Archive for July 24th, 2007
Continue Reading July 24th, 2007
So, as we look back on David Stern’s fascinating press conference earlier today, we have a few thoughts.
• Boy, Stern seems pretty certain of Donaghy’s guilt, doesn’t he? There wasn’t much doubt there at all; contrast that to how baseball has handled Barry Bonds, or the NFL has dealt with Michael Vick. Either Stern is being reckless, or he knows a lot more than he’s letting on. It’s Stern, so we’re assuming the latter.
• NBA refs of Donaghy’s status make $260,000 a year. Hmm.
• As True Hoop points out, Stern has Vegas’ back, to say the last. Please don’t not let these gambling accusations remind you of, you know, the All-Star Game, or that we desperately want a team in Vegas. TWO ENTIRELY DIFFERENT MATTERS.
On the whole, we respected how Stern handled the situation. But man, this thing, it’s far from over.
Continue Reading July 24th, 2007
As much as we might try, we can’t muster up much enthusiasm for the trading deadline this year, which is in week. No matter scenarios they give us, we just don’t believe anyone too huge will end up switching teams. The days of the Mark McGwire, Mike Piazza trades seem over. (Not that we ever considered the Piazza trade “the trade of the century.”)
The names bantered about are mostly middling; Adam Dunn, Jermaine Dye, Tadahito Iguchi, maybe Jason Isringhausen … nothing all that life-changing. We remember working at The Sporting News in 1998, when the deadline was at midnight, and all us Web people had to stay up all night waiting for the big trade to go down. (It did: Randy Johnson went to the Astros.) But that doesn’t happen so often anymore. Some blame sandwich picks, which makes sense. We still blame the Nomar Garciaparra trade to the Cubs. That turned out the exact opposite of how we thought it would, and it took a lot of the air out of our bubble. And now look at Nomar; dude can barely walk.
How Sandwiches Ruined July [Bugs And Cranks]
Deadline Analysis [FoxSports]
Continue Reading July 24th, 2007
We know this is usually on Chandler’s Minor Enterprise beat, but it’s Tuesday, and that doesn’t run until Friday. So we’re grabbing it: The minor league baseball world is capitalizing on Mr. Mexico’s troubles.
The Long Beach Armada are hosting Michael Vick Animal Awareness Day.
Reminiscent of the infamous Disco Demolition over 25 years ago (without the attendant stampede and chaos), the Armada will destroy all Michael Vick jerseys in protest to the inhumane treatment of animals. Any fan who trades in a Michael Vick t-shirt or jersey at the box office will receive free admission to the game and a donation in their name will be made to Justin Rudd’s Community Action Team ( C.A.T.), a 501c3 nonprofit that provides educational outreach and events to help inspire a better understanding of dogs, encourage responsible ownership practices, and offer practical adoption and rescue opportunities.
Three years ago, Michael Vick had the best selling jersey in the NFL. Now, they’re burning it in the streets. That didn’t happen to Kobe Bryant, and he was accused of rape.
Minor League Team Throws Vick To The Dogs With Promotion [Lion In Oil]
Continue Reading July 24th, 2007
Barry Bonds remains just two homers away from Hank Aaron’s record, and in the wake of this historic and confounding achievement, we felt we should talk to a guy who knows the life of Bonds better than anyone else in the media: Jeff Pearlman, Bonds’ biographer in Love Me, Hate Me. We’ve interviewed Pearlman when the book came out, but with all that’s going on, we felt a revisiting was worth our time.
So, henceforth, our interview with Jeff Pearlman about this weird moment in sports history, in which one of the game’s most hallowed marks is about to be broken by a guy everybody hates. (Pearlman is currently working on a book about the 1990s Dallas Cowboys, the progress of which you can track here.
When we interviewed you when your book first came out, you said, “Bonds doesn’t want Aaron’s record. I’m convinced of this,” pointing out that Bonds would lose a ton of African American support. At the time, we absolutely understood this. What changed, if anything? Or were you just wrong?
