Don't go away mad, don't go away sad, don't go away glad...
If I had run into ESPN's Mike Greenberg on the morning of March 4th, I would have slapped his smirky face off. Then, in a moment of Cosby-esque furor, I would have shrieked, "YOU PICK THAT #### FACE UP!" And then, I would have slapped it off again. That just begins to tell you how mad I was --- and likely, still am -- at Mr. Greenberg.
Of course, if I allow myself to get logical, I know that he's not the only reason why my QB is playing for his team and not for mine. But when it comes to love -- and yes, you can love a team and its QB as deeply and profoundly as anything in this world -- logic is besides the point.
Still, Greenie was among the Greek Chorus of sportswriters and talking heads who forced Brett Favre's hand back in March to retire -- kind of. "Oh, you have to tell us all what you're going to do,' they cried. "You CAN'T let the Packers go into the draft without saying whether you're going to retire or not, " moped Greenie and all the others -- ESPN's nattering nabobs of negativity.
So, of course, after he says goodbye, Brett Honey starts to get that proverbial itch and wants to come back to Green Bay. Except that team's present brain trust (and I use that term loosely) has other plans that don't include #4.
Ted Thompson might accomplish much in his NFL management career, but I doubt it. When he dies, the New York Times' obit will read, "MAN WHO TRADED FAVRE."
And where does #4 wind up? Yuppers, Greenie's beloved New York Jets! I used to like the Jets, I really did. Unlike Greenberg, I can actually remember Joe Willie Namath playing in Shea Stadium, the Heidi game and "chicken ain't nothing but a bird." (As another former denizon of Shea used to say, you can look it up, Greenie.)
Like any spurned lover, it would be much nicer to slide into the shadows and not reminded of it. No dice. All of the Wisconsin CBS affiliates are trying to cash in on the Brett Favre love train and have been broadcasting nothing but Jets games this fall. It's like some girl leaves you for the rich guy and you have to keep seeing them ride by in that flashy car.
Back in September, when locals were choosing sides and some were going through their own Kubler-Ross levels of loss, many were still saying Packers Uber Alles. This team can still be a winner, they shouted from the highest hills. I begged to differ.
When they were hyperventilating over the 2-0 start, I humphed and said, this team will finish 7-9 or 9-7 -- it's simply mediocre without you-know-who at QB. Now that it's December, to paraphrase Denny Green, the Packers are who I thought they were.
Okay, Ted Thompson becomes the Grinch who stole the Packers' season. I can hate him for the rest of my life -- and likely will. And Brett Favre becomes just another ex who dumped me when things got tough. That leaves Greenie.
Let's tally it up, shall we? Mike Greenberg:
A) pissed and moaned that Favre should retire
B) was rewarded by Favre playing for his New York Jets
C) wouldn't know trivia if it bit him on the tuckus, but still got to host a trivia show -- (even if nobody watched Duel) and
D) is still ducking me in a debate on who would make a better next baseball Commissioner.
Yes, I threw the gauntlet down back last summer -- even had a few fans write back with their own pledges to vote for me.
I feel not unlike Kool Moe Dee trying to call out LL Cool J in that rapper's duel back in the day. LL couldn't rap his way out of a paper bag, but jeez louise, he's sooooooo cute anyway. LL is making movies these days and Kool Moe is left with little more than the knowledge that he was the superior rhyme writing talent.
Still, I'm still throwing it down, Greenie. You got Duel, you got Golic (okay, you can keep HIM) and now, you stole MY QB! If I may channel my inner Ice T, it's on! As Kool Moe once rapped, "if somebody knows the boy, better tell him 'cuz the boy ain't got no heart."
I again challenge you, Mike Greenberg, to a debate on who would make a better baseball Commissioner. You can bring all of your ESPN buddies -- Buster Olney, Peter Gammons and the rest -- have them ask us both the same questions. Afterwards, let's see if they don't say, "jeez Greenie I like you but the Beer Man made some good points out there.'
Yes, a Beer Man should be the next Commissioner. And if someone like me -- the product of a white mother and black father -- can grow up to be President, why can't another White Sox fan aspire to run the National Pasttime.
And it would give me something to do while avoiding Greenie and the Bretts.
At my age, it takes an awful lot to shock me, but something I heard on Mike and Mike In The Morning (yes, THAT show again) shook me to the core. Frequent visitor (and arguably the best football analyst on TV today) Mark "Stink" Schlereth, when asked how many knee surgeries he'd had, matter-of-factly replied, "twenty."
TWENTY?! Yes, of the 29 procedures...wait a minute, TWENTY-NINE times under the knife?! Well, if that doesn't tell you something about the price people pay to play professional football, then WTF does?
Something else Schlereth said rang true to the bone, too. I'm paraphrasing here, but he added something to the effect of "when it's you on the operating table, there's no such thing as minor surgery."
Don't I know it? This year, I was struck by a hit-and-run driver -- on my bike, no less -- and literally broke my face. It required three plates to reattach the pieces together and I'm still rather antsy whenever anything gets remotely near my head.
So, when I read that Arizona Cardinals' WR Anquan Boldin was going to return to the football field -- just weeks after surgery for his own fractured face -- I just about #### the morning coffee out of my rebuilt nose.
Football? You're gonna play FOOTBALL?! Are you freakin INSANE?!
Yet, in a conference call with Arizona reporters on Wednesday, Carolina Panthers QB Jake Delhomme said, I would be 100 percent shocked if I don't see Anquan Boldin on the field Sunday."
As the Arizona Republic's Kent Somers reports, Boldin suffered facial injuries and a concussion from a severe hit against the Jets on Sept. 28. He underwent surgery on Oct. 2 to fix the damage and cleared a concussion test last week.
On Tuesday, he had wires removed from his mouth and he's eager to sink his teeth into a steak from Ruth's Chris Steak House. He can't eat it yet because he has some numbness in his mouth.
Boldin went through a portion of practice Wednesday and went out of his way to head butt a couple of teammates, including fellow receiver Steve Breaston. "He asked me what I was doing," Boldin said. "I just said I was trying to get a feel for it."
Now, of course, I'm not a football player, but the thought of Boldin playing this Sunday makes my own head hurt all over again.
Still, Mike Tulumello, of the East Valley Tribune adds that Boldin practiced on Wednesday, then said, “I’m going to take it one day at a time.
“Hopefully, everything plays out to my liking. … Everything felt good. I kind of head-butted some guys to see how it feels. I didn’t feel any pressure from it.”
Boldin knows he could get hit in the same place after he takes the field.
“My feeling is, if it’s going to happen, it’s going to happen. I can’t go the whole game worrying about it. … Then you haven’t played to your full potential.”
In making the decision on whether to play, in concert with the Cardinals’ medical staff and coaches, “You have to listen to your body,” Boldin said. “That’s the best indictor.
“The body lets you know if you can go. It also lets you know if you can’t.”
Boldin said wires were removed from his mouth Tuesday, but metal plates that were implanted are to stay in permanently.
Yeah, I'm walking around with plates in my head too. Yup, me, Anquan and Don Zimmer.
