these efforts to be less upstanding
as an overall source of comfort
This might be the only time in my life I have ever (or will ever) say these words: I would have rather heard from Courtney Taylor-Taylor.
Anytime Scott Olson wants to quote Mike Muir’s words of “I’m not crazy, you’re the one that’s crazy,” Jeff Allison ought be ready. From USA Today and the AP :
Florida Marlins pitching prospect Jeff Allison has returned to the restricted list, a setback in his bid to come back from drug problems.
Allison had been working out at the team’s spring training and Single-A complex in Jupiter, Fla.
“The organization has now become aware of pending legal issues involving Jeff,” the Marlins said in a statement Friday. “He has been placed back on the restricted list, and he will remain inactive until all legal issues have been resolved.”
In other disciplinary news, I’m not sure which is more shocking ; that the Snakes’ Donnie Sadler has been hit with a 50 game suspension…or that Donnie Sadler’s still in baseball. Either way, I’d like to see an asterisk applied to all of his career records.
Just remember something when you’re glued to the TV tonight, heart in your throat as Barry tries to put one out: none of it could have happened if a certain Bawlmer shortstop hadn’t “saved” the game.
What’s that? You have other plans? Yeah, me too. Anyway, from behind the WWL pay wall (thank you, magazine subscription) Rob Neyer points to Tim Marchman’s New York Sun piece on The Myth of Cal.
Here was a man who stood for old-fashioned American values. Born and raised in Maryland, the son of a humble baseball journeyman, he played for his hometown team and made his name not with the obscene physical talent of a Henderson, but because of his hard work and dedication, best symbolized, of course, by his signature trait – his overwhelming need to just show up for work. No pampered, spoiled athlete he; this was someone with whom any factory worker or policeman or smalltown mortgage broker could identify, someone who just punched the clock every day and tried his hardest, quietly and with pride.
This was, of course, the most ridiculous nonsense it’s possible to imagine. Cal Ripken was 6 feet 4 inches, 225 pounds., built like a god, and blessed with enough athleticism that he probably would have been a truly great basketball player. He wasn’t the best possible version of David Eckstein or Joe McEwing, but the most physically gifted player in the sport. What made him unique was the overwhelming effect of his personal dedication and discipline on his unparalleled natural gifts; by all accounts, no one worked harder. But the myth of Ripken located his greatness in his will, as if will were sufficient to command the greatest heights of achievement. It isn’t.
I greatly admire Cal Ripken, but despise this myth. It grounded his appeal in resentment of supposedly lazy and greedy (and often black) modern players who didn’t appreciate the gifts with which they were born and the rewards to which those gifts entitled them. That all the boogeymen and preening villains to whom Ripken was contrasted throughout his career, from the joyous Henderson to the odious Bonds, all worked just as hard as he did, and enjoyed the rightful fruits of their labor no more than he did, never really seemed to register.
Indeed, even if you think Bonds is guilty guilty guilty, that doesn’t mean it wasn’t work. Though I don’t think The Wire creator David Simon’s truism about drug addicts would apply to wealthy alleged steroid users.
Also, didn’t Marchman mean to say “the best possible version of David Eckstein or Joe McEwing or Billly Ripken?” And I’m guessing if GC was writing this, he’d point out that Joe McEwing has always been the best possible version of Joe McEwing (and always will be).
Dude,
As bad as this looks, keep in mind that Soundscan isn’t 100% accurate.
You might’ve sold more than 100 CD’s.
Depending on how the stores are weighted, you might’ve sold as few as 25. But there’s still a chance you sold more than 78.
Either way, keep your head up. There are many groundbreaking recordings that failed to crack triple digits in sales.
Gerard
(still not Randy Johnson)
Since my roommate is up at Cooperstown playing some Hall of Fame-related gig this weekend, I thought I’d take the opportunity to get back on the CSTB baseball beat. And what more inspiring news this morning could I find than the story that Randy Johnson’s 2007 campaign is over, thanks to the herniated disk he’s been suffering through all season. But fear not, fans of der Big Unit! Like his favorite band Thin Lizzy (at least according to former 2nd Hand Tunes employee Jeremy Pickett – hey dude!), he’ll be “fighting [his] way back” to make spring training next year (from AP):
“I have no intention at this time of retiring,” he said at a news conference Friday. “I’ll cross the bridge of surgery and be willing to go through the process of rehabilitation again because I know I can still pitch. And I love pitching. It’s what I’ve been doing since I was 7 years old.”