Hate to admit it, but I was apparently wrong. It’s funny–I interviewed more than 500 people for my book, and the hardest thing was finding anyone with a positive thing to say about Bonds. I dug and dug and dug and dug, and the one pro-Bonds thought that was regularly repeated was that–if nothing else–the man has a profound respect for the history of the sport. You know, his dad being Bobby Bonds, his uncle being Willie Mays, his cousin being Reggie Jackson, two of his childhood heroes being Mickey Mantle and Hank Aaron.
But in the time since I made that prediction to you about Barry, I’ve had a chance to re-read my book, go through old notes, do some promotional stuff, etc. And the truth of the matter is, Bonds is completely, undeniably 100 percent full of shit. He truly is. I no longer buy his love of baseball history any more than I buy the sanctity of his marriages or the purity of his blood stream. I was at Shea when the Giants came to New York a few weeks ago, and I had to laugh when hundreds of my media peers swarmed around him for comments. I understand why they were there, but it’s a waste of time. Nothing he says holds any meaning. He’ll say the sky is blue one second and red the next. He loves Dusty Baker, then he hates him. So on and so on. Bonds cares no more about baseball history than does my goldfish. He knows what Hank Aaron went through to hit 755 home runs, and he was more than happy to cheat, load up on steroids and HGH and surpass him.
Some have said that the feds are hounding Bonds unfairly, extending their investigation just to further embarrass him and shroud him in suspicion. Do you agree?
Anyone in the media who says they know the answer to this is either psychic or dishonest. It’s impossible for me to say. My guess is that they have a legitimate reason to be going after Bonds, because it’s pretty clear he didn’t pay taxes on baseball-related earnings. Of course, there’s a history of the government trying to make examples of celebs, from (recently) Martha Stewart to Paris Hilton to so on and so on. So if they’re going after Bonds for his name, it wouldn’t be the first time.
Is Bud Selig wimping out by not showing up to see Bonds break the record? Or is he making some sort of quiet, subtle protest? Do you think Hank Aaron drove this debate a little bit? That is to say, he was one of the first people to come out and say, “I don’t want anyone who has done steroids to break this record.” That shifted the conversation a little, we think.
First, huge praise goes to Hank Aaron, who has made an important statement throughout this whole ordeal. I was surprised by the number of journalists who have hammered Aaron for his stance, and I think it’s disgraceful. Let’s see–we have a man of undeniable integrity who went through unspeakable racial hatred while breaking Babe Ruth’s cherished record. He turns a baseball mark into a baseball/civil rights mark. Seven hundred and fifty five is an American number, not a sports number. Aaron spends much of his career bemoaning cheaters and endorsing righteousness. Then Bonds comes along, cheats and erases Aaron from atop the greatest record in sports. Why in the world would Hank Aaron follow Bonds around? Bonds is as un-Hank Aaron as anyone this side of Ty Cobb.
As for Selig, he comes across as pathetic. The man presides over the steroids era, sits back and silently watches as McGwire and Sosa surpass Roger Maris, does nothing for years and years–and now he’s so righteous? It’s garbage. This is as much Bud Selig’s record as it is Barry Bonds’. When the turnstiles were humming in ‘98 and ‘99 we heard nothing from Selig. Now that the media has exposed the fraud for everyone to see, he’s Mr. Anti-Steroid. Insane.
You talked to hundreds of people for your book. Are you still in touch with any of them? What do they think of him breaking the record? Do even the people who loved him feel a little odd about it? On the other hand, do those who hate him respect the achievement?
I’ve maintained some contacts, and I know of no one who’s actually happy that he’s breaking the record. It’s like I wrote in the book–Bonds has never treated people especially well, so there’s very little loyalty for the man. Do you root for someone who refused to sign a ball for your kid? Who ignored you when you asked for advice? Who told you you couldn’t carry his jock? I still often think of Dan Peltier, the former Giant backup who brought his young son to the team’s Family Day. When Bonds asked the kid to name his favorite ballplayer, he said, “My dad!” To which Bonds replied, “Why? He never plays.”
