You know, we continue to find it amazing, in this day of MLB Extra Innings and MLB.tv, that any television announcer would speak freely during the commercial break. Dude: There’s a microphone on you. Someone’s going to hear.
Anyway, WBRS Sports Blog has fun footage from yesterday’s Tampa Bay-New York game, as our heroes babble on about stadium music, The Voice Of The Yankees and, of course, hot chicks in the stands. Well done, gentlemen.
So here is, without question, our favorite story of the day.
In 1976, the ABA and the NBA merged, and as part of that merger, signed a TV contract that was negotiated by an atorrney and brothers Ozzie and Dan Silna, then co-owners of the St. Louis Spirits. The deal allowed them one-seventh of the television revenue generated by the four ABA teams that entered the NBA as long as the NBA were still around. In case you haven’t noticed, the NBA is still around … so the two brothers are still getting cash off their deal. A lot of cash, $168 million with a contract that has survived all legal challenges.
“I would have loved to have an NBA team,” said Ozzie Silna, 73, a Malibu resident and environmental activist. “But if I look at it retrospectively over what I would have gotten, versus what I’ve received now, then I’m a happy camper.”
The new NBA television deal is making them about $24 million a year. With a deal like this, actually owning a team is just too much trouble.
• 1. Death Of The Chop. The Tomahawk Chop died peacefully in its sleep on Sunday, the New York Mets officially supplanting the Braves as King of the Hill in the East with a 10-6 win. It was the Mets’ first three-game sweep in Atlanta in 21 years. Carlos Beltran is still unconcious, in case you were wondering, hitting his third grand slam in July. The Braves: 15 games back. R.I.P.
• 2. The Chase Continues. Bobby Abreu may be gone, but the story in Philadelphia right now is Chase Utley, anyway. Utley extended his hitting streak to 31 games, Philadelphia sweeping a doubleheader from Florida, 11-5 and 9-2.
• 3. We’re Not Listening! La La La La La La! Why can’t the Cardinals win in Chicago? The answers are shrouded in mystery. What is known: Carlos Zambrano won his ninth straight decision as the Cubs beat the Cards 6-3, giving Chicago its first four-game sweep of St. Louis at Wrigley Field since 1972. St. Louis is 0-7 there this season.
• 4. Well, This Can’t Be Good. Not a great time to watch Curt Schilling get shelled, if you’re a Sox fan. Schilling did the perp walk on Sunday, lasting just five innings, as Orlando Cabrera, Vladimir Guerrero and Juan Rivera all homered off of him to lead the Los Angeles Angels over Boston 10-4.
• 5. Twins Barely Escape Mauling. Twins have not been swept. We repeat: no sweep. Jeremy Bonderman’s balk in the eighth brought in the tying run, and Minnesota went on to beat Detroit 6-4, avoiding its first home sweep of the season.
So, what, pretty much all that’s left is Alfonso Soriano, right? After the Carlos Lee to Texas trade on Friday, and the Bobby Abreu and Cory Lidle to the Yankees trade yesterday, the trade deadline at 4 p.m. ET today seems to be approaching without most of its larger bullets already fired.
The little countdown clock on ESPNews all day appears to be clicking down for Soriano, maybe Miguel Tejada, possibly Greg Maddux, but no one hugely shocking. The trading deadline always seems somewhat artificial and hype-y anyway; the biggest deadline shock we can remember from the last few years is Nomar Garciaparra going to the Cubs, and maybe Larry Walker heading to St. Louis … and that was after the deadline anyway.
That said, we’re all fans, and this is what fans talk about. Here’s a look at the big trade yesterday, from each team’s fans:
Bobby Abreu to the Yankees
• Bronx Banter: “I will be excited to see him in pinstripes. He’s not going to be asked to be the team’s best player. Perhaps he’ll fit right in. He is a better defensive right fielder than anything the Yanks have got. Offensively, he is exceedingly patient and a high-percentage base stealer to boot. I don’t have much of a gut feeling as to how he’ll do in New York — I could see him going David Justice or Raul Mondesi — but I’m looking forward to finding out.”
• The Lohud Yankees Blog: “Much love of the move in the clubhouse. Sal Fasano believes Lidle will be very effective in the AL because he has been sinking the ball well.”
• Beerleaguer: “My emotions are still mixed, my opinion uncertain. If I had to say one thing, it’s that this whole situation is a shame. Future considerations pending, this is one of the most one-sided deals in Phillies history, even if the ultimate goal was to move forward and change the dynamic of the club. No matter how one sees it, the Phillies have been beaten yet again, and as fans, we’re looking up from the bottom of the well. But looking up nonetheless.”
• The 700 Level: If you are a Phillies fan, you know this deal wasn’t as simple as the players swapping teams. This is a trade which signifies the dark cloud of Ed Wade’s tenure finally passing. … It feels a bit weird to think Abreu will no longer lollygag in right at Citizens Bank Park.”
To steal a line from Chris Farley in Tommy Boy, let me tell you why the Yankees SUCK as a franchise. Actually, that’s too much to tackle in one blog post, so let’s just keep this to two items from this past weekend…
1. They bought Bobby Abreu. Even though they already have the highest payroll and fourth-best record in baseball they’re dropping $20 million for Abreu’s services over the next 15 months (and possibly $36 million over the next 27). This for a guy who has hit .270 with 14 HR in his past 600 at-bats. He does get on base over 40% of the time, but that’s a lot to pay for some OBP. Of course, Yankee fans like Lush like the deal in part because they have no soul.