Anybody else having a difficult time imagining Randy Johnson as a 7 year-old? Yeah, me too.
In other non-Big Unit baseball news, Barry Bonds hit 754 against the Marlins in the Giants’ 12-10 win, while A-Rod went 0-for-2 in his quest for 500 against the Orioles in the Yankees’ 4-2 loss. But I’m sure you knew that already.
Royals outfielder Emil Brown hit a television reporter near the eye with a pellet from a small plastic gun in the Kansas City clubhouse Friday afternoon.
A team spokesman said Brown didn’t mean to shoot KMBC sports reporter Karen Kornacki with the plastic pellet gun. Brown started in left field Friday night against the Texas Rangers.
“It was certainly an accident,” Royals spokesman David Holtzman said. “He wasn’t shooting at anybody.”
Kornacki was interviewing shortstop Tony Pena Jr. before the game when she felt the pellet hit near her left eye, said Gary Roberts, KMBC’s assistant news director. Kornacki ended the interview and left the locker room immediately.
An assistant team trainer treated Kornacki and gave her an ice pack. Roberts said the station sent Kornacki, who has been with the ABC affiliate for more than 20 years, to see an eye doctor.
Bret Saberhagen was unavailable for comment. Brown was presumably unaffected by the incident, as he’s in the lineup tonight for K.C., who are leading Texas, 4-0 through 7 innings. Former Met Brian Bannister has struck out 6 six and allowed just 4 hits thus far, and is undoubtedly pleased with the great publicity for his Loft 19 Studios.
On more than one occasion this week, I’ve restrained myself from watching multiple ballgames at once via DirecTV or MLB.tv Mosiac simply because the banter between SportsNet NY’s Gary Cohen and Keith Hernandez was too funny for flipping. I know of few adult males so quick to come down with a case of the giggles without being stoned (well, other than Richard Simmons) and in my humble opinion, a rooting interest in the New York Mets is not a prerequisite for enjoying the work of this dynamic duo.
Needless to say, Bob Raissman of the New York Daily News could not disagree more.
On Wednesday night. Cohen and Hernandez were into a very Pavlovian kind of thing. When the camera was on them their reaction was to talk about themselves. They sounded like two frustrated comedians trying to out-shtick each other.
Unfortunately, viewers could not strike back with either catcalls or spitballs. The most insulting (that’s what usually happens when baseball voices treat viewers like total morons) thing was the message Cohen and Hernandez were sending. It was:
Oh yeah, these are the lowly Pirates, who were down 6-0 at one point, so why should anyone care about this game.
Hernandez, on camera of course, basically said this in the third inning. “We’ll get back to the ballgame, but it’s 6-0,” he said. Hernandez was more concerned about presenting his views on the 1980 movie “Caddyshack.” Hernandez, displaying his cinematic knowledge while simultaneously putting viewers to sleep, even got into a riff about his favorite lines from the movie.
“… I just was wondering if I’ve lost you for the rest of the night,” Cohen said. “… You could be recalling ‘Caddyshack’ lines the next few innings.”
Not to worry. Hernandez and Cohen (again on camera in the seventh with the score 6-3) found something equally dopey, and irrelevant, to discuss: What is behind Hernandez’s decision to use a pen or pencil to keep score. And (drumroll, please) the colors he uses. And the kind of whiteout Cohen turned him on to.
“… We have games like this,” Hernandez said. “Even though it’s 6-3 we try to pack some entertaining items in here.”
Gee, that must explain why Cohen, in the eighth inning, used his common denominator with Xavier Nady (both had emergency appendectomies last season) to open the door for a medical discussion. Hernandez went into a riff – he’s done it over and over and over again this season – about the status of his tooth implant or whatever his dental problem is.
While he was talking about a “temporary crown” there was a game going on. Here’s the deal: If baseball broadcasters want to minimize the importance of a game – that clearly is boring them – why should any viewer bother watching it?
Though I believe Raissman is being unduly harsh, it is true that Keith has waxed nostalgic about “Caddyshack” on at least one prior occasion.
Sorry, folks. I’m on Sultan Stalking duty in San Francisco today, and my first thought upon learning that Michael Strahan (above) had blown off the opening of Giants camp in Albany was, “perhaps he wants to spend more time with Dr. Ian Smith’s family?”
