Tomorrow marks the final day of Stephen A. Smith’s tenue as at ESPN, a stint that saw the former Philly scribe given his own television chat program, the oft-mocked “Quite Franky“, as well as Smith becoming Cheez Doodles’ most well-recognized (unpaid) spokesperson. On the eve of his departure from the WWL, Smith — disregarding one pundit’s claim he was already “”the most despised sports personality on the air today” at the time of “Quite Frankly”’s debut — insists to USA Today’s Michael Hiestand the program’s lack of success was just a matter of poor scheduling.
Smith says the biggest problem was the show being shifted from its original 6:30 p.m. ET time slot to sometime around 11 p.m. ET — sometime, that is, after the live games leading into his show ended. Says Smith, of that show, which lasted 17 months: “I believe to this day if my show had a definitive time slot, it would have been more successful.”
Plenty of TV sports types have gone on to broaden their on-air horizons. Smith now sees them as his role models. Like Robin Roberts — “I adore her” — and Bryant Gumbel — “I idolize him.” He admires Keith Olbermann, another crossover case who has a largely political talk show on MSNBC while also working NBC’s NFL studio and writing columns for mlb.com. But he says his ESPN exit is nothing like Olbermann’s fiery 1997 departure and is instead a matter of wanting to branch out.
The New York Post this week opined Smith is “a self-promoting, race-based gasbag.” But Smith, asked if he now sees himself primarily as a sort of spokesman, is low-key: “I’m not this voice, or that voice. But if people want to hear a perspective from the African American community that otherwise wouldn’t be heard, I’d be honored to deliver that message.”
The Post column in question was penned by (who else?) Phil Mushnick, whose farewell to one of his favorite punching bags concluded with “despite all ESPN’s media platforms, it no longer had room for a wildly popular, in-demand fellow who’s one part Martin Luther King and one part Daniel Webster . Smith’s so delusional he’d insult those he considers his greatest admirers. He apparently feels that black Americans find him less full of it than everyone else.” That’s a fair enough critique, and entirely more cutting, if not reasonable, than Mushnick’s repeated charge that Smith’s oratory skills were nothing more than “jive infused plattitudes”. That Smith was an insufferable legend-in-his-own-mind is hard to dispute or defend. But for much of his spell in the public eye, Mushnick would have his readers believe Stephen A.’s greatest sin wasn’t arrogance, but rather sounding too black.
Though copping to the Celtics/Bulls playoff series as “The Best NBA First-Round Series Ever Played”, AOL Sports’ Jay Mariotti can’t quite fathom why Rajon Rondo’s Game 5 face rake of Brad Miller was considered less suspension-worthy than Dwight Howard’s attempted decapitation of Samuel Dalembert. “To all the prejudices and biases that complicate our tangled world,” pontificates the Mascara Fiend, ” today we add ‘oafism.’”
Translated, the league took care of the little guy and blew off the big dope. Oafism, we’ll call it. Or, positionism. Why was Howard suspended and Rondo not even punished? Why the double standard? Shouldn’t the Bulls and Magic wonder why Rondo gets to play his Game 6 and Howard doesn’t? And if the roles were reversed — Miller as the perpetrator, Rondo as the victim — don’t you think Miller would have been flagrantly flagged?
In a compelling postseason with rising TV ratings, the league doesn’t need officiating inconsistencies to detract from the gripping action. We aren’t far removed from the Tim Donaghy point-shaving scandal that, while apparently an isolated case, red-flagged some suspicions about hanky-panky. As a difficult game to officiate, pro basketball always will have a gray area when it comes to calls. But it’s inconceivable that on the very same night in the playoffs, one hard shot to the head results in a suspension while another hard shot to the head warrants no action. Jackson is dead wrong about Rondo going after the ball. In the final seconds of overtime, with Miller on an unimpeded path to a game-tying basket, Rondo turned into one of Bill Belichick’s linebackers on a goal-line tackling mission and went straight for the face. In Memphis on a December evening, it’s a flagrant foul. In Sacramento on a March afternoon, it’s a flagrant foul.
Between George W. Bush’s failure to claim a 3rd Presidential term and the retirement of NBC’s John Madden, there’s been considerable speculation that terrorist impressionist Frank Caliendo would at long last, leave the public eye.
Apparently, the booking department at Austin’s venerable Paramount Theatre haven’t received the memo. No, not the one about Caliendo sucking (he was originally booked to appear Sept. 11 2008 — never forget!), rather the note acknowledging the comedian’s already tenuous grasp on cultural relevancy will soon rival that of Rich Little.
That’s $51.25 to see Caliendo do Barkley, folks. No wait, I’m sorry, the Paramount’s press release says Frank can mimic Jim Rome, too.
At the very least, I am assuming the Torquay Tigers are looking for a new webmaster. It seems the football/netball club chose to announce an forthcoming social gathering with the images shown below :
“It caught me by surprise, because I haven’t been on the website for a while. I didn’t know anything about it,” said Michael Coleman, Torquay Tigers club secretary.
“But I’m thinking ‘All White Night’ and hoping no one would find any racism in that. But the picture is likely to be the work of an individual person and it’s certainly not the club’s thoughts.”
The picture was withdrawn soon after it attracted widespread media attention, being replaced by Disney character Snow White.
The Herald-Sun helpfully adds, “the Ku Klux Klan, also known as the KKK, is a white supremacist organisation which has a record of violence towards African-Americans, Jews and other minorities”, perhaps proving that “Mississippi Burning” didn’t do so well in Australia.
Of the humiliated Heat — losers in Game 5 to Atlanta,106-91, the Sun Sentinel’s Ira Winderman writes, “to do something stupid Friday and compromise its chances in a potential Sunday game would be beyond foolish. It would mirror so many of the team’s previous misplaced macho moments.” Even so, it’s unlikely Miami will soon forget a particular incident from late in Thursday’s contest.
If you’re nostalgic for the Association Of Yore, Game 5 recalled much of the aggressive play typified by Pat Riley’s early tenure in Miami, though as Slam’s Marcel Mutoni put it, “the only difference between then and now is having someone crazy enough to attempt a between the legs windmill dunk late in the fourth quarter with the outcome no longer in question — and missing it to boot.”
The monumental diss to Castro aside, Jerry Manuel opting to bring in a career minor leaguer — albeit one removed from the first grand slam in Citi Field’s short history — to face Lindstrom with the bases loaded, two out and the Mets trailing by one in their final frame left many in attendance scratching their skulls. Had only we remembered it was Omir Santos’ birthday! From Amazin’ Avenue’s James K :
Jerry Manuel wanted to give Santos a birthday present. Happy 28th Omir. That sprint underneath the stadium from the bullpen while wearing cleats sounds treacherous.
Castro: you messed up by being born on March 1. And also for having a .723 career major league OPS (nevermind Santos’s career .652 minor league OPS).
The Star Ledger’s Steve Politi has dubbed Wright “the face of panic”, and as WFAN’s Benigno & Roberts were quick to point out today, the Mets’ third baseman is striking out at a pace reminiscent of Ryan Howard, sans the home runs. Wright is catching crazy heat for that oh-so-capital WFAN offense of Not Coming Thru In A Big Spot (copyright 1993, Chris Russo Enterprises) and assuming the Mets aren’t going to be any better than a 4th place club the rest of the year, can we just consider this phase a prelude to this former fan favorite turning heel? There’s a rich NYC history Wright can draw upon (spraying bleach at reporters with a supersoaker, under -tipping at Hooter’s, etc.) and even if he never gets another clutch RBI, I look forward to whatever happens next.
