The Guardian’s Steven Wells calls efforts to organize a rounders game in a public park outside of Philadelphia, “the sporting equivalent of pissing on an apple pie and calling America’s mother a whore.” Hey, beat that, Wing Bowl!
I put it to Helen Todt – organiser of today’s event – that playing rounders in 21st century America is a bit like hauling a chimpanzee around the evolution-disbelieving Bible Belt and shouting: “Look, Americans, this is what you are evolved from. A girl monkey that doesn’t even wear gloves.”
“No,” says Helen firmly, “it’s nothing like that at all. It’s just a bunch of people getting together and having fun.” And she says this in a tone of voice that clearly implies she’s thinking: “Oh shut up you stupid smart-arse. Why do journalists have to have a theory about everything?”
Perhaps in anticipation of millions of Americans throwing away their sissy catcher’s mitts and taking up an obviously superior version of the three-strikes-and-you’re-out bat-and-ball game where you have to run around four bases, on June 28 the NRA launched the first ever Rounders World Festival, featuring teams from China, Iran, England and Wales. And nowhere else. Suggesting that, at the moment, rounders is one of the few sports that actually has less international appeal than baseball.
If you include Zimbabwe (and at the moment, the ICC aren’t), there are no more than 10 test cricket playing nations. The general thrust of Wells’ piece (ie. even the most random rounders sightings stateside affords the author a free shot at baseball’s “fat, enormous-headed, steroid gobblers with porn-star moustaches and hideous neo-mullets”) is more than welcome, but there are 16 countries taking part in the World Baseball Classic. Still, I don’t doubt for a second you’d have to be a little brave, loony or both to organize a pick-up rounders game in Philly, much more so than someone attempting to cobble together a softball lineup in Finsbury Park.
Take a look at any of the SNY staples – Beer Money, LoudMouths, Wheel House, etc. – and compare them to anything on YES or MSG. From a production standpoint, it isn’t even close. Now, when Mets fans – fans who are very familiar with the lackluster SNY shows that are promoted ad nauseum throughout Mets games and on SNY’s website – stumble upon “Playing for Peanuts,” they would logically think the show is bad. Think about it – if you know all of the promotion is going into bad SNY shows, it stands to reason that “Playing for Peanuts” would be WORSE because you’ve never even heard of it. And that wrong (but justified) assumption would be hammered home in every inning of every Mets game, as the other shows are promoted via commercials, signs behind home plate and mentions by the broadcast team. Meanwhile, they wouldn’t even list “Playing for Peanuts” in the programming section of their website or put up a banner ad.
After a few weeks of getting the runaround from SNY, I finally told them I was willing to pay for a promotion during a Mets game. After a few days of waiting – imagine, I was willing to give them money and they had no idea what to do or how to respond – I was told it would cost $5,500 to have “Playing for Peanuts” mentioned during a Mets telecast. That’s $5,500 per mention. Nice.
Of course, $5,500 for 15 seconds is out of the budget range for a show that was financed the old fashioned way: mostly credit cards, some investors, lots of crew members working at low rates on deferred payment. Keep in mind that this is a show on SNY. A show that even with no promotion, had gotten better ratings than Beer Money in its first few weeks. After those initial weeks, I was no longer told about Beer Money’s ratings.
Fitzgerald’s certainly entitled to his opinion, but if I was, say, a single parent on a tight budget, I’d seriously opt for “Daily New Live” over renting any of the “Saw” or “Hostel” movies. If Joe Benigno-Gazingo in high definition gives me nightmares, imagine how he might scare the wits out of a small child.
One of PTI’s categories today is “GETTING EXCITED FOR BOLT VS. GAY?”, and thankfully, ESPN has not seen fit to employ the same auto-replace scheme as the American Family Association’s OneNewsNow. Here’s hoping it will be many years before ONN has to prepare their obituary for Homosexual-Lord Perry.
David Scheid writes, “jeff kent is looking for a roommate! i guess it makes sense he has a pad only 15 minutes from chavez ravine. he probably needs someone to water the plants when dodgers are away.”
UNIQUE ROOMIE SOUGHT – SHORT/MEDIUM TERM
I am searching for the most Unique person to share the most Unique living situation, on a short-term basis. Includes utilities. Available Aug 15th.
YOU MUST:
- smoke (or be extremely OK with a smoker environment).
- be a night owl (or be totally cool and able to function with one in the household).
- be very sexually enlightened and OK with my frequent sexing, or sexual yourself in similar ways.
- be OK with the tight quarters involved.
- be OK with a cat in the mix.
I AM:
- a 45yo single gay guy; I sex a lot, and I escort – often here.
- I smoke cigs and love it. This is a smoker environment. I am a very clean smoker.
- I drink copious amounts of beer, but am hardly ever inebriated (it’s the German blood). I am an occasional dabbler in 420, and that tends to be it; I rarely, but once in a blue moon, will indulge in other things; and I avoid Meth-heads like the Plague.
THE PLACE/SITUATION:
- It’s a small apt: a semi-one bedroom/studio; there’s a “main area” that contains the general living-room type area, the kitchen, and my desk/work space set up behind the living room area (like a studio).
- There’s a hallway off the main room, off of which is the small bathroom, which leads to a medium-size bedroom (with no door, but a curtain – and it’s actually quite private); THAT’S the room I have available.
- So, I am looking for someone (male or female, gay, bi or straight) who would get into making that back room there own bedroom; the main room/kitchen is wide open as a hang; I will just work away at the desk; I am very flexible, easy going and low maintenance.
- I get to work from the moment I get up (usually no earlier than noon) till 2-3a (sometimes longer); I do projects on the computer for income, and I cruise for sex.
- I sleep on the living room couch; I love it.
- I can pretty much “sleep through anything” – it doesn’t bug me if you are up and around while I am crashed; I just don’t want to “bug you” crashed out till mid-day.
IN SUM:
- I don’t “need” to rent the room;
- I have done this before with great success and fun; I am looking more for the kindred-spirit, company, and fun than anything else – and a little help on the rent never hurts.
- I am fun and wacky, and I like Unique souls.
- I also like to help people who might just need this very kind of short-term set-up, maybe to reorganize or whatever.
“”Every time you see something NBA, it’s something negative, isn’t it?” Oscar Robertson opined to The Indy Star’s Matt Baker over the weekend, adding “many players stay married to the same woman for many, many years, but nothing’s said about them.” I don’t know about that, it seems like many things have been said about Doug and Jackie Christie.
The Hall of Fame guard also denounced the league for its rule that players must be a year removed from high school before entering the draft.
“I think that’s illegal, to be honest,” Robertson said. “If you can go to the army and fight in Iraq at 18, why can’t you play basketball?
“This is something concocted probably by the NBA and the NCAA. It seems like it benefits both. It benefits colleges more than anybody. If you can go fight in a war, why can’t you go play basketball? Tennis players do it. Baseball players do it. So why not basketball?”
Before starring in the NBA, Robertson led Indianapolis’ Crispus Attucks High School basketball team to the state championship in 1955 and 1956 — the first titles for an all-black school in Indiana.
As former local high school players like Greg Oden and Eric Gordon advance to the pros, Robertson warns that the NBA is a much different game than the NCAA.
“They’re not like where LeBron is,” he said. “Some are not going to do well. Some will. That’s just the way it goes, and I wish the best for them. I hope they’re ready to play.”
While Robertson is echoing his own remarks on the subject of the NBA’s draft restrictions, he’s still 100% correct. Not only can 18 years be slaughtered in Iraq (or do their share of slaughtering), they can also order copies of Nick Zedd’s “Elf Panties : The Movie”. Surely there’s a bigger learning curve to that life experience than entering professional basketball’s top flight?
I spent much of Sunday afternoon rooting for Spain to defeat Germany in the Euro 2008 final. Not because I have anything particular against Germany, nor because I have much affection for Spain’s racist fucktard manager Luis Aragones, but rather, Spain serving as host for the Ultimate Warrior’s comeback match last Wednesday night led me to believe that lovely nation had already suffered far too much.
Early on in the White Sox 5-1 drubbing of the Cubs Sunday night, the keen baseball mind of Lou Piniella saw the writing on the wall. In the bottom of the second, presumably reacting to a Joe Crede check swing call, Lou stormed out of the dugout to exchange views with 1B umpire Chad Fairchild only to be ejected, leaving Alan Trammell to preside over the Cubs fourth straight loss and embarrassing sweep by the hated White Sox.
I don’t blame Piniella for throwing a tantrum to secure a little “me” time in the clubhouse. His Cubs are a team best left in the rearview mirror. Without Rich Hill and Carlos Zambrano, the staff is a mess. The meltdown of Carlos Marmol and the noises coming out of Kerry Wood’s elbow make the Cubs pen an alarming place, and with Soriano out, Edmonds struggling with senior issues and Aramis Ramirez going 0 for 13 on the weekend, well, you’d take a walk too.
Fast-working LHP Mark Buehrle (W, 6-6, 5K, 2BB, 6H 1R) continued his dominating June, cutting over 2 runs off his ERA in a four double-play perfomance that shut down the Cubs, leaving Henry Blanco as the only North Sider with a good look at Buehrle’s cut fastball.
The Sox lineup went yard twice on Zambrano stand-in Sean Marshall (L,7IP, 1BB 5H 5K), including Carlos Quentin in the fourth, and a Brian Anderson 2-run shot in the fifth.
But it took a Piniella-free Cub brain trust to put away the game by reviving the bat of Sox DH Jim Thome in the bottom of the 8th. Despite lefty Neal Cotts being warmed up, underwhelming righty middle reliever Jose Ascanio was left in to face the dormant slugger. Thome obligingly crushed his 522nd homer, driving in Jermaine Dye and passing up Ted Williams and Willie McCovey’s lifetime yard numbers.
