This is about as scary as things get at MSG without hiding a camera in Steve Mills’ office. The always down with the cultural zeitgeist John McEnroe helps a far from capacity crowd at the Knicks home opener recall “The Young Ones”. Trailing the Sixers, 40-25, at the end of the first quarter, the hosts have apparently decided to pay Halloween homage to the Washington Generals.
The Lakers were humbled at home by the Mavericks Friday, a contest that saw new LA addition Ron Artest, in foul trouble early, rendered a non-factor offensively. Earlier in the month, the shy, retiring Mark Cuban predicted Artest would prove a divisive force for the Lakers, a charge the Dallas owner repeated yesterday after being asked to respond to Artest’s question, “what team do I fit on? should i not be in the NBA?” From the OC Register’s Janis O’Carr :
Cuban said Friday that he indeed was glad to see Artest on the Western Conference rival because there always is the possibility that Artest’s volatile nature will get the better of him and he will cause problems for the team.
“History repeats itself,” Cuban said. “I’m not saying something you guys haven’t considered, right? That’s just the risk. Every team has to deal with chemistry and the impact of the chemistry on the team. Normally, you try to minimize that.
“Ron is an amazing talent, he’s a great guy. I don’t really know him, but the way he’s handled this is phenomenal. I give him a ton of credit. But it is what it is.”
So what team does Cuban think Artest would fit best?
“I don’t know the culture of every team, so I don’t know where he would fit in best …. Maybe Detroit?”
Big League ‘Stew consider this viral campaign for Call Of Duty to be in questionable taste, and I can’t really argue with that. But on the bright side, after showing all the personality and range of a cardboard box in commercials for ESPN The Magazine and New Era, Hamels has clearly been working with some sort of acting guru. With a little practice, he might manage something as impressive as this someday.
There are sooo many enticing storylines to consider before tonight’s Game 3 of the World Series. Cole Hamels’ recent struggles. Charlie Manuel’s alleged diss of Andy Pettitte. A-Rod’s interior decorating. But leave it to the New York Post to come up with the most intriguing talking point of the weekend — former Yankee David Wells’ low opinion of Philly fans. “The people in that town would give The Finger to their own mom,” argues Boomer (above), “It’s not Brotherly Love in that town — it’s Brotherly Hate.”
When I was in Philadelphia earlier this postseason with Cal Ripken Jr., Dennis Eckersley and Ernie Johnson for TBS, we got booed. We were just doing our show out in center field and people were walking by saying “You fat piece of [bleep]. . . . Tell Cal he’s gay. . . . Ernie Johnson sucks.”
I’m like, “Who the hell are these people?” We’ve got no part of baseball.
We’re doing the game and TBS stuff and these Phillies fans are just f-bombing us to death.
They are angry people. It’s going to be tough, because they are very vocal, foul and can maybe cause havoc on some of the younger guys, but I don’t think they will give the Yankees any problem. The only problem will be for these Phillies fans, when they lose. The Yankees will shut them up.
I put Philadelphia, Cleveland and Oakland atop my list for the worst fans in baseball, with Philadelphia No. 1.
Curiously, rather than cite any examples of CBP being a hostile environment for visiting teams, Wells makes it very clear it’s a very tough place to broadcast. Would it be out of place to suggest Philadelphians are not necessarily terrible baseball fans, but rather, have a very low tolerance level for poor analysis?
(Cubs GM Jim Hendry and Milton Bradley, back before they got to know each other)
When Buster Olney floats the possibility of an (admittedly unlikely) Oliver Perez-for-Milton Bradley swap. the circumstances are rather obvious ; the only way the Cubs will be able to jettison an obvious scapegoat escape their contractual obligations to their tempermental outfielder is if they take on an equally brutal salary in exchange. The Toronto Sun’s Bob Elliot quotes one unnamed Cubs insider as saying there’s some truth to rumors of a Bradley-for-Vernon Wells discussion (”"It’s early on, but we think this one has some legs”)
Wells has six years left on his contract extension, $107 million remaining, including the $8.5-million final instalment of his signing bonus, which is due in March. Team president Paul Godfrey and former general manager J.P. Ricciardi signed Wells to the contract extension.
The Cubs’ idea is to split the difference on monies owed — Wells’ $107 million and Bradley’s $21 million for a difference of $86 million. Each team absorbs $43 million.
The Cubs have to deal Bradley. Other possible landing spots: The San Francisco Giants for lefty Barry Zito, who has four years remaining at $83 million; the Indians for Travis Hafner, three years for $40.25 million, Giants’ Aaron Rowand, three years at $36 million, the Dodgers for Juan Pierre, two years at $18.5 million, and Tampa Bay’s Pat Burrell, one year at $7 million.
“What kind of aesthetically challenged dolt doesn’t have a portrait of themselves as a mythical creature from Greek mythology?’ asked WNBC’s Josh Alper, formerly of the late, lamented The Feed, responding to claims by Us Weekly that Yankee 3B Alex Rodriguez had not one, but two such framed illustrations in his boudoir, featuring his own visage re-imagined as a centaur.
Thanks to Faith & Fear In Flushing’s Jason Fry, here’s an example of exactly what Kate Hudson saw the first time she visited A-Rod’s bachelor pad.
For New Yorkers of a certain vintage, shots of a manical Penny Crone cackling away in front of celebrating Yankee fans were a big a part of the local TV news tapestry, right up there with regular Freddy “Sez” sightings. The exploits of the former WNYW reporter — now selling real estate for a tony NYC agency — are remembered fondly by the New York Times’ James Barron.
Early in Derek Jeter’s career, she took a look at him in street clothes, and wondered about the fit of his slacks.
“I walked right up to Derek Jeter and I said, ‘Derek, why don’t you wear tighter pants?’ ” she recalled. “And what did Derek say? Not too much. He looked at me like I was nuts.”
“Gatorade man”? She yelled that at someone who walked into the stadium with a large barrel of — well, you know. He was blocking her shot, which ruins everything in television news. The man turned out to be Willie Randolph, a Yankees coach at the time and later the manager of the Mets.
There was the day she went to a bagel factory and the anchor introduced her as “an industrial accident waiting to happen.”
And there was the time she interviewed Yogi Berra and called him “Yogi Bear.”
“My husband told me that Yogi Berra was named after Yogi Bear,” she said, “so I thought his name was Yogi Bear. So we’re sitting in his living room, me on one side, Yogi Berra on the other, the fireplace, and I said, ‘Good evening, Mr. Bear.’
(the phrase, “have another doughnut, you fat pig”, is of course, trademarked by Jim Schoenfeld)
Did NHLPA interim executive director Ian Penny jump or was he pushed? Who gives a fuck when we’ve got another sensational item involving hockey pariah Sean Avery? The fashionista / loose cannon’s former AHL coach, current Capitals boss Bruce Boudreau, has a new book coming out, “Gabby, Confessions Of A Hockey Lifer”, in which he describes Avery’s rude rhetoric during last spring’s New York/Washington first-round playoff clash. From the Washington Times’ Corey Masisak :
Boudreau said he wanted a “rated-PG book,” but there are some juicy stories – especially about his departure from Manchester and his dealings with Sean Avery. He was let go by the Monarchs despite leading the franchise to the playoffs in its first four years of existence, but Boudreau paints a picture of backstabbing and betrayal by a couple of people in the organization who he felt wanted him gone.
Not only did Boudreau lead the Bears to back-to-back appearances in the Calder Cup Finals, he also went 7-0-1 against the Monarchs, including a four-game sweep in the Eastern Conference finals in 2007.