Now, the surgeons assured me that I'd have no trouble walking through airport security, but I haven't tested this theory as yet. Another loyal reader, GS, suggested that I should maybe visit the City-County building here in Madison to see if the plates make the machine go WHOOP, WHOOP, WHOOP, WHOOP...
Surgeries were the topic of discussion on Mike and Mike In The Morning as many are buzzing about the news that New England QB Tom Brady may need a "do-over" on his own knee surgery.
In fact, Karen Guregian of the Boston Herald reveals that "doctors are so concerned about containing the infection in Tom Brady’s left knee they have performed three procedures in an attempt to eradicate it, according to a source familiar with the quarterback’s travails on the West Coast.
While Brady acknowledged on his Web site that he had one arthroscopic procedure done to “clean and to test the wound” last Wednesday, the Herald has learned there have been two additional procedures performed since that time, with the same goal in mind.
According to the source, the fear is the patellar tendon graft used to replace Brady’s anterior cruciate ligament is in danger of becoming compromised. Should that occur, the entire ACL reconstruction would have to be removed and redone from scratch.
All of which would push back the possible timetable for his return to the Patriots' lineup.
Meanwhile, that's not the only problem in the NFL this morning. Accoring to John Harris of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, Ray Anderson, NFL executive vice president for football operations, says the league is investigating a bounty made against Steelers wide receiver Hines Ward by Baltimore Ravens linebacker/defensive end Terrell Suggs, who appeared on the "2 Live Stews" show on Sporting News Radio.
"We certainly are looking into it," Anderson said. "That bounty notion is completely against the rules. We will look into it aggressively."
Of course, Suggs reversed field Wednesday and told Baltimore reporters that there's no bounty on Ward. Don't you just love these people who say stupid things and then claim to be misquoted?
Uh, dude, you were RECORDED SAYING IT!
In the same interview, Suggs also added that a similar bounty had been placed on rookie running back Rashard Mendenhall and it was widely reported that Ravens' LB Ray Lewis danced over the stricken body of Mendenhall, exclaimed, "HE"S DONE."
Still, the thuggish Lewis also tried to feign some remorse. When asked on Dan Patrick's radio show, if he feels sympathy for opposing players he's injured on the field, "Yeah, I do. Sympathy goes a long way," Lewis said. "Most of the time, as soon as I see somebody seriously hurt, I go into prayer. I don't stop until that person starts to move.
"The last thing you want is to ever injure somebody where there limping the rest of their eyes. ... Nobody should go out there to hurt anybody. If you do, you're in the wrong sport. You may as well go into UFC."
Yes, sirree...never a dull moment while covering the Baltimore Ravens.
Game 1 of the World Series has come and gone. So, what did we learn last night?Let MLB.com's Mark Newman count the ways.
1. The Phillies are in this event, too. Many Americans have adopted the Rays. There is no denying it. New York is particularly teeming with Tampa Bay backers right now, and the frenzy has spread in a country that loves a great underdog story. But the Phillies won Game 1, 3-2.
2. It is cool to shave all the hair on your head except for a thick racing stripe down the middle, which you spray-paint blue. Rayhawks are everywhere here, and you see them on the strangest of pates. If you have a shiny pate, then a blue boa affixed to the noggin' makes for a nice Rayhawk just the same.
3. It is not cool to get out of the way when the opposing team's first baseman is lunging into the crowd to catch a foul ball. Score it E-fans, in Game 1 at Tropicana Field. This isn't the first time that poor foul-ball-catching etiquette was displayed in a postseason game, of course (hint: Wrigley Field). Jimmy Rollins was talking about how they cleared room for Ryan Howard in that situation, and he was asked what would happen if Carlos Pena tried to make a foul catch just like that back in Philadelphia: "Would he come out alive? Yeah," Rollins said. "Bruised? Maybe."
4. Be careful what you ask for when you put the shift on for Chase Utley. During the same at-bat in which he tried to bunt for a hit down the unoccupied space at third base, Utley turned on an inside 92-mph fastball from Scott Kazmir and blasted it for a two-run homer in the first inning to set the tone.
"He's different than most left-handed hitters," Kazmir said. "I would say more of a long swing, they don't really know how to get to an inside fastball too well to a lefty. But him, you can just tell he loves to keep his hands in and he likes that short and quick swing. But I knew just from watching video and games here and there he likes a pitch in. He just gets his hands through the zone."
Said Utley: "I guess it turned out pretty well. The third baseman was playing shortstop, I figured with a guy on first and one out, I'd try to create something at that point. It was foul, but it ended up to turn out pretty good for us."
5. The NL can play with the AL.
6. Cole Hamels is starting to remind you of a young Bret Saberhagen in the 1985 postseason for Kansas City and a young Josh Beckett in the 2003 postseason for Florida. You are wondering if soon you will be seeing postgame notes comparing his 2008 postseason to people like those, listing birthdates and such. He seems unbeatable this month.
7. The running game is alive and well in this series, even though both teams come in with reputations for massive power displays. "There will be running this series," Phillies catcher Carlos Ruiz said.
"For us 0-1, it's like being down 0-1 in the count if you're the batter," Rays reliever J.P. Howell said. "You're not too worried, but at the same time you saw what they have. You've got to prepare and adjust. They're very aggressive on the basepaths. That's something I didn't know about them. And those guys, they battle, it's a different league. Their approaches are just different. It's a feel thing."
8. The in-game music is different here, seemingly younger than many places. Early in the game, it had a club feel. You can tell it's a young team, just by the vibe that permeates into the crowd. There was rapper Too Short, country singer Trace Atkins, an industrial band called Ministry, Aussie band Midnight Oil rings out when Aussie reliever Grant Balfour enters the game, there was the national anthem from the Backstreet Boys -- the only thing missing was New Kids On The Block. By the way, NKOTB drew the largest crowd in the stadium's history. It's not your grandfather's ballpark.
9. Both U.S. presidential candidates know exactly how important baseball is to everyone.
10. You really can win a World Series opener after a long layoff.
11. But don't count on winning often when you are 0-for-13 with runners in scoring position.
12. Tropicana Field is a fun place to watch the Fall Classic. In the fifth inning, they were having a great time inside the Centerfield Brewhouse, while down the concourse a boy was wailing on baseballs in the Extreme Zone Batting Cage -- a junkyard motif with a clunker car bearing a sign that reads: "RUNS GOOD".
13. Looking ahead is OK as long as you aren't a player. Even though you don't know which of these teams is going to win the World Series, you already can order that team's clubhouse championship gear.
15. Brad Lidge can do pretty much whatever he wants right now. He remains perfect in save situations in 2008. This time it was thanks to his tight slider. In Game 2? "They're gonna go home and watch video, and tomorrow I might face them again, and they might be on my slider better," he said. "So you have to make adjustments. It's mostly the situation of the game that dictates what's going on. I haven't seen 'em, they haven't seen me. Tonight it's sliders, tomorrow it's fastballs if it requires fastballs."
Finally, I have some terrible news to share with you all. Shocking, ugly, evil, DISGUSTING news that will shake you deeply.
The esteemed Mr. Easterbrook has his own loyal readers and one of them, Nicole Zavradinos, was among many to report that WMNV-FM in St. Louis has already switched to an all-Christmas-music format. She heard "Little Drummer Boy" on the radio while driving to work. ARRGHH!