Jets RB Cedric Houston has left the team for what’s being called “personal reasons”. Since confusing the Mangenius with this dude is not considered a good enough reason for bolting camp, we’re left hoping this isn’t a return of Houston’s thyroid condition.
Man, justice is swift in the Roger Goodell Era. Well, not really justice in the commonly understood innocent-until-proven-guilty sense. More like super-rapid crackdowns and suspensions for high-profile NFL players who are generally surrounded by an aura of lawlessness. Or wide receivers who break dudes’ faces because said dude tries to get them to leave house parties. Well, not the last guy I mentioned, but I’m sure they’ll get to that if he’s proven guilty, or if sports radio guys get really angry about it. Sure, the NFL Players Union will make a big stink about one of their own getting suspen…sorry, that’s wrong. Sorry.
Anyway, if you thought Goodell (above) would put it on you with the quickness when it comes to suspensions, you’re 1) correct and 2) not going to be surprised by the NFL’s stealthy approach to sartorial justice. Darren Rovell, what were you doing this morning?
(Well, David,) I wandered on to NFLShop.com to do my daily check on everything Michael Vick and I noticed something strange. I couldn’t find Michael Vick No. 7 jerseys anywhere.
So I called the NFL and asked them why they had made this decision. “We have suspended sales of Vick-related merchandise on our official league e-commerce site, NFLShop.com,” said NFL spokesman Brian McCarthy. “This includes Vick jerseys and collectible items such as autographed balls and other memorabilia.” McCarthy said the decision was made because it was “not appropriate under the circumstances.” The suspension will take place for the immediate future.
Reebok also announced that they are suspending distribution on Michael Vick jerseys, issuing a statement saying, “While we respect the legal process we find the allegations against Mr. Vick too disturbing to ignore, therefore, we have decided to immediately suspend selling Vick NFL product, both at retail and on-line through the Reebok website.”
How this will impact sales of Roger Vick replica jerseys on eBay is a developing story that I’ll stay on top of. It doesn’t seem to have driven up the prices appreciably on the Michael Vick jerseys for sale on eBay, although it’s depressing as hell not surprising to see that tasteful online entrepreneurs are already all over the moneymaking opportunity that is “Property of Bad Newz Kennel” t-shirts. Good one.
The Phillies reel in 2B Tadahito Iguchi (above)- and all they had to send back to the White Sox was the pitching coach’s son.
Meanwhile Utley will return. And Aaron Rowand’s impending FA contract might need a “no-tag” clause. From Todd Zolecki:
On the day the Phillies announced that Chase Utley, who broke his right hand Thursday, had successful surgery on the fourth metacarpal in his right hand, the team finds out that centerfielder Aaron Rowand would miss tonight’s game against the Pittsburgh Pirates because he injured his left shoulder playing tag with his kids at a neighborhood barbecue Thursday night. It is the same shoulder he had surgery on in 2001 and is expected to be day-to-day. Michael Bourn was scheduled to start in centerfield in his absence.
Getting injured during actual off-field physical activity instead of playing Guitar Hero or opening a DVD? Guess that we already knew the dude was old school.
And speaking of old school: Kenny Lofton is an Indian again.
UPDATE: David Cohen of The Good Phight notes The Paradoxical Effect:
Take away one of a team’s star players, and you’d expect that team to do worse. But, for the Phillies, there’s been some sort of paradoxical effect going on in the past two years whenever they’ve lost a star player. Check out this chart:
Player Dates Out Without Player With Player
Aaron Rowand 5/11 – 5/26/06; 8/22 – 10/1/06 29-23 (.558) 56-54 (.509)
Bobby Abreu 7/29 – 10/1/06 38-23 (.623) 47-54 (.465)
Tom Gordon 5/2 – 7/16/07 34-32 (.515) 18-17 (.514)
Ryan Howard 5/11 – 5/23/07 8-4 (.667) 44-45 (.494)
Brett Myers since 5/24/07 29-26 (.527) 23-23 (.500)
Freddy Garcia since 6/8/07 21-19 (.525) 31-30 (.508)
To which we must now add:
Chase Utley 07/27 52-49 (.514) 1-0 (1.000)
Of course it helps when you play the Pirates. Aaron Rowand substitute Michael Bourn went 4-4 with a BB as leadoff man – Jimmy Rollins replaced Utley in the three hole -and Pat Burrell (.454 with 18 RBIs in his last 18 games) hit a two-run homer in the 8-1 Phillies win.