Goodbye Cuburbanites, it’s been fun. If you get confused which direction to turn on the Dan Ryan, just follow the tangy aroma of urine to get back to Wrigelyville. You can figure out how to get back to the north shore from there.
(Cubs’ Lou Piniella exchanges words with noted Sox fan Rob Drake)
Maybe the Cubs, owner of the best record in baseball, needed a lesson in humility. After fielding a team without Soriano, Zambrano, Marmol, Johnson, and today without Piniella — over bullshit calls in front of him and then the behind-his-back ejection of Piniella by Rob Drake — and with AAA Iowa corn-cob middle-reliever Jose Ascanio, the Sox and Rob Drake had a great weekend. My reluctant congratulations to Rob Warmoski and the minor league umpiring staff filling in at the Cell this weekend. The 2008 Cubs join the ‘68 convention’s protesters, Dr. Martin Luther King, and desegregation fans everywhere in underestimating South Side wrath. Cubs second string starter Sean Marshall loaded the bases early and often today, and with said bags all tagged, it was a “check” swing on an 0-2 count by Joe Crede that brought Piniella out in the 2nd. Not only did instant replay prove Crede’s full swinging strike, but ESPN’s Joe Morgan seconded Piniella’s opinion. 1st Base umpire Chad Fairchild warned Piniella to go back, which he did, when Rob Drake threw Piniella out while Pinieilla was returning to the dugout.
(Rob Drake lookalike and long ball artiste Carlos Quentin of the Sox)
While the Cubs had a legit robbery call to make, 911 takes forever on the South Side, so what’s the point? By the time Ronny Cedeno was robbed by 1B umpire Chad Fairchild who called him out, they still wouldn’t have shown up. The Cubs had their own self-evident problems early on — like lead-off man Kosuke Fukodome uncharacteristically swinging on a first pitch to fly out in the 1st. DH Geovony Soto also blew a scoring spot the same way, and it went on all afternoon. Sean Marshall did OK allowing 3 runs off 5 hits in 7 innings, but he had nowhere near the run production behind him on which equally OK Cub starters have coasted. Credit is also due the White Sox pitching staff, as evidenced by Aramis Ramirez’ donut-hole production this evening. ESPN compared the multiple HRs Ramirez hit at Wrigley with the Sox pitching him outside last weekend, vs completely shutting him down tonight by adjusting their pitches inward — glad someone went to school on last weekend’s sweep.
(Joe Crede and Patrick Swayze, separated at birth?)
Jim Thome’s “check” swing aside, Thome, Dye, and Crede got it done in a big way, and they’re great to watch offensively. Thome’s 8th inning line drive HR was a beaut, and I am more than happy to leave him to the Twins and Tigers for the rest of the season. And while I do think Piniella is right to say the Sox will win their division, no doubt factoring in the return of Paul Konerko in the very near future, the Tigers will be the surprise of the second half. Mark Buehrle, what can you say, he made one of the few truly impressive returns for a pitcher this season. Final tally amounts to 5-1, White Sox.
For the record: REO Speedwagon’s entry in the “Take Me Out to the Ballgame” contest blows.
“I told my agent I hope I can end up in Minnesota because this is where I wanted to be,” said Love, a former Oregon schoolboy star. “Kevin McHale was maybe my favorite player of all time. I’m happy to be in the city. It’s almost like Portland, only colder. It’s going to be my new favorite city.”
McHale retired in 1993. Love was born in 1988. Either the latter watched a ton of Celtics games during his formative years or he’s doing a fine job of flattering his new boss. When and if Love claims to enjoy any of his Uncle Mike’s solo recordings, we’ll know for certain he’s less than sincere.
If there’s one sure silver lining to Mayo being traded to Memphis, it’s that ‘Lil Dice doesn’t have to cope with the painful knowledge the URL iloveoj.com is already taken.
If you thought the Globe’s handling of Ron Borges was poor, brace yourself for this. The ink is barely dry on Jackie MacMullan’s buyout and the Globe is asking readers to produce video love letters to the paper. Maybe the gentleman above is really a conceptual humorist, but that’s probably giving him too much credit. If Will McDonough was alive today, he’d invite Raymond Clayborn to poke him in both eyes so he wouldn’t have to look at this shit.
That the New York Post’s Phil Mushnick is a frequent object of ridicule at CSTB is long established. There are few exercises in dead-horse-beating more tiresome than Phil’s weekly complaints about late start times, excessive celebrations, expensive sneakers or claims of reverse racism. But every now and then (mostly then), Mushnick hits the bullseye in raising a subject that oughta enrage most of his readership — assuming anyone’s paying attention.
In today’s Post, Mushnick describes the Giants and Jets’ new Personal Seat License schemes as “the greatest shake-down in this region’s sports history”. That’s right, folks, Phil has found an affront to sporting commerce decency even more offensive than NY Rangers alternate jerseys or the Mets’ Seven Pack.
The Giants – and soon, the Jets – tell us that PSL money will be applied to the cost of their new ballpark. Funny, when you and I, already living in a reasonably nice home, can’t afford to buy one of those nice, big, new ones, what do we do?
We don’t buy it! We stay put! We don’t buy what we can’t afford. Imagine that!
Imagine if the Jets and Giants were told they had to pay a personal seat license. That in addition to paying to install 82,000 seats in their new ballpark, they had to pay an additional fee on all 82,000 of them in order not to have them removed next season. They would laugh in the faces of the extortionists, maybe even call the cops.
Of course, though, they would never have to confront such an outrage, the kind they’re presenting as a pay-or-get-lost option to their steadiest customers.
Not that if the media today rises up in protest any change will be exacted. One of the things that a steady silence on such issues long ago imbued in team owners and league rulers is immunity from shame. You no longer can embarrass people who years ago began to understand that they could get away with anything. Too late for that.
The AP’s current stance on quotes-for-pay prevents me from lifting any portion of C.J. Nitkowski’s piece on the nature of Japan’s interleague series (and my inability to read Japanese isn’t helping much, either), but suffice to say a cash prize of some $500,000.00 (half as much after ownership takes their cut) would do wonders for such a competition in America….between the Pacific Coast and International leagues (link swiped from The Griddle).
Former Yankee prospect Danny Rios (above), a 17 year professional and one of just 3 Spanish born players with MLB experience, was hit with a one year suspension by NPB after testing positive for hydroxystanozorol. Amazingly, if you enter “hydroxystanozorol” into Google, your first 14 results are related to Rios’ case. Much the way Mark McGwire popularized andro, it took a former Korean Baseball MVP to put hydroxystanozorol on th emap.
After dropping a 3-2 decision to the Yankees yesterday, the Mets’ Johan Santana —-4th in innings pitched in the NL this year, notes Matthew Cerrone —- was graced with the above headline in the Journal News, despite offering the following quotes to the paper’s John Delcos :
The man to whom the Mets will pay $137.5 million has pitched well, exceptionally at times, but has been unable to lift them to the next level.
That’s because he can’t do it alone, and in yesterday’s 3-2 loss to the Yankees he was pretty much asked to fend for himself.
It’s been that way for a month now as the Mets have lost Santana’s last five starts. Since beating the Los Angeles Dodgers on June 1, Santana has four losses and a no-decision despite a 2.53 ERA in that span, giving up just seven earned runs.
“I am giving my best effort every time I go out there,” Santana said. “Every time I go out there I am giving my team a chance to win the game. Other than that, there’s nothing I can do.”
Frustrated?
“No,” said Santana, passing on the opportunity to throw his hitters under the bus.
“I know the guys are trying as hard as they can. It’s just not working.”
You know what must be frustrating? For Santana to explicitly state that he’s not frustrated, yet be characterized as “a little frustrated”.
The above headline was supplied by RW370’s Rob Warmowski, who follows with a recap of Saturday afternoon’s events at U.S. Cellular Field :
The Cubs’ Lou Piniella knows what he’s talking about. After being beaten 6-5 and two straight by the White Sox, Lou showed way more class than the average Cub fan by admitting the Sox should win their division by “at least half a dozen games”. Relieved by the Sox pen of all duties signaling to runners in the 8th and 9th innings, Lou must have used the free time to reflect on what first-place baseball on the working side of town really means:
- The Best Bullpen In Baseball: Not since Snoop Pearson and Chris Partlow has a pair more epitomized the term “lights out” than Scott Linebrink and Bobby Jenks. As if that weren’t enough, Boone Logan, Nick Masset and the hammering heat of Matt Thornton (W, 4K 1 2/3) are all on call – and only made necessary today by the struggling Javy Vazquez’s (9H, 5R 4 1/3) 104 pitch performance. With a pen like this, the Sox can probably weather another Jose Contreras divorce, if not more of Vazquez’ glitching.
- Crede Got Back: Is there a better-handled hot corner in the AL? 3B Joe Crede’s back surgeon’s suture skills were on dispay in a 4th inning incredible stretching dive catch of a Derrek Lee line drive to get out of the inning. However big Trapper John’s yacht is, at least he’s earned it.
- Offense: It’s A Good Idea. The reliable power of Jermaine Dye (1 HR), the improbable power of Alexi Ramirez (1 HR), the explosive swing of Orlando Cabrera, the far-from-terrible Nick Swisher and the, uh, rich legacy of Jim Thome (1BB) are enough to stake a season-long claim to the zone.
But you’re not done until you add the incomparable All-Star write-in candidate Carlos Quentin (1 HR), who today sent a Carlos Marmol 0-2 fastball over the right field fence and into the inferior Cubs pen. The go-ahead run landing in the seated Kerry Wood’s lap is all it took to remind Wood, Piniella and the world that the Sox are number one.