2. Cuba’s best player may be headed to the Bronx. Second baseman Yulieski Gourriel has defected and there’s a quote saying his next stop is Yankee Stadium. This may be far from etched in stone, but if it does happen it would be yet another example of the Yankee “farm system” producing a blue-chip foreign player (see: Hideki Matsui, see also: Alfonso Soriano) just because they outpay the competition. No wonder they’ve been to the postseason 11 straight years.
Note: This has nothing to do with me being a lifelong O’s fan. Nothing at all.
Whenever I’m gone and not posting for a few days I feel the need to explain my absence. In this most recent case I was out at Deep Creek Lake with family enjoying, among other things, a hyper-competitive Wiffle Ball home run derby with my brothers. This is usually an enjoyable endeavor for me as baseball and Wiffle Ball are “sports” that I’ve always beat them at, but in this case Chris was king racking up 13 points to my measly five. I mean, just look at that swing…
By the way, this photo has no credit but know that it was taken with love by my mom from an aerial view safely out of harm’s way on the house deck. Now, onto sports and stories that people not related to me may actually care about.
Team KILLER BEE will soon once again be able to buzz in and out of Shooto as they please.
The Japanese Shooto Association has announced that the indefinite suspension of Tokyo’s KILLER BEE gym would soon be lifted. The suspension, which has been in place for roughly the last six months, has prohibited fighters from KILLER BEE, a gym which included Norifumi Yamamoto, Akira Kikuchi, Koutetsu Boku, among others, from competing in professional Shooto, and as well, has prevented any up-and-coming fighters from competing in amateur Shooto, as well.
The suspension stemmed from an incident at Shooto’s The Victory Of The Truth on February 17th, where Yamamoto’s teammate Akira Kikuchi lost the Shooto world middleweight championship to Shinya Aoki. After the bout, physician Dr. Kenji Nakayama was tending to a cut sustained by Kikuchi during the fight. Yamamoto then kicked Nakayama from behind, and verbally attacked him; “KID” claimed that the cut had been caused by an errant and illegal elbow by Aoki, and disparaged the doctor for not realizing it as such, based on the appearance of the cut.
After the incident, the Japan Shooto Association announced on February 21st that Norifumi Yamamoto, and all fighters out of KILLER BEE, would be suspended from both amateur and professional Shooto competition.
Two days later, on the 23rd of February, leading Shooto promoter Sustain held a press conference at the Hotel Metropolitan in Tokyo, and allowed both Dr. Nakayama and Yamamoto to speak on the incident. Nakayama said of the incident, “It didn’t physically hurt, but it hurts my feelings. I took it as contempt, not violence.” Nakayama said that in his eighteen years around the ring, he had never been abused physically or verbally by a fighter, trainer or cornermen prior to his incident with Yamamoto.
“I am sorry. I will do my best to not let this sort of thing happen any more; I just get too upset, and exceed a proper level of protest,” Yamamoto apologized.
On March 6th, judgement was handed down from the highest Shooto authority, the International Shooto Commission. The Commission announced that the Shooto license of Norifumi Yamamoto was in a state of non-recognition, meaning that under Shooto-sanctioning, Yamamoto compete as a fighter, serve is a chief second or cornerman for any fighter, act as a manager for any fighter, or promote a Shooto event.
The Japanese Shooto Association, led by chairman Naoki Sakurada and chief executive Taro Wakabayashi, announced on July 29th that the Association’s suspension of the KILLER BEE team would be lifted after August 6th, making for a total of 170 days of suspension. As of August 7th, KILLER BEE fighters may resume fighting in both amateur and professional Shooto.
However, the International Shooto Commission has upheld the indefinite non-recognition status of “KID” Yamamoto’s license. The ISC have noted that while Yamamoto has apologized to Dr. Nakayama, he has not formally apologized to either the Japanese Shooto Association, or the International Shooto Commission.
While it is immaterial in regards to Yamamoto’s participation as a fighter, as Yamamoto has recently announced his hiatus from MMA to pursue a freestyle wrestling bid at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, the continuation of non-recognition of Yamamoto’s Shooto license means that he still cannot corner or manage any of his KILLER BEE fighters if they are to compete in amateur or professional Shooto, until the ISC chooses to reinstate his license.
One of Shooto’s hottest up-and-comers will return to the ring on September 8th.
PUREBRED Omiya’s Ganjo Tentsuku will be back at Korakuen Hall for the September 8th card, following his first visit outside of Shooto’s confines. On June 11th, Tentsuku stepped into the octagon at GCM’s Demolition of Octagon Gear VI, and took a unanimous decision victory over Frenchman Emmanuel “Pythagoras” Fernandez. Now, the 24 year old will compete in his third bout of the year against Paraestra Tokyo veteran Kohei Yasumi.
Yasumi, a seven year Shooto veteran, has not competed in Shooto since a loss to Sweden’s Jani Lax in November of 2004. Since then, Yasumi has focused on Brazilian jiu-jitsu competition and submission grappling, as well as fighting a bout in Shootboxing last year. With a level of experience which belies his 27 year old age, Yasumi will look to score a big win over the up-and-coming Tentsuku when he heads back to Korakuen Hall.
Crymson and Sustain Present Professional Shooto September 8th, 2006 Korakuen Hall Tokyo, Japan Doors Open: 17:00 Fights Start: 18:00
So here is, without question, our favorite story of the day. 
Notes from a day in baseball:
So, what, pretty much all that’s left is Alfonso Soriano, right? After the 