Having successfully cleaned up baseball and restored our faith in sports, the House Oversight Committee turns its attention to pro wrestling, reports Shaun Assael.
Two congressmen responsible for conducting steroid hearings into Major League Baseball have requested that Vince McMahon, the head of World Wrestling Entertainment, provide records pertaining to the WWE’s testing policies….
“The tragic deaths of World Wrestling Entertainment star Chris Benoit (above) and his family have raised questions about reports of widespread use of steroids and other performance-enhancing drugs by professional wrestlers,” the congressmen wrote….
The letter from Waxman and Davis described WWE wrestlers as “multimedia stars that have an influence on the behavior and attitudes of the nation’s youth.”
The records request is wide ranging, and parallels what was asked of Major League Baseball. It seeks a list of drugs covered by its policies; the entity that conducts its drug testing; the number of tests it conducts annually; the protocols followed after a positive test; and the procedures for awarding exemptions.
I’m sure a hearing on this issue would offer better value for your entertainment buck than SummerSlam (if not the same level of sincerity and authenticity). But if they’re gonna move these show trials on from pro sports to sports entertainment, why stop there?
I mean, where were they in the early ’90s? If there’d only been government pressure on the music industry to self-police their artists’ use of performance-enhancing drugs, Shannon Hoon might still be with us.
Katha Pollit responds to Dave Zirin’s recent Michael Vick piece.
I was appalled by Zirin’s attempt to shift focus away from Vick to “the self-righteousness of the media” and the hypocrisy of “American culture” which “celebrates violent sports — especially football — and is insensitive to the consequences that the weekly scrum has on the bodies and minds of its players” like Earl Campbell and Andre Waters and other middle-aged ex-footballers who suffered long-term damage from old injuries. Like the accusations of racism, this sounds like a rather desperate bid to change the subject. Why should one concern displace the other? Can’t one both feel revulsion at animal torture and want the game to be safer? At least the the players were volunteers, richly rewarded for the risks they took. Nobody asked the dogs if they wanted to have their throats ripped out….
As human beings go, Michael Vick had more freedom of action than most. Nobody claims he electrocuted dogs to put food on the table. If — note I said if — he’s found guilty, he should get the same sentence other people get who are convicted of the same crimes. Increased sensitivity to animal welfare may have its annoying pieties and hypocrisies but it marks a true contemporary moral advance and it’s not as if we humans have so many of those to show for ourselves. It’s good that dog fighting is banned. And if football is really as morally destructive as Zirin claims — if it really turns ordinary men into sadists through a culture of “trickle-down violence” — then maybe we should ban it too.
Zirin then responds to her response.
And yes, I would already like to apologize for that headline.
The sudden death of Wake Forest men’s basketball coach Skip Prosser from an apparent heart attack yesterday was surprising not only because Prosser was just 56, but because the low-key Prosser was a physically fit, clean-living guy. Considering some of the physical trainwrecks that populate the world of college hoops, it was doubly surprising and saddening that Prosser passed so early. The Baltimore Sun’s story on Prosser’s death manages to somehow make the story about how Gary Williams needs to calm the fuck down, but also mentions 1) Prosser’s forgotten tenure at Loyola of Maryland, where he led the Greyhounds to their one and only NCAA Tournament berth and 2) limn the ways in which he remained a down-to-earth and pleasant guy:
“People see the way I coach, but Skip was one of those guys who internalized a little bit,” said (Gary) Williams. “He’s not as demonstrative as I was on the sideline, but there are a lot of theories on that, that if you let it out it’s better than keeping everything inside.
“If you talked to Skip, you would never know whether it was three years ago when they won the league, or if he had a tough game or a tough season.”
Prosser was well-liked throughout college basketball, and earned a reputation for his sense of humor and intellect. After graduating from Carnegie High School, Prosser earned a degree in nautical science from the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy in 1972 and went to graduate school at West Virginia, where he got his master’s in secondary education.
“He’s so different,” said (Loyola Lacrosse Coach Dave) Cottle. “He was just so diverse. He could talk to a lot of different people on a lot of different levels. He’d call me and leave books to read. He was into Robert Ludlum.”
Prosser also taught history at Central Catholic High School in Wheeling, W.Va., where he led the school to one state title (1982), five regional championships and three conference titles in six years.
Loyola athletic director Joe Boylan, who remained good friends with Prosser, was also a history teacher and said he and Prosser used to exchange textbooks.