Boudreau coached Avery for the Monarchs, and the experience ended up being a negative one. But that was tame compared with what Boudreau recalled Avery saying during Game 7 in the first round of the last year’s playoffs against the New York Rangers.
“He told me I was the biggest, fattest bleeping pig he had ever seen,” Boudreau said in the book. “He told me I was fatter than bleeping Ken Hitchcock. He told me I was going to die because I was such a fat bleep.”
Mariotti’s Kate Hudson is most certainly not the slump-buster A-Rod is looking for. And good thing Kevin Blackistone is wearing a name tag, otherwise we’d have no way of knowing who he’s supposed to be . However, the latter deserves massive credit for prefacing every spiel with “i’m gonna let you finish, Kate Mariotti…” Somebody remind me, did Mariotti dress up as Ozzie G. last year?
Hull City A.F.C.’s embattled manager Phil Brown is said to face immediate dismissal if his side can’t defeat Burnley tomorrow, a circumstance that has When Saturday Comes Daily’s Chris Donkin recalling the scene outside KC Stadium shortly after the Tigers secured promotion in 2008. “In the big league everyone knows your team,” sighs Donkin, “and unfortunately that also means everyone knows when they lose 5-0, too.”
A ridiculous queue formed quickly outside the ground. Some of the new army of fans were seen wearing Liverpool and Manchester United shirts. One of the overnight queuers summed up the attitude of the glory supporters perfectly when asked by BBC Radio Humberside: “So, what are you looking forward to seeing next season?” He replied, with little thought: “I can’t wait to see Cristiano Ronaldo and Wayne Rooney in action.”
Seeing your club’s popularity grow should be a good thing. The problem is that the new fans have hopelessly unrealistic expectations. For most, City only entered their consciousness when Dean Windass powered home the winner in the play-off final against Bristol City, after a season where the team won far more games than they lost. As a result they expect the side to win every week and if they don’t the manager gets the blame and has to go.
Longer-term fans have better memories and you will hear few true supporters calling for Phil Brown’s head. Were it not for Brown the club would have certainly been relegated from the Championship in 2007. Then by the end of his first full season he’d rebuilt the team and achieved promotion to the top tier for the first time in the club’s history. Of course, when the inevitable happens and City’s tenure among the elite expires, these new fans are the ones most likely to not renew their tickets and go back to their armchairs to watch Man Utd rather than trek to watch a rainy Tuesday evening match against Blackpool.
(Glazer patriarch Malcom, contemplating whether being mistaken for Charley Steiner is a compliment or not)
The Tampa Tribune’s Roy Cummings reports a local radio host has been suspended by Clear Channel after claiming Thursday morning the Glazer family — owners of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Manchester United — had lost nearly a half billion in Bernie Madoff’s ponzi scheme, and might soon be forced to sell the NFL franchise.
Dan Sileo, who hosts the early morning show on WDAE, quoted a “friend” who works with the Securities and Exchange Commission as saying the Glazers lost $440 million in the Ponzi scheme.
Mike Killebrew, program director for WDAE, said that WDAE and Clear Channel Tampa will not be issuing any comment about Sileo’s remarks until they “get a handle on the situation.”
Killebrew said station officials have asked Sileo not to make any comments about the situation, as well.
Sileo said the Glazers’ involvement has led them to consider bankruptcy. Sileo also gave his opinion that the team could be for sale as a result of the owners’ financial distress.
“The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are not, nor have they ever been for sale,” Glazer’s statement said. “In addition, our family or any of our related companies have never invested one penny with Bernie Madoff.
Sileo’s report also said the Glazers allotted only $2 million for free agent signings each season the past five years. The Bucs are $23 million below the NFL’s imposed team salary cap of $127 million.
(image swiped from The Mets Police)
As late as Monday night, the crappiest upper tier seats at Yankee Stadium for Game One of the World Series were going for nearly $400. Despite being allowed inside the Steinbrenner family’s glittering palace for free as a member of the working media last night, the Inquirer’s Frank Fitzpatrick is far from grateful, complaining, “Several Yankees employees walk around the concourse holding signs that say “How may I help you?” It’s all for show. They were unable to get me a seat in the main press box.”
Four hours before Game 1, the main press box resembled the Tokyo subway. Bodies and computers made things impassable. The adjoining work rooms were overflowing too, the precious spots apparently having been claimed at dawn by savvy veteran journalists.
The poor Yankees. How were they know people would be interested in covering a World Series? Having hosted 39 others, there was no way they could possibly have anticipated a crowd.
Beat a hasty retreat for the auxiliary press box, a lofty, outfield perch where Philadelphia sportswriters were assigned seats and sherpas to get them there.
After rappelling up there, it was quickly apparent that more clothing, binoculars and oxygen would be required. The freezing wind howled like a New York cabbie. The puddles of water that two days of rain had left on our chairs and tables were icing over.
We all would have huddled near the TV monitors for warmth had there been any TV monitors. Apparently it was OK for the cream of the nation’s sportswriters to get wet but not for TVs.
Far below, set up atop the right-centerfield wall, we could see a pair of NYPD snipers. Had New Yorkers finally tired of the Yankees uber-obnoxious broadcast team of John Sterling and Susan Waldman?
Hopefully, yes. My sincere apologies to Chuck and anyone else saddened by a post from earlier this afternoon. D’oh!
Sorry to grab a clip you’ve undoubtedly seen on all the highlights shows already, but on the slim chance you’ve not seen Orlando’s intro for head coach Stan Van Gundy prior to Wednesday’s 120-106 defeat of Philly, well, get used to it. I predict Stan V.G. becoming bigger than Keyboard Cat and Kayne parodies combined. And on this rare occasion, genuine props to Tony Kornheiser for coming up with the most creative answer so far to the question “what was Van Gundy thinking?” (”…of ways not to get J.J. Reddick into the game”)
NY Baseball Digest’s Mike Silva has it on good (albeit anonymous) authority Mets GM Omar Minaya is a lousy listener. This winter, Minaya might want to feign fascination with what others in the organization have to say, if not learn to work by committee, as SI.com’s Jon Heyman reports former Amazins executive Sandy Johnson is returning to the club as a VP of scouting. Quoting a “mid-level” mole, Heyman warns the addition of Johnson, “sets the stage” for MInaya’s firing, 3 years and 3.5 million remaining on his contract or not.
Mets COO Jeff Wilpon is said to have thought it imperative that Johnson, who had a big hand in building winning teams in Texas and Arizona, return to boost the front office. Johnson had previously expressed to the Mets that he was likely to retire. Johnson was said by one club official to have been given basically “a blank check” to return, signaling the Mets’ desperation to keep him. The vast majority of Mets scouts had their contracts renewed within the past few days with no raise, said to be the result of a bad economy and the team’s poor performance.
The Mets also are looking for another senior baseball executive to join Johnson and assistant GM John Ricco and form a strong triumvirate under Minaya, who is said to by people in the organization to be on thin ice after the Mets’ disappointing season. Some Mets people believe that Minaya and manager Jerry Manuel won’t survive a poor start in 2010, and that the presence of Johnson and Ricco gives the Mets an alternative should Minaya be fired
(photo by Ed Arnaud, used sans permission)
JGTWO reported the passing of drumming virtuoso Chuck Biscuits last week, following a long battle with throat cancer. Though Biscuits punched the clock with latter period stints in Social Distortion, Danzig and the Circle Jerks, his tenure with DOA and cup of coffee with Black Flag are what earned him his iconic status. Chuck was 44.