Any respect for Bonds is a respect for his ungodly ability as a baseball player, not for his personality or ethics.
That said, I’ll tell you something that fascinates me. I contribute regular columns for ESPN’s Page 2 now, and I’ve written a few anti-Bonds pieces. The reaction is almost entirely negative–you suck, you suck ass, you’re only trying to promote your f-ing book (the irony being that bashing Bonds does not help my commercial cause). The media makes it sound like most people want Bonds to fail. I disagree–the media wants Bonds to fail. Most fans don’t find him especially likable, but they’re enamored by his achievements and size and longevity and the chance to see a record fall. Ethics? Ehhhh … whatever.
Do you think there’s any way, in 40 years, we’ll look back on Bonds the way we look back at Maris, as a guy who got a bum rap from media while he was playing and was actually a true superstar? To put it with less hyperbole, when he retires, will his reputation improve?
Roger Maris lost his hair when he was setting the record. Barry Bonds’ head was growing when he set the record. Roger Maris was a quiet, humble man who wanted the media to go away. Barry Bonds is a brash, arrogant man who wants the media to go away. Roger Maris’ peer was Mickey Mantle, whom he genuinely embraced. Barry Bonds’ peer was Jeff Kent, whom he genuinely detested. Roger Maris broke the record, tucked his head to his chin and rounded the bases. Barry Bonds will break the record and receive a new car or a golden bat or whatever the Giants lavish upon him. Maris was honest. Bonds is a cheater. In presidential history, time tends to shine an accurate light upon administrations. I believe the same goes for baseball. Forty years from now Bonds will be what he truly is–a once-in-a-lifetime talent who gave into greed and jealousy. An asterisk and a big, HGH-bloated head.
Few people have researched Bonds more than you have. Do YOU want him to break the record?
Here’s the truth. I set out to write a fair, honest, balanced biography of a misunderstood legend. I did my absolute best, and the result is a book that I’m very proud of. I’ve received strong reviews, in part because I didn’t take sides. Now that I’m well beyond the researching and writing; now that I’m beyond the promotional, 20-second soundbite push, I feel liberated to express my conclusion of the whole experience.
It is this: Barry Bonds is evil.
Alongside Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa, he is responsible for the illegal, unethical tattering of the most important page of the baseball record book. I grew up knowing what 755 meant. Hell, my mom–who knows nothing about sports–understands 755. I hate–absolutely, positively hate–that Barry Bonds is doing this. I’m mad if my 6-year-old nephew cheats in first grade. So for Bonds to come along and cheat to surpass Aaron–it’s criminal. I read writers like Bill Rhoden and Dave Zirin–guys I respect–and I just don’t understand what the hell they’re doing. They maintain there’s no proof that Bonds used, so how can we condemn him? If we used that mode of thinking in day-to-day life, there’d be no need for juries. You either catch a person in the act of committing a crime or he’s innocent. Factually–and I mean, 100% factually–Bonds used, and the evidence is overwhelming. Game of Shadows, my book, his ties to Greg Anderson and Victor Conte, the expansion (impossible, unless he used HGH or suffers from Acromegaly) of his skull, a former teammlate like Jay Canizaro telling me how Anderson said he can design a steroid cocktail for him that would be just like Barry’s, so on and so on. Every time someone writes that there’s no “proof,” he/she is gifting the designers of masking agents. If we reward and praise the cheaters in sports, what are we saying to the kids who follow the games? What are we saying about decency and integrity?
I don’t root against Bonds because he’s a bad man. I root against him because he’s a dishonest one. For me personally, this isn’t an issue of race or class or status. It’s an issue of someone taking the game I truly love and making a mockery of the whole thing.