[Dempster, left, is officially named the Cubs' 2009 Bob Howry, right.]
The Cubs drop 2 of 3 in the desert, getting beat thrashed 10-0 in today’s matinee. Two things bother you about today’s outing, mainly the streaky nature of the Cub bats (like last year) and fearing that Ryan Dempster’s 2008 was a fluke career best. Of the $52 million the Cubs pay him thru 2012, they look to get about $10 mill back, tops. Gordon Wittenmyer talked to Dempster about his 5.40 ERA and single-win April here, with Dempster telling it this way:
”Crooked numbers,” he said. ”Bad inning management.
”I’ll just keep plugging away and keep trying to execute pitches. It seems like other than that one crooked number I’m putting up right now, I’m actually throwing the ball all right and giving us a chance. But if I can just stop doing that, it’ll give us a better chance to win the game.”
Yeah, stop doing that. Surely, Paul Sullivan will find a way to blame Milton Bradley for all this. Check out Sully’s recounting of Bradley’s woeshere, when 2 hits and a walk in Tuesday’s win were cause for him to rehash (yet again) MB’s debut as a Cub.
Understandably, Piniella is getting grilled about his .500 April. And while Piniella can talk all he wants about injuries and slumping millionaires, he himself appears less decisive than last year. Whose closing? Marmol or Gregg? Soriano finally bats lower in the order after last week’s series of injuries, then bounces back up to lead-off. I’m not criticizing Piniella, he’s had a lot to adapt to, not to mention rejiggering a 40% new team. His crew has the talent – Zambrano homered and was a triple short of hitting for the cycle Tuesday. But the Cubs right now look like guys hoping for Inspiration instead of grinders who show up to work. The Herald’s Bruce Miles delivers this dirty laundry list of today’s rout:
It was an all-around failure for the Cubs:
• Cubs batters managed just 2 hits off Davis, who pitched 7 innings and stymied the Cubs with his deliberate approach on the mound.
• Ryan Dempster, the Cubs’ starting pitcher, gave up 6 hits and 5 runs.
• Dempster walked three batters, and it got only worse from there. Carlos Marmol, returning from a knee injury, set alarm bells ringing by walking four in one-third of an inning. Closer Kevin Gregg, in the game to get some work, walked three and couldn’t finish a mop-up inning.
When it was all over, the Cubs limped home with a 2-4 road trip, and their overall record stands at 10-10.
There have been rumblings that the Cubs were overconfident coming out of spring training after having won the National League Central two straight years.
With April almost over manager Lou Piniella may have seen Wednesday as a time to launch a strike – perhaps too late to be pre-emptive – against complacency.
“We’re not going to be able to just go out there and play without intensity and go through the motions and think we can win baseball games, I can tell you that,” Piniella told reporters. “And the quicker that sinks in, I think, the better.”
The New York Daily News’ Tracy Connor has had a peak at Selena Roberts’ long-awaited ‘A-Rod : The Many Lives Of Alex Rodriguez’, a tome that claims the embattled Yankee third baseman began taking steroids as early as high school and continued doing so as recently as 2005.
Sports Illustrated writer Roberts, who broke the story that A-Rod flunked a steroid screening in 2003, reveals fellow Bombers nicknamed the third baseman “B—h T–s” in 2005.
That was after he put on 15pounds in the off-season and seemed to develop round pectorals, a condition called gynecomastia that can be caused by anabolic steroids, she writes.
In addition, an unnamed major-leaguer is quoted as saying Rodriguez and steroid-tainted pitcher Kevin Brown were seen together with human growth hormone – HGH – in 2004.
Brown, who was named in the Mitchell Report on steroids, denied through a lawyer that he ever shared the hormone with the highest-paid player in baseball.
Two other anonymous Yankees said they believed A-Rod was using based on side effects they saw – and a clubhouse staffer said management wondered if he was using banned substances.
“No one ever asked Alex directly that I know of, but there was a lot of suspicion in house,” the employee is quoted as saying.
In one shocking disclosure, the book accuses A-Rod of “pitch tipping” when he was with the Rangers – letting a friendly opponent at the plate know which pitch was coming in lopsided games.
Rodriguez expected players he helped would do the same for him when he was having an off night and needed to get his batting average up and it wouldn’t affect the outcome of the game.
Full credit, by the way, to David Williams who claims ignorance as to why Rodriguez’ teammates would refer to him as “Bush Tetras”.
Former Mets OF Darryl Strawberry was a guest of WFAN’s Craig Carton and Boomer Esiason this morning, and you probably won’t be surprised learn the hot topics of conversation weren’t the Citi Field Shake Shake or the Amazins’ struggles with runners in scoring position. Straw’s got a new autobiography on the shelves, and as such, Carton thought it appropriate to quiz the Crenshaw High product about his less-than-spirtual side (interview transcriptions taken from Sports Radio Interviews, link courtesy Baseball Think Factory)
On going from a shy, quiet kid to the sexual beast he became:
“I really wasn’t that high on ladies when I was in high school and coming up. I thought they were a major distraction, I was focused. All of a sudden I come to the level of getting to the big leagues and I remember my first experience, I went to San Diego and a girl called and said she was a reporter and wanted to meet me. I went downstairs and there it was, she was definitely a 10 and boom I was like, “Well this is what it’s like.” I thought it was pretty incredible. At that time in my life, there was no question. I wasn’t turning it down.”
How many women did he sleep with?
“I don’t know. More than you should have, just put it like that.”
More than 1,000?
“Oh yeah, of course.”
More than 5,000?
“Oh no, I won’t stretch it that far.”
What is the most women he’s been with at one time? Four?
….or you can just go watch fuckin’ Leatherbag, see if I care. Is $18 a lot of dough? Sure. So try to spend $18 less on booze this week. (more info : Epistrophy Arts)
Facebook user Benjamin Shaykin tells visitors to his wall the above image wasn’t altered in any fashion. If he’s telling the truth, it’s a hell of a way for the nation’s No. 1 ticket seller to acknowledge incredible generosity on the part of the Steinbrenner family.
During his heyday in the 1970s and ’80s, the rotund Rose was the ultimate example of not judging a book by its cover. Despite his flabby physique, Rose was actually a gifted worker. He could deliver a nice dropkick, was a proficient bump-taker and cut good promos.
Rose was the top heel for a number of years in the Portland territory, where he had legendary feuds with Roddy Piper and Jimmy Snuka. I first saw Rose wrestle in person in the early ’80s during his stint in the WWF. He and champion Bob Backlund had some entertaining matches together. I remember how surprised I was that Rose could keep up in the ring with Backlund, who was in incredible shape.
In 1985, Rose became the answer to a trivia question. Wearing a mask and billed as The Executioner, he wrestled in the very first WrestleMania match, losing to Tito Santana.
Rose came back to the WWF later in his career and worked as an enhancement guy. Severely overweight at that point, his gimmick was that he demanded to be announced as weighing 217 pounds. Fans from that era probably recall the campy “Blow Away Diet” infomercial spoof that Rose did.
OK, that’s not exactly what Big Sexy wrote. But in today’s Kansas City Star, while pledging “this column is in no way an attempt to divert attention away from Zack Greinke’s bid for history”, Jason Whitlock insists those free-spending K.C. Royals oughta sign Barry Bonds.
“While virtually every other steroid cheater continues to play the game without incident or much backlash, America’s home-run king is being treated like a heavyweight champion with the audacity to conscientiously object to the Vietnam War.” Or, if you prefer, a really old guy whose pathological behavior may or may not be mitigated by his appeal as a designated hitter.