Chuck was easily one of my favorite drummers of all time and anyone who saw him play —- even with lesser lights — felt pretty much the same way. Ever heard the claim made that you’d go to see a band purely to watch the drummer? I did that a couple of time, simply because of Chuck. He was one of the rare drummers who elevated a merely good band to great, and on some occasions, took someone pretty mediocre and at least made them interesting. Our thoughts are with his family, friends and colleagues.
(ED. NOTE : There’s a fair bit of contention surrounding the James Greene post and several persons are insisting Chuck Biscuits is very much alive. If that’s the case…in the words of Emily Litella, NEVER MIND).
If you’re like me, upon hearing Jay-Z and Alicia Keys’ scheduled performance of “Empire State of Mind” prior to Game One of the World Series was being delayed to Game Two due to poor weather, your first thought was “big deal, Mushnick won’t be calling Hova a drug dealer until Friday”. The eagle-eyed Craig Calcaterra of Circling The Bases is a tad more observant than you or me, however. pointing out what several thousand Ohioans already knew —- Jay-Z was booked to perform at Columbus’ Schottenstein Center tonight.
My guess: someone here in Columbus told Jay-Z’s people that they’d sue him for breach of contract if he didn’t show up for tonight’s show and he begged Major League Baseball to let him move his Alicia Keys thing to Game 2. Whether it was Jay-Z or baseball who, in the first instance, thought that the good people of Columbus would stand idly by while he dissed us for New York is unclear, but as always, the wholesome Midwest triumphs over the forces of east coast decadance and evil.
“We’re not even close to being a throwaway,” Coach Mike D’Antoni tells the New York Times’ Howard Beck, refuting widespread speculation the entire 2009-2010 season (tipping off tonight in Miami) has already been flushed down the toilet while Donnie Walsh clears cap room to pursue LeBron, D-Wade or Chris Bosh next summer. “We’re ready to try to make the playoffs and have a great season. And hopefully, the fans will enjoy what we’re doing.” And if you believe that, Mike’s got a Newsday online subscription one of his colleagues would like to sell you. From Beck’s Wednesday article :
Because of the N.B.A.’s salary-cap rules, the Knicks cannot outspend any other team to land a superstar. In fact, James and Wade can make millions more by staying put. D’Antoni is tremendously popular among N.B.A. stars, but his charm and his wide-open offense will get the Knicks only so far on the recruiting trail. Ditto for the mystique of Madison Square Garden and the lure of Madison Avenue.
At some point, the Knicks presumably have to show some progress and some promise, and the ability to help a superstar realize his championship ambitions.
“That’s the logic,” said the TNT commentator Kenny Smith, assessing the free-agent decisions of James and Wade. “Because the criticism of your move is: Did you go to win? And if you’re going and you can’t win, then why did you move?”
He concluded, “You 100 percent have to go somewhere and win, and have a chance to win.”
Can the Knicks make a compelling enough case? Will they be more attractive to Wade or James or Chris Bosh than the other half-dozen teams that are projected to have substantial cap room?
Smith, who was part of two championship teams in Houston, is not convinced. He considered the Knicks’ roster and their coach, their arena and their city, and concluded simply, “That list isn’t enough.”
Shortly after we’ve learned Fred and Jeff WIlpon actually profited from the Bernie Madoff Ponzi Scheme, details from Jamie McCourt’s divorce proceedings againsts Dodgers co-owner Frank reveal an alleged net worth of some $1.2 billion. No more jokes, presumably from T.J. Simers, wondering if his standard of living would drop were he to switch jobs with Frank for a week. Amidst claims from Jamie’s lawyers that Frank, “will continue to enjoy the marital life of luxury, reside in the fabulous homes, enjoy the lush gardens, the pools, the spas, and all the other amenities of the family properties. He will continue to travel in luxury on private jets and stay in the grandest hotels,” Dodger Thoughts’ Jon Wiseman insists “the McCourt’s have torched themselves in the Los Angeles community.”
From player payroll to Dodger Stadium ticket and amenities pricing, the explicit acknowledgment of where so much of their money goes, their unrepentant selfishness and greed, is going to bring exponentially more skepticism to any future Dodgers-related decision they make.
I’m not trying to say it’s shocking that the Dodgers owners are greedy – or that they are unique in their greed. I’m just saying that they’re no longer going to be able to cover their greed with a pretty picture, and that does make a difference.
Some fear the divorce proceeding will hamper the Dodgers’ offseason plans, and for good reason. On the other hand, isn’t this the time when you buy the kids a nice pony to take their mind off the ugliness?
(three unidentified gentlemen who who don’t need or want your patronage, Mets fans)
As mentioned previously, at least one prominent Mets blogger is on record as advocating his comrades in arms take up the cause of the Philadelphia Phillies in the ‘09 World Series rather than root for the Yankees. Chamomiles Davis of The Fightins has taken such sentiments into consideration and replies, “take that support and cram it far, far up into your ass. We don’t want you rooting for our team. Fuck off. Really.”
In 2000, the Mets and Yankess met in the latest incarnation of what pundits call “The Subway Series.” The Yankees won that series, and I was happy. Do you know why, Mets fans? Because I rooted for them. And do you know why I did that?
BECAUSE I HATE THE FUCKING METS. ALWAYS AND FOREVER. I WILL NEVER, EVER, EVER ROOT FOR THE METS TO WIN ANYTHING AS LONG AS I LIVE. I don’t care if they’re playing Satan for control of the Earth. Goooooo SATAN! In short, screw the New York Mets with a rusting rocket ship. So why the hell would you root for our team?
Y’know, when he puts it that way, I can’t remember why. A pox on both houses, then, the Nu Stadium and CBP. May both venues and all who inhabit them (CSTB contributors aside) be reduced to vapor when an MLB-sanctioned stunt to promote the upcoming “2012″ goes horribly wrong.
I’m not sure I’ll ever be able to watch “Advantage Agassi” the same way ever again. The Times published excerpts earlier today from Andre Agassi’s soon-to-be-published autobiography, Open, including detailed revelations about the 1992 Wimbledon champion’s experiences with crystal meth.
In his book, Agassi recounts sitting at home with his assistant, referred to only as Slim, and being introduced to the drug. “Slim is stressed too … He says, You want to get high with me? On what? Gack. What the hell’s gack? Crystal meth. Why do they call it gack? Because that’s the sound you make when you’re high … Make you feel like Superman, dude.
“As if they’re coming out of someone else’s mouth, I hear these words: You know what? F*** it. Yeah. Let’s get high.
“Slim dumps a small pile of powder on the coffee table. He cuts it, snorts it. He cuts it again. I snort some. I ease back on the couch and consider the Rubicon I’ve just crossed.
“There is a moment of regret, followed by vast sadness. Then comes a tidal wave of euphoria that sweeps away every negative thought in my head. I’ve never felt so alive, so hopeful — and I’ve never felt such energy.
“I’m seized by a desperate desire to clean. I go tearing around my house, cleaning it from top to bottom. I dust the furniture. I scour the tub. I make the beds.”
While there’s no truth to the rumor merely playing The Fall’s “Bingo-Master’s Breakout” in the Fed Ex parking lot would result in a beatdown, Cheap Seats Daily does report Redskins fans attending last night’s unsuccessful debut of Sherman Lewis as Washington’s offensive play-caller were under what our Prince Far I might call “heavy manners”.
Dan Snyder’s jack-booted thugs were out AGAIN? It’s harder to get into a Skins game than an El Al jet?
Dan Snyder’s attempt to kill the message was in full force. I didn’t go to the game, so everything’s anecdotal, but there’s so much.
Tales of scuffles with security over signs and t-shirts blasting the owner abound. The only first-person account I got was from a friend who called me from FedExField just after being searched at the gate like he was boarding an El Al flight.
