May 2010
ESPN Radio Deserts its Fans
05/30/10 12:19 Filed in: Soccer
Words to die by:
We want to hear Mason and Ireland not Libya v Myanmar soccer, Mike and Mike not Iceland v Croatia soccer, Terry Smith not that goaaaaaaal guy. This will be the schedule for all of ESPN radio, not just 710 SoCal.
It’s going to be a long, boring, radio-less summer with all this world cup stuff pushing INTERESTING REAL SPORTS off the radio.
For those of us who listen to sports talk radio, the best of which in Southern California is by far that which is broadcast through the local ESPN station, 710KSPN, not to mention play-by-play of stuff like, well, Angel and Lakers games, and for some of you demented fans out there, usc sports, this announcement is an abomination.“Hear every match of the 2010 FIFA World Cup on ESPN Radio and ESPNRadio.com.”
We want to hear Mason and Ireland not Libya v Myanmar soccer, Mike and Mike not Iceland v Croatia soccer, Terry Smith not that goaaaaaaal guy. This will be the schedule for all of ESPN radio, not just 710 SoCal.
It’s going to be a long, boring, radio-less summer with all this world cup stuff pushing INTERESTING REAL SPORTS off the radio.
theHoundDawg |
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SC Verdict Next Week?
05/30/10 11:43 Filed in: College Football | College Basketball
No Way to Celebrate, and Some Other Stuff
05/29/10 18:57 Filed in: Baseball
Through decades of watching sports, and literally thousands (I guess) of great finishes and brilliant comebacks, I’ve always felt while seeing out-of-control celebrations, that someone was going to get hurt. Bad.
Well, it happened to today, and the Angels season might be over because of it.
The Angels slow start was never a worry here, due to their outstanding roster and great manager. Brandon Wood not hitting? Doesn’t really matter. Joe Saunders under .500? Relax, it’s still early. Brian Fuentes blowing saves? Par for the course.
But today, when Kendry Morales followed his walk-off grand slam home run with an awkward jump next to home plate, the Angels season blew up just like a BP gulf oil rig.
Morales suffered a broken left leg, and chances are he’s played his last game for this year at least.
When Juan Rivers broke a leg in winter ball a few years back, it took him almost two full seasons to heal and return to form.
After waiting a near-eternity for Morales to mature as a major leaguer, he rewarded the Angels with a brilliant 2009 (34, 108, .306) and was off to a sizzling start in 2010 (11, 39, .290 in the first 51 games). There is no one on the current roster that can replace Morales, and even if the injury is “not that bad” and he can return late in the season, they will miss his bat terribly until then. Neither Texas nor Oakland has the personnel or experience to compete for a full season with a healthy Angel team, but these upstarts just got a new life, and for the first time in almost 10 years, I can see the Angels finishing second or third behind one or both of them, and out of the playoffs.
In a couple of other notes from an immense day in baseball, another player suffered a major injury when Indians’ pitcher David Huff was lucky to have not been killed when the scumstripes’ Alex Rodriguez hit a line drive off Huff’s forehead, hard enough to ricochet into right field. It will be a surprise if Huff returns any time soon, if at all this season, and there will be a big question as to what success he will be able to achieve in the future.
And in the piece of good news today, Roy Halliday pitched the 20th perfect game in baseball history, a scant 20 days after Oakland’s Dallas Braden pitched the 19th. This would be the first season ever to see multiple perfect games. No disrespect to Braden, but it’s great to see one of true veteran stars of the game achieve this feat after years of competing at the highest level, rather than a young guy like Braden who was a virtual unknown until May 9.
Well, it happened to today, and the Angels season might be over because of it.
The Angels slow start was never a worry here, due to their outstanding roster and great manager. Brandon Wood not hitting? Doesn’t really matter. Joe Saunders under .500? Relax, it’s still early. Brian Fuentes blowing saves? Par for the course.
But today, when Kendry Morales followed his walk-off grand slam home run with an awkward jump next to home plate, the Angels season blew up just like a BP gulf oil rig.
Morales suffered a broken left leg, and chances are he’s played his last game for this year at least.
When Juan Rivers broke a leg in winter ball a few years back, it took him almost two full seasons to heal and return to form.
After waiting a near-eternity for Morales to mature as a major leaguer, he rewarded the Angels with a brilliant 2009 (34, 108, .306) and was off to a sizzling start in 2010 (11, 39, .290 in the first 51 games). There is no one on the current roster that can replace Morales, and even if the injury is “not that bad” and he can return late in the season, they will miss his bat terribly until then. Neither Texas nor Oakland has the personnel or experience to compete for a full season with a healthy Angel team, but these upstarts just got a new life, and for the first time in almost 10 years, I can see the Angels finishing second or third behind one or both of them, and out of the playoffs.