“I always described him as a renaissance man coaching college basketball,” said Boylan, who had talked to Prosser a week ago and said he was unaware of any health problems. “I think, coming from Pittsburgh, Carnegie was a tough area growing up, and teaching history he never forgot all that. I think it really kept him grounded.”
Prosser was hired at Wake Forest in 2001 and led the Demon Deacons to the NCAA tournament in each of his first four seasons there, and the 2003 Atlantic Coast Conference regular-season championship. He was just nine wins shy of 300 entering this season, with a career record of 291-146 (.666).
Jason Cohen described the following incident as “the end of my baseball season.” Perhaps the end of Charlie Manuel’s gainful employment, too. From the Philadelphia Inquirer’s Todd Zolecki :
Utley suffered a broken right hand when lefthander John Lannan hit him with a pitch in the fifth inning of today’s 7-6 loss to the Washington Nationals. Both the Phillies and Utley insist the injury will not finish his season. Utley, who will be placed on the disabled list, will visit hand specialist Randall Culp on Friday to see what course of action he needs to take to return to the field as quickly as possible.
He suffered a fractured fourth metacarpal, the bone at the base of the ring finger. Surgery is an option. The team would not speculate on how long Utley would need to recover.
“There is a best case and there is a worst case,” Phillies assistant general manager Ruben Amaro Jr. said.
The best case?
“We absolutely believe that he will back this year, yes,” Amaro said. “We actually feel pretty good after the diagnosis from Dr. [Michael] Ciccotti [the team's director of medical services]. As dismal as this situation may sound, we actually feel pretty confident that he’s going to be back in a pretty timely fashion. On a scale of a 0 to 10, it was probably a 2 to 3 type of a fracture, zero being the most mild.”
The worst case?
“The hand will fall off?” Utley said.
Hey, it didn’t stop Pete Gray.
Perhaps it might a good time for XM 175 to stop playing the commerical where the Mets’ Joe Smith discusses his impending experimentation with cross-dressing? If Smith’s sudden demotion is any indication, he might have to wait ’til ‘08 to truly explore his feminine side. In public, anyway.
Though Barry Bonds might possess tremendous upper body strength, unmatched bat speed and ridiculous hand/eye coordination, in a battle of wits with Bob Costas, he might be slightly overmatched. From the AP :
A day after Barry Bonds called him a “little midget man who knows (nothing) about baseball,” broadcaster Bob Costas said he wasn’t upset with the San Francisco Giants slugger and responded with a jab of his own.
“As anyone can plainly see, I’m 5-6½ and a strapping 150, and unlike some people, I came by all of it naturally,” Costas said Thursday in a telephone interview.
“I’ve actually always had a pretty cordial relationship with Barry,” Costas said. “I have no ill feelings toward him personally. I regard him as one of the greatest players of all time who got inauthentic boost and then became a superhuman player. I wish him no ill whatsoever.”
Costas said he understood why Bonds might have denigrated him.
“He’s under tremendous scrutiny and some pressure. It’s no big deal,” Costas said. “This is a consequence of doing your job, and I’ve never tried to do my job in any case with the intention of calling attention to myself. I think if people watch the program, they can judge for themselves.”
Note to the Sultan Of Surly : if you really wanna drag this out further, be sure to say something disparaging about Costas’ cameo in “The Scout”. Let’s see him get out of that one!
Three-strikes linebacker Odell Thurman of the Cincinnati Bengals will sit out another year, perhaps in part because of what the Cincinnati Enquirer deems a “minor scrape” that never led to charges.
Two Monticello men filed a pre-warrant hearing application following an alleged altercation at a house party overnight June 2 and 3.
They alleged in the complaint that Thurman (above) had committed acts of criminal trespass, aggravated assault and pointing a gun in the early morning hours Sunday at a house party in Monticello.
But the two men who made the complaint against Thurman withdrew it late the day before a magistrate in Jasper County, Ga., was scheduled to hear it.
No criminal charges were ever filed, but the NFL’s security arm paid close attention to the incident.
League security officials called to acquire all documents on the case, said Angie Nelson, deputy clerk for Jasper County Magistrate Court.
As Marvin Lewis opens training camp in Georgetown, KY, may I suggest a new sign for the locker room? It should be readily available, with some modification:
THIS FOOTBALL TEAM HAS PRACTICED 40 DAYS WITH NO ARRESTS
THE BEST PREVIOUS RECORD WAS 120 DAYS.