He asked the frisker, “Are you looking for anti-Snyder paraphernalia?”
“As a matter of fact, I am,” the guard told him.
(a delicious taco for Bob Griese, courtesy of Torchy’s)
ESPN suspended college football analyst Bob Griese today for the former Dolphins QB’s ill-advised remarks about Colombian NASCAR driver Juan Pablo Montoya during Saturday’s Minnesota/Ohio State game. The Big Lead’s Ty Duffy considers ESPN’s actions kowtowing to “PC fascists”, surmising, “political correctness has a place, but that place should be weeding out legitimate racism, rather than hounding an innocuous old man for a minor incident.”
Bob Griese mistook Juan Pablo Montoya for a Mexican. Montoya is Columbian. Griese could be old whitey mistaking all Latin Americans for Mexicans, but it’s far more likely he was just unaware. He had no time to google.
Assuming Griese was genuine, the taco comment wasn’t offensive. Mexicans eat tacos. They are an indigenous part of their cuisine. They predate the Spanish. There’s nothing demeaning about eating a taco.
Saying a Mexican is eating a taco is like saying an Englishman drinks tea, an Irishman went out for a pint, or an American was eating a hambuger. It’s a stereotype. There certainly are Mexican people who don’t like tacos, but it’s not a gross disparagement of Mexican culture.
Griese’s gag was lame but not scandalous. It would have appeared in a Dan Shaughnessy column.
Though I have no desire to see Bob Griese lose his job over one isolated incident, it’s pretty hard to understand why said incident should be excused as inoffensive merely because some people weren’t offended. On the Colombian/Mexican question, ignorance is a poor excuse. The phrase, “they all look alike” comes to mind, and unless Disney believes they really all do look alike, they’re smart to kick Griese to the curb, even if temporarily.
“There’s nothing demeaning about eating a taco.” Hey, you might think there’s nothing demeaning about eating watermelon, either, and Rick Barry’s still dealing with the fallout from that one. Anytime you choose to describe someone in terms that specifically target their ethnicity (or what you presume to be their ethnicity) rather than their individual characteristics, they’re reduced to a caricature.
Griese could’ve skewered Montoya for his reputation for arrogance (”he’s probably kissing a mirror somewhere”) or for aggressive driving. Instead, he went after the first thing that popped into his tiny head ; Latino = taco chomping. If that’s the kind of free expression Duffy wishes to defend, perhaps TBL can take up a petition drive to have Steve Lyons replace Steve Phillips on Baseball Tonight next spring.
Some women will do anything to get a better glimpse of Charlie Manuel in person. There’s a Chooch Train joke in here somewhere, but I’m not telling it until I’ve had a few drinks later tonight. (h/t Stadium Insider)
Would it have been so difficult for someone at the Post to properly research what a traditional Hawaiian skirt really looks like? And surely the persons responsible for this front cover of today’s paper are aware once you go down this particular road, there’s no turning back?
So where do you think Ricky Rubio would be on the T-Wolves depth chart right about? In the middle of Ramon Sessions and Jonny Flynn, or behind both of them? Also, note the main beneficiary of Rubio’s passing is Fran Vaszuez, the Magic’s one-that-got-away.
(above : Stonewall rioters, 1969. Not shown : Larry Johnson)
It’s been said on more than one occasion that if you’re a prominent public figure, Tweeting is kind of like holding a press conference, except you don’t have to answer questions (or put on pants). That much is very clear to Chiefs RB Larry Johnson, who chose Twitter as a venue to bury K.C. head coach Todd Haley hours after a 37-7 loss to the Chargers, a somewhat foolhardy move considering it came after the trade deadline. From the Star’s Kent Babb :
A message posted on Johnson’s profile, whose username Sunday about 7 p.m. stated: “My father played for the coach from ‘rememeber the titans’. Our coach played golf. My father played for redskins briefley. Our coach. Nuthn.”
Johnson continued the rant, and, in later responses directed toward Johnson’s Twitter followers, contained inflammatory remarks about gays. In a reference to someones profile picture, Johnson called it a “fag pic” and called the person a “Christopher street boy,” a reference to a predominantly gay section in New Yorks Greenwich Village. Johnson’s Twitter profile was taken private and some posts were deleted.
On Monday in the Chiefs locker room, Johnson used another gay slur after saying he wouldn’t speak to reporters.
Johnson, sitting next to second-year running back Jamaal Charles, told reporters that “I’m not talking till Thursday,” his usual day of speaking with reporters.
Then Johnson turned away and whispered.
“Get your faggot ass out of here,” he said.
Johnson’s agent, Peter Schaffer, said Johnson’s tweets were his own but said the running back intended to compliment his father — Larry Johnson Sr. is the defensive line coach at Penn State — and not disparage Haley.
(what true Mets fan doesn’t want to see this man rewarded for his years of hard work?
“ICH BIN EIN PHILLIE” declared a sanguine Jason Fry of Faith & Fear In Flushing last week, declaring of the (uncrowned at the time) AL Champion Yankees, “this greater enemy is attended by a howling mob that knows neither reason nor decency nor humility…Twenty-six times has this foe bred a vile plague, one that reduced our nation to lifelessness and blighted all that we hold dear. Though we are not allowed to fight, neither are we required to adjourn in silence. We must lift our voices against tyranny, though we would have chosen most any other champion. We must shout down injustice, though our voices cannot conjure fairness. We must oppose a great evil even if it means supporting a paltry good.” In other words, though it’s distasteful, Fry would advocate Mets fans cheering for Brett Myers to receive a 2nd ring rather than see Hank Steinbrenner and A-Rod doused in champagne. Tedquarters’ Ted Berg, however, couldn’t disagree more, citing the following Phactors for rooting against The Phillies. Or more to the point, toning down the hateful rhetoric towards the Highlanders.
1) The Yankees buy their championships
First of all, Mets fans: Just because your glass house is falling apart doesn’t give you the right to throw stones. The Mets had the second-biggest payroll in baseball this year, and even if they didn’t spend like the Yanks did, they still tried pretty hard to buy a championship. They just did a poor job of it.
Second, there’s still nothing illegal about trying to buy a championship. The Yanks bring in a lot of cash, so they spend it on players. Would you prefer the Steinbrenners pocketed the loot? Would that be, in some way, more honorable?
2) My friends are Yankee fans, and they’ll rub it in my face
Will they? Then I have a solid suggestion for you: Get some new friends.
I recognize that there’s an obnoxious sense of entitlement among some Yankee fans, but I’ve actually found it remarkably easy to filter those people out of my life. It turns out, people who are obnoxious and entitled about anything are just not too pleasant to be around. Nowadays, the Yankee fans I do interact with are mostly kind and reasonable people who recognize how lucky they are to root for a team with a $200 million payroll.
Given my own rooting interests in the upcoming World Series (ie., I’d like to see it canceled), I have to say I greatly prefer the original version of Kurt Vile’s video for “Freak Train”. That said, if the above clip can bring peace to the waring factions behind Chooch’s Chicos and the Chooch -Chooch Train club, who am I to complain?
….Sean Salisbury. Improbable? I thought so , too. I still do, actually. But the burden isn’t on the former ESPN analyst / Dallas radio host to prove he’s never been in the habit of harassing female colleagues with phone-cam snapshots of his schlong, ; it’ll be down to Gawker Media to prove that Salisbury’s self-portraits weren’t as crudely menacing as his treatment of John Clayton. From the McKinney Courier-Gazzette’s Danny Gallagher :
Sean Salisbury, a Frisco, TX resident and former National Football League quarterback, filed a petition for a civil defamation lawsuit in a Denton County court against Gawker Media for publishing several false stories on their sports blog Deadspin.com that cost him several jobs, ruined his reputation and made it difficult to find gainful employment.