At the risky of lending validity to a former Deadspin editor’s claim this blog is too New York centric, I can only say a new call to WFAN from Jerome Mittleman is a more welcome blast from the past than watching Curtis Sliwa dry hump Bernard Goetz.
“If you are going to say something outrageous, offensive and altogether despicable, then clearly you are better off working in the world of tennis than in any other sport,” writes the New York Daily News’ Filip Bondy. While if you’re merely gonna invade Stuart Scott’s privacy, you can get a full time job with Gawker Media.
On one of those radio talk shows where people always get into trouble – The Junkies, on WJFK in Washington – Tennis Channel commentator Justin Gimelstob called Anna Kournikova “a bitch” and “a douche.” He questioned the veracity of the back problems that caused Kournikova’s retirement and seemed to threaten her with physical harm when the two meet in a scheduled doubles match next month in World Team Tennis.Gimelstob also called Nicole Vaidisova, one of the top players on tour, “a well-developed young lady,” and declared that “female tennis players lack the social skills, they don’t go to high school, they don’t go to parties.”
“I take full responsibility for all the words that came out of my mouth,” Gimelstob now says. “And, while I can’t take any of them back, I hope my heartfelt remorse can begin to heal the wounds felt by many. Among the targets of my venom was Anna Kournikova, not to mention a general disregard and disrespect toward women.
“They all deserve and have my deepest apologies. While I see how it could be implied by my remarks, I assure you that I have the utmost respect for women.”
Ana Ivanovic caused quite a stir at Wimbledon before being knocked out, largely because she’s pretty. This has a particularly amusing effect on the BBC’s ageing male commentators, who struggle to find a way to refer to the fact without saying anything sleazy. Their discomfort is palpable as they struggle with phrases like “very mobile and athletic”, “nice dress”, “young lady” and even “lights up the court”. They’re like tremulous uncles, weary and nervous of their own arousal.
They know they’ve got to mention it, you see – it’s good for the business that is women’s tennis. So they’ve got to say something but they know it mustn’t be “I, for one, would like to bang her!” or “What’s great about a player like Ivanovic is that she attracts a lot of teenage wankers as well as the tennis fans”. They don’t want metaphorical jizz on everyone’s mental centre court but, at the same time, they know that, if the internet’s taught us anything, it’s not to underestimate the masturbatory pound.
It’s been a glamorous week for the NY-Penn League Brooklyn Cyclones; not only has Keyspan Park been graced with the presence of Ryan Church and first-round draft picks Reese Havens and Ike Davis, the ‘Lil Wilpon have announced that Darryl Strawberry will be on hand for Monday’s game versus Hudson Valley :
Strawberry will be appearing on behalf of Spongetech – the ultimate one-step wash and wax system. Darryl will personally present the winner (or loser, depending on how you look at it) of the Dirtiest Car in the Parking Lot contest with a Spongetech prize package.
Get to the game early to get a good spot in the parking lot. The first 2,500 fans will also receive the giveaway of the year – a Cyclone Roller Coaster Replica, presented by bank of America.
I’ve had a peak at the Cyclones’ promotional schedule, and I’m sorry to say for the 8th year running, they’ve rejected my plea for a Von LMO bobblehead night.
While Charlotte GM Rod Higgins has denied Thursday’s selection of D.J. Augustin at no. 9 overall is a precursor to shipping Raymond Felton to New York, that David Lee is one of the Knicks’ only coveted assets — outside of a certain self-proclaimed no. 1 point guard in the NBA’s expiring contract — is hard to dispute. The Bergen Record’s Steve Adamek elaborates :
The potential departure of Lee, however, could yield the point guard general manager Donnie Walsh declined to draft to potentially replace Stephon Marbury, albeit a stopgap one, such as Portland’s Steve Blake, Seattle’s Luke Ridnour or one from among Memphis’ gaggle of guards.
“I think there are other ways to solve the problem if we have to,” a guarded Walsh said Friday when asked about not drafting a point instead of Danilo Gallinari
“I know there are conversations going on,” Lee’s agent Mark Bartelstein told The Record.
Given his druthers, and his salary-cap reduction plan for the summer of 2010, Walsh would rather unload Zach Randolph and the three years and $48 million still left on his contract to alleviate what the Knicks’ president called a “survival of the fittest” logjam for minutes up front that Gallinari’s arrival creates.
But, Lee, a free agent next summer if he doesn’t get a contract extension before the start of next season, is far more enticing trade bait. “A lot of people want to get David Lee,” Bartelstein said.
Adamek reports Gallinari will be throwing out the first pitch at this afternoon’s Yankees/Mets game. Unlike Pedro Martinez, it’s nice to learn Gallinari has no qualms about taking the mound during the day,
My apologies to any readers who are either diagnosed schizos or just happen to be sleeping with one. I meant to say, “The Highly Erratic (And Possibly Bi-Polar) Mets”, a club who on Friday managed to a) score 15 runs at Yankee Stadium despite featuring a batting order that had Trot Nixon, Marlon Anderson, Fernando Tatis and Brian Schneider hitting 6-9 respectively and b) make Sidney (Fucking) Ponson (above) look like a decent 5th starter in the nightcap at Shea.
Though Carlos Delgado’s club-record 9 RBI performance in the matinee made most of the headlines, Mike Pelfrey (barely) getting thru a labored 5 innings was as crucial as it was improbable. Jerry Manuel didn’t want to tax his relief corps too heavily in either contest (whoops!), and if Friday proved anything as conclusively as both ballparks having no idea how to cope with capacity crowds (Mets officials being slightly more competent than their Bronx counterparts when it comes to getting fans into their seats with 40 minutes of their arrival), the Yankee pen (Mariano Rivera excepted) is an absolute disaster. Though the roof really caved in on Edwar Ramirez and Ross Ohlendorf — perhaps the only person booed more lustily by Bombers fans than Jose Reyes — the tone was most certainly set by Dan Geise (4 IP, 6 runs, 5 hits, 4 walks), a starter apparently under the impression he’s being paid by the hour. It took over 120 minutes to complete 4 1/2 innings Friday afternoon, and at one point I was pretty convinced the 2nd game in Flushing would have a delayed start.
After sundown while facing the Aruban Assassin, the Mets failed to cash in on bases loaded scenarios in the 2nd and 3rd innings, and when Delgado grounded out to strand a pair of runners in the first, he was jeered by a portion of the home crowd. Say what you will about Mets fans, but their ‘what have you done for me lately?’ ‘tude is pretty hard to shake.
On another tip, say what you will about Yankee fans, but the overwhelming majority of them are smarter and nicer than the woman in Sec. 35 of the Tier Reserved seats who spent much of the afternoon screaming “THEY CAN’T EVEN SPEAK ENGLISH” each time Beltran or Delgado came to the plate. At least I think it was a woman — Craig Carton’s voice isn’t usually that high and I’m presuming he can probably get better seats.
As I post, the White Sox are 9-2 over the Cubs, the Mets are 15-5 over the Yankees, and if today’s Bizarro scoring holds, the Dodgers are no doubt headed for a massive win over the first place Angels. Ryan Dempster got blown out early today, leaving the South Side up by 8 until the 5th inning, when I got to witnes back to back homers by Soto and Fontenot. I can’t hang around the house to watch the Cubs pull off a 9th inning comeback, but given the score and WGN’s handing over the mic to Hawk Harrelson, I’m counting my blessings. Historic Our Year fact: The injury ridden Cub staff – currently down to Zambrano, Soriano, and Reed Johnson – for once doesn’t include Kerry Wood. I guess I’ll add that to the plus column. Since I’m done counting blessings, here isHire Jim Essian’s Bad Kermit to count up what’s wrong with the North Side today. Writes Kermit:
So let’s take a look at some guys who need to step up or get the hell out of the way.
Jason Marquis Man, do you suck. Badly. You’ve been getting an assload of runs to make your record look better than it should be, but make no mistake about it–if the Cubs rotation were an art museum, you would be “Dogs Playing Poker.” Frankly, you’re lucky to be in the big leagues, let alone a highly-compensated starter on the best team in baseball. Why can’t you get injured?
Ronny Cedeno You had many us fooled for a bit with your hot start. Not me, though; I remained unconvinced. You got a lot of mileage out of those 7 RBI you picked up in that two-game series against the Mets, but I would point out to anybody that cared that those hits didn’t win games; they merely sewed them up. Your abortion of an at-bat Tuesday night in the 9th inning says more about your ability to be trusted in a game situation than any garbage RBI’s you’ve picked up. Your suckiness actually validated that sweatervest-wearing fop Andy MacPhail, who sat in his seat at Wrigley, sipped his chardonnay, and thanked his fairy godmother that he didn’t get suckered into trading for your worthless turtle-neck in the offseason.
Matt Murton Jesus what the hell happened to you, dude? I understand that Lou’s never been a big fan of yours, but you led the team in hitting in 2006. You were a rookie that actually performed for Dusty Baker! So I ain’t buying the excuse that Lou is some sort of bully that has shrunk your confidence. All I see is some guy who’s apparent objective during an at-bat is to hit the ball as softly as possible. A Matt Murton at-bat is about as intimidating as the Snuggle Fabric Softener Bear. Your three true outcomes are: popfly, groundout, infield single. Go play intramurals; you’ve become as useful as a typewriter.
Michael Wuertz The poster child for why referring to a middle reliever’s ERA is about as specious as saying a player performs well when I eat an omelet instead of oatmeal for breakfast. You have only “allowed” 10 earned runs this season, and your ERA is 2.62. How selfish of a prick you must be then, that you’ve come into games with a combined total of 24 runners inherited, and you’ve allowed seven of them to score. Way to drive up the ERA’s of your teammates while thinking you’re flying under the radar. You ain’t fooling me, pal. Can we give Jose Ascanio another look, please?