DO YOUR PART, HELP MAKE A NEW RECORD
Also, I see the official camp web site warns fans not to carry firearms or alcoholic beverages. This reminds me of a line in the program from Marianne Faithfull’s 1989 performance at St. Ann’s Cathedral:
There is no smoking at St. Ann’s, except for Ms. Faithfull.
The old ages, that it. Apparently, a recent ‘roid run in doesn’t preclude an MLB affiliate from being associated with Frank Stallone’s brother.
On July 28th, the Brooklyn Cyclones will celebrate Sylvester Stallone — one of the most iconic Hollywood stars of our generation — on “Sly Night” at KeySpan Park.
Stallone has created some of the most long-lasting and legendary characters in pop-culture history, from Rocky Balboa to John Rambo, to Lincoln Hawk, to Marion Cobretti, to Snaps Provolone, to Ray Tango, and more.
The Academy Award winner’s turn as the underdog fighter from the mean streets of Philly immortalized him to millions. On Saturday, July 28th, the Cyclones will pay tribute to him in a number of ways:
The team will show a variety of Stallone-themed entertainment throughout the night.
Fans are invited to dress up as their favorite Stallone character, with the winning costume receiving a prize pack.
Anyone named “Sylvester” will be admitted to the ballpark at no charge.
In commemoration of the 20th Anniversary of the 1987 movie “Over The Top” (in which Stallone plays a struggling trucker competing in a Las Vegas Arm Wrestling Championship, and sporting a New York City Arm Wrestling T-shirt), the New York Arm Wrestling Association (NYAWA) will host over 100 men and women competing that day for the 25th Annual White Castle ‘Kingsboro’ Golden Arm Wrestling titles, featuring a championship match taking place on the dugout during that night’s game!
Noble efforts of the Boston Globe and the Simpsonizer aside, I think we can safely say that some of these turned out better than others.
now playing : Randy Newman’s “Short People”. Video link swiped from DC Sports Bog’s Dan Steinberg.
Dmitri Young (shown above) has an RBI single in today’s Nats/Phillies matinee, with DC leading 2-1 in the last of the 3rd inning.
Sans Carlos Beltran — missing his second straight game with a strained abdominal muscle, the Mets trail the Pirates, 5-2 in the top of the 7th at Shea. While the roof caved in on Oliver Perez during Pittsburgh’s 5-run 6th inning, Lastings Milledge has continued his recent tear with a solo HR off Paul Maholm. No windmilling or top-step disco action for Da Edge this time, though that might have as much to do with the Bucs throwing at him the past two days as any scolding from Willie Randolph.
The St. Petersberg Times has far too many details surrounding Matt Geiger’s discussions with neighbors concerning plans to build a helipad on his 36-arcre estate.
Were I a resident of said ‘hood, I would certainly be scared shitless at the prospect of Geiger piloting a whirlybird. Then again, we should remember that other lightly regarded characters have managed to figure it out.
After watching the Red Sox lose the services of Big Papi for a few games after an ill-advised head-first slide while trying to stretch a single into a double last Friday, the Globe’s Bob Ryan tackles what he considers to be the biggest scourge facing baseball. Well, except for “Creeping La Russaism” (”you’ve got to work really hard to screw up how a baseball game is run as badly as the Cardinals’ skipper has.”) Link swiped from Repoz and Baseball Think Factory.
I hope I make myself clear enough: head-first sliding is ALWAYS a)unnecessary b) dangerous and c) counter-productive. Every organization should do everything in its power to discourage its players from employing the tactic. I’m talking about fining, if that’s the only way to convince players not to do it.By far the dumbest place to slide head first is home plate. The catcher has armor; the baserunner doesn’t. ‘Nuff said. But there is nothing a head-firster can accomplish at any time a conventional slider (with the proper technique) can’t. I’ll guarantee you neither Ty Cobb nor the Great DiMaggio ever slid head first.
The second dumbest place to slide head first is first base. In fact, the only reason to slide at first base at all is to avoid a tag. After watching far too many Mike Greenwell head-first slides into first, I was moved a few years back to contact the physics department at MIT. I was put in touch with a baseball-loving physicist who explained to me that sliding head first doesn’t get you there any faster. In fact, it slows you down.