Yet another reader, Ryan Lindhurst of Mount Clemens, Mich., reports, "You might have noticed at your local grocery stores that Pepsi has begun selling Sierra Mist Cranberry Splash. It is advertised as a 'holiday drink' and for the last two years has been available from late October until New Year's. This year it hit the shelves shortly after Labor Day." Click Cranberry Splash on the Sierra Mist home pageand you will be offered Christmas wallpaper plus Christmas songs containing the word "cranberry."
After reading Easterbrook's column, I saw a display of Sierra Mist Cranberry Splash and shuddered visibly. And yes, it's been siting there since freakin Labor Day at Apollo Liquor too.
Still, Xmas music before Halloween is just plain wrong. Having given up on the holiday several years ago, I can't stand Xmas music EVER!!
The problem is that in our secular America -- and I'm a secular American, so I'm not knocking that -- you can't play the baby Jesus songs, so it means suffering through an entire month of those blankety-blank chestnuts and rocking around that #### Xmas tree. Now, you're telling me that a radio station in St. Louis is playing this #### in October?!
Look, my friends, THIS and not Bill Ayers or Rev. Wright or Sarah Palin's clothes budget or any number of silly meaningless so-called issues..THIS is what we should asking our candidates about.
"Senator Obama, if elected, would you consider a FCC ban on radio stations playing Xmas music before December?"
Only 12 more days before the election...and only 62 more to stock up on the Cranberry Splash!
When West Virginia head basketball coach Bob Huggins -- coaching at his third school in four years -- was given a 11 year extention on his contract, I was incredulous.
"Eleven years?!," I remember thinking, "Hell, my first wife only gave me eight years and that was supposed to be forever and ever amen!"
Let's face it, breakups are hard. As Elvis Costello once sang, all your friends must choose who they will favor, who they'll lose.
You spend so many years loving someone that often your first thought is, I'll show them. Things that were said and shared in confidence are suddenly spread around.
Breakups don't get much more bitter in these parts than the very public split between future Hall of Famer Brett Favre and the Green Bay Packers. Many in the state of Wisconsin have sided with Favre's side of the story (indeed, nearly every CBS affiliate is broadcasting New York Jets this fall) while others have said good riddance and bought the Packers' version of things.
It is in this context that we view FOX Sports' Jay Glazer's story last week of Favre briefed Detroit Lions coaches for over an hour on the phone about the Packers' offense prior to their Week 2 game.
Several sources have told FOX Sports that Favre earlier this year phoned the Detroit Lions prior to their battle versus Favre's old team, the Green Bay Packers, and gave them a rundown of the nuances of what Green Bay does on offense. According to the sources, Favre actually spent over an hour on the phone with Lions coaches, who were connected with Favre by then-team president Matt Millen.
While the Lions still lost and the Packers and Favre's replacement Aaron Rodgers played well, it's still baffling that the Packers legend would spend such a significant chunk of time giving tips to an opponent of his long-time franchise.
Other teams the Packers have played had also heard about the Favre coaching clinic with Detroit. In addition, there have been rumors that Favre has spoken to other teams giving them information, but most of those teams insist they have not heard from the famed gunslinger.
However, another team says it has had casual talks in the past with Favre and talked about some of what Green Bay does, but it was nowhere near the details he let loose to the Lions.
Still, Favre has the right to do whatever he pleases. If he wants to help other teams there is nothing in league rules that prevents him from doing so.
Well, did he or didn't he? How you see this depends on how you viewed the Favre-Packers breakup.
Favre tried to cover his tracks by texting Sports Illustrated that the story was "Total BS" and that version of the events got plenty of air time during Sunday's pre-game TV shows.
"I do find it disappointing some of the denials...Peter King gets that text message from Brett saying, 'Total BS.' And I've gone at it a little bit with Peter, let me...This is the same guy (Favre) who when reports originally came out saying he was going to come back, called one of his best friends in Biloxi (Al Jones) and said, 'It's all rumor. It's all rumor.' I will say this, Jim, I stand by my story 1,000%. 1,000%....These are strong accusations (against Favre), damn right you have to be 100%, are you kidding me?...You have to get it straight from the horse's mouth on this, you have to get it from people who know the situation and who've been involved with the situation. That's why I stand so strongly behind my source. My sources I should actually say because it was from more than one person. I had actually gotten a hold of this several weeks ago and I kind of was waiting for the right time. Then obviously when his conversation happened with Tony Romo, one of my guys in Dallas called me and said, 'How about this guy (Favre)? You know, bug off our team. Leave us alone.' It just seemed like a natural time to do the story."
Is there any possibility that Glazer was misled by his source? Negatory, he replies.
"No. They didn't care one way or the other. And it didn't help them. There was no reason for the sources to mislead me. It didn't come from Packer sources. Although it was interesting when I talked to the Packers they had known about it -- they didn't know about the Lions. They had actually heard about another team and the Packers, when they heard about it originally, had switched up a bunch of stuff supposedly for this happening. My sources, there are zero...there's nothing for them to gain or lose."
So, how did it all happen in the first place?
He called Matt Millen, Matt's been trying to get in touch with him to go hunting and this is the part that hasn't really been out yet. But Matt was trying to get him to go hunting, Matt has a house down in Pennsylvania and Brett's up there in New Jersey, so Brett just happened to call back the week that they were playing the Green Bay Packers. Maybe it was coincidence, maybe whatever it is. Brett said, 'By the way, who are playing this week?-type of thing.' (Favre said) 'Oh, you are? You guys want any tips?' And then Matt hooked him up with the coaching staff and Brett...When Brett talks, he doesn't do anything in snippets. Brett talks...I've always said he's my absolutely my favorite person to ever sit down with in production meetings where I had done games at Fox because it's the world according to Brett and it's phenomenal. You sit in there and he just goes. That's what he did with the Lions' coaching staff."
Now, there was a time when the good people of Wisconsin would take each and every word out of Brett Favre's mouth as the gospel truth. That time now seems firmly in the rear-view mirror.
Long-time colleague Andy Baggot of the Wisconsin State Journal captured the feelings of many around here when he opined, "the point has been made that Favre didn't break NFL rules by calling Detroit coaches and giving them a prolonged glimpse into the Green Bay playbook. There's no law against adultery, either, but both are crimes against character."
Meanwhile, another of the Madison writing fraternity, Doug Moe -- with a Favre book just hitting the shelves, no less -- wonders aloud, what's next?
"Now when the columnist goes to bed at night, rather than falling asleep dreaming about the oceanfront home in Maui he was planning to buy, his eyes snap open with nightmare headlines that might be coming any day.
"Favre: Deer hunting for wimps."
The story begins: "Brett Favre, quarterback for the New York Jets, today denounced deer hunting in Wisconsin and questioned the manhood of anyone who participates in the annual ritual.
"'Stalking the ferocious white-tail deer,' Favre said, his voice dripping sarcasm. Are you kidding me? They'd look dainty in those orange suits -- if their butts weren't so big.'"
Another headline:
"Favre buys condo in Chicago."