Barry is serving the second year of what his critics hope is a lifetime banishment from the game that milked his home-run power when it made good business sense and discarded him when it needed a poster child for steroid abuse.
I wish the Royals had the courage to reinstate Bonds. He could help their anemic offense and potentially lift the Royals into the playoffs. Tuesday afternoon I milled around the Royals clubhouse asking players what they thought of Bonds and whether they’d have a problem playing with the all-time great.
Surprisingly, I couldn’t find a Bonds critic inside the clubhouse.
“I’d feel honored to play with him,” Royals catcher John Buck said. “You can’t take away what he’s done in the game.”
Billy Butler added: “I wouldn’t have a problem at all. I’d work with him. If he’d help our team win, I think it would be good for our team. Whatever is good for Kansas City.”
“I have no problem playing with anybody,” said outfielder José Guillen, who was briefly in trouble for suspected steroid use. “What is the problem with playing with Barry Bonds?”
Mike Jacobs and Butler DH and play first base for the Royals. They’re young and under contract. The Royals already have a defensive liability in their outfield, José Guillen. Working Bonds into the lineup would be difficult and maybe even a little painful.
It would be worth it. Greinke is bidding for a nice piece of history tonight and the new K will be half full. That would not be the case with Bonds in uniform.
I asked Dayton Moore if Bonds’ baggage would prevent the Royals from signing the slugger.
“No,” he said. “Not for me.”
Can Bonds still be a productive player?
“I don’t know,” Moore said. “I can’t answer that.”
Neither can Whitlock for that matter. But nice work, Jason, for failing to ID any member of the superstar-packed Royals roster willing to pull a Turk Wendell and trash the greatest offensive player of the modern era.
Even Rajon Rondo thinks Superman oughta sit the next one out. But did the Orlando Sentinel’s Mike Bianchi really have to run a pic of Dusty Rhodes’ and the American Dream’s Bionic Elbow? All these vintage wrestling references are a little played out, don’t you think?
“I was on my way to the rink this morning and my buddy called me and was a little upset I was missing Game 7,” said Green, a finalist for the Norris Trophy given to the NHL’s top defenseman.
“I had no idea what for. It kind of caught me off guard.”
ESPN SportsCenter hosts Josh Elliot and Hannah Storm relayed that Green and teammate Donald Brashear were suspended under a “Breaking News” banner Monday at 9:52 a.m.
Within a half hour, ESPN retracted the story.
“We didn’t follow our own fact-checking procedures and mistakenly reported the story” said ESPN spokesperson Dan Quinn.
….and that’s because he oughta save it for a blog. And not just any blog, mind you. You see, MLB Network’s Matt (above) is taking no shortage of abuse today for his ill-advised, wildly off-topic remarks last night comparing an unidentified, dark-skinned EMT worker to Donovan McNabb. Deadspin’s Dashiell Bennett was quick to note Vasgersian’s “poorly executed brand of ‘humor.’”
I’m not entirely clear how Vasgarian’s unfunny observation was altogether different from Deadspin’s founding editor giggling over Aaron Neville’s alleged resemblance to Cleveland from “Family Guy“. Unless it’s a all a matter of context (ie. Matt Vasgersian’s transgressions are more mock-worthy because he’s not handing out any links).
Not one to let Houston’s Rick Adelman do all the campaigning thru the media, Portlant head coach Nate McMillan yesterday risked a likely NBA fine when discussing officiating during the Blazers/Rockets series. From the Oregonian’s Mike Tokito :
“I don’t want Stu (Jackson) to be calling me or anything like that, but if you look at the stat sheet and you look at the way the calls have gone the last couple games, it’s not consistent,” McMillan said.
McMillan is particularly unhappy with the fouls called against his centers, Joel Przybilla (above) and Greg Oden, who have the already-challenging task of trying to contain Yao Ming, the Rockets’ 7-foot-6 All-Star center.
“Our guys, Greg and Joel, are getting called for touch fouls against Yao, and Artest and Battier are riding Brandon Roy every time he runs or he penetrates to the basket,” McMillan said. “I’m just saying that it needs to be called both ways.”
Officiating was a major topic for the Rockets after they lost Game 2 in Portland as Houston coach Rick Adelman complained Thursday that the Blazers had been allowed to manhandle Yao.
“In the first six minutes, they must have called seven or eight fouls on both teams,” Adelman told reporters. “Hand-checking, everything else. Then it was like, ‘Let’s don’t call anything else the rest of the game.’ They literally put their hands on him from outside the free-throw line all the way down.”
McMillan said he was well aware that Adelman had used the media to get this point across.
“No doubt, no doubt,” McMillan said. “He’s talked about that, (then) our guys have been whistled for those calls. What I’m saying is, if you’re going to call it on one end, then call it on both ends.”
On Sunday, the Houston Chronicle’s Richard Justice wrote a column in which he reflected Adelman’s contention that the Blazers were manhandling Yao, writing, “When did basketball become mixed martial arts?”
Martin Short (above) will be Tom Scharpling’s guest tonight on “The Best Show On WFMU” (8pm-11pm). Tom is promising much discussion of the 1994 classic “Clifford”, but please keep in mind they’ve only got 3 hours. There’s no way Mr. Short can answer every question on that topic.
Giants pitcher, Brian Wilson (above) was amongst the millions worldwide who’d fallen for the Twitter craze, but learned the hard way this weekend such free expression is under considerable scrutiny. From the San Jose Mercury News’ Andrew Baggerly :
Wilson posted some twitterings late Saturday night in which he said (paraphrasing from memory) “Scottsdale is fun but overaggressive males are not,” leaving the impression he was out on the town potentially getting into fights past 1 a.m. The Giants played a day game Sunday and Wilson blew a three-run lead in a 5-4 loss. A reporter blogged about it Sunday night, but didn’t accuse Wilson of anything. Wilson tweeted back, saying he was eating room service hamburgers. Later today, Wilson deleted all of his tweets prior to Sunday morning.
I went up to Wilson this afternoon and asked him one simple question: Is there anything you want to clarify to the fans?
“I just can’t believe anyone would question my character. What about all the positive media and things we’ve done? Sure, things happen in the offseason, everybody celebrates or whatever, but I’m not one to take my job and throw it down the drain. Especially based on how hard I work out, and the meal plan I try to stay consistent with.
“This Twitter crap, I’ve obviously got to stop because people are taking it too serious. My aspect of that is I write a bunch of stuff that’s not true. It’s made up. Obviously I’m not doing things like going toe-to-toe with a ninja. Find me a ninja, for one.
“Obviously, it’s my fault for making up a bunch of stuff but I know for a fact most of those followers know I’m not being serious. They just like hearing funny stuff. Some people don’t understand, but I’m not an idiot, so obviously, I’ve got to stop.”
Just to clarify, I asked if Wilson was out late Saturday night.
“No, I wasn’t out at all Saturday night. I was playing video games. But you know what, people will believe what they want to believe. That’s fine, I guess. The last thing I want to do is have people think I don’t take my job seriously.”
True to his word, Wilson’s Twitter account, twitter.com/brianwilson38, has been deleted.
If Not-Shea’s worst offense is the horrible sightlines — and kinda-sorta-obviously dishonest salesmanship of those seats — then Yankee Stadium’s are less well-known to me, if only because I kind of figured it’d be a while before I went to that stadium. I know their bleachers apparently have laughably, implausibly bad views of the field (and that some peculiarly self-important louts aren’t happy about this) and that the stadium’s most expensive seats are often empty. But in his blog for the Lower Hudson Valley Journal-News, Peter Abraham exposes another absurdity of Hankenstein Gardens and Ball Yard — first- and second-class bathrooms.