Salisbury’s attorney, Jeffrey Tillotson of the Dallas law firm Lynn, Tillotson, Pinker & Cox, said in the petition that Deadspin has waged a “long-running smear campaign” against his client since January of 2007.
Harlow, a member of Salisbury’s counsel, said the suit singled out Gawker as a defendant because of their “concerted” efforts to single out their client, despite the reporting of others.
“What we hope to prove is that blog sites like Deadspin are accountable,” he said. “They can’t simply attack someone and make a concerted effort to destroy the lives and careers of people without any ramifications. The difference between other news outlets and Deadspin is at least the other news outlets try to get it right. We hope to make a statement that if sites are going to behave like this, there are consequences and they are long overdue for that.”
So that’s that. Phillips’ credibility wasn’t considered an issue when he suggested Josh Hamilton was undeserving of a Cincinnati roster spot, nor did anyone at the network raise an eyebrow when Phillips suggested Barry Bonds’ record breaking HR had to occur at home “for the good of baseball”. In the wake of a consensual extramarital affair, however, one that caused additional scrutiny to be placed on the Bristol U. campus, the former Mets GM apparently cannot do his job properly. For instance, the next time he and Joe Morgan had a disagreement on “Sunday Night Baseball”, Morgan could reply, “yeah, but you had sex with someone who wasn’t your wife. And bloggers didn’t think she was very attractive.” ARGUMENT OVER.
Surely Phillips isn’t being sacked simply because ESPN and Disney are trying to protect the sanctity of marriage? If that’s the case, Phillips supporters (all zero of them) might well wonder at what point the network established an official policy banning infidelity. If the cringe factor came from what sounds like the exploitation of a subordinate half his age, ESPN ought to specify as much. As a Connecticut native, I’d hate to think one of the Nutmeg State’s most widely recognized entities has gone all puritanical on us.
“Hey, another NFL game in London! Awful! The Tampa Bay fans lose a home game as a soccer-mad nation checks in on Chelsea and Man U.” So scowled the SF Chronicle’s Bruce Jenkins yesterday, neglecting to mention it was Liverpool who played Manchester United this weekend in the big battle for the UK’s sports fans’ hearts and minds. Despite a healthy turnout on a day tons of empty seats were visible in Oakland, the Times’ Nick Szczepanik seems to concur with Jenkins, opining, “Wembley Stadium was about the worst place in Britain in which to judge the success or otherwise of the project.”
The NFL wants to spread the word, increase the number of games played here and even, perhaps, establish a London franchise. For its third regular season game at Wembley, it had brought over the team of the decade in the Patriots, and arguably the leading star of the sport in Tom Brady, their quarterback. But inevitably, they were preaching to the converted — 84,000 of them.
What can the NFL do to spread its word beyond its existing constituency over here? Part of the plan was the largest tailgate party yet, held in the Wembley car park, with all 32 teams represented, so that neutrals — if there were any — could pick a team.
There was an NFL cinema, live bands, video game tents and free face transfers (sorry, decals) of the two teams’ logos. But it did not have the one essential for an authentic tailgate — excellent food.
At NFL games in the US, fans bring half a dead cow and a vast grill to cook it on, and if you are wandering past looking undernourished (in other words, of normal British girth) the chances are that you’ll be invited over to partake.
Here there were just the usual overpriced fish and chips and burger vans. “It’s just one big commercial gathering,” Dean Rothwell, a Patriots fan from Chesterfield, said.
The NFL may only know that they have reached the limits of Britain’s potential when it fails. Perhaps it should deliberately pick an unattractive match-up for next season and see if it can still sell out. If there is a full house to see the Carolina Panthers take on the Buffalo Bills, the NFL can take over the world, never mind Wembley.
I realize an East Coast experience is hardly representative of the entire USA, but hands up, every person who has wandered through the parking lot in Foxboro or East Rutherford and found themselves invited to break bread with strangers. I suspect the total number will be substantially fewer than those who’ve been in a fight or had to ask someone to stop urinating on their car.
And he’ll have much to offer his students other than advice on how to avoid questions. With Tony La Genius opting to stay in St. Louis, it’s rumored today that former Cards 1B / andro enthusiast Mark McGwire is debating whether or not to join his old manager as the club’s new hitting coach. For DanUpBaby of Viva El Birdos, (”ss much as the congressional hearings made me cringe, I would be really excited to see him back on the bench, taking up his role as Slugger Emeritus”) the official announcement cannot come soon enough.
Enigmatically Sized Mac—prepare for a ridiculous muscles-watch campaign for the next several months, unless he’s extremely forthcoming about The Past in the interim (Khalil Greene is already putting together a long-sleeved undershirts care package)—seems to have a serious interest in the mechanics and technique of hitting, and while a player’s skill-set is no guarantee of future baseball enlightenment (Joe Morgan and John Kruk both had 110+ walk years), the McGwire method, which in Matt Holliday’s unsuccessful case required quieting that big leg kick, seems like a disciplined change of pace from Hal McRae, whose philosophy seemed to involve the words “grip” and “rip” and a small thesaurus.
As for the circus—well, let’s let it play out before we work up our best indignant faces. Some sportswriters might see this as a chance to focus a little more on their pet baseball black eye, but some won’t, too; if that’s not your prerogative the best thing to do is just to look at it in your own way, and not focus on dive-bombing the people who would see a Travesty of Baseball Ethics in Albert Pujols taking an aspirin.
The LA Times’ Houston Mitchell reports that ESPN college football analyst Bob Griese, working Saturday’s Minnesota/Ohio State game, has bojoined the network’s growing long list of dudes with-a-lot-explaining-to-do after
To promote Sunday’s NASCAR race, ESPN displayed a graphic with the top five drivers in the Chase for the Cup race. Color commentator Chris Spielman asked “Where’s Montoya?”
“Out eating a taco,” Griese responded.
Wow. What a dumb thing to say.
Griese later apologized. “Juan Pablo Montoya is one of the best drivers in NASCAR. I just want to apologize for the comment I made earlier in the ballgame.” I wonder which ESPN executive ordered him to do that.
A foolish remark under any circumstances, but particularly as tacos are not very popular or widely available in Montoya’s homeland of Colombia.
(Yankee exec Randy Levine helpfully points out the exact spot where there’s absolutely, positively no chance you’ll be crushed to death.)
Tonight’s Game 6 of the ALCS has been postponed due to heavy rain, but if we’re to believe the following report from the New York Times’ WIlliam K. Rashbaum and Ken Belson, perhaps the series should be moved to a neutral field to protect the public?
The concrete pedestrian ramps at the brand-new $1.5 billion city-subsidized Yankee Stadium have been troubled by cracks, and the team is seeking to determine whether the problems were caused by the installation, the design, the concrete or other factors, according to several people briefed on the problems.
The ramps were built by a company accused of having links to the mob, and the concrete mix was designed and tested by a company under indictment on charges that it failed to perform some tests and falsified the results of others. But it is unclear whether work performed by either firm contributed to the deteriorating conditions of the ramps.
The company that evaluated the strength of the concrete poured for the walkways, Testwell Laboratories, its owners and several officers were indicted last year on state racketeering charges, and they have all denied the accusations. The case stems from a sweeping 18-month investigation of the concrete-testing industry that also led to charges against a second company. The investigation also forced the city to order the retesting of the concrete in 80 structures in four boroughs, including the stadium. More than half a dozen other companies remain under scrutiny in the case.