The story: "Former Packers quarterback Brett Favre has purchased a condominium in the trendy Lincoln Park neighborhood and announced he will join former Bears coach Mike Ditka as co-owners of a new Chicago restaurant called Titletown South.
"'Chicago is the real Titletown,' Favre said in a statement."
On bad nights, it's just swirling headlines, one after another:
"Favre, Moss to star in buddy film: 'Moon Over Cheeseheads.'"
"Favre speaks out on 'The View,' claiming, I never liked bratwurst.'"
"Minnesota Metrodome renamed for Favre."
"Favre: Vince who?"
I argued in this same space a couple years back that the beat reporters were sick of the "is he gonna retire or won't he?" circus and had pretty much turned on the famed Packer QB. Now, that Favre's character or lack thereof has been exposed, I can't find a single sportswriter in the state has anything good to say about him anymore.
Some people say that hard times build character and I'd say those people are idiots. Hard times, like a messy breakup, don't build character, they expose it. And this sorry episode leaves Brett Favre looking less and less like Mr. Packer Hall of Fame each sad day.
Even though he picked a poor week for alleged truth-telling, Jose Canseco would like everyone to know that he's really, really sorry. No, really.
I can imagine Mark McGwire is somewhere saying to himself, "yeah, I bet he's sorry...he's the sorriest SOB I know!"
Still, the former Oakland A's slugger gave his mea culpas on a documentary, Jose Canseco: Last Shot, running this week on the A&E network.
If the now broke former steroids shooter thought he'd catch a break from the media, much less the American public at large...well, he's got another thing coming.
Michael Rosenberg of the Detroit Free Press expressed these views when he told FOX Sports, "maybe there has been a more clueless, more self-serving big-name athlete in the last 20 years, but if so, I don't want to meet him. Canseco has the self-awareness of a porcupine who keeps licking his skin.
Canseco is a career steroid user. I don't mean he used steroids for his whole career. I mean using steroids was his career. He juiced his way to 462 career home runs, The New York Times Bestseller List and brief fame as the only man in baseball who would tell the truth.
"I never realized this was going to blow up and hurt so many people," Canseco said.
I hate to write like a eighthgrader's text message here, but: WHAT?!?!?!? You never realized this was going to blow up and hurt so many people? Jose, are you on drugs?
Oh, right.
Cedric Golden of the Austin Statesman adds, "sure he’s a rat that outed a lot former colleagues and now he’s broke with no prospects of earning money in the future, but he still doesn’t come across as sympathetic. Canseco created his problems. Now he has to deal with the fallout.
One scene has him standing outside his mansion, unable to get inside because the bank has foreclosed on the property and changed the locks on the doors. It’s almost a metaphor for Jose’s lot in life. He would love to return to baseball in some fashion, but writing that book killed any chance. Just like his house, Jose is on the outside of baseball looking in. He’s a sad story but I’m not sad for him.'
To use the old Woody Allen joke, you get the feeling that if you looked up the word pathetic in the dictionary, you'd find a picture of Jose Canseco.
As if to confirm this analysis, Dan Gross of the Philadelphia Daily News reveals that Canseco plans to battle Broomall-born Danny Bonaduce in a Jan. 17 bout at a location to be annouced, promoted of course by Damon Feldman's Celebrity Boxing outfit.
Bonaduce, who we recently reported was being considered for the morning gig at 94 WYSP, has fought at three earlier Celebrity Boxing Federation bouts. The 5-foot-7 "Partridge Family" star can be seen Saturdays on CMT's "Hulk Hogan Celebrity Wrestling," which also features Northeast-raised Frank Stallone.
"The bigger they are, the harder they fall," boasts Bonaduce.
"Think of what Mike Tyson used to do to bigger guys. That's what I'm going to do to Canseco."
Canseco was charged last week in federal court in San Diego with misdemeanor possession of an illegal fertility drug he allegedly acquired in Mexico. The bad boy of baseball, an admitted steroid user, was caught with human chorionic gonadotropin, which helps produce testosterone in steroid users, reports the San Diego Union-Tribune.
Canseco claims to have had food poisoning when defeated by Sikahema, and says he didn't train, either. This time, Feldman says, Canseco swears to flatten Bonaudce in Round One.
In his column, Gross also notes that the last time Canseco stepped into a boxing ring, former Eagle special teams whiz Vai Sikahema laid him out in a minute.
Meanwhile, Evil Empire 1.0 (the New York Yankees) and Evil Empire 1.1 (the Dallas Cowboys) have entered into a partnership, combining their evil powers and subsequent marketing possibilities.
Rachel Cohen of the Associated Press reports "two of the most recognizable franchises in all of sports — and two of the highest-profile owners — are forming a company together. Legends Hospitality Management will handle concession and merchandise sales at the clubs' new stadiums, with the goal of eventually doing the same for other pro teams and college programs.
"Mr. Jones and my dad have had a mutual respect for each other for decades," Yankees co-chairman Hal Steinbrenner said at a news conference Monday. "So it made perfect sense for us."
Each franchise moves into a new stadium next year.
Gerald Cardinale of Goldman Sachs, who has worked with the Yankees and their YES Network, first pitched the idea more than a year ago. The Cowboys already manage their own concessions and merchandising.
Yankees president Randy Levine said his team will have a "market-rate" rights agreement with Legends, and that money will be subject to Major League Baseball revenue-sharing. But the company's profits will not.
Former Pizza Hut president Mike Rawlings will serve as CEO. He said teams and fans alike aren't happy with the current quality of stadium concessions.
Food and drink prices have yet to be set for the new stadiums, Rawlings said. While he insisted the goal wasn't to raise prices, he said increasing "value" was the main objective, from shortening lines to offering fresher food and a greater variety of options.
Legends could eventually expand its services to handle areas such as sales of seat licenses, Jones said.
"We are the No. 1 television team in the NFL. We have that kind of visibility. The Yankees have unparalleled visibility," he said. "That should, if we perform and get the job done, create inordinate interest in where we rank in this business."
There's no confirmation as yet that the Cowboys' new stadium, as part of this agreement, will be known as the Death Star.
With the World Series opening in Tampa tonight, many folks in the media are being asked about their own favorite memories of the Fall (now almost winter) Classic. Depending on your age, in Wisconsin, you might recall 1982 when the Brewers' Paul Molitor got five hits and Mike Caldwell shut out the Cardinals, 10-0.
Still, if you're old enough, you might fondly remember the name Nippy Jones. As the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel wrote a couple years back...
Jones, whose given name was Vernal, was 32 and had not played in the big leagues since 1952 when the Braves purchased his contract from Sacramento of the Pacific Coast League July 6.
He was batting for Spahn when he walked to the plate to lead off the bottom of the 10th with the Braves trailing, 5-4. The Yankees had gone ahead on a single by Milwaukee native Tony Kubek and a triple by Hank Bauer after Spahn had gotten the first two outs in the 10th.
Jones, a right-handed batter, stepped in against left-hander Tommy Byrne. In a 1978 interview, Jones recalled what happened.
"Byrne started me off with a curve ball," he said. "The ball hit me on the foot and I dropped my bat and started toward first base. But (umpire) Augie Donatelli said, 'Come back here. That's ball one.' I couldn't believe it."