Down in the comments section to an earlier post, the mysterious figure known as Ward York — and by his delicious and nutritious work here — mentioned a dissatisfaction that all of us sports media overconsumers have probably felt at least once (every day). I’ll quote him here: “Why I continue to let the 40-watt sports media world (blog or non-blog) actively disappoint me on a regular basis is beyond me.” He was responding to some typically hail-fellow imbecility from The Sports Bro, in this case from Simmons’ send-off for Deadspin’s Will Leitch. But “Ward” could’ve been referring to any number of big problems in the sports discourse, blog and non-blog.
The one that’s been on my mind of late is how much it is less a discourse than a deafening, concurrent series of ill-considered monologues. In response to those monologues come (sometimes a great many) comments that replicate them almost identically; not questions, not really engagements with the source-post, not even really comments in any meaningful way: just sort of instant homages to both the original post and the commenter himself. I’m aware that this is a pretty broad criticism, and I know that I myself haven’t always done much to change or elevate the dialogue — as long as there are jokes to be made involving a nude Rick Majerus or meandering maunderings about Robinson Cancel and Iron Maiden fans to be written, I’ll be there, like some under-edited Tom Joad with a tendency to place too much importance on Mets wins or losses.
I know, too, those posts are, often, as much about me as they are about what I’m writing about. But I feel that this writing thing (what I do everyday, for a living) has to be a give-and-take, fundamentally: I’m writing (or usually paraphrasing and excerpting, here) for readers to read, because I think or hope that the imagined You might find it interesting/good/bad/whatever. We can’t talk these things over the way we might in a bar, for the most part — and I know you already know this, what I’m writing right now — but that’s what the comments section is for, right? That’s usually what it’s used for here, at least, when it’s used. That attempt at closeness, at remote conversation, seems to me a pretty good justification for the internet in general: it can, even if it doesn’t always, help us communicate with each other; it enables conversations that otherwise couldn’t happen. It’s also good for porn and LOL Animals or whatever, but I prefer the conversational element. (Except when I’m feeling like looking at porn) (then I prefer to be left alone)
Where bad sports blogs — bad blogs in general — let us down is where bad conversations let us down: the person we’re communicating with (or reading) either isn’t interesting or interested enough. Juvenile is juvenile (is Juvenile), and for the most part I don’t spend a lot of time reading blogs that I know aren’t going to add much value to my experience as a reader or sports fan or thinking human being. That’s more Gerard’s thing — the guy’s brain just cannot be satisfied, and so (as far as I can tell) he reads everything, good and bad. And sometimes he sends me stuff to post, when he’s out of range (as he is today, for the most part). And sometimes they are so bad…
Which brings me, late, to my subject. As part of Will Leitch Appreciation Week at Deadspin, the outgoing editor had on e last email exchange with highly compensated Imus-stroker and x-treme blog skeptic Buzz Bissinger. It’s here, it’s probably 8,000 words long, and I’m not going to excerpt it. I wouldn’t even really recommend you read it.
But I can’t help but think it’s some kind of defining statement: two guys in a vacuum, neither with much in the way of insight or even really much interest in what the other’s saying, reiterating the same doofy points they made a couple months ago on TV — points, for one extra dollop of absurdity on top of this shabby sundae, that both reflect the same failing. Which is: a blinkered inability or unwillingness or disinterest to see things through any perspective but their own, and in any way other than “how does this relate to me.”
There are some new twists in this new twist — we find out, for instance, that the hilariously thin-skinned Bissinger thinks that the commenters at Deadspin aren’t as funny as former Philadelphia Mayor Ed Rendell (really), even though both curse a lot — but fundamentally, that’s it. It’s basically, still, two guys talking about themselves in each other’s general direction. I think it explains why I don’t get much enjoyment from either guy’s work (and I have really admired Bissinger’s in the past, and have found his recent magazine stuff really, really terrible). The reason being that it’s fundamentally not for me, or really any reader, and not about much other than the author. This doesn’t necessarily apply to Will’s quick-hit shit on the blog — it’s hard to be very good or very bad in 75 words — but I think his rise to demi-celebrity and facile fan-positive populism (or whatever you want to call his faux-naive worldview) definitely reflects that; Bissinger’s outlandish capacity for taking offense and newfound unwillingness to be surprised by a story he’s reporting (both of which are on great display here) sure does.
I don’t know which one of these guys is more to blame for the poverty of this particular non-conversation (I’d give the edge to Buzz), but I don’t think it matters much. What matters (maybe) is the conversation itself: in its stunning inadequacy in terms of baseline communication, and its amazing poverty of vision, empathy or insight, it’s an instant classic of bloggy non-discourse.
TSN.ca reports that the Anaheim Mighty Ducks placed Todd Bertuzzi on waivers today with the ultimate intention of buying out the remaining year of the two-year, eight-million-dollar contract he signed last summer. It’s difficult to stomach one of the NHL’s true class acts being without a home, but I imagine some team direly in need of a once-dominant power forward with crippled confidence will give Bert his fifth home in four years.
I must admit that the possibility of Bertuzzi and Rangers super-pest and pending free agent Sean Avery landing on the same team is tantalizing. Imagine the potential increase in merchandising revenue from fans hoping to deface their new jerseys. Somebody call Gary Bettman. Hell, he might even create a new expansion franchise for the occasion, since Penguins agitator Jarkko Ruttu is also available.
Perhaps the oddest sports book ever written stars John Sterling and Suzyn Waldman. Seriously. “Sports” is a soft cover “written” by conceptualist Kenneth Goldsmith for Make Now publications. It is, start to finish, the full transcription, ad-reads and promos included, of the WCBS-AM broadcast of the Aug. 18, 2006 Yanks-Red Sox, a nine-inning game that lasted 4:45.
Thus, the book begins with, “1-800 LAW-CASH reminds you that this copyrighted broadcast is presented by authority of the …” and, 119 pages later, closes with, “Goes to Rivera covering. In time for the out. Ball game over! The Yankees win! The Yankees win!”
At $16.50 it would make the perfect gift for, umm, John Sterling.
A March 2008 interview with Goldsmith about “Sports” can be heard here.
…and perhaps not so well versed in using search engines, either. While a star-studded collection of sports media icons paid homage to outgoing Deadspin editor Wil Leitch yesterday (the funniest entry being J.E. Skeets’ recreation of the “Costas Now” blog segment), Page 2’s Bill Simmons offered the following tribute :
Here’s when I knew you had the sports blogosphere by the balls: When you gave a soccer column to an editor at Harper Collins, then that same editor signed you to a book deal … and nobody made a big deal about it or brought up the blatant conflict of interest. That was amazing.
That CSTB isn’t on Simmons’ blogroll is neither offensive nor surprising. But if a connected, culturally savvy guy like Bill isn’t reading Gawker anymore either….I might finally have found something in common with him. Besides the deep appreciation for Eddie Vedder and Adam Duritz, that is.
(much like the rest of us, the finest American-born hockey player of his generation cannot pick his friends)
Earlier this morning when I referenced the ‘08 NBA Draft, I mistakenly claimed the venue was Madison Square Garden. Actually, the event took place at the adjacent WaMu Theatre, because the World’s Most Dysfunctional Arena was otherwise occupied, as Dave Scheid from Where Is The Hotel? reminds us.
i saw this from the blog:
“How enraged was the mob at MSG last night? Even Jeff Lageman was booing the Knicks’ selection of Danilo Gallinari at no. 6 overall.”
and i thought. “oh shit! wow… why was gerard at the pearl jam show last night”.
in the middle of the show ed ved tells a little story about being asked to come perform in december for the retirement of brian leetch’s jersey. he’s a big fan, ed says. and looking up in the rafters ed mentions that there aren’t a lot of numbers retired here, so it’s a special honor. and the stage is facing these two giant banners with retired numbers and names. messier, #11. leetch #2. elton john, 60 shows.
and at the end of ed’s speech he says “so brian, we hear you’re a real nice guy and you’re a great athlete. so, this one’s for you #11 Brian Leetch”
then one of the olsen twins threw up on chris martin.
How enraged was the mob at MSG last night? Even Jeff Lageman was booing the Knicks’ selection of Danilo Gallinari at no. 6 overall. While I personally would’ve loved to see New York take a flier on G D.J. Augustin (who might’ve been a stretch at no. 9), I’m still eager to see him regain the consistent form he flashed prior to his sophmore year in Austin . He’ll try to do so in a Bobcats uniform, however, and the Daily News’ Frank Isola predicts the selection of Gallinari means David Lee is a goner.
I’m hearing that the Knicks could be working on a deal with the Charlotte Bobcats to acquire point guard Raymond Felton for Lee, who played for Bobcats coach Larry Brown.
When Mike D’Antoni coached the Phoenix Suns he gave the front office a the thumbs-down to drafting Lee because he felt that Lee wasn’t a good enough shooter.
If Brown’s that commited to acquiring young talent he previously stunted nutured, surely Memphis would consider trading Darko Milicic?
While the majority of you are presuamably enjoying the NBA draft this evening, I’m at Keyspan Park watching a crucial NY-Penn League clash between The ‘Lil Wilpons and the division leading Aberdeen Ironbirds. Someone’s handed out Thunderstix and for the love of God, I would like to know why.