Two people are responsible for this plague. The first was Pepper Martin (above), “The Wild Horse of the Osage,” who captivated America with a scintillating performance in the 1931 World Series, hitting .500 and regaling spectators with head-first slides. But the practice was not widespread (Martin was regarded as something of a nut job), and it was out of baseball until Pete Rose showed up in 1963.
You might know it would take a narcissistic showboat to revive a counter-productive practice. Oh, look at Pete run to first base on a walk. Oh, look at Pete sprint around the bases after hitting a homer. And, oh, look at Pete slide head first everywhere. What hustle! What a competitor!
What crap.
It should be stressed that Jack Curry was highly critical of the headfirst slide (Robbie Alomar’s tendency to do so, in particular) in a NY Times pieces over 4 years ago. He refrained from gratuitious insults directed at Tony La Genius, however, so the points go to Ryan.
If that was my name I’d want to put up 514 penalty minutes too (actually, I’d say it’s the spelling, not the name itself).
The Austin Ice Bats, otherwise known as the best damn pro hockey team in America with an 1100-seat arena, makes big-name minor league enforcer Ashlee Langdone (above) their first signing (along with the return of former captain Darryl McArthur – sorry Rudy, but as far as I’m concerned the new PR guy buried the lede).
Previously best-known for taking out Scott Gomez during the lockout year, Langdone spent the last two years playing in Quebec’s famous tough-guy league.
“I’m coming to Austin to fore check, back check, hip check and body check,” Langdone says, admirably leaving off the key part of an old hockey cliche. “This is going to be the best year ever for Ice Bats hockey and if you don’t want to win the championship, don’t sign here.”
In other stick-and-puck news…
What can you say about the New Jersey Devils hiring Larry Robinson as an assistant except, “meet the next coach of the New Jersey Devils?”
Have you ever wondered why so many NHL defensemen defencemen were lefthanded?
And if Peter Forsberg was a horse, wouldn’t he be taken out and shot by now? Instead, he owns a trotter by the name of Adrian Chip.
(No sign of Kevin Durant on the cover of Seattle Weekly.)
As already noted by The Blazers Evangelist and mocked by “Portland’s best blog” (says me, a Portland Monthly freelancer, and rest assured my tongue is not in cheek), the local press is rather fond of Mr. Oden.
This is not much of a surprise, going back to Jason Quick’s piece on the Oden tonsils.
…the team had come to the conclusion that Oden was being stretched in too many directions by media requests and public appearances.
The whole process — the interviews, photo shoots, autograph signings — had started to take a toll on Oden, whose normally sunny disposition had been replaced in Las Vegas by a sullen, exhausted and robotic persona.
His answers to questions by the media became shorter, and void of the witty one-liners he so often pulled off during the predraft hype. And the playful gait he so often walked with — which sometimes included a dance move or two — became more like a zombie as he almost mindlessly plodded from one interview to another public appearance to yet another photo shoot.
Speaking as one of the guilty parties (Oden was gone when I arrived in Vegas, but I’d already done a phoner) let me say that he was muted, but certainly not sullen, and typically polite (he called me “Sir” three times – but then, I’m old enough to be his father, if still younger than his GM and coach).
Anyway, as much as the Portland Mercury may chortle at their Pulitzer-winning and too-quick to shout “plagiarism” rival tapping into the same vein as a slick city mag, sometimes the obvious seven foot tall symbolic choice is still the right seven foot tall symbolic choice. Plus I hear Jerry Glanville and Blitzen Trapper wouldn’t do a photo shoot without their favorite stylist.
WW even has a bit of backstory:
In 2001, our “Best Of Portland” cover photo was also Blazer-related. It was a portrait of Katherine Topaz—WW’s former art director—who caused a minor frenzy after being physically removed from a Blazer playoff game when she refused to put down her homemade “Trade Whitsitt” sign. In that one stroke, Topaz captured the frustration of an entire city fed up with Blazer General Manager Bob Whitsitt and the paddy wagon that was then this city’s professional basketball team.
The paper also takes credit/blame for “Jail Blazers.” In which case, come on – name the editor or writer! Talk about a “Best of Portland!”
(On a not-really-related note: how do you write up Eddie Martinez and not mention Run-DMC?)
Casey Holdahl suggests that the two publications might have pow-wowed, but really only the Trail Blazers could have stopped the overlap – and why would they want to? It’s not exactly Amy Winehouse, Rolling Stone and SPIN.