How far does the class warfare extend in Yankee Stadium? All the way to the men’s room.
According to the charmingly titled Fack Youk blog, there are dividers between the urinals in the field level bathrooms but not in the bathrooms elsewhere in the stadium.
It’s astonishing that somebody had a meeting to decide this. But apparently they did. Somebody needs to investigate the quality of the toilet paper. I’d bet anything the field level seats have two ply and everybody else gets recycled sandpaper.
Thanks to Jimmy Laakso for the link, and to Peter Abraham for the introduction to Fack Youk, which is clearly written by a tenured economist — I’m thinking probably this guy. Click the link above if you want to find out why rich people can’t be real fans. Oh, okay, here you go: “If you have a job that allows you to spend anywhere from $100K to $800K on two Yankees season tickets, you aren’t going to have much time in the day to read blogs or listen to sports talk radio. Wealthy folks also go out to dinner pretty often. When do they do that? Probably in the neighborhood of 7-10 at night, give or take, and three or four star restaurants aren’t going to have the game on TV.” Burn-ie Williams, overclass! (This whole thing is really embarrassing)
How much did an allleged smear job on the part of the Cleveland Browns influence Texas Tech WR Michael Crabtree slipping all the way to no. 10 overall in Saturday’s NFL Draft? Tech head coach Mike Leach (above) seems rather perturbed with the damage done to his pupil’s reputation if not earning power, telling the San Francisco Chronicle’s Matt Barrows that Crabtree’s been slandered. “Michael Crabtree has been more successful as a receiver than that guy has a coach at this point,” Leach said. ” … Part of the reason is he’s (Crabtree) too shy to be like that.”
Said Leach: “My definition of a diva is someone who’s loud and self-absorbed. Michael Crabtree is the furthest thing from loud that I’ve seen.”
As evidence, Leach noted that the tape he had on Crabtree blocking in the running game was better than the tape of Crabtree making catches. “I think it’s one of the strongest parts of the game,” Leach said. “I mean, to the point where it’s impressive.”
Leach described Crabtree as the “ultimate team player who would serve the 49ers well.” As for Mangini? “Let’s see how all those non-divas do up in Cleveland this year,” Leach said.
Patrick Clark, last seen around these parts getting praise for his terrific piece about baseball in the Dominican Republic (it was in Triple Canopy, the web magazine co-run by CSTB referrer and friend-of-the-program Sam Frank), has started a blog on the subject of international baseball. This is a good thing, and even better considering the (rumored) bombshell — which Clark tells me comes from someone he “trust[s] very much and [who] travels in the right circles” — that leads off his first post. Those who follow baseball won’t be surprised to see kleptocratic execu-goof Jim Bowden (above) in the mix.
I heard quite a rumor through the grapevine the other day, to wit that Jim Bowden and front-office types in other organizations may have made up Dominican prospects, signed them, and pocketed the bonuses.
That is, as I understand the rumor, they would have filed scouting reports on boys who did not exist so that they could embezzle cash from their employers. So long as the bonuses they assigned to these fictional prospects were small enough, they could simply stash the imaginary prospects in their Dominican academies and let the fictional players wash out after a couple of years…
The bonus-skimming scandal is not the simple victimization story that it is sometimes portrayed as, and it is bigger and more complicated than we understand…The Esmailyn González affair makes a useful example: the most telling aspect of that story is not that the boy and his advisor lied about the prospect’s name and birth date, but that when the Nationals inked the player for $1.4 million, they reportedly doubled González’ next highest offer. To speculate, if González (now known as Carlos Lugo) did not receive the entire $1.4 million (minus his advisor’s take), has he been ripped off? I think it’s more accurate to say that he’s been used to rip off the Nationals.
There’s more, and it’s worth reading; Clark has followed up on the story and will hopefully be chasing it as much and as hard as his day-job allows. After all my philoso-waxing about the difference between blogs and non-blogs and blog prose and non-blog prose earlier today, this is a nice reminder that blog posts can still serve a news (rather than musing-oriented, philoso-literary) purpose even when they don’t meet the probative/sourcing standards of print journalism. Yeah, it’s irritating when Murray Chass beats on about Mike Piazza’s (alleged) backne, but that’s mostly because Chass just seems to be curmudgeoning, rather than trying to move a story forward. In the right context, and with the right intentions, a rumor is worth reporting even if — as is the case with Clark’s revelation — it’s coming from a single, anonymous source. Especially if an enterprising journalist with some real resources at his or her disposal can follow up on it and bring some truth to light. If what Clark heard is true, this is a big story. We just have to hope it actually becomes one.
Former New York Yankees pitcher Hideki Irabu (above, left) has come out of retirement and made a contract with Long Beach Armada of the independent Golden Baseball League, his management revealed on April 27. Released by the Hanshin Tigers in the 2004 offseason, the 39-year-old Irabu started training at the start of the year with an eye on making his comeback and is set to return to the mound in May for his first competitive game in five years.
I know, it’s shocking. Hideki Irabu has management?
We’re finally learned the real reason behind Chris Cotter’s departure from SNY ; there’s no possible way to replicate that haircut in Legoland. (image copped from Equisse via Brooklyn Mutt)
For the generation of writers who came of age recently enough for blogs to inform the way we writer, the challenge of splitting a bloggy voice from the professional-writer voice is weirdly simple. I write bloggy prose in the same way that I write email prose, whereas when I know someone’s going to be editing or fact-checking or (to get right to it) paying me for something, I have to kind of tamp things down a bit. Editorial imperative can tend to sort of flatten things a bit, too, but by and large I don’t really mind that something like this — which I’m proud of and worked hard on and so forth — doesn’t necessarily sound that much like me. I expect as much and don’t have much say in it, finally, and so look to venues like CSTB as outlets for writing in my actual voice. I’m not necessarily a young dude anymore, but switching between voices and perspectives and approaches comes pretty naturally. This isn’t because I’m a brilliant prose stylist (although that obviously doesn’t hurt) so much as it’s because I grew up when I grew up.
For older writers who are being asked to get their blog on by publications eager to get the sort of constant-update pace that the internet apparently demands, it’s not necessarily so easy. For every Dave D’Allessandro who takes naturally to it, there’s either someone who takes to it too much and gets rambly, lazy and weird (Peter King would be a good example here) or who takes to it not at all. (Witness the painfulness of sixtysomething newspaperman-turned-MLB.com-writer Marty Noble’s blogging, which could only be more awkward if he were wearing a baseball hat backwards and rapping or something). Or Murray Chass, who seems to have taken his worst and most ill-informed impressions of what a blog is — it’s a basement-smelling place where people make unsubstatiated arguments and rip dudes without mercy, right? — and made it his own bloggy reality, without ever actually having read any other blogs to see whether there was anyone else serving his particular flavor of awful.
But while I can’t always get through the torrent of words that defines his bloggy style, I think the Kansas City Star’s Joe Posnanski might have the best relationship of any veteran writer to the bifurcated blog/not-blog writing experience. He’s still turning out very professional, very excellent newspaper work — I love this profile of Zack Greinke, for instance — but also using his blog in the right way. Some of this is just to blow off steam in a goofy way, but some of it is to explore things that are probably a bit too navel-gazey or plain-bloggy to work as newspaper columns. His recent rumination on Brian Bannister (above) and sportswriterly allegiances to players and teams is, I think, an example of this stuff at its best. Even the excesses work, because Posnanski has so fully bought-in to the medium and its style, and so seriously approached this (less-offical, presumably un-compensated) assignment. Here’s some:
I might with enough effort myself as a hard-working second baseman who dives for every ground ball, and I might imagine myself as a weak-armed quarterback who could inspire a team in the final minutes, and I might even envision spending hundreds and hundreds of hours in a driveway shooting jump shots until I was so good at it that I could make it to the NBA.