The ‘Clones are leading, 3-0, in the top of the 4th, former UNC-Wilmington hurler Brad Holt having allowed no hits during his 2nd professional start. First round draft pick Ike Davis doubled in his first pro at bat, and Ryan “How Many Fingers Am I Holding Up?” Church has singled and doubled with one RBI thus far. Church is playing right field tonight, despite earlier reports he’d DH. Brooklyn’s A/V dept has resisted the temptation to play the Classic Ruins’ “The Room Starts Spinning” prior to either of Church’s plate appearances, which is just as well. It’s probably dizzying enough for the Mets outfielder to be in close proximity to such a high percentage of Jews, and he needs all the support he can get.
(UPDATE : after beating out a chopper to 2nd for a cranium-rattling infield hit in his 3rd AB, Church was lifted for a pinch runner. What’s more, there’s an ad in the Cyclones program for Rabbi Harry Hertzberg —- “a rabbi who can re-connect you to your Judaism”. If I don’t make it to O.J. Mayo or Liz Phair’s big parties tonight, you can assume Rabbi Harry and I had much to discuss.)
Xavi Hernandez’s 2nd half goal aside, this might’ve been the highlight of Radio 5’s broadcast of today’s Russia v Spain Euro 2008 semi-final :
Alan Green : “Hey…you…sit down. Sit down. I thought they were professionals here. I thought you had to be a professional to be accredited for a European Championship…..yes,you. Sit down! Just go home, son…..”
Graham Taylor : “I should let the listeners know this gentleman is 6′ 7″…”
Friends in the Bay Area tell me that John Madden’s morning KCBS call-ins from bus stations around the country have recently included his vote for Bob Costas as MLB commissioner. Personally, I can’t see a commissioner shorter than the word “commissioner” itself, but who am I to argue with a licensed Xbox character? My first thought is that no way would the MLB owners choose a journalist as commissioner. After all, the idea that a multi-billion-dollar industry could somehow use a fanboy network tv commentator as a mouthpiece to just tow a company line … inconceivable. Still, given Costa’s recent defense of Roger Clemens while continuing to scapegoat Barry Bonds post-Mitchell Report, he might just be the voice of reason ownership would want.
Also, welcome aboard new Cub fan Jay Mariotti! For a guy who opened the season by shitting all over the North Side and Fukudome, he’s now decided his hatred of Ozzie Guillien means he needs to suck-up to “classy” Lou Piniella. Ozzie’s complaints about Wrigley set Jay off, complaints also voiced by Mariotti (not to mention me) in the past, but given that Mariotti is as much a batshit hobgoblin “emotional” reporter as Ozzie is an “emotional” manager, I guess you have to excuse his inconsistent mood swings analysis from time to time. At one point in the Ozzie/Jay movie do they finally get that motel room?
Your CSTB Cub Update: as for those of you eagerly awaiting news on Alfonso Soriano’s fractured pinky, the day to day bulletins from Chicago are encouraging. No news on whether he’ll make batting practice, the All-Star game, how this will effect the current Presidential race, or how Soriano’s pinky will help Washington finally move on after Russert … but from the six-weeks of news it’s generating for The Sun-Times and Chicago Tribune, there’s obviously a lot resting on that little finger. Only four weeks of bulletins left to go, so enjoy.
With the break approaching, the injury-ridden Cubs are in need of some time off, and I hope they forfeit all their All-Star slots. Fukudome’s bench visit will probably continue today, and lately he’s been joined by Reed Johnson, Zambrano, and the might as well be on the bench Carlos Marmol. Marmol put his first batter on base last night, but apparently watching video of himself with Larry Rothschild helped as he put away the inning and held down the Orioles so that Kerry Wood could maintain a three-run lead for the 7-4 final. Jim Edmonds put the Cubs out front early with a three-run homer and a lead that went unrelinquished for the game, but my vote for the Cubs MVP of the game is Detroit Tiger Gary Sheffield. Sheff put around the winning run in the 9th of last night’s Cards-Tigers game, meaning the Cubs are up 4.5 games on Los Tards.
Lousy news, potentially, for the Cavs, too, considering the mooted deal below is all about Jersey/Brooklyn acquiring expiring pacts in order to make a run at LeBron James. The Bergen Record’s Al Iannazonne is reporting the Nets are about to trade Richard Jefferson to Milwaukee in exchange for C Yi Jianlian (above) and F Bobby Simmons.
The move would give the Nets flexibility in 2010 when the free-agent class headed by LeBron James hit the market. Simmons’ contract expires that summer whereas Jefferson is signed through the 2010-2011 season.
According to one report, the Nets were in talks with Memphis to move up to five, but Thorn said the Grizzlies were talking to many teams and that nothing was close.
My basketball career has gone precipitously downhill since eighth grade. Back then, my pre/pubescing self earned the nickname “Paxson” (as in John; I think it was a compliment to my jumper, but it might’ve referred to my haircut) and was actually pretty good. Since then, disuse and liver abuse have worn my game down to a downcast shadow of its former self. But one of the few places in New York where I’ve played multiple basketball games is Sara D. Roosevelt Park, on the Lower East Side, at Houston and Chrystie Streets. Sara Roosevelt, for those who don’t know (like me before I looked her up on Wikipedia), was the mother of Franklin D. Roosevelt. He was her only son, much as my only legitimately decent full-game basketball performance since college came in the park bearing her name. Even then, the comparisons I got from friends after the game were to Robert Horry. No one’s ever dared compare me to Tyrone Nesby; I can only dream of appearing in the same sentence as Kevin Edwards. Except for just now, when I did it. Anyway, I guess maybe “The Kevin Edwards of CSTB Guest-Bloggers” isn’t totally unfair. What I’m saying is, I have some experience with this park.
But even including my glorious performances at the park (i.e. the time I scored five times in a game to 11) (once), what went down there earlier this evening was kind of a new thing. In a little-promoted but very well-attended game that benefited the charitable foundations of participants Claudio Reyna and Steve Nash, Sara Roosevelt Park hosted an 8-on-8 soccer game between an assemblage of MLS and European stars, NBA players and, uh, ESPN writer Marc Stein (who modestly failed to mention his presence in the game while writing it up at ESPN.com). Much of the large crowd — which climbed mold-like, up the park’s chain link fences and into some fragile-looking nearby trees, and stood nearby on the sidewalk and on benches — seemed to be there as much for the soccer stars as for the basketball players. All of us, though, came together in a couple of ways.
Foremost among those was a gentle, generally good-natured heckling of Baron Davis, who showed up for the event wearing Harry Caray-frame glasses, a baseball cap featuring an upside down Dodgers-style LA, and garish, mid-calf-length ancient-school Reebok Pumps. He, like all the other players, was outfitted with a t-shirt and khaki shorts. Unlike the rest of them, he refused to tighten the belt on those shorts enough that his undergarments weren’t always constantly at least kind of showing. Unlike Nash, who scored a pair of goals and is clearly a very good soccer player, Davis obviously had little experience with the game. He did have a sense of humor, though — highlighted by a belly-flop onto prone Liverpool forward Robbie Fowler, who (amusingly) feigned injury after a clumsy-ish Davis tackle — and also managed to score a goal off a nice feed from Jason Kidd. Yeah, Kidd also played. He was actually pretty good, and assisted on two goals. Also, if I even need to mention this, he’s freaking yooge: as big across as Claudio Reyna is up and down, give or take a few inches.
In all, the NBA delegation included Kidd, Nash, Davis, Leandrinho Barbosa (who’s good) and Raja Bell (who’s less good, but didn’t injure anyone); the soccer side of things was highlighted by Fowler (good, but short), Reyna (according to his bio, two inches shorter and a few pounds heavier than me, somehow), Henry (um, more to come here) and a few others who’ve played in Europe and the MLS. All told, considering that the game was played on a patch of Astroturf laid over a scraggly stretch of asphalt much smaller than the average soccer pitch (see what I did there? the terminology? right, I don’t really know what it means, but I heard Andy Gray say it once), it was pretty awesome. Actually, even if you/one don’t/doesn’t consider that, it was pretty fucking amazing. (If you’d like to read a higher-paid non-freelancer writing this, check out Joshua Robinson’s recap in today’s New York Times)
Goals — especially Davis’, but also lights-out penalty kicks from Henry and Reyna and a pair by Chelsea FC’s Solomon Kalou and Henry — were applauded robustly, but for the most part, the crowd was weirdly quiet. The only sound I heard, outside of nearby conversations, for much of the second half was the bassline and backbeat to various classic rock songs bumping from a nearby minivan, overlaid with the repeating jingle from a nearby ice cream truck. It was surprisingly catchy. The silence wasn’t a result of boredom, at least not on the Forsyth St. side of things (fucking Chrystie St is another story; I hate those guys); the reason, I’m pretty sure, was that the crowd was legitimately rapt before the combination of celebrity and virtuosity on display.
At the risk of losing your attention — raptness/rapture is more than I can hope for, except when I’m weighing in on the reallyimportantshit — I’ll mention a couple of things. (If you’d rather just look at pictures, check this guy’s flickr feed for shots of the game) First of which is this: if they ever choose to do an And1 Tour for soccer, and Thierry Henry is somehow otherwise unemployed (and he won’t be), you should go see it if he’s participating. While all the big-time soccer dudes showed (unsurprisingly, yet still surprisingly) ridiculous skills, Henry is absolutely the most exuberant and brilliant soccer player I’ve ever seen.