Meanwhile, the ball had hit the base of the concrete grandstand and was rolling back toward the plate.
"I went right for the ball," Jones said, "and (catcher) Yogi Berra was pretty smart, so he did the same thing. I got there first, and there was a spot of shoe polish about a half-inch in diameter.
"The kids in the clubhouse shined the shoes after every game, and they were spotless. There was no question about the shoe polish, so I took the ball over to Donatelli and showed it to him.
"Just then (Yankees manager) Casey Stengel came out and said, 'What the hell is going on here?' Donatelli told him and I went to first base. Yogi said something or other, but he knew it had hit me."
Braves manager Fred Haney sent Felix Mantilla out to run for Jones. Meanwhile, Stengel summoned Grim to replace Byrne.
Red Schoendienst sacrificed Mantilla to second, which prompted Stengel to pull an outfield shuffle. He removed centerfielder Mickey Mantle, who had a sore right shoulder, shifted Kubek from left to center and put Enos Slaughter in left.
Up stepped Johnny Logan, playing on an injured ankle that had to be drained of fluid before the game. "All I could think of was base hit, base hit, base hit," he said. "I kept telling myself not to go for the long ball."
Logan took two balls, then cracked a double into the left-field corner to tie the score. Slaughter misplayed the ball and Logan was tempted to try for third "so Eddie could drive me with a long fly, but I couldn't take the gamble."
Mathews was 1 for 11 in the Series and was using one of Adcock's bats because the knob of his own had given him a blister. The count went to 2-2 and Grim threw a hip-high fastball that Mathews belted to right.
"I was pretty sure it was going over but I was worried for a second when I saw Bauer up against the fence pounding his hand into his glove," Mathews said after the game.
"How did I feel? I felt about 10 feet tall."
The victory kept the Braves from falling into a 3-1 hole in the Series, which almost certainly would have been fatal against the Yankees. The Braves went ahead the next day with a 1-0 victory by Lew Burdette, and on Oct. 10 Burdette shut out the Yankees again, 5-0, in Game 7 at Yankee Stadium, giving Milwaukee its only World Series championship.
Sure, Burdette was the biggest hero, with three victories in the Series. And sure, Mathews and Logan had the biggest roles in the Game 5 comeback. But who knows what would have happened if Jones had led off the 10th with an out instead of reaching base?
"It's funny," Jones, who died in 1995, said in the 1978 interview. "The importance of the event seemed to grow as time went on. The main thing to me was winning, and I didn't care how we did it."
Five days after the Series ended, the Braves assigned him to Wichita in the American Association. Jones refused to report, got his release and returned to the Pacific Coast League. He played through 1960, but never appeared in a major-league game again.
Finally, since Hollywood seems to have run out of any and all original ideas -- bringing dozens of old TV shows to the screen - why not remake a few movies than could truly use a decent retelling.
At the top of the list, I'd recommend Your Cheating Heart, which starred the hopelessly miscast George Hamilton as Hank Williams Sr.
George Hamilton? I mean, George freakin Hamilton?! What were you smoking?!
I love the guy, I do. He made a super consigliari in The Godfather III and I enjoyed his Toasted Chips commercials with the tag line "I know toasted". And I giggled my way through Love At First Bite.
But the idea of him as country music's greatest song writer is beyond the pale, It's just another example of the Hollywood mentality that a bunch of moguls sit in a hot tub and do enough cocaine until The Harlem Globetrotters on Gilligan's Island sounds totally plausible.
Oh, you think I made that last one up, Guess again, my friends. Read and then weep over this wikipedia entry.
In the film, the Harlem Globetrotters, a traveling troupe of merry basketball players, are on a plane ride over the Pacific Ocean when it has engine trouble and they are forced into an emergency landing onto Gilligan's Island. After a brief time struggling in the jungle, they are discovered by Gilligan and Skipper and welcomed to The Castaways. Meanwhile, a corporate raider has a plan to bamboozle the owners of The Castaways (Gilligan and his friends) into signing over ownership to him, as the island contains ore which provides large sources of energy. Eventually Gilligan and the Skipper uncover the conspiracy, and it results in a basketball game between the Globetrotters and the doctor's robots.
The original script was going to be known as The Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders on Gilligan's Island, but was changed to have the Harlem Globetrotters star instead. On the original series, the Howells are childless (in fact in one episode they adopt Gilligan). Despite this, a new character of Thurston Howell IV (the Howell's never previously mentioned son, portrayed by David Ruprecht) was added due to the ailing health of actor Jim Backus, who appeared only briefly in the movie's final scene. Thurston Howell III was written out of the script by saying he was tending to business on the mainland United States, and ordered his son, Thurston Howell IV, to manage the island resort. Although Backus was not in the cast, at his insistence to keep up the series canon he made a cameo appearance at the end and is thus credited.
This is specifically the kind of sports news that you can't, don't or won't find anywhere else. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to look for funny cigarettes so I can forget all the above.
John Kruk isn't a baseball analyst, he just plays one on TV.
Look, John Kruk the player was a joy to behold, for fan and sportswriter alike. Not blessed with the most athletic physique, the Krukster got the absolute most out of his talents and nearly everybody he played with at every single level lists him among their most favorite teammates.
And he was a quote machine. In an age when ballplayers were growing more and more angry and downright belligerant, John Kruk would always give you a couple minutes of his time
And he was funny. As a Philadelphia Phillie, Kruk once observed, ‘It’s easy to be a sportswriter. All you have to do is put on 40 pounds and wear clothes that don’t match.’
Of course, recently in Milwaukee, Frank Deford, an actual journalist, countered, “Now that Mr. Kruk is a journalist after a fashion on ESPN, he proves that point every time he’s on the air.”
Yes, I loved John Kruk as a player and fountain of frothy glorious quotes. But John Kruk, the so-called journalist is an intellectual train wreck. His sentence construction is made up of popsicle sticks.
The column by Slate's Ben Mathis-Lilley asks why the thinking man's game -- baseball -- is being explained on television by the worst analysts? It would be bad enough if Kruk were the exception and not the rule, but why are we being subjected to absolutely terrible analysis during baseball's post-season.
And it's not as if ESPN doesn't have some top rate baseball analysts. Baseball Tonight employs several experts with actual expertise: Hall of Fame writer Peter Gammons, lovably excitable reporter Tim Kurkjian, and ESPN.com regulars Buster Olney and Jayson Stark are all knowledgable with the capacity to share their expertise. Still, they're drowned out by a veritable plethora of eminantly awful space-fillers.
Mathis-Lilley cites a recent edition of Baseball Tonight, where Eric Young's scouting report on C.C. Sabathia consisted of "He can dominate with the inside fastball as well as the outside fastball," all said over video of Sabathia throwing a curveball.
Do you want cheese with that?Slate.com also noticed that the Milwaukee Brewers might have been the fattest team in recent memory.
Justin Peters claims that Milwaukee's 40-man roster features 12 players who weigh 220 pounds or more, including the (allegedly) 270-pound Prince Fielder, the 290-pound Sabathia, and Seth McClung, who ballooned to 475 pounds when he ate then-manager Ned Yost on Sept. 15. (The Brewers claim Yost was fired, but then how do you explain the ketchup stains on McClung's jersey?)