The above news comes on the heels of a New York Post report regarding the shoddy workmanship that went into the construction of Citi Field, another venue that couldn’t have been built without public funds. Though Michael Bloomberg is about as likely to lose the upcoming mayoral election as Chris X. Brodeur is to be invited to brunch tomorrow am with Rudy Giuliani at least two of the three men mentioned above have much to answer for.
A bit of uncivll disobedience early today at Pride Park, as QPR’s Akos Buzsaky’s penalty goal shut the door on Derby County. The R’s 4-2 victory marked the second time in the past week the visitors have scored 4 times, an vaults West London’s most dysfunctional richest club into the top 6 of the Championship.
(back when Phillips actually worked in New York. With apologies to the Rotters)
Given the New York Post’s exhaustive coverage of Steve Phillips’ sex life this week, you might be mistaken for thinking the disgraced ESPN baseball analyst’s face actually sold newspapers. As such, it’s curious with all the coverage of Phillips’ zipper issues, few have wondered why a major New York tabloid would devote nearly as much time and attention to a person not nearly as famous to the general public as Michael Jackson or Balloon Boy. That Phillips’ embarrassment would be grist for Deadspin and countless other sports blogs is no surprise. Via his shoddy broadcast work and/or tenure as Mets general manager, Phillips became a widely mocked figure long before he was accused of getting busy in a Target parking lot. But even assuming half of the Post’s readers are Mets fans, how many of them were aching to see Phillips take a spectacular, personal fall?
A case like the Phillips/Hundley affair doesn’t make the front page — even in a slow news week — without authorization from the top. And the higher you go up the ladder, the more this seems like an arm of NewsCorp has gone to deliberate lengths to publicly humiliate a major competitor. Is Fox going to win future bidding rights to the NBA because Steve Phillips was horny? Probably not — and they might not want said rights, anyway. But every little revelation that proves hurtful to ESPN is making someone in Rupert Murdoch’s organization smile.
So with all that said, congratulations to Phil Mushnick for towing the company line this week. “The only time ESPN indulges — even encourages — sexual insensitivity from employees is as a matter of commerce,” lectured Phil in today’s paper, “while in public, on ESPN, ESPN Radio, in ESPN the Magazine or ESPN.com.” As opposed to Fox TV, Fox Sports, NewsCorp’s movie studios and newspapers, none of which ever stoop to pander? By all means, kick Phillips when he’s down. If baseball fans are lucky, when he gets back up he’ll be doing something far quieter. But don’t pretend for a minute that ESPN is any more or less a corrupting, degrading societal force compared to their competition.
I know I’ve been critical of MLBlogs before, but suffice to say, the aggrieved work of Leury Escobar Moreno, wife of Brewers SS prospect Alcides Escobar totally kills David Wright’s blog.
He abandonded me since october 7th. He was suppose to come and spend Christmas with me and never did, he was suppose to spend New Years with me and never did either. He only called to emotionally insult me and tell me that I was fat and ugly and that he had found someone better, all this while I was pregnent with our daughter. He later told me that the only reason why he married me was to get his green card. He would constantly call and send text messages insulting me and telling me that the baby wasn’t his which he knows is a complete lie and a DNA test will be there to prove it, he would call me and put his mistress on the phone to insult me. She is a prostitute in Venezuela who has slept with almost the entire country to say the least and all she has always wanted was money. She has a son who she abandoned and last I know now she is pregnant with Alcides child. It’s been so hard for me to find out while pregnant all this things and that I married a monster. Alcides got kicked off his team in Venezuela Cardenales due to bad conduct. Everyone believes that the little time he spent in the majors made his head swell to the max.Nobody respects him in Venezuela or in the Brewers organization because everyone knows what’s going on.His own mother and father and brothers and sisters want nothing to do with him to the point that they kicked him out of his house. He had a car accident in Venezuela in December where he totalled the car he was driving so to this day nobody knows what he will or will not achieve this upcoming year due to the fact that he has many loose screws as you can see.
We’ll see how long MLB Advanced Media allows these accusations to remain published. In the meantime, Steve Phillips can take slim consolation in knowing he’s no longer the front-runner for the Lamest Husband/Dad Of The Year. (thanks to Scott Comeau for the link)
All things considered, this is one heck of a way to take the heat off Jonathan Broxton. A week after divorce proceedings between Dodgers owner Frank McCourt and wife Jamie (above) were announced, the former has fired the latter as LA’s chief execuctive, the Times’ Bill Shaikin reports.
“Jamie is disappointed and saddened by her termination,” attorney Dennis Wasser said Thursday. “As co-owner of the Dodgers, she will address this and all other issues in the courtroom.”
Wasser would not say whether she would continue to occupy her office at Dodger Stadium. He said that would depend on the outcome of legal proceedings he expected to initiate “in the next couple weeks.”
While Frank McCourt is pressing ahead with the business of the team, including Tuesday’s announcement of a long-term contract extension for General Manager Ned Colletti, Jamie McCourt is believed to be lining up investors for a possible effort to buy her husband out and gain sole control of the team.
Shaikin also writes that Mrs. McCourt “was believed to have started calling prominent baseball figures, with the intention of arranging meetings to discuss the direction of the team.” Who thought Steve Phillips wouldn’t land on his feet?
The New York Mets bulked e-mailed their long suffering fans earlier today to remind them Fred & Jeff Wilpon’s Glittering Monument To Avarice & Greed is usable for oh so many things. Monster truck rallies. Mass Moonie weddings. Promise Keepers get-togethers. Flea markets. Cockfights. Furry conventions.
In short, the building is good for almost anything. Except hitting home runs.
Over the years, a number of mouthy pundits have taken it upon themselves to run a coach out of town. Leave it to former Redskins RB John Riggins, however, to turn his sights from the embattled Jim Zorn to the meddlesome Daniel Snyder. With effective props! (link courtesy DC Sports Bog’s Dan Steinberg)
With (my) apologies to Gerry Goffin and Carole King for the above headline, Isiah Thomas tells SI.com’s Ian Thomsen he’s dismayed by Magic Johnson’s comments in the newly published “When The Game Was Ours”, a book co-authored by Magic, Larry Bird and former Boston Globe scribe Jackie MacMullan. In the tome, Johnson describes his role in keeping Thomas off the 1992 US Olympic Dream Team, along with accusing Zeke of spreading rumors about Johnson’s sexuality.
“I’m really hurt, and I really feel taken advantage of for all these years,” said Thomas, the Hall of Fame point guard and former NBA coach and executive, most recently with the Knicks. “I’m totally blindsided by this. Every time that I’ve seen Magic, he has been friendly with me. Whenever he came to a Knick game, he was standing in the tunnel [to the locker room] with me. He and [Knicks assistant coach] Herb [Williams] and I, we would go out to dinner in New York. I didn’t know he felt this way.”
“I’m glad that he’s finally had the nerve and the courage to stand up and say it was him, as opposed to letting Michael Jordan take the blame for it all these years,” Thomas responded during one of several interviews he gave to SI.com on Wednesday. “I wish he would have had the courage to say this stuff to me face to face, as opposed to writing it in some damn book to sell and he can make money off it
“What most people don’t know is, before Magic had HIV, my brother had HIV,” Thomas said. “My brother died of HIV, AIDS, drug abuse. So I knew way more about the disease, because I was living with it in my house.”
His brother, Gregory Thomas, died five years ago, Isiah said.
“Magic acted and responded off some really bad information that he got,” Thomas went on. “Whatever friendship we had, I thought it was bulls— that he believed that. Let me put it to you this way: If he and I were such close friends, if I was questioning his sexuality, then I was questioning mine too. That’s how idiotic it is.”