I thought as much during the few instances in which I’ve watched him on TV — and I haven’t watched nearly as much soccer as GC has, or as you probably have — but seeing him from 10 or so feet away was astonishing. The control of the ball, and the aplomb with which he utilized it — juggling it past defenders, lobbing a pass to himself over the head of Jason Kidd (who was even more overmatched by Henry than he was by Chris Paul), trapping the ball between his nose and forehead and running seven or so strides with it there — was amazing. The weather was bathwater-warm for the entire game, but while all the players broke a sweat to various degrees (Stein, a ringer for Patton Oswalt but not terrible at soccer, was sweating before he entered the game; Davis seemed barely to sweat), Henry was well-soaked by the end of the game. He gave the crowd a show, and the crowd gave him a sort of benign, buzzingly impromptu New York respect: a buzz gathered when he got the ball, and a sort of unspoken shout rose from the greater surrounding city din whenever Henry passed or uncorked a (half-speed: the goalies were unknowns, and playing with Baron Davis’ bespectacled goofery as their last line of defense) shot on goal. To say he was the best player out there is, obviously, obvious. It’s also unfair to him. It was a different type of greatness, and getting to see it up close was the sort of good fortune few Americans will have until he signs with the LA Galaxy in five years or something.
When the game was over — I think the yellow team (Henry and Nash’s) defeated the blue (Barbosa, Reyna and Kaloud’s) by a couple of goals — the players posed for a few photos and made their way into the LES. Henry was surrounded by a surprisingly modest mob, signed a few autographs, and climbed into a black SUV. Fowler left through the same gate, ran a block or two, realized he wasn’t being followed, and slowed down, about a block ahead of where me and my friends were walking to a bar in the neighborhood. I was half surprised when we didn’t find him there, slouched and sweating over a pint of Newcastle. My calves hurt from standing on tiptoe for an hour and a half, trying to see what was going on. His probably were sore from doing amazing soccer-related things (I can only imagine how his nostrils felt). Within a couple of blocks, we were both New Yorkers, soaking up what was good and (and this is cliched, and a self-satisfied cliche, but in this case…) unique about the city on our way to somewhere else. There were other things to do (I met my girlfriend for dinner, if you must know), but this was a pretty good one to do, all things considered.
In a moment of music / blogging serendipity, the emergence of Deadspin-inspired comment spam-bombing at CSTB (I’ve got the IP addresses, folks, and Peter Abraham has nothing to do with this) just happened to coincide with the debut of the new Black Nasty track, “Howz My Shit Taste?” While I don’t think this particular clip is nearly as groundbreaking as B.N.’s recent “Juno” homage, I’m pretty sure this collaboration with sis Pink Nasty is destined to outsell anything Ozzie and Lou lay down in the future.
Of Miami’s big decision whether or not to select alleged problem child / K-State F Michael Beasley at no. 2 overall Thursday night, ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith declared, “Kids do childish things, and maybe Michael Beasley has learned the error of his ways. Granted, I don’t mind Miami being concerned because South Beach is an addiction. Trust me. It is an addiction.”
I hate to quibble with Smith, but South Beach isn’t an addiction. It’s a location.You can say there’s temptations galore, perhaps a way of life that’s somewhat addictive. But a geographic location cannot be addictive.
Mainstream sports media types have summarily dismissed blogs for quite some time now. Some of the dismissing has been on point; the lack of ethics in these fools’ so-called writings, in particular. But at the very same time the mainstream is brushing these people off – people who know little about sports and less about the socio-cultural aspects of the games they watch and the leagues they follow – guess who it is mainstream editor-types run to hire when they’re looking for new blood?
Why, they hire those same pap-writing, half-naked women posting, rumor-mongering, 250-word posting hacks they pretend to hate so! Will Leitch, Tom Florio, and the rest of those elite members of the white frat boy sports blogosphere are the most feted of all the bitches out there.
What does that tell you about mainstream sports journalism?
Oh, and while I’m on the subject, the whole contrivance of a “sports blogosphere” is idiot savant genius. Rather than fashion themselves as “independent media” as did their political Internet counterparts, these frat boys maintain that they are bloggers so as to be absolved from sin when they get busted for their racist, misogynist, rumor-mongering ways. See, “indy media” is way too serious a label for these miscreants. Then, even their “humor” would have to be somewhat intelligent. But blogger? Then they can be as dumb as they want.
Yet they’re still the first fuckers checked off the mainstream’s list.
Yeah, well, it would appear a University Of Illinois journalism degree is worth the paper it’s printed on after all. Given the tenuous state of traditional media, I’m not sure the odd hiring here or represents a triumph for the frat dudes as much as it reflects the particular circumstances….of an established old (white) boy network. Would Wilson be a more interesting voice at ESPN.com, Yahoo, Fox Sports.com or —- drum roll — Gawker Media than many of the persons currently ensconced? I’d like to think so, but for the time being, I’m grateful he’s interrupting family vacations to shit all over the medium’s established franchises.
“There’s certainly some stuff I can think of for one of the greatest infielders I’ve ever seen,” says the Yankees’ ever gracious Hank Steinbrenner of deposed Mets manager Willie Randolph (as quoted by the New York Post’s Mike Puma). And who am I to suggest Steinbrenner is delusional if he believes Randolph would sooner work for him than continue to collect his Mets money while watching TV?
Hank Steinbrenner made it clear that he considers Randolph a Yankee and holds no ill-will toward him for leaving the organization to manage the Mets, who fired him last week.
“If he had left to take over the Red Sox maybe I would have had a problem with that,” Steinbrenner said. “He’s a Yankee. He’ll always be a Yankee. Even the Mets never completely accepted him because they thought he was a Yankee.”
Steinbrenner said he didn’t want to comment on the manner in which Randolph was fired because he’s not “one of those talk-radio types” who spews on subjects he knows little about.
Still, Steinbrenner couldn’t resist one jab at the Mets.
“They probably could have handled it a little differently than 3 o’clock in the morning,” Steinbrenner said, referring to the timing of the press release announcing Randolph’s firing.
Indeed, I’m pretty sure Hank’s Dad managed to fuck over fire Dick Howser and Mike Ferraro during the daylight.
(Spartak Moscow’s Roman Pavlyuchenko, reveling in all the good publicity he’s getting in England)
After Germany’s 3-2 defeat of Turkey in the Euro 2008 semis this afternoon, there’s only two matches that matter remaining in a competition the Guardian’s Simon Hattenstone “wishes would go on forever”. Having developed a big crush on the Russian national side, Hattenstone writes, “forget La Liga and the Premier League, it’s about time our sports channels signed a big fat contract with Russia’s premier league and beamed pure quality into our lives.”
As with the best dramas, once you get to grips with the plot you find yourself returning to the beginning to fully appreciate the nuances of character and narrative. So it’s only now that I understand how far they have come by looking back to how woeful they were in the first game, only now that I realise just how significant the loss of the play-maker Andrei Arshavin was in the first couple of games; only now can I share Roman Pavlyuchenko’s joy in his goals having revisited his inept earlier misses.
In the last two games Russia’s team play has been outstanding – look at the series of instant passes and Arshavin’s sliding shot into the corner of the net against Sweden or Pavlyuchenko’s near-post volley against Holland. Russia have been a wonderful discovery for most of us – and, as they have improved, possibly for themselves. There’s Denis Kolodin, the defender who looks like Frank Skinner and shoots like Bruce Rioch, Yuri Zhirkov with his audacious volleys and free-kicks, and of course there’s Arshavin.
The man who pulls silly faces, has a dirty-joke name and guided Zenit St Petersburg to last season’s Russian title is a footballing genius; the only man I’ve seen on a football pitch who can dribble, pout and chat at the same time.
Yahoo.com’s Adrian Wojanarowski is reporting Indy is trading Jermaine O’Neal to Toronto for oft-injured PG T.J. Ford and the 17th pick in Thursday’s draft, along with Rasho Nesterovic for cap purposes. The Pacers are now sitting on the 11th and 17th picks in the first round, that is, unless you believe Larry Bird, who has already denied the deal is happening.
The Contra-Costa Times’ Geoff Lepper hints a Baron Davis for Rasheed Wallace & Chauncey Billups exchange might occur between Golden State and Detroit, while colleague Tim Kawakami sneers, “none of this trade talk is official until one of the NY papers has traded Baron + Brandan Wright to the Knicks for Mardy Collins and the rights to James Dolan’s limo driver.” That’s how far Renaldo Balkman’s stock has fallen folks, he can’t even figure into an obvious cheap shot.
Adam Dunn (above) was asked about whether he spoke to Blue Jays general manager J.P. Ricciardi about disparaging comments Ricciardi made about Dunn on Ricciardi’s radio show last week.”I talked to him [Dunn] on Saturday,” Ricciardi said before last night’s game. “He called me back. I don’t know if he accepted my apology. But I did apologize.”
Except Dunn told MLB.com that he didn’t speak to Ricciardi.
“Not true,” Dunn said of Ricciardi’s pregame comment. “One million per cent.”
Ricciardi was livid when Dunn’s comment was relayed to him. He took the call on Saturday night, he said, while he was in Pittsburgh. Sitting next to him were director of security Ron Sandelli and assistant GM Alex Anthopoulos.
“If it’s not him, then it’s some prank,” Ricciardi said. “But I don’t know how the person would get my cellular phone number. I mean, I don’t even give it out to you guys [the press].”
So is this a Dunn deal or what?
“I’m so sick and tired of this, foremost, but the real truth is, no, I have not talked to him,” Dunn said after the game, clearly exasperated. “Again, I’m not going to go out of my way to get an apology from a guy I don’t even know. No, it didn’t happen and I hope this is the last time I have to talk about it. I’m sick and tired of it.”
But about that phone call …
“No,” Dunn said, “I mean, no. I didn’t. I mean, if he said he talked to me, it was a lie … it’s stupid. I don’t get it. I got more important things to worry about than some guy I don’t know.”
Coming to a future edition of the Globe & Mail : J.P. explains to Christopher Cross there’s no guided tours of the Rogers Centre during Jays games.