And so it is with Banny. He’s really more talented than he lets on — his fastball was in the lower 90s on Wednesday and he can get good movement on it and much of the time he has well-above average command. And let’s face it: You can’t pitch in the big leagues — and pitch successfully — without other-worldly talent. But, in context, the basic story is true: Bannister does not have a killer fastball or a devastating out pitch. He is not imposing.* He did not have many people believe in him along the way.
*He is listed at 6-foot-2 on his Baseball Reference Page … and I say with affection in my heart as a 5-foot-9 sportswriter who sometimes claims to be 5-foot-10 that there’s no way. None.
…It just so happened, because of a variety of coincidences, that I was in Cleveland for Bannister’s start (last Wednesday). He was really good. He threw six shutout innings. He gave up just four hits, walked two, struck out one.
And when the game ended, he was not especially happy. He was not unhappy, of course. I think he was proud of the way he pitched, even if he knew that throwing shutout innings with so few strikeouts is not really sustainable. But — and this is the part I could really associate with — he knows the situation…I would say that the feeling he had was something closer to relief. He had pitched his heart out, and it worked out on this night, and he could live to fight another day. That’s what it’s all about to me: Sure, I admire talent, and I appreciate genius, and I enjoy dominating performances. But I identify with this kind of struggle. There’s nothing easy for Brian … and that’s a big reason why I root for him.
Mets starting P Oliver Perez — 7 runs, 9 hits and 3 walks in 4.1 IP during yesterday’s 8-1 loss to Washington — has charitably been labeled “enigmatic” in this space. There’s no mincing words, however, from the New York Post’s Joel Sherman, who cannot reconcile the lefty’s $36 contract and 9.31 ERA, saying of Perez, “he does not have an impressive pitching IQ. He has little craft. He generally has no clue where the ball is going once it leaves his hand.”
The Mets re-invested in Perez in the offseason under the belief that Dan Warthen, who became the pitching coach last June, had — in the words of Manuel — “unlocked [Perez] and he became pretty consistent.”
But there was a time when the Mets thought the same of Rick Peterson, who was replaced by Warthen. There is no unlocking Perez. There is just conning yourself that you have.
The rotation is Johan Santana and the Pips, and the most infuriating Pip is Perez. Manuel was so mad after an 8-1 loss that he said he wanted a night’s sleep before the next move, which could be anything from subtle (taking advantage of a Thursday off day to skip Perez’s next turn) to drastic (putting him in the pen) to nuclear (using the option Perez has left to send him to the minors).
“I have to figure out how long [to be patient] and what is patience,” Manuel said about a starter who certainly is testing the Met hierarchy’s tolerance.
Perez was most responsible for giving an atrocious team life, for preventing the Mets from sweeping the Washington Generals, uh, Nationals. He is the biggest worry, because the Pips are the largest concern the Mets have right now, and Perez is the most disturbing Pip.
The Newark Star-Ledger’s Jennifer Golson reports former Jersey Nets standout Jayson Williams — no stranger to this blog in the wake of the shooting of limosine driver Costas Cristofsi — was brought to a Manhattan hospital last night after police responded to reports of “an emotionally disturbed person”.
Police responded to the hotel on North End Avenue at about 4 a.m., said a New York City police spokeswoman. Williams, 41, was transported to St. Vincent’s Hospital.
Longtime friend Akhtar Farzaie said he last spoke to Williams last night, and he seemed fine. The former basketball star was in town to see his children, Farzaie said.
But then Farzaie said he got the call this morning that the father of two was in the hospital. “My first reaction as a friend was to get in the car and head out and be by his side,” Farzaie said .
“Last I spoke to Jay, Jay was completely fine. There was nothing that would make me … call the police or any authority,” he said.
[To wrap up the Cubs weekend series in Missouri, I turn one last time to Dick Murdoch's 1970's sojourn to the "nothing happening state." In this case, to better understand what victory means amidst the skullduggery of St. Louis sports.]
Yesterday’s 10-3 Cub win over the Cards ties up the Stl-Chi series for the year, but it wasn’t pretty. After the Cubs took a 3-0 lead in the 1st , Derrek Lee was taken out of the game with neck spasms (he says he “slept funny“). In the 2nd, the Cards’ Todd Wellemeyer hit Soriano in the head. Considering the Cubs’ Marmol hit Pujols last week, and Rich Harden hit Pujols again in yesterday’s 5th, it looks like a long summer of “accidents” surrounding Tony Walnuts and his crew. Piniella allowed Soriano to play out the game, and swears Derrek Lee won’t be on the DL with Bradley and Ramirez. Marmol is also expected back soon.
On the plus side, Fukodome had a 5 RBI day for the North Side and today’s bullpen showcase (Cotts, Heilman, and Gregg) put the Cubs 10 run outting in Rich Harden’s win column (2-1), making the Cubs a .500 again. Well, that may not sound impressive, but they did it in 2 and 2/3 innings with only 3 hits allowed. It just means they did their job, which is impressive to me. The Herald’s Bruce Miles has a full accounting here. Miles notes that Harden actually buzzed Pujols several times Sunday. The Trib’s embedded team reporter, Paul Sullivan, takes Harden’s word it was an accident, here:
Harden (2-1) did the rest, allowing only two runs on four hits over six innings and striking out nine. Perhaps his most important pitch was the one that plunked Albert Pujols in the fifth inning. Though Harden said it was not in retaliation for the beaning of Soriano, the result was the same. Pujols stopped and stared at Harden before taking his base.
“He didn’t say anything, he just looked at me,” Harden said, adding that the pitch was not intentional.
“I’m giving everything I’ve got out there,” he said. “I really wanted to challenge him and go in, and if I miss him, miss in. Especially with the type of hitter he is, you don’t want to give him stuff down the middle, you know?”
Soriano said he didn’t think Wellemeyer was trying to hit him, but called it a “scary” moment.
This afternoon’s ACW Hardcore Title bout between Steve Amos aka Jacob Ladder and Smurf Nation figurehead J.C. Bravo had no shortage of quality props, amongst them, a ladder (natch) wrapped in barbed wire, your obligatory staplers and cheese graters, etc. But even a jaded observer like myself had to stop and say (loudly) “WTF?” when Ladder employed his young son (above) to batter Bravo with a kendo stick (or as the Sandman might’ve called it, a Singapore Cane).
For those whose initial reaction to Boston’s Jacoby Ellsbury stealing home tonight off Andy Pettitte was some combination of shock & delight ( perhaps more of the former for Yankee fans), Peter Abraham was quick to recall that Toronto’s Aaron Hill victimized Pettitte in similar fashion two years ago.
Amidst his usual laundry list of one-liners and insults (”Chris ‘Birdman’ Andersen looks like Christopher Walken in ‘The Deer Hunter’ just before he lost his one-on-one duel with Russian Roulette”), the New York Post’s Peter Vecsey dropped the following disturbing item into Sunday’s Hoop Du Jour column.