“Tubby temptress”, “Cuckoo for coco puffs”, “geek”, “portly production-assistant”. A smattering of rude remarks about Steve Phillips’ ESPN colleague/mistress Brooke Hundley from Deadspin commentators? Nope, instead, it’s a cross section of insults delivered by the dedicated news team at the New York Post, who’ve apparently decided the only person more deserving of scorn than Richard Heene is a young woman who didn’t take kindly to being dumped faster than Marco Scutaro. The remarks about Ms. Hundley’s weight are slightly curious in that the Post doesn’t supply full body shots of any of their columnists (and you’ve been dying to see a full-frontal of Phil Mushnick for years). Mo Vaughn was in far worse physical condition than Hundley, and Phillips didn’t catch nearly as much grief over that relationship.
Finally, the Post supplies a written statement to police prepared by Phillips’ 16 year old son, in which Hundley is accused of using the handle, “riotgrrl4life” in her stalktastic correspondence. At the risk of piling on even further, I’m gonna out on a limb and presume Fifth Column weren’t on the tape deck when Phillips allegedly hooked up with Hundley in the parking lot of a Target on I-84. Really, Target parking lots. Boston Market. Never let it be said that portion of Connecticut is without glamor.
Congratulations to the Philadelphia Phillies on their back-to-back National League championships. Ordinarily, my having to choose between the Phillies and (probably) the Yankees would be akin selecting which I prefer, Weiland solo or STP. But if repeating as World Champs means more televised rebukes for Brett Myers like the one shown above, I might have to root for Philadelphia (video clip taken from The Fightins)
OK, I actually have no idea what the above headline really means. One of the joys of writing a sports blog as opposed to being Neil Best, however, is that I can publish such a thing. Just because I can do something, however, is flimsy justification for doing so…at first glance, anyway.
The only thing more precarious this morning than the state of Steve Phillips’ broadcasting career might be his marriage. Hours after the New York Post revealed the alleged affair between ESPN’s Phillips and a twenty-something production assistant, Deadspin’s A.J. Daulerio claimed to have sought commentary from the WWL several weeks ago. Upon being stonewalled by a P.R. flack, Daulerio declared Wednesday open season on ESPN’s long list of persons with overactive libidos (”since the tenuous connection between rumor and fact for accuracy’s sake has been a little eroded here, well, it’s probably about time to just unload the inbox of all the sordid rumors we’ve received over the years about various ESPN employees”).
After the lowly Erik Kuselias and network V.P. Katie Lacey (who apparently, slept her way to the middle) were named and shamed, the uncredited Stupid Sports Blog had seen enough, opining, “it’s just a sad state of affairs over there for a blog that used to be one funny dick joke after another, and now it’s run by a guy who has a vendetta against ESPN because the New York Post did its job better than him.”
Basically, someone sent Deadspin an e-mail accusing someone at ESPN of having some sexual indiscretions, and Deadspin printed it. And they only printed them because Daulerio was upset with his treatment by ESPN. The timeline:
1) 2006-2009: Inbox flooded with rumors about ESPN employees’ sexcapades.
2) 2006-2009: Company policy is never delete them, never do any investigating into them, but don’t publish them, because we’re not going to do that to those people.
3) August 2009: “Hello, ESPN? Hey, it’s A.J. Is Steve Phillips getting fired for doing Harold Reynolds-esque stuff? No? Anything else? No? Kthanksbye!”
4) October 2009: Daulerio spits out his pumpkin latte when he reads the Phillips story in the New York Post. He arrives at work and decides it is now OK to print those old rumors since the one about Steve Phillips, which actually wasn’t true if you recall, since ESPN didn’t tell him about the real Steve Phillips story.
If you’re looking to ruin someone’s life, I suggest you set up a fake e-mail account and e-mail Deadspin with a tasty sex rumor about whoever you like at ESPN. Get your friends to do it too so it seems more credible. Tell them Stuart Scott tried to work a three-way with Cindy Brunson and the corpse of Tom Mees. They’ll print it and be right to do so since they didn’t get the Steve Phillips story.
SSB might have a point about whether mere e-mail tips oughta be enough to publicly embarrass the (semi) high and mighty. But if you’re wondering why the public’s right to know includes digging into the sex lives of persons who barely register as public figures, perhaps this case is about more than smearing celebs. SSB inadvertently made the point mentioning “Harold Reynolds-esque stuff”, much as Daulerio raised the same issue at the end of the Lacie post in questioning an apparent double standard (”so for your notes: ESPN Corporate Ladder-Fucking: Good. ESPN On-Air Talent Production Assistant-Fucking: Not Good.”). Were Harold Reynolds’ hugging hands any more or less busy than those of Phillips, Kuselias and Lacie? Toss in Sean Salisbury’s Phone Cam Penis Gallery, and we start to see a work environment that seems exploitative at the very least, if not downright hostile towards those unwilling to help the on-air talent get off. Do such things occur at many other businesses? Fucking right they do, however not every business has a stranglehold on the sports media scene, nor are many businesses as effective in shaping dialogue and pop culture as ESPN.
So yeah, if true (and that’s a big “if”) this stuff is very newsworthy . Reynolds and Salisbury probably found it highly interesting reading. None of that, however, excuses the sickening treatment afforded to Phillips’ production assistant by readers of the WEEI.com website. Seriously, what sort of twisted individual followed this story, looked at the frosted-tip, Hilfiger-wearing Phillips and said to themselves, “he could do so much better”?
Either Lakers G Kobe Bryant (above, left) has a Type-T(ommy Lasorda) strain of Dodger Blue ruining thru his veins or he’s still harboring a grudge over the 2002 NBA All-Star Game. Of Kobe’s decision to attend a Phillies/Dodgers game at Chavez Ravine in the company of Frank McCourt, the Philadelphia Inquirer’s John Gonzalez compares it to “like watching Zell Miller at the Republican National Convention.” “The defection was complete and the insult was obvious,” writes Gonzo, presumably secure in the knowledge there are no West Coast newspapers that might ever desire his services.
Ah, but that wasn’t enough. Mamba wanted to make sure we got the message and sent word through Craig Sager. TBS’s Technicolor Dreamcoat reporter asked the NBA’s version of Kanye West – Bryant’s ego has grown so impossibly large that he didn’t hesitate to go out in public wearing a shirt with his own likeness on it – if it felt a little strange to root against his hometown. Even Sager knows how poorly that sort of thing plays, especially here in Philly.
“It’s not weird.” Bryant reportedly said. “I’ve lived in Los Angeles for 14 years now.”
I lived in Boston and Dallas for eight years total, but I never had the urge to buy a Red Sox hat or spoon with former Big D mayor Ron Kirk. (He’s not much of a cuddler, anyway.) Plenty of athletes leave home to play elsewhere, but few have so openly and unapologetically dug up their roots and scorched the earth they left behind. Can you imagine Dwyane Wade so blatantly snubbing Chi-town?
In an attempt to finally cut whatever frayed ties he still had with Philly, Sager said Kobe told him that he grew up rooting for the Mets and that he still has Ron Darling’s baseball card. It’s bad enough that he was a closet Mutts fan, but he held on to Ron Darling’s card after all these years? Really? Until I heard that, I didn’t think it was possible for Bryant to be any lamer than some of us already suspected.
Man, when was the last time Ron Darling inspired this much disrespect on a national level?