As you’ve probably seen already, home plate umpire Brian O’Nora was lacerated by a piece of Miguel Oliva’s maple bat last night in Kansas City, but as the Denver Post’s Troy Renck explains, said incident might not have even been the second weirdest thing to happen during the Royals’ defeat of Colorado.
Rockies shortstop Troy Tulowitzki was charged with deception, the umpires ruling a catch on a ball that he appeared to purposely short-hop for a fourth-inning double play. In the end, anger engulfed the 7-3 loss, the Rockies boiling afterward over Ramon Ramirez’s errant pitches in Yorvit Torrealba’s direction.
“We know Ramon has good control, and from my standpoint it looked like it was on purpose. I think he should have been tossed,” Tulowitzki said of the former Rockies reliever. “He strikes out the side with pinpoint control in the eighth, and he’s doing that? Obviously, he was throwing at him.”
It unfolded like this: After having a friendly conversation in Spanish before the game, Ramirez and Torrealba raised eyebrows to open the ninth. Ramirez walked the catcher on four pitches. One whistled by Torrealba’s head, another behind his back.
Ramirez insisted afterward that the ball was wet from perspiration, saying “it slipped.” Torrealba wasn’t buying it. He said he was prepared for Ramirez to throw at him, though he wouldn’t reveal why.
“Ask him. It’s all good,” Torrealba said. “Every time I talk about stuff, I get fined or suspended.”
I’m not certain when was the last time I attended a game in which a player was charaged with deception, but it does vaguely sound like the kind of thing Christian Guzman’s employers have thought of once or twice.
I can’t vouch for the veracity of a New York Post report claiming MSNC’s Keith Olbermann “went apoplectic” over the lack of ketchup packets (!) at a memorial service for the late Tim Russert, a claim K.O.’s publicist called “an outright lie”, but I’m having a hard time determining which is funnier — the notion this incident actually happened, or a disgruntled MSNBC colleague fantasizing, “what’s the lamest possible thing I can accuse Olbermann of doing a a memorial service that someone might actually believe?”
We’ve got at least two or three readers on the Bristol campus. Can anyone testify regarding the ketchup situation at the WWL’s commissary?
Tampa survived a bout of Troy Percival wildness (4 BB’s) in the 9th inning last night to defeat the host Marlins, 6-4, just the 3rd time this season the Rays have won a game they’d trailed after 7 innings. The contest was played under what State of Florida officials called carbon neutral conditions. Thru the auspices of Carbonfund.org, the Fish were said to be financing the planting of trees to make up for all the nasty greenhouse gasses the Marlins’ 3 dozen fans added to the atmosphere Tuesday night.
Not to be outdone, Marlins Prez David Samson is making his own individual effort to reduce Florida’s carbon footprint, unveiling the first ever solar-powered penis pump.
Who am I kidding? These guys would be laughing no matter what. But having seen R.A. Dickey get the snot beat out of him in the PCL on more than one occasion, well, tonight’s debacle begs the question, exactly how many pictures of Jeff Wilpon and the waitress from Lucky Cheng’s is Howard Johnson sitting on? What pray tell, is the Mets’ game plan when facing a knuckler like Dickey, other than say, roll over and die?
If nothing else, Oliver Perez’ latest stinkeroo (5 innings, 5 earned runs, 7 hits, a pair of homers allowed, one to the .218 hitting Kenji Jojihma) suggests that perhaps it’s Rick Peterson who oughta pity us. The Jacket might be unemployed, but he’s no longer obliged to watch this shit. The nicest thing you can possibly say about Ollie’s outing is that he achieved a greater degree of competency than Bronson Arroyo, who managed just an inning’s worth of work tonight while allowing 10 runs and 11 hits to the Blue Jays. It was the second time this season Death Wish has retired 4 batters or fewer during a start — perhaps replacing Scott Stapp with Tom Glavine as his personal guru was not, in retrospect, a great move.
The Will Leitch Farewell Tour of Deadspin continued today with a longish post attempting to put my somewhat over the top attempts at antagonizing Will into some greater perspective.
Though admitting he once considered CSTB, “one of our favorites, though, and the one that seemed to have the best idea of how to run a general interest sports site” (keep in mind this was 2003, folks), Leitch also includes the caveat, “most of it was just long cutting-and-pastings of AP stories with a one-sentence ‘comment’ on the end.” So in other words, a mere parasite like me oughta have greater respect for someone who adds a two-sentence ‘comment’ to the end of stories cut and pasted from ESPN.com.
At the risk of C&P’ing far too much of Leitch’s self-described plucky midwesterisms, I’ll summarize the post in question. Outta the blue, mild-mannered Man From Mattoon was bulldozed by an invisible grouch who proceeded to publish his cell phone number and encouraged the homeless to use his fiancee’s portrait for target practice. Though these missives were distasteful and oh-so-unprovoked, they ultimately help Young Will to buck up, grow-a-pair…and eventually blossom into the fragile butterfly we all saw torn to fucking shreds on HBO.
You’re welcome, Will. Anytime. But the following points need to be made :
1) The CSTB category “Will Leitch Sucks” did not appear “within 25 minutes” of Deadspin’s public launch. Said category was created weeks after the fact, though for the purposes of proper indexing, old posts relevant to the matter at handed were edited to include the category.
2) It is true I posted Will’s phone number, but I only did so after some moron at CBS Sportsline sent a press release that included it. There’s a breach in Leitch’s personal security and he wants to blame the whistleblower?
3) re : the bit about encouraging the homeless to get busy with pics of Will’s ex. Not cool (dude). Hardly my proudest moment — especially the part where I had to pay the homeless to do it. This was a reprehensible act and I don’t think I will ever fully live down the way I exploited…the nation’s less fortunate!
(seriously folks, did it ever occur to Will or his dipshit loyal readers that constantly mocking him was not entirely different from targeting, say, Stephen A. Smith or Chris Berman, neither of whom, to my knowledge, have ever met Will Leitch or done anything to personally hurt him? Or that this long-running schtick is someone’s idea of humor? That if Will were to disappear I’d have to go back to making fun of Mushnick’s beard everyday?)
4) “It can be difficult for the blog uninitiated — which we most definitely were — when they are being hammered online, but, thanks to CSTB, we grew used to it pretty quick. Heck, no one was gonna say anything worse than what he was saying.”
6) Good luck at New York, Will. Hopefully, the magazine won’t “focus too much on New York City for our tastes” and you’ll last more then two days at your new gig before someone compares you to Jm J. Bullock.
(pictured: proposed 40-ft tall lead float for the Cubs’ World Series victory parade, only $85,000)
First, thanks to Cub Fan Alex G. for getting “on my case” about not enough Cub coverage on CSTB. As to this weekend’s Cubs-Sox mismatch, again, I prefer to let others, like Hire Jim Essian’s Bad Kermit, do the gloating. I did like Ozzie Gullien’s swipe at Jim Edmonds yesterday. If only to convince me Ozzie is a batshit hobgoblin “emotional” manager, and not a La Russa-type “numbers guy.” As the Tribune reports, his decision to throw strikes to Jim Edmonds, who answered with two home runs in a game, resulted from Ozzie’s “hunch” to challenge Edmonds’ .234 on the year, instead of considering his .347 for June.
Lately, there have been some negative comments made about Cub reportage around here, mostly from frustrated fans unable to deal in a classy way with their own home team’s miserable performance this year. Remember us, the lovable losers? Take a page outta that book while you suck, ok? Me, I prefer to plan our World Series parade, from Richie Daley’s house to Wrigley, and plan banquet seating charts with fellow Cub fans in this week’s Cubs Mailbag. What follows: the actual questions sent in by Cub fans to Cub beat reporter Carrie Muskat, whose job description doesn’t allow her to give the answers these questions deserve. So I help out.
John T., Nashville: How do we vote for All-Star pitchers? I think more than anyone, Carlos Marmol should be an All-Star, and it’s tough to get a middle-relief pitcher on the team. How can we get him there?
Marmol? Fuck him, he’s grounded. He’s throwing wild pitches and allowing runs in his position? Hey, it’s not like I don’t have a heart, but he’s all that stands between Bob Howry’s mid-relief home-run derby and Kerry Wood’s viewing lead-off batters as “collateral damage.” Fortunately, Cubs pitching coach Larry Rothschild has taped a photo of Eric Gagne in a Brewers uniform to Marmol’s locker to straighten him out.
Kyle P., Rosamond, Calif: The Cubs have a good chance of finishing the season over .600, and for a little history lesson, when was the last time the Cubs finished a season over .600?
Kyle. Was there even a “please” in that? Here’s a history lesson: I am the goddamn mailbag. don’t tell me what to do. And btw, who cares about .600 teams when we’re after the Series? Get a fucking perspective, on the season and yourself. Sorry kid, but you had it coming.
Cory R., Franklin Grove, Ill.: I’ve heard talk about the Cubs pursuing C.C. Sabathia to strengthen the rotation. Is there any truth to the rumors?
Cory: you don’t think the current rotation might be hurt by that question? They do read the mailbag, you know. Zambrano is on the DL for two games and you sneak around behind his back? You think a man in professional sports named Lilly needs more self doubt? Why don’t you act like a man and say it to their faces? Until then, you’re banned from the Mailbag.
Sean R., Wichita, Kan.: I know Kerry Wood has been lights-out lately, but it seems the few times he has struggled this year he hits a batter at some point during the ninth inning. I was curious to find out how many batters did he hit in his four blown saves and one loss?
Sean: Ah, Kansas, the Show-Me State. Did you not read the Marmol question that I took the time to answer? Wood’s hit a lot of guys, and he’s going to hit a lot more. I’m trying to save lives here. Kerry Wood never got over his post-HGH move to the bullpen, and his uncontrollable fury leads to his Unsafe at Any Speed style of ball.