It shouldn’t go unstated or unnoticed that nary a single soul from the NBA, NBPA, NBA Retired Players Association, Knicks, Sonics, Nuggets, or a solitary current or former NBA player showed up for the funeral services of Marvin Webster, reports Charles Bennett, a former union official/player agent and current Tulsa CPA who had The Human Eraser’s back and bankbook throughout his troubled years.
“David Stern did send a real nice flower spread. So did the Oklahoma City team. And I think the Knicks sent a rose,” Bennett said.
The Baltimore crowd of 300-plus, including most of his college and high school teammates, was extremely disappointed as they searched in vain for NBA representation, Bennett added.”I tried to represent the league but the crowd didn’t buy it. Here is an area where a small investment by the league would’ve yielded priceless goodwill amongst retirees and fans of the game, and it struck out looking.”
Of Oakland’s first round selection of WR Darrius Heyward-Bey (Maryland) and second-round pick, S Michael Mitchell (Ohio), the San Francisco Chronicle’s David White scoffs, “the Raiders either dislocated their shoulder with two draft-day reaches Saturday, or they know something no one else in the NFL does.” In the eyes of the San Jose Mercury-News‘ far more cynical (and some might say truthful) Tim Kawakami, the Raiders’ questionable decisions are evidence that head coach Tom Cable “got this job because he’s the guy who’s willing to let Al Davis make loopy picks like this and pretend that Cable had anything to do with them.”
With the 7th overall pick, and with the Raiders looking at the possibility of taking a supremely productive and tougher WR in Michael Crabtree or a fast and productive WR in Jeremy Maclin or a top OT in Eugene Monroe or a huge DT in B.J. Raji or TRADE DOWN…
Al reached humongously for fast non-productive WR Darrius Heyward-Bey out of Maryland. (There is not a great history of non-productive fast guys going to the NFL and then producing TDs, but Al keeps trying!)
* Then in the 2nd round, Al traded out of the No. 40 spot (to New England), went back 7 spots, then selected S Mike Mitchell out of Ohio University, a total speed-physical guy who was not listed by several draft analysts. Not in the top 10, not in the top 100… NOT LISTED.
I’m sorry, but this guy does not seem like the second coming of Ed Reed to me. More like the second coming of some guy Al could’ve drafted in the fifth or sixth round, but was too stubborn to want to do that.
If Cable had any juice in this organization, he would’ve pushed hard for Monroe or Crabtree or Maclin–all picks that would’ve shown that Al wasn’t going to let his obsession for stop-watch speed warp his judgement yet again.
(Fabian Washington! Derrick Gibson! Napoleon Kaufman! Jessie Hester! James Jett!)
Holding a commanding 3-0 lead over Detroit and looking every part the leading candidate to represent the Eastern Conference in this June’s Finals, the Cleveland Cavaliers can afford a bit of levity at the expense of one of their own, as the Plain-Dealer’s Brian Windhorst details.
During their afternoon film session at a suburban Detroit hotel Saturday, Ilgauskas’ teammates roared during the clip of him “executing” a fast break in Friday’s Game 3 victory over the Pistons. On the play, Ilgauskas chased down a loose ball and ran to the other end.
Inexplicably, when he reached the foul line, Ilgauskas left his feet and apparently started to panic. Luckily for him, LeBron James caught up with him and saved the day with a basket and foul, and Ilgauskas got a rather sheepish assist. And the new moniker.
“We’re calling him ‘Magic’ Ilgauskas,” Cavs coach Mike Brown said. “The clip of him jumping in the air and floating for two-tenths of a second and making the pass to LeBron . . . my stomach just turned.”
“It was a heck of a play for a 7-foot-3, 72-year-old,” Mo Williams said. “Actually, it was the right play for him; he stopped dribbling.”
[Dick Murdoch, pictured, on St. Louis fans, officials, punks, and sissies.]
When it comes to losing and making excuses for it in the “nothing happening state of Missouri,” and on the weekend Milton Bradley breaks his media silence, I again defer to that poet laureate of athletes visiting St. Louis, Mr. Dick Murdoch. Also, anyone taking offense at Mr. Murdoch’s reference to southern Texans as “sissies and punks,” as he does here to a young Kevin von Erich, is welcome to “go on home, boy, and cry to your momma and your daddy.” That, or you can e-mail CSTB in Austin.
Look, as for today’s game, there’s no way to explain the Cubs’ 8-2 loss in St. Louis except by whining and complaining, which the Cubs official web site does well: “Shorthanded Cubs avoid using DL.” Still, I’m happy to join in, as it took Zambrano at shortstop (!) and a missing Marmol, Bradley, and Aramis Ramirez for the Cubs to strand 10 for a 4th consecutive loss and STL’s 5th consecutive win.
“I’m just not into negativity,” he said. “I can see already I’m going to be that guy that since nothing else is going on in here — ‘We’re going to harp on Bradley all year and see if we can get him to snap.’ I’m not going to go for it.
“You can’t get a good story if I don’t talk to [the media],” he said. “You’ll make something up like you always do. If I talk to you, you’re going to make something up, and if I don’t talk to you, you’re going to make something up. So just go ahead and make something up and leave me out of it.”
There was no talk about putting Bradley on the disabled list to give him time to heal. He had been bothered by the sore groin before the April 12 game, and does not appear close to being ready to come back. Piniella said he is available to pinch-hit.
Bradley also is waiting for a hearing on his appeal of a two-game suspension issued by Major League Baseball disciplinarian Bob Watson after the outfielder argued a called third strike by home plate umpire Larry Vanover on April 16. That’s a matter of principle.
“It was a surprise to me,” Bradley said of the suspension. “I had no idea I touched him. They need a video forensic scientist to find a frame that shows I touched him with the bill of my helmet. It is what it is. I’m appealing because I didn’t feel that I touched him. I just want to say that I didn’t do it, and didn’t do it intentionally.”
The above image is culled from The Offside, who report Liverpool F.C. — co-owned by that lovely chap Tom Hicks — are peddling a limited edition, 18-carrot gold cell phone. In the event Liverpool can’t move all 250 created of these , they can always cover the overstock in Texas Stars stickers.
My interest in the NFL Draft bounces between slight and none depending on the year, though I usually end up watching far too many hours of what is really one of the weirdest, most awkward televised events this side of the Eurovision Song Contest. If you’re like me, however, one of the annual highlights — much like waiting for Jerry Lewis’ anti-media speech smack in the middle of the night during the MDS telethon — is hearing/watching Jets fans go apeshit when their club invariably picks the wrong dude. Since there’s a chance that might not happen this year, feel free to play this video as many times as you like.
Mike Pelfrey’s return to the Mets’ starting rotation has been mostly successful so far, with the former Wichita State standout staked to a 5-1 lead through 4 1/2 innings. Last night, Johan Santana whiffed ten while allow just one run and 3 hits in the Mets’ 4-3 defeat of the Nationals, an occasion that afforded the hosts’ public relations department yet another opportunity to talk their way out of a jam, as Newsday’s David Lennon explains.
Johan Santana’s 10 strikeouts Friday nearly got three graduate students from Syosset kicked out of Citi Field for posting K cards on the leftfield facade.
Santana was up to six by the middle of the third inning when Keith Heller, Ryan Krochak and Larry Ziegelbaum said they were told by security to remove the white signs with Ks made of duct tape because they were blocking an electronic ribbon board. When the trio asked if they could move the signs away from the scoreboard, they said their request was refused and the signs were confiscated by the security officers.
“People were yelling at them [security], telling them they were ruining a tradition,” Ziegelbaum said. “Everyone was supporting it.”