For the better part of a year, it’s been widely reported Mets owner Fred Wilpon and team COO Jeff Wilpon had lost so much money in the Bernie Madoff Ponzi Scheme, the club wasn’t likely to be a player in the free agent market after Madoff’s indictment. One observer even claimed the Wilpons would soon be forced to sell the team, such was the extent of the fraud. Via trusty mouthpiece David Howard, ownership insisted things were a-ok. As it turns out, they might’ve been telling the truth, which makes their inactivity after the K-Rod signing that much hard to excuse. From Bloomberg.com’s Erik Larson :
An entity tied to the New York Mets baseball team and its owner Sterling Equities Inc. might be sued for withdrawing $47.8 million more from Bernard Madoff’s firm than it deposited with the con man, a lawyer said.
Mets LP placed a total of $522.7 million in two Madoff accounts and withdrew $570.5 million over an unspecified period, Irving Picard, the court-appointed liquidator, said in a filing Oct. 19 in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in New York.
Picard has sued Madoff’s biggest investors and longtime beneficiaries, including hedge-fund firms, philanthropists and family members, seeking the return of about $15 billion in what he calls fake profit from the fraud. Sterling Equities, led by Mets principal owner Fred Wilpon, hasn’t been sued.
“It cannot be argued on Wilpon’s behalf that these were legitimate investment returns,” Bradley Simon, a former federal prosecutor in Brooklyn, New York, who isn’t involved in the case, said yesterday in an interview. “It would be a violation of his fiduciary duty for Picard to not seek the return of that money.”
In yet another violation of baseball etiquette, Dodgers LF Manny Ramirez, writes the Philly News’ Marcus Hays “did not witness Rollins’ two-run double that won Game 4 of the National League Championship Series and gave the Phillies a 3-1 lead in the best-of-seven competition. He was devoted to hygiene and dependent on technology.” To wit, while Jonathan Broxton was melting down, Manny was cooling off in the CBP visitors’ showers and watching the highlights after the affair had concluded.
“It’s really nothing different than he’s done before,” Joe Torre said. “I don’t think it’s disrespect of anything. He wasn’t going anywhere until the game was over, and we can’t put him back in the game.”
As he exited the shower room, Ramirez saw reliever George Sherrill, who had preceded Broxton on the mound. He snatched a quick view of the replay before teammates entered and turned off the televisions showing the elated Phillies and the rocking ballpark.
He remained in the clubhouse to share their gloom, even if he hadn’t shared their deflating in person.
“I think, the way it turned out, it doesn’t look good,” Torre said.
Indeed, though persons eager to clobber Ramirez should remember a few things. For starters, Keith Hernandez sipping a Bud in the Mets locker room in the midst of a wild Game 6 comeback has only become part of Mex’s legend. Rickey Henderson playing cards with Bobby Bonilla while the Mets were losing to the Braves in the 1999 NLCS wasn’t considered an egregious enough offense to keep the former out of the Hall Of Fame. And considering Manny’s past towel-related issues, this could’ve turned out far worse. (thanks to Chuck Meehan for the link)
If you previously blanched at Michael Jordan’s uncouth treatment of lesser lights ranging from Byron Russell to Kwame Brown, you’ll not be surprised to learn His Airness allegedly demanded $15K to pose for a photograph with the former Hakeem Seriki, aka Houston’s Chamillionaire. I dunno how much of the above story is true, but either way, it seems Cham has just pissed away any chance of being invited to appear on Charles Oakley’s cooking show (thanks to David Roth for the link)
At the risk of making light of a very sad situation for Steve Phillips’ family, I think i speak for baseball fans across the country when upon learning of the former Mets GM’s suspension from ESPN, the first thing I thought of was, “why are the network’s interns and production assistants so resistant to the charms of Joe Morgan?” While you’re wondering if ESPN isn’t an acronym for “Extremely Serious Penis Needs”, the New York Post’s Jeane Macintosh and Dan Magan provide many sordid details.
ESPN analyst Steve Phillips had a fling with a 22-year-old production assistant, who, after being dumped, taunted his wife with “Fatal Attraction”-like phone calls and a letter that bragged about her sexcapades with Phillips while taking pot shots at their “loveless marriage,” The Post has learned.
The former Met general manager, whose tenure with the team was rocked by admissions of infidelity, confessed to his wife and local cops that he had slept with ESPN assistant Brooke Hundley several times this past summer before dumping her.
Hundley’s desperate actions included accidentally smashing her car into a stone column while speeding away from the Phillips’ home.
You can (and undoubtedly will) read the full piece if you want more dirt, and there’s plenty to sift thru, including Hundley allegedly harassing Phillips’ 16 year old son via Facebook and a very precise physical description of the Baseball Tonight analysist’s crotch that most assuredly falls under the category of more than anyone wanted to know. With any luck, we’ll be spared similar revelations someday concerning John Kruk. Until then, however, perhaps the only really funny portion of this story is The Post crediting “additional reporting” to one Phil Mushnick. Never let it be said Phil isn’t a team player.
How might a Bill Bellichick or Eric Mangini react if two of their charges were photographed looking as dignified as Spurs’ Peter Crouch and Jonathan Woodgate (above)? The Tottenham pair made headlines with their Saturday dance party antics after a 2-1 win at Portsmouth, resulting in the following sage words from boss Harry Redknapp, as supplied by the Guardian’s David Hytner :
Redknapp does not mind their having a few quiet drinks; what the manager cannot tolerate is their “rolling out of nightclubs at three in the morning”. He has spoken of the need for them, as “highly paid athletes”, to ensure they are always in “great condition”.
The players, who were with their wives and girlfriends, maintain that they did not drink to excess and are dismayed at the perception they are not allowed a night out. Redknapp has some sympathy, particularly for the goldfish-bowl existence in which they can be snapped constantly by members of the public on camera phones. Yet Redknapp feels the weekend’s episode only reinforces why his players should avoid late nights out at all costs.
Longtime CSTB readers will recall this is not the first time former QPR striker/Rodney Trotter lookalike Crouch has found himself the center of nightclub attention.
Thoughtful stuff from On The Black’s Cooper, who never even got around to talking about David Howard’s notions of an unobstructed view.
Earlier this year, the University Of Montana student paper covered the story of a pair of the school’s football players being accused of assaulting a fellow student. In the days and weeks since, writes the Missoulian’s Chelsi Moy, “the UM football team has proved it’s good at another game – the silent treatment.”
In recent weeks, head coach Bobby Hauck (above) has publicly belittled Kaimin reporters at weekly news conferences, and followed through with an earlier threat of shutting the students out of interviews. Now, the football athletes are no longer speaking to the student reporters either – a silence the Kaimin believes Hauck ordered.
At a recent weekly news conference, a Kaimin reporter asked Hauck whether he was going to continue rotating quarterbacks.”You want something from me now?” replied Hauck. “You’ve got to be kidding me.”
A Missoulian sportswriter immediately followed up with the same question, to which Hauck provided an answer.
At the following week’s news conference, the Kaimin reporter again asked a question – this one on how the Grizzly defense would defend against the speed of an opposing running back.
Hauck’s reply: “I’ll give you this, you’re persistent. Who’s next?”
After a recent practice, a student reporter asked a question of a player, who replied that he “wasn’t allowed to talk to the Kaimin,” the school newspaper reported.
Hauck refused to be interviewed for this story when contacted by the Missoulian.
Hauck and his assistant coaches earn more than a combined half million dollars a year. It’s kind of amazing to think one of the state’s more high profile educators considers his program so above reproach, there’s no obligation to engage in a dialogue with the same students whose tutions are (partially) paying his salary.
Believe it or not, there’s someone with less respect for the memory of Teddy Ballgame than the folks at the Alcor Life Extension Foundation. Happy Halloween! (pic taken from Unathletic Mag)
Clippers and Knicks fans might beg to differ, but if this is what passes for civil disobedience in our nation’s capital, so be it (link courtesy Eric Bickel)