Catch some Rays? Maybe not. Those plucky Tampa Bay Rays stand a couple games away from sending Red Sox Nation into the winter of their discontent. John Herbert, a longtime Rays' beat writer observes how far the team has come and how much more pleasant it is to cover a winner.
In the bad old days of the last decade, any admission that I was from the Tampa Bay area was met with abject sympathy and even an occasional, "You poor old sod. Won't you ever learn how to play baseball in Tampa?"
I don't have to sweat those trips any longer. Tampa Bay's baseball team has done us very proud. The dream team has gone from worst to first, reminding me of the "incredible" New York Mets of a couple of generations ago.
The Rays have done for Tampa Bay what the local chamber of commerce has been trying to do for years: to give the area some much-needed and consistent front-page publicity all across the nation.
Where did the mojo go? Instead of waxing poetic about our teams, suddenly our teams are getting waxed.
We were kings of the world, universally hated by sports fans across the land. Life was a nonstop sequence of banner hoistings and ring celebrations. We grew arrogant, cocky, entitled.
Now the Patriots are an ordinary team with a no-name quarterback, getting pummeled, 30-10, much to the titillation of a national television audience hungry for New England blood.
And the Red Sox, winners of two of the last four World Series and favorites to repeat in the fall of 2008, find themselves trailing the once-laughable Tampa Bay Rays, two games to one, in the American League Championship Series. The Rays, deemed not ready for prime time playoffs by David Ortiz just a couple of days ago, routed the indomitable Jon Lester, 9-1, at Fenway Park yesterday. Who's the scaredy cat now?
This is not to overreact to the Red Sox' plight. The Sox last year trailed the Indians, 3-1, in the ALCS, then roared back to win the next three and sweep the Rockies in the World Series.
But yesterday's lopsided loss to the Rays stunned a Nation still reeling from the Patriots' Sunday night debacle in San Diego. Suddenly Big Papi is Big Popup. Boy Wonder Jacoby Ellsbury is 0 for his last 20 and has fans begging for Coco Crisp. Josh Beckett, Mr. October of this century, is serving more meatballs than Bertucci's. Jason Varitek looks as though he might calcify in mid-swing. Terry Francona has forfeited his hardball Mensa membership and is hearing words he never heard in the Bible.
Moreover, I would argue that the Red Sox have become the new Yankees -- believing in their own manifest destiny that they cannot fathom any other outcome. As the late great Lowell George once put it, the people you misuse on the way up, you meet up on the way down.
It Ain't The Shoes, it's the funky numbers on the helmet
In yet another example of how TV football analysts are soooooo much better than their baseball counterparts, ESPN"s Jamal Anderson reminded viewers that --- everybody, all together, ON ANY GIVEN MONDAY -- anyone can beat anyone in the NFL. Sure enough, the previously hapless Browns dominated the previously unbeaten New York Giants on Monday Night Football.
In fact, in the Department of Cliches portion of our show, the New York Daily News' headline reads, Giants show it's any given Monday in NFL.
Still, I don't believe it had anything to do with any of that. It was the funky ole school numbers on the helmets. One look at that and the G-Men were toast!
Finally, Ringo Starr is mad as hell and he's not gonna take it any more. The good-natured drummer, who also enjoyed a brief acting career after star turns in Beatles' films "A Hard Day's Night" and "Help!," guest starred on a 1991 episode of "The Simpsons" in which he is shown scrupulously answering every piece of fan mail that comes his way.
"They took the time to write to me, and I don't care if it takes 20 years, I'm going to answer every one of them," Starr says on the show.
In his mail, he finds a package from Marge Simpson that contains a portrait she painted of him back in the Beatles heyday. He puts it on his wall and writes back to tell her — a few decades late — how much he likes her painting.
Well, not any more, man. The former Beatle has told the BBC that will no longer sign memorabilia for fans and will throw away all fan mail he receives in the future.
"Please do not send fan mail to any address you have," he said in a video message on his website.
"Nothing will be signed after the 20th of October. If that is the date on the envelope, it's gonna be tossed.
"I'm warning you with peace and love I have too much to do," the 68-year-old drummer said.
Dressed in black clothes and dark glasses, Starr said it was "a serious message to everybody watching".
He added: "No more fan mail and no objects to be signed. Nothing."
Starr, who released his most recent album Liverpool 8 in January, recently completed a tour of the US and Canada. In April, a foliage sculpture of Starr outside a railway station in Liverpool was beheaded by vandals.
The performer had reportedly angered some locals when he told the BBC's Jonathan Ross he missed nothing about the city.
Letters, we get letters...loyal longtime reader CJ from the Netherlands (HOLLAND?! Yeah, we global, booooeeey!) asks what impact the financial meltdown will have on the sports world. Well, we're seeing it already on a micro and macro level.
Locally, the sad economic news has forced both the Madison Mallards and Green Bay Packers to scale back proposed stadium improvements. (Full disclosure moment: This columnist is employed by the Northwoods League baseball club.)
The Mallards have had put the kibosh on big plans for a brand spanking new park. The original plan would have remodeled the Duck Pond at Warner Park, rotated the baseball field 180 degrees to help block the sun and gave the ballpark a $5.5-million facelift.
Now, the plans have changed, however, and the project has been scaled back to halve the price, WISC-TV reported.
Instead of building new facilities, the plans will now renovate existing buildings.
The city will still authorize $800,000 for new bleachers, but will not provide the $1.2 million for other renovations.
Mallards General Manager Vern Stenman said the ballpark will still get its needed improvements.
"A couple weeks ago, we came to the second option and said, 'Man, we can do a little bit scaled back project and accomplish 90-95 percent of what we were hoping to do and spend less than half the amount of money,'" said Stenman. "It just made a lot of sense."
Meanwhile, improvements to Lambeau Field have also been torpedoed by the economy. The Green Bay Press-Gazette reports that even the Packers are pinching pennies these days.
In light of the uncertain economic landscape, the team decided to put off a $25 million expansion of the Lambeau Field Atrium. The plan calls for a plaza that would wrap around the atrium from the Oneida Nation gate on the east to the Miller Brewing Company gate on the north to allow for better movement for fans. It also called for underground parking for players.
Packers President and Chief Executive Officer Mark Murphy attributed the delay to the weakened economy, as well as the team’s desire to incorporate the idea into longer-term development plans.
“Given the size of the investment, we want to make sure it fits into our long-term master plan,” he said. “It made sense to put it on hold for a while. We don’t want to say in a year or two, ‘if only we’d known’ … so we decided the best thing to do is hold off.”
The Packers recently bought a number of properties west of Ridge Road along Lombardi Avenue with an eye on future development.
Plans for the atrium expansion are drawn, but no supplies or contracts were ordered or signed. It was expected to begin after the football season, and Murphy still expects it will go forward at some point. “It would have solved a lot of problems,” he acknowledged. “It’s a timing issue.”
“We’d like to see the project completed,” said Patrick Webb, executive director of the Green Bay-Brown County Professional Football Stadium District. “We think there are safety issues, both for people going to the game and for the players and parking. We’ve been suggesting it for several years.