Levi M., Salem, Ill: With the superb success of Ryan Dempster’s conversion from relief to starter, is there a chance the Cubs might try to do the same with Wood?
Are all Kerry Wood fans functional retards? I mean, you did type that question in and hit “send,” right? And yet, you still asked it. How can two forms of basic function and non-function exist in the same human?
Ryan C., Omaha, Neb: Why did Lou Piniella send in Jason Marquis to pinch-run, especially since Marquis was the scheduled starter the next game [on June 17]? And, Reed Johnson tried a squeeze play with two outs and the tying run on third. Was it Reed’s call or Lou’s call?
Sorry, Nebraska’s the Show-Me State, not Kansas. Anyway, that’s two questions in one e-mail. Answers don’t grow on trees, Ryan. Write the Sox guy, he’s got nothing to do this week.
Brian W., Indianapolis: After Alfonso Soriano’s injury, why didn’t Matt Murton get the call? It seems like he does nothing but hit. The power numbers still are not there, but with a .295 career average, he has demonstrated an ability to hit for high average at the big league level over a significant period of time. I know the Cubs were already planning to call up Micah Hoffpauir to help DH in Interleague games, but what led them to pick Eric Patterson over Murton?
You second guessing, Lou Piniella? Indy doesn’t even have a baseball team. You got some balls, Brian. Why don’t you send your second guesses to Purdue’s baseball team (if they have one!) where they might be more welcome.
Chad M., Shorewood, Ill.: What’s going on with Felix Pie? Is he showing any improvement in the Minors, and should we expect him up in the Majors any time soon?
I checked with Felix. He’s cool. He says thanks for asking and wants to know how you’re doing?
For their $137.5 million, spread out over seven years, the Mets have now gotten seven wins, six losses and a 9-7 record in the games Santana has started. Worse than that, he has now surrendered 14 home runs in less than half a season, putting him well on pace to match and perhaps exceed his major-league leading total of 33 bombs from last year, which may indicate his subpar 2007 season was not an aberration, but an omen.
“Personally, I felt pretty good,” Santana said. “We didn’t make routine plays that you make to win games, little things that make you a winner.”
Presumably, that includes retiring the opposing pitcher. Santana’s seven innings, seven hits and just one earned run was the most misleading line since Don Imus claimed he was actually defending Pacman Jones.
But Santana wasn’t the worst performer of the night; that honor goes to the Shea crowd, which started the night chanting Manuel’s name during batting practice, but was booing as if Randolph had just summoned Scott Schoeneweis after Santana gave up Hernandez’ home run.
But the crowd reserved its proudest moment for the fifth, when it cheered the sight of Hernandez hobbling around in obvious pain after Beltran slid hard into him to score the Mets first run of the night. The jeers continued when Hernandez, who had pitched three straight terrific games and was on his way to a fourth, stumbled off the mound while attempting a warm-up pitch to see if he could remain in the game.
At that point, the crowd seemed worthy of the rather dubious spin one local paper put on Manuel’s “fertilizer” line, and the game which so much promise of providing a fresh start to a team badly in need of one, turned into one more ugly, depressing three hours of bad baseball.
There are, of course, cities in America where one could attend a ballgame and not witness an injured player from the visiting team being verbally abused. Those towns, however, generally only have one or two daily newspapers and few of ‘em would be prepared to match Wally’s current salary.
Last Tuesday night, the Giants’ Jonathan Sanchez allowed a monster HR “not by one of Detroit’s high-salaried thumpers, but a .219-hitting scrub named Ryan Raburn,” wrote the SF Chronicle’s Henry Schulman. “Baseball has an evil way of balancing it’s ledgers,” mused Schulman, who couldn’t have possibly meant he’d be taking a beating from Tigers closer Todd Jones a few days later. From Sunday’s Detroit Free Press :
I can’t think of anybody who has ever played in the major leagues as a scrub — not even Bob Uecker.
When Tigers manager Jim Leyland saw the article, he was livid. We all were.
Ryan just laughed it off. What else could he do? He’d just been humiliated by a guy he’d never met.
The proper term for what Ryan does is: “A role player or backup.” He’s actually very useful. He plays outfield and infield in the big leagues. (I wonder if Schulman could do that?)
Sure we’ve got thick skin, and reporters don’t bother us for the most part. But when it’s a personal attack on a guy’s ability or perceived place in this game, enough is enough.
I’d rather be a scrub than be a guy who sits on the sideline and watches what happens and then writes about it. How about next time, Mr. Schulman, you just report on the game and you show Mr. Raburn and the hundreds of players on all clubs that fill out the big leagues some respect and call him a backup or a utility player.
Indeed, words that are very polite euphamisms for “scrub”.
”Let’s be honest, really,” Dempster said. ”Can there be anybody more lucky than [Kevin] Millar?”
Until Cubs manager Lou Piniella juggled his starting rotation a couple of weeks ago, Dempster was on schedule to get his long-awaited matchup with old Florida Marlins teammate and pal Millar during this week’s series. The two sparred through the media for weeks during spring training — Millar mocking Dempster’s World Series prediction and threatening to homer off the rooftop Budweiser sign against him, and Dempster countering with a threat to drill Millar in the ribs.
”Now he knows if he gets hit by a pitch, it’s on accident,” Dempster cracked after improving to 9-2 with another impressive start Sunday against the White Sox. ”I get to watch his circus act from the bench for three days.”
So now what are the Orioles first baseman’s chances of reaching the Bud rooftop?
”Oh, yeah, I’m sure he’ll probably take a fungo out there in [batting practice] and hit it just to say he did,” Dempster said. ”I’ll be surprised if he even plays because he’s barely fringe enough in the field to be able to play a position and there’s no DH for him.”
In the wake of George Carlin’s passing yesterday, SNY’s Chris Cotter rattled off his own list of favorite comedians, ranking former Dave Chappelle co-star/ Mets fan Jim Breuer just outside his Top 5 of Steven Wright, Dom Irrera, Eddie Murphy, Denis Leary and Steve Martin.
Through the howls of outrage issued by Cotter’s colleagues, Joe Beningno-Gazingo wondered of Breuer, “didn’t he play with Sidney Moncrief?”
After a partnership of nearly 20 years, you might well wonder what topic could possibly be so divisive as to create a deep wedge between Mike Francesca and Chris Russo. The latter spelled it out for his loyal WFAN listeners earlier today, “whether it’s Yankee Stadium, good or bad, whether it was David Ortiz-Manny Ramirez, whether it was Don Nelson Hall of Fame, not Hall of Fame, Shaq with Phoenix, Yunel Escobar with the Braves, you name it, we were fighting like cats and dogs.” Presumably, Yunel Escobar was the last straw.
For the few of you who don’t read ESPN.com or every other sports blog in the world, I give you Don Imus on Adam Jones.
Imus was told by anchor Warner Wolf that Jones has “been arrested six times since being drafted by Tennessee in 2005.”
Imus asked, “What color is he?”
“He’s African-American,” Wolf replied.
“Well, there you go,” Imus said. “Now we know.”…
WABC and Citadel Broadcasting Corp. Vice President Phil Boyce said Imus would be explaining his comments on his Tuesday morning show and it was unlikely the broadcasters would take disciplinary action against him.
Boyce said Imus had explained his words in a private conversation Monday afternoon and the explanation was satisfactory.
“I think some people may be misunderstanding what he meant,” said Boyce, who declined to go into further detail.
It just doesn’t seem fair that Warner Wolf has outlasted Michele Marsh.
“I meant that he was being picked on because he’s black.”
Y’know, like those girls from Rutgers. Also funny how one of the ESPNews anchors went out of his way to say that WABC radio is not affiliated with WABC TV, ESPN or Disney.
That’s not to say there aren’t extenuating circumstances behind some of the other sneaker companies’ omissions. Paul Pierce needs the summer off to repair that right knee that kept him from accomplishing anything during the NBA Finals. Kevin Garnett and Allen Iverson have already done their Olympic duty. And why should Team USA bring more than one center to China?
All the talk about having a national program of 33 players and forcing them to make a three-year commitment to the program, participate in summer workouts, then tryout for the team in an intense training camp process seems laughable now.
How do you explain Carlos Boozer’s addition to the team, when he didn’t play on the world championship team in Japan in 2006 or the representative at the FIBA Americas Tournament in 2007.In his news conference on Monday, Colangelo used the word “equity” to say explain why Finals MVP Paul Pierce of the Boston Celtics wasn’t added to the team, saying that you have to invest something into the program to have a chance at making it.
The only choice that I question some is Tayshaun Prince over Tyson Chandler. I love Prince, but the team is really deficient in the height department. Dwight Howard is the only center – and the team only has two players taller than 6-feet-10 with the 7-foot Howard and the 6-11 Chris Bosh. It might not seem like such a big deal now, but it might if Howard somehow picks up foul trouble.
Nobody thought it was a big deal when Tim Duncan was the only center on the 2004 team in Athens – then Duncan got in foul trouble in almost every game. The trapezoid lane makes post play pretty difficult, but you need shotblocking and rebounding – two things Chandler can most certainly provide. And when Greece upset the squad in Japan, they abused them inside with “Baby Shaq” and controlled the boards. Small ball could hurt them in the long run.
If Chandler’s still a Nike endorsee, there’s not necessarily a conspiracy behind his staying home this summer. Adidas’ Mike Miller, however, is another matter. Either Jerry Colangelo disappoves of the ponytail or Miller’s shoe affiliation is to blame. Or perhaps they’ve seen him play.