Mets spokesman Jay Horwitz explained that Citi Field does not have a policy against signs of any kind, but in this instance, they were blocking the ribbon board.
“They were afraid the signs would damage the board,” Horwitz said.
(Denim’s Lawrence Hayward – anyone leave any messages?)
“Never has a single fabric done so little for so many.” So proclaimed the Wall Street Journal’s Daniel Akst earlier this week, opining that denim “looks bad on almost everyone who isn’t thin, yet has somehow made itself the unofficial uniform of the fattest people in the world.” Calling denim, “the SUV of fabrics, the wardrobe equivalent of driving a hulking Land Rover to the Whole Foods Market”, Akst’s anti-Levi’s baton is snatched by the Guardian’s Philly-based scribe, Steven Wells, who confesses, “ I am afraid that the conservatives have us by the clearly outlined (by too-tight denim) balls.”
Years of gig going has provided me with the invariably correct rule of thumb that if a band amble on stage dressed in blue denim we are certain to be subjected to a dope-fogged aural sludgefest. Can’t be arsed to dress properly usually means can’t be arsed to write music properly. Which is why, of course, indie is awash with denim. And why one of the worst bands in the world was, in fact, called Denim. Actually, now I’ve researched it, there are loads of bands called Denim and they’re all dreadful. Go ahead and google them, but keep the sick bucket handy.
On the other hand there are bands who wear denim but are not shit. Motörhead and Status Quo spring to mind. But then these guys also rock ponytails. Which suggests that they are, for some reason, beyond criticism. Probably because they’re best mates with really scary bikers.
From now on all bands must wear leather, gold lamé or fake tiger (or leopard) print trousers – no exceptions. Or shark-skin or two-tone suits. (No shorts under any circumstances, but total nakedness is, as always, perfectly acceptable. Especially if you’re really fat.) U2, on the other hand, must wear jeans at all times. So that people can see just how much they suck.
Though I suspect the NHL’s octopus-hating commish would love to see the big market Rangers go deep in the playoffs, the prospect of the Caps’ Alexander Ovechkin trying to top Friday’s heroics is one way (at least) the U.S.’s 5th or 6th most popular spectator sport can hold its own on the nightly highlights shows.
It’s the sort of signing that only the most delusional of Detroit sports fans would figure to change anything of great consequence. But enough about Rob Parker’s new blogging gig for WDIV, the Detroit Lions have managed to take all the suspense out of the start of tomorrow’s NFL Draft. From the Detroit News’ John Niyo :
Former Georgia QB Matt Stafford’s agent, Tom Condon, and Lions officials agreed to terms on a six-year contract Friday that includes $41.7 million in guaranteed money, the richest rookie contract in NFL history, two league sources said.
The maximum value of the deal with incentives is $78 million, which tops the six-year, $72 million deal — with $34.75 million guaranteed — that Matt Ryan, another Condon client, received last year as the No. 3 overall pick.
Stafford is aware he’s not the first choice for a lot of Lions fans. There were chants of “We want Curry!” and “Don’t draft Stafford!” at the team’s new uniform unveiling Monday in Madison Heights.
Stung by press reports that his ex-girlfriend had labelled him “heartless”, the Chelsea and England midfielder telephoned a radio station yesterday to defend his personal conduct following his split with Elen Rives, the mother of his two daughters.
The story was discussed by LBC presenter James O’Brien on his morning phone-in show, prompting the Chelsea captain to call the radio station and berate him. Lampard, 30, said: “My sister just called me and said she was distressed by your comments calling me weak and scum. Is that right?”
O’Brien tried to explain his comments, but Lampard, clearly upset at the intrusion into his private life, said: “You don’t even know me.” The Premier League star was particularly incensed by O’Brien’s suggestion that he was a bad father and added: “Every penny I earn and every yard I run on the football pitch is for my kids. The hardest part of this whole break-up for me is not waking up with my kids every day.
“I hope that one day your wife or girlfriend doesn’t come to you and say, ‘I don’t want to be with you anymore, and unfortunately that means you won’t see the kids for a few days a week.’ That will hurt you.”
O’Brien admitted that it would “break my heart” and the footballer responded: “Yeah, and it’s breaking my heart. Do you think I’m happy?”
Lampard went on to say that yesterday was the first anniversary of his mother’s death. Pat Lampard died of pneumonia aged 58. He added: “That’s had a huge impact on my relationship at home. Today the only reason I ring you is because my sister is distressed. Do you think my sister needs to hear idiots like you … on the radio?”
The presenter said he was unaware of the date’s significance and “apologised unreservedly”. Lampard added: “Sometimes you should think about things before you speak about them.“
Wednesday, during the Mets’ loss in St. Louis, Jerry Manuel was interviewed on SNY. The initial theme, inescapable and hinted at by Gary Cohen, was the Mets’ loss the night before, another predicated on inattentive and unprepared play and take-it-for-granted base-running.
Or, as Bob Ojeda said in Tuesday’s SNY postgame, why, when Carlos Beltran was tagged out at the plate late in a tie game, wasn’t the next batter, Luis Castillo, giving Beltran the “down” (slide) signal?
Cohen and then Manuel spoke of the Mets having to “buy into” playing hard and Manuel having to “sell” the notion of being prepared to win.
It was polite code, the kind previously spoken to Willie Randolph. That pros, highly paid and presumably well-coached, have to be “sold” or must “buy into” paying attention and playing harder is sad. If one didn’t know that Cohen and Manuel were talking about a big-league team, we’d have thought the Mets are Bunk 6 at Camp I-Dah-Wanna.
Instead of politely asking why the Mets play this way, perhaps it’s time to start politely asking when they’re going to cut it out.
It’s a rather curious theme, even by Phil’s standards. Criticism of the Mets is more than warranted, certainly. Castigating SNY for a perceived failure to hold the manager’s feet to the fire after all of 15 games seems slightly hysterical. It’s not as though the Mets’ inhouse channel is turning a blind eye towards the team’s poor start, and when in recent history has any local broadcaster — SNY, YES, MSG, SportsChannel, etc. — encouraged a reporter to say point blank to the manager, “you’re doing a lousy job, aren’t you?” Well, other than ownership feeding anti-Torre questions to Kim Jones, that is.
A headline reading “Intern May Lose Baby In Sports Museum Bankruptcy” is sensational enough fearmongering to win my approval. Especially after we learn from Eye On Sports Media the baby in question is a commemorative David Wells Beanie Baby, loaned to the newly bankrupt Sports Museum of America by a volunteer worker.
It’s a cruel blow for young Marissa Friday, who might have to pay $250 to recover an item that’s rightfully hers. And with that in mind, I am taking up a collection to purchase Ms. Friday an anatomically-correct David Wells plush doll.
More than a week after insisting Citi Field’s poor sightlines weren’t in fact, obstructed views, Mets V.P. David Howard once again rises to the occasion when it comes to infuriating p.r.-babble. In Friday’s New York Times, Ken Belson considers the oft-heard allegation Citi features little in the way of Mets artifacts.
Where, other fans complain, are the banners that used to hang inside Shea that could be seen from the escalators? (They were sold at auction.) What happened to the 1969 photo montage that adorned the outside of the right-field stands? (Gone like the stadium.) Where is the bronze statue of Mike Piazza hitting his famous home run in September 2001? (Not on the drawing board yet.)
The Mets are aware of these complaints, including the chatter on sports radio stations. But opening the stadium on time took precedence over adornments.
“It was something we always intended, but it wasn’t given a priority,” said Dave Howard, the Mets’ vice president for operations.