“But we understand and support the team’s decision. One has to only look at the current financial situation to understand why the team doesn’t want to liquidate investments at this time for the project.”
Until the economy stabilizes, the Packers will remain cautious, Murphy said.
As Manchester United, possibly the world's most valuable sports franchise and arguably the most famous one worldwide, took to its hallowed pitch, its home red shirts (an appropriate color, as it turns out) were emblazoned across the chests with the logo of American International Group, previously the largest insurance company in the U.S. and now a ward of the state.
At the time of its collapse and public rescue, AIG was just midway through a four-year sponsorship deal with Man U that will pay the club upward of $100 million. Not that U.S. taxpayers' money is really going offshore, mind you, since Man U's owner is Malcolm Glazer, a Rochester-born businessman who also happens to own the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Hmm, so does that mean that -- as an American taxpayer -- I now own part of Man U?
And what about all those stadium and arena names that are also up for grabs?
Right now, for example, they're trying to figure out what to do with the name of the 76ers' and Flyers' crib, the Arena Formerly Known As Wachovia Center. Do the naming rights Wachovia purchased go to Wells Fargo, which stepped in to try to take over the failing bank late this week, or to Citigroup, which thought it had a deal earlier in the week and so is contesting the Wells Fargo transaction? The same goes for Wachovia's piece of the Charlotte Bobcats. For now, presumably, nothing has changed. And if you committed to memory every last sentimental moment you witnessed at the last game at Yankee Stadium a couple of weeks back, you might recall a straight-faced sign beyond the outfield that reads in retrospect like some fan's idea of a topical joke written on a bedsheet:
AIG: THE STRENGTH TO BE THERE
That's just stuff in plain sight. Never mind the loans out to leagues, franchises and owners, or the books that aren't opened to the media but might contain records the FBI could stumble upon in its search for evidence of criminal activity in New York's financial district.
Whether the House of Representatives signed off on the bailout of Wall Street (it did, early Friday afternoon), whether the Dow Jones Index stabilizes or crashes right down to the Mendoza line, whether the $1.2 trillion in investors' losses in Monday's trading at the NYSE are recovered in whole or in part or will only be compounded, something will change, almost certainly many things.
It won't be business as usual anywhere, sports included.
There is a glimmer of good news among the bad tidings as Tiger Stadium preservationists raised the needed funds by last Friday's deadline to prevent immediate demolition of the rest of the stadium.
The Detroit Free Press' Zachary Gorchow reports that stadium advocates turned over $69,000 to the city for security and maintenance at the stadium and put $150,000 into an escrow account to defray the costs of delaying demolition.
"It's an exciting day," said Thomas Linn, vice president of the Old Tiger Stadium Conservancy. "It's only a small step, and there's a lot more to do."
There sure is.
Friday's success is merely the first in a long series of deadlines preservationists must meet to prevent the ballpark -- which the Tigers called home from 1912 to 1999 -- from complete demolition.
The Old Tiger Stadium Conservancy promised the Detroit Economic Growth Corp. that by Dec. 1 it would supply conceptual design plans and cost estimates, preliminary 5-year operational and construction budgets, a fund-raising proposal and an economic feasibility evaluation, among other requirements.
If the city approves, then the conservancy will pay an additional $150,000 into an escrow account on Dec. 11.
The current concept for the iconic stadium is to convert the lower deck into a restaurant and bar, banquet facilities, a welcome center for the Corktown neighborhood and an exhibition area for yet-to-be-determined sports memorabilia.
The Detroit City Council was poised to vote Tuesday to authorize the razing of the rest of the stadium if preservationists failed to raise the money. The outfield stands already have been leveled.
Preservationists have until March 1 to raise $15 million for the project itself and would have to begin construction by July 1 with completion of the work in 18 months.
Still, another longtime reader CP in Florida suggests that beer might make the best investment in the long and short term. He writes that if you had purchased $1,000 of shares in Delta Airlines one year ago, you will have $49.00 today.
If you had purchased $1,000 of shares in AIG one year ago, you will have $33.00 today.
If you had purchased $1,000 of shares in Lehman Brothers one year ago, you will have $0.00 today.
But, if you had purchased $1,000 worth of beer one year ago, drank all the beer, then turned in the aluminum cans for recycling refund, you will have received $214.00 back on your investment.
Based on the above, CP suggests that the best current investment plan is to drink heavily & recycle. He calls his strategy, the 401-Keg.
Speaking of saving, did the Packers save their season with a win in Seattle on Sunday? The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel's roundtable of Packers "experts" debates the issue along with providing some post-game quotes. If you asked any Packer in particular, it was HUGE!
Greg Jennings says. It's huge. I think we came out and started fast. The enthusiasm was there. We played four quarters, finally. Obviously you're not going to have success all the time, every play, but we had success more than we had negative plays. I think that's the key to winning ball games. We were able to move the ball. Obviously we kept the ball away from their offense, kept our defense fresh and gave ourselves a chance to win.
Nick Barnett says, It was huge. Not being able to play we wanted to play for the last couple of weeks, we finally got back to playing Packer defense. We had some energy out there. The front seven did good, the DBs played good, we had some good turnovers. We've just got to continue to keep this train moving.
Aaron Kampman found another word to describe it, adding, It's tremendous. It really is. We'll enjoy this one for a little bit. Hopefully we'll get on a roll now.
To paraphrase Yogi Berra, is the Badger football season over before it's over? It's a valid question after Wisconsin was pasted by Penn State, 48-7 Saturday night. Also from the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel's sports blog page, Dave Heller asks aloud, can we just say this one was ugly?
You can listen to some of the explanations and other emotions in our post-game interviews. Bielema talks about the short field, missed assignments (Jay Valai is called out for one play), the reason he switched free safeties, why he didn't pull Allan Evridge at the start of the second half and much more.
Bielema didn't name a starting quarterback, but it sure sounded like Dustin Sherer would start. Both Evridge and Sherer talk about the game as well in our interviews.
DeAndre Levy said Wisconsin got "stomped" while Jonathan Casillas said the Badgers deserved to be booed. If you're looking for something uplifting, then listen to Mike Newkirk's comments. He might have been trying to just say the right things, but man did he put a positive spin on things (at least from his vantagepoint).
Heller also adds that Camp Randall had its 36th consecutive sellout, although most of those fans were gone by the end of the game. It was the least-crowded walk to the post-game interview session ever.
Moreover, what teams left on the Badgers' schedule can be considered probable wins? You'd like to think that lowly Cal Poly -- the late season cupcake found after breaking the contract with Virginia Tech -- is a definite do-able.
Still, what about road trips to Iowa and Michigan State along with home tilts against improving Illinois and Minnesota? Even the Indiana game looks iffy, so how does Wisconsin garner three more wins to make themselves bowl-eligible?
In any event, it seems likely that their fans won't have to gripe about yet another New Year's Day game in Florida.
While visiting the Sunshine State, Sarah Silverman asks, if you could change the world by visiting your grandparents, wouldn't you? The Great Schlep aims to have Jewish grandchildren visit their grandparents in Florida, educate them about Obama, and therefore swing the crucial Florida vote in his favor.