In a couple of other notes from an immense day in baseball, another player suffered a major injury when Indians’ pitcher David Huff was lucky to have not been killed when the scumstripes’ Alex Rodriguez hit a line drive off Huff’s forehead, hard enough to ricochet into right field. It will be a surprise if Huff returns any time soon, if at all this season, and there will be a big question as to what success he will be able to achieve in the future.
And in the piece of good news today, Roy Halliday pitched the 20th perfect game in baseball history, a scant 20 days after Oakland’s Dallas Braden pitched the 19th. This would be the first season ever to see multiple perfect games. No disrespect to Braden, but it’s great to see one of true veteran stars of the game achieve this feat after years of competing at the highest level, rather than a young guy like Braden who was a virtual unknown until May 9.
| theHoundDawg |  |
Ex-Trojan Cushing Has Illegal Steroid Use Validated by Sportswriter Panel Re-Vote
05/13/10 15:00 Filed in: NFL
Ex-Trojan brain surgeon Brian Cushing, found to have tested positive for an NFL-banned performance-enhancing drug, was rightly suspended without pay for four games. In an interesting move, a re-vote was then taken among the panel of Associated Press sportswriters that had previously voted Cushing NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year. The re-vote results were, to say the least, astounding.
In an incredulous validation of illegal steroid use, the erstwhile panel again voted Cushing the recipient of the award, which until then, carried a modicum of prestige.
Granted, 22 of the 39 sportswriter who originally voted for Cushing changed their vote, but 18 still endorsed him, including one writer who actually had the audacity to CHANGE his vote TO Cushing! That outstanding citizen is Pittsburgh Post-Gazette writer Ed Bouchette, When asked about his vote change, Bouchette has given only flippant responses, basically indicating he was upset about having to take valuable time away from his other activities to cast a second vote.
At a time where it would seem that the use of steroids, HGH, and other performance-enhancing drugs is down in professional sports, and with the apparently widespread realization of the serious damage that such drugs do to the physical well-being of those who choose to ingest, inject, rub in, or shove up such drugs, it is a slap in the face to every other college and professional athlete, in particular last season’s crop of NFL rookies, to give this award to Cushing. A second time. AFTER the announcement of his positive drug test.
In an incredulous validation of illegal steroid use, the erstwhile panel again voted Cushing the recipient of the award, which until then, carried a modicum of prestige.
Granted, 22 of the 39 sportswriter who originally voted for Cushing changed their vote, but 18 still endorsed him, including one writer who actually had the audacity to CHANGE his vote TO Cushing! That outstanding citizen is Pittsburgh Post-Gazette writer Ed Bouchette, When asked about his vote change, Bouchette has given only flippant responses, basically indicating he was upset about having to take valuable time away from his other activities to cast a second vote.
At a time where it would seem that the use of steroids, HGH, and other performance-enhancing drugs is down in professional sports, and with the apparently widespread realization of the serious damage that such drugs do to the physical well-being of those who choose to ingest, inject, rub in, or shove up such drugs, it is a slap in the face to every other college and professional athlete, in particular last season’s crop of NFL rookies, to give this award to Cushing. A second time. AFTER the announcement of his positive drug test.
| theHoundDawg | |
The City of Brotherly Love
05/04/10 16:51 Filed in: Baseball
There is nothing more disgusting than a self-indulgent fan who thinks nothing of the tens of thousand of other fans in the stands or the millions watching on TV when he decides to interrupt the game by running out onto the field. I’ve seen it in person, and hated the delay, and on TV they cut away from the fan so it’s even more boring and time-consuming.
For decades this has been happening, and the result had always been the same: Security guards or police tackle the guy in center field, or on the 50 yard line. Wild cheers always greet the security guards when the fan is apprehended, and the fan is booed as he is “escorted” off the field.
Something changed yesterday in Philadelphia. Outnumbering the renegade fan by about six to one, a Philadelphia police officer chose not to tackle the guy, or surround him, or chase him off the field. Instead, he decided to use a taser on the fan. The 17-year-old fan who was playing hooky from high school. Not a robber. Not a burglar. Not a murder suspect. Certainly not a suspected terrorist. A 17-year-old high school kid on a ball field.
There is absolutely no justification for that to have happened, despite Philiadlphia Police Commissioner Charles Ramsey saying the officer “acted within department guidelines”, and despite the validation given this morning by the likes of ESPN’s First Take commentators.
Its annoying, its a pain, but its not a felony. Validation in Philadelphia, and it will become the standard law enforcement response across the country. That will be a big mistake.
| theHoundDawg |