Howard said the team was working to add more memorabilia, including a display of Topps baseball cards of Mets from each year since 1962. Banners like the ones outside the stadium could be hung on the concourses inside.
The busts in the team’s Hall of Fame, which has not added a member since 2002, could be replaced by plaques with relief sculptures and descriptions. Life-size statues, like the ones at AT&T Park and Busch Stadium, are possible.
These additions will take time, though, which means the Mets may have to endure more taunts from their fans. Howard sounded sanguine.
“I’m never surprised and always encouraged by the passion of Met fans,” he said. “It’s great that people care this much and we listen to it.”
Which is all well and good, except I misidentified the author. The entry in question was composed by Newsday’s Anthony Rieber, not Jim Baumbach. I’d like to offer Jim a very sincere apology for the error.
The Boston Globe’s Marc J. Spears is reporting backup guard Tony Allen —- 0 points, 3 rebounds in Boston’s 107-86 Game 3 defeat of the Bulls last night — has been the target of death threats in Chicago, and required additional security surrounding the Celtics’ bench Thursday evening.
Sources said Allen has been receiving the threats in Chicago for some time. The former Crane High star also received threats prior to a March 17 game at Chicago, sources said, but he didn’t make the trip because of a thumb injury.
“Is that what you’re going to write about? Is that what you’re going to write about?” said Allen, before walking away after being asked about the threats.
On April 25, 2007, Allen was found not guilty of aggravated battery in a Chicago court. The ruling came on the second day of a trial stemming from a fight in August 2005 outside a Chicago restaurant. The fight escalated into a shooting at the White Palace Grill in the West Loop Aug. 28.
[As the Cubs depart for St. Louis, some thoughts on the Gateway to the West from Captain Redneck, Dick Murdoch.]
First, my thanks to Reds manager Dusty Baker for picking the Cubs to win the division before proceeding to beat the North Siders today 7-1, and taking 2 of 3 in the Reds first 2009 series at Wrigley. Zambrano actually did OK until a bad pickoff attempt led to a Cincinnati unearned run. After that, you could feel the Cubs unravel. Today’s bullpen humor included Neal Cotts, Aaron Heilman, and Jeff Samardzija. Called in to close after a stay in the Iowa AAA corn, Samardzija promptly gave away 2 insurance runs on a day when most Trib employees are scrambling to keep their coverage.
[Sully, waiting for Bradley to emerge from his meeting.]
Yes, 53 other Chicago Tribune workers are getting pinkslips. And to add insult to their injury, in a Ted Baxter moment, Cub beat reporter Paul Sullivan is keeping his job. Sully demonstrates why, via his genius for turning hot air into hot button news, with today’s coverage of the sit-down between Milton Bradley and Lou Piniella. Sully makes Bradley out an eccentric in sentence one, noting MB’s entrance in nothing but “a white towel wrapped around his waist and a blue towel covering his head.” Apparently, Pinieilla told Bradley, a frequently injured player, he’s benched until he’s 100% healthy. From the mgr who got a full season out of Rich Harden, this isn’t too surprising. Still, just how bad does Sullivan want to see Bradley spanked? Sully drama-queens this ten minute meeting into a “seminal moment” for the team, headlined: “Cubs’ Piniella lays down the law to Milton Bradley.” Read Sully’s breathless account here:
So what did Piniella have to say?
That Bradley will sit until he’s 100 percent, that he will run out ground balls, and that he’ll be moved down to the No. 6 hole when he eventually returns to the lineup.
In what could be a seminal moment in the Cubs’ 2009 season, Bradley got his first real lesson of Life under Lou.
Asked about the nice chat, Piniella gave a CliffsNotes version of the meeting:
“I had a conversation with Milton. He’s not 100 percent. When he’s 100 percent I’ll put him out there to play. Until then, I’ll use (Reed) Johnson and I’ll use (Micah) Hoffpauir in the outfield.”
Bradley did not run hard on a grounder in the fourth inning of Wednesday’s game, and did not go hard after a pop foul. He was booed twice by fans and blew off the media afterward. Piniella was asked if Bradley’s not running hard was what put him over the edge.
“Nothing has put me over the edge,” he replied. ”I don’t play people unless they’re totally healthy. That’s been my M.O. throughout my managerial career. With Milton, when he’s ready to play, we’ll put him out there.
“I told him basically that I’m going to take him out of the fourth hole when he gets back and put him in the sixth hole, where he’ll be a little more comfortable. And we’ll go from there. But when I get him out there, I expect him to run hard and play hard, the way he always has.”
Was Bradley understanding of the move?
“Yeah, he was understanding, yes,” Piniella replied.
The post-playing career of Paul Gascoigne has never ceased to be tabloid fodder, with the England international’s episodes of domestic violence and chronic self-abuse fashioning as much of his legacy as his achievements on the pitch. As such, Gazza appearances on last Sunday morning’s Soccer AM (Sky) and Sunday evening’s Match of the Day 2 (BBC) seemed like disasters waiting to happen. EPL Talk’s Ross Gallacher called Gascoigne “more cogent than ever” and claims the Geordie legend was on “absolute top form”. Sure enough, When Saturday Comes‘ Brian Gibbs respectfully disagrees, accusing the shows’ programmers of “presenting a freakshow”.
The kindest thing that could be said about Gascoigne’s MOTD2 debut, and his appearance on Soccer AMthe previous day, is that it was an improvement on his previous television punditry. But it was still painful to witness and it’s inconceivable that the BBC would not have expected that to be the case when they booked him. Presumably these latest media appearances are designed to aid in his rehabilitation, giving him a chance to appear in public to simply talk about football rather than once again recite the long list of problems that he is beset by.
But, however keen he is to remain in the limelight, feeding his need for public attention is unlikely to help him. He didn’t have coherent things to say about the football matches he watched, at least not enough to justify his presence on the pundit’s couch. But that’s not what he was there for. Like one of the zoo animals that behave unpredictably on a live children’s TV show, he was designed to be a talking point. It’s just a question of who was the more degraded by the experience, Paul Gascoigne or the BBC.
In February of ‘08, I wrote “With the possible exception of Mike Tyson, it’s hard to come up with a global sporting icon whose fall from grace has been nearly as dramatic. Gibbs makes a slight different analogy, opining of James Toback’s new documentary on Iron Mike, “however mentally damaged Tyson may be, he is also complex and articulate, someone whose interviews can make compelling viewing. That is not a claim that can be made for Britain’s best known screwed-up sports star.”
If one more person complains about the new stadiums’ ticket prices or sightlines or lack of Mets history and I’m going to go off. I mean it. I’ve never heard so many people whine about something that is (overall) so positive for New York baseball fans.
I’m just curious — and I hope this doesn’t sound like a complaint — how many games at Citi Field or the new Yankee Stadium has Mr. Rieber attended this season, where did he sit and how much did he pay for his tickets? Grousing about either ballpark is probably getting a little tired for some, but I’d imagine there’s a higher percentage of Rieber’s readership who’d consider $23 for an upper deck, obstructed view seat to see Mets play the Padres on a weeknight a rotten deal than those who find such circumstances irrelevant. Which baseball fans actually benefit from the “positive experience” of being unable to attend the games?
That said, a cursory glance at CSTB sponsor FanSnap today revealed a plethora of Mets and Yankee tickets being sold for below face value, with some of the former’s upper tier seats going for as little as $6. Transportation and concessions costs aside, it might be possible this summer to see a Mets game for less than it would cost to check out the NY-Penn League Brooklyn Cyclones