And like that famous 60's commercial for rye bread, you don't have to Jewish to take part. You can still become a schlepper and make change happen in 2008, simply by talking to your relatives about Obama.
Finally, speaking of family, there are some in the sports world who have a problem with Philadelphia Phillies' manager Charlie Manuel's way of grieving.
Manuel broke his silence Sunday, two days after his mother passed away at 87. Most of the questions revolved around his loss coming at a high-profile time and the balancing of work with personal tragedy.
"We've got some work to do, and I know my mother would definitely want me in the dugout, because she used to manage a lot for me anyway," Manuel told MLB.com's Ken Mandel. "I feel very comfortable. My mom and I were very close. I know that she would definitely want me to finish the season, if possible."
Manuel will manage the Phillies through Game 5 on Wednesday, then return to Buena Vista, the small Virginia town where he grew up and where June Manuel lived in the same house for the past 43 years. He'll attend a viewing and funeral and return to Philadelphia for a possible Game 6 on Friday.
Still, many are complaining about Manuel's choice as a poor choice of priorities, and why sports' impact is so perverted, yadda yadda yadda. Even ESPN's Mike and Mike In The Morning discussed the topic, though they didn't appear to judge the man or his reasoning.
And yet, neither Mr. Greenberg nor Mr. Golic -- along with millions of people who have chimed in -- have much in the way of credentials to talk as they still have yet to lose a parent themselves.
In 1991, I was in college -- winning my first Roto baseball championship and cheering on the "worst to first" Atlanta Braves in the World Series -- when I lost my mother and I left classes to attend her funeral. After My father joined her in 1997, I wrote a column that day on how he probably was a deciding factor in my becoming a sportswriter.
What's my point here? If you haven't lost a parent, shut up about Charlie Manuel. You have no critical leg to stand on.
And we all have the right to grieve in our special way.
In this economy, it might be a buyers' market as many will be forced to sell low.
So, which baseball team will be the winner of the Manny Ramirez sweepstakes? Your first guess might be the team that always throws money at the game's top free agent to be, the former Best-Team-Money-Can-Buy, the New York Yankees.
The NY Daily News' Lisa Swan and Jon Lewin, while bemoaning the cancellation of a proposed closing ceremonies event at Yankee Stadium, cite the following reasons why the Steinbrenners will want Manny.
He’s perceived as a winner, and it’s in the Yankees’ best interest to have Manny, not Torre, as the face of the Dodgers’ success. Plus, the hope is that Ramirez will do for the Yanks what he did for the Dodgers
He puts fannies in the seats, and will get people talking about the Yanks again.
The Yanks need a hitter who does well wih runners in scoring position. Manny is a monster at the plate.
Manny is a Yankee-killer, and that’s the type of guy who usually gets a free agent contract from the team. Look at Carl Pavano - all he had was one World Series against the Yanks, and he got $40 million!
He’s getting older, and wants a lot of money. Those factors are usually irresistible to Brian Cashman.
Signing Ramirez could stick it to the Dodgers, Red Sox, and Mets. How can the Yanks pass that trifecta up?
The baseball playoffs will finally resume tonight with the Phils and Dodgers squaring off in Philly. If you're thinking of attending, the Philadelphia Daily News' Paul Vigna reveals that a ticket to Game 1 will be the least expensive of any of the NLCS games to be played at Citizens Bank Park.
Sean Pate, of StubHub, said yesterday that prices had slowly decreased during the week.
"If I look at the last few days, it has been creeping down," he said. "Monday it was at $238, Tuesday at $241, Wednesday $239. Probably [today] you'll see $225 potentially. But again, that's going to be the steady average. As far as getting in, the low end probably will be in the $120 range.
"What might be interesting to look at is see what the tickets are listed for, maybe even in the morning. That's when you start to see some people getting desperate and wanting to get rid of these tickets."
I know thousands of you must have had a World Series with the Cubs on your bucket list—things to see before you croak.
Sorry, my friends. It doesn't matter how much lipstick you put on this goat.
Your Cubs are still baaaaad.
Wednesday was the 63rd anniversary of the last World Series game won by the Cubs, for those of you at the assisted-living center in your "Party Like It's 1945" shirts and funny hats.
Tradition matters. But don't you worry, if Mark Cuban does buy the Cubs, he will make sure that they continue to be total losers in the very same way his basketball team is.
Still, in the spirit of equal time, he also finds time and space to slam the crosstown White Sox for being the first team to lose a playoff series to the fledgling Tampa Bay Rays, which he equates with, "a little like becoming the first Democrat or Republican to lose a presidential election to the Green Party."
If you have some spare cash and are looking for that final piece of Brett Favre memorabilia to complete your collection, the Appleton Post-Crescent reports that the former Green Bay Packers quarterback’s home is on the market.
There’s no “for sale” sign in front of the ranch-style home at 2085 Shady Lane, at the corner of Shady Lane and Morris Avenue, but it’s listed by local real estate agency Micoley and Company for $475,000. The nearly 3,000-square-foot home includes four bedrooms and three baths, according to Micoley’s Web site.
Say what you will about Adam "Don't Call Me Pacman No Mo'" Jones, who was involved in a fight with his Cowboys-installed bodyguard early Wednesday morning. On Mike and Mike In The Morning, Mark "Roc Hoover" Schlereth noted that Wednesdays are usually the day for special teams practice EARLY...so the former Pac-person was out in yet another bar fight just hours before he was due at practice.
I think he really turned the corner," Arora said over the phone. "I don't know how accurate everything that's being reported is. As far as I'm concerned, he's a wonderful person. He knows my family.
I helped him as much as I could. Unless somebody tells me that this is true, I'll stand by him. If this is true, unfortunately it's a step back, and there's going to be consequences."
Finally, the country's most famous hockey mom will be at center ice this weekend, also in Philly. (Editor's note: Sheesh, as David Letterman might say -- if he was still talking to McCain, that is -- this is almost too much entertainment!)
"We are very excited she has accepted our offer and we are very proud of the publicity she is generating for hockey moms and the sport of hockey," said Comcast-Spectacor chairman Ed Snider, who runs the Flyers.
Last month, after Palin spoke in her acceptance speech about being a hockey mom, the Flyers launched a search for the area's "ultimate hockey mom." The winner will be on the ice with Palin for the faceoff.
John Shivers is in his 25th season as a journalist -- for the least two years producing and hosting a funk music show -- Back In The Day w/ Johnny Rasta -- on WSUM 91.7FM Madison, WI. Started in radio as a Morning Sports Reporter and Late Night DJ with WMAD 92FM. Served a quarter-centu ry as a sportswriter most recently, for the Milwaukee Shepherd Express, including stints as a beat reporter covering Major League Baseball (Milwaukee Brewers) and college football and basketball (Wisconsin, Marquette & UW-Milwaukee) . Born on January 5, 1957, John is the great-grandso n of slaves who first homesteaded in Wisconsin in the 1840's. He holds a BA in Broadcast Journalism (2001) from UW-Milwaukee with a Minor in Africology. John, now single, resides in Madison, WI with his beloved kittie: Black Jack (McDowell)
"Gear!"