Me, I’m just glad they came out the same week. Monthly production schedules being what they are, I could only watch as local stripper Viva Las Vegas, one of the subjects of my controversial (hee-hee) story about Mary’s Club, got featured in not one, not two but three different articles in between the time I filed and the time it hit the stands. (Ironically, the Merc, the paper Viva writes for, was the only non-daily rag she wasn’t pictured in, though of course they’d been there done that before everyone).
Ok, to bring this back to #52 – specifically, the subject of potential nicknames – I agree with those who say he doesn’t really need one. As does the Arch-Drude.
Though momentarily distracted by Ryan Howard’s 2 run HR in the 14th, clinching a 7-5 win for the Phillies over the Nats, Jason Cohen managed to forward the following item from the Newark Star-Ledger’s Dan Graziano.
The federal government is investigating David Szen (above), the Yankees’ traveling secretary, on allegations of tax evasion, team officials said tonight.
The Yankees said Szen would take an indefinite leave of absence from the team. Multiple team officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they didn’t want to be perceived as interfering with a federal investigation, said the reason was an IRS investigation of Szen for alleged failure to declare income for tax purposes.
Szen has been with the Yankees since the early 1990s and is in charge of all of the team’s travel and hotel arrangements. Yankees officials said the investigation was a personal affair for Szen and not connected with the team or Major League Baseball in general.
Not to diminish the seriousness of the above case, but if David Stern or Roger Goodell were counting on an MLB scandal to take over the headlines, they might have to wait another day or two.
I’d hate to say that Brandon Webb’s dominant performance tonight has taken all the suspense out of the Fish/Snakes tilt, but Mark Grace spent much of the home 7th inning discussing his crush on Debbie Harry and reciting the lyrics to Adam & The Ants’ “Ant Music”. C’mon, Gracie, if you’re gonna make an audition reel for VH-1, do it on your own time.
Jim Tracy took an early shower. Tom Gorzelanny’s exit came even earlier. But the biggest news from Shea Stadium tonight — site of the Mets putting a serious beating on the Pirates (6-0 after 4 innings) — would be Howie Rose’s stunned announcement that WFAN’s Steve Somers was married yesterday.
While Rose expressed disappointment at not being invited, he failed to ID Captain Midnight’s partner, so we’re left wondering if Steve got hitched to a lady human…or, perhaps to a guy. As Somers’ close pal Jerry Seinfeld might say, not that there’s anything wrong with that, congratulations to one of sports yack radio’s few entertaining personalities.
Everytime I read of more drama in the Elijah Dukes household, I can’t help but wonder why no one in the Tampa organization ever sought out some helpful advice online.
With the emergence of former Met Heath Bell in the Padres bullpen, San Diego manager Bud Black was quoted in this morning’s San Diego Union Tribune as saying of reliever Scott Linebrink, “it might be time to take a step back and not be used exclusively in the eighth and the ninth.”
Excuse me if I seem a little confused at the moment….I’m to understand Curt Schilling went on HBO this week talking about Costes’ girlfriend? I guess I’m not the only person who still has a VHS copy of “Crack Kiss” From the AP :
Curt Schilling says that Barry Bonds and Mark McGwire’s refusals to address accusations of steroids use are tantamount to admissions.
If someone wrote that stuff about me and I didn’t sue their [butt] off, am I not admitting that there’s some legitimacy to it?” he said on HBO’s “Costas Now.”
Schilling said “this will be the steroids era forever” and proposed that Jose Canseco and Rafael Palmeiro should be punished for steroids use.
“Jose Canseco admitted he cheated his entire career,” Schilling said. “Everything he ever did should be wiped clean. I think his MVP should go back and should go to the runner-up.”
As for Palmeiro, Schilling said: “The year he tested positive, nothing he did that year should count, which I think would take away 3,000 hits for him.”
Schilling discussed accusations by Bonds’ former mistress, Kimberly Bell.
“If I wrote a book about Bob Costas and in that book I wrote about Bob Costas’ girlfriend being on the road, and Bob Costas giving that girlfriend card show money and I outlined your daily steroid regimen, I’ve got to believe your first line of defense is to sue my [butt] off,” Schilling said.
“It goes to the Mark McGwire thing in Congress. I mean, I’m a huge Mark McGwire fan. But I just always thought it was very simple: If you did something and someone asks you if you did it and you didn’t do it, you say no. Any other answer than no is some form of yes, isn’t it?”
Apparently, it’s a bit easier to speak freely on a cable TV interview compared to a congressional hearing.