Continue Reading July 24th, 2007
Believe it or not, folks, the NFL season is much closer than you can possibly imagine. So close, in fact, that, if we’re going to fit in every NFL team preview by the start of the season, running one every weekday, we have to start this week. So there you have it.
Last year, we asked some of our favorite writers to opine why Their Favorite Team Was Better Than Yours. Ultimately, we found this constrictive, and it also might have killed James Frey. So this time, we’ve just asked them to just run free, talk about their team, their experience as a fan, their hopes, their dreams, their desires for oral sex. We have two teams left unassigned, so if you’ve got a jones to write about the Oakland Raiders or the Baltimore Ravens, email us to let us know why you’re perfect. But today: The Bengals.
Your author is Robert Weintraub, a freelance TV producer/writer based in Atlanta who writes about sports media for Slate. His words are after the jump.
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Let’s get this out of the way right off the bat: Yes, the fact that my Bengals have become a symbol for lawlessness is embarrassing. But I think I speak for all hard-core Bengal fans when I postulate that losing the last two games of the season, thanks to special teams miscues, either one of which would have gotten us to the postseason, was much worse. When it comes right down to it, what’s more egregious: one oft-suspended alcoholic getting busted for drunk driving while another oft-suspended teammate blows chunks out the window, or missing an extra point to miss out on the postseason? Thought so.
Now that I’ve established my sociopathy, here are my Bengal fan credentials — I’m from New York, not Cincinnati. I had never even been to the Queen City until 2003. I’ve been to two home games in my life — the final game of 2003, when a win over the hated Browns would have given the Bengals their first winning record since 1991 (lost), and the playoff game against the hated Steelers, when Carson Palmer had his knee nuked on the team’s second offensive play (lost). Until last season, I had never seen the Bengals win in person.
But I’ve been there, living and dying through every 2-14 season, through Klingler and Akili and Ki-Jana and Dave Shula, through being a national laughingstock because of our record rather than our rap sheet. That’s why I can say with the authority borne from suffering that last season was among the worst ever, and not because NFL Films is titling the team highlight video “The Bengals — Live From Folsom Prison.”
Lost amid the handcuffs and the dropped holds was the extraordinary performance of Carson Palmer. Somehow, as he was throwing for over 4,000 yards and making Ocho Cinco and T.J. Whoseyourmama into household names, it was forgotten that until last August, it was far more likely Palmer would miss much of the season than be the best QB not named Peyton or Mr. Bundchen. Hell, the talk immediately after The Injury was that Palmer might never play again.
That made last season especially disappointing. Overcoming multiple arrests is nothing compared to overcoming a terrible knee injury to your franchise quarterback. Palmer played every game and had an amazing season, and we went 8-8 and missed the playoffs nonetheless. Even assuming no more injury, the best QB we’ve ever had (and this comes from someone who still proudly wears both Boomer Esiason and Ken Anderson jerseys) only has so many great years in him. To waste one of his best like that was nauseating, even by Bengals standards.
Cincy has had no losing seasons in the last four. Of course, we’ve had only one winning season in that stretch as well, going 8-8 three times. But last season felt more like 5-11. During the long offseason, I’ve occasionally dipped into taped action from the Saints game last year, a.k.a. the only game I’ve seen Cincinnati win in person. Palmer throws a bomb to Chad on the first drive, and Dick Enberg wets himself in the broadcast booth. “That’s the striking power of the Cincinnati Bengals!!” he moans. Unfortunately, we got struck back an awful lot last year, including the last play of the season, a weaving 67-yard touchdown by Santonio Holmes (a 10-times-worse felon than Odell, Henry and O.J. combined) in overtime, a particularly nauseating way to head into the offseason.
The thorn in the Bengal paw has been defense since, well, forever, really, and no amount of Marvin Lewis staredowns and supposed genius on that side of the ball has helped (just goes to show how it’s easy to become a genius when you have Ray Lewis and cohorts to play with). If anything, the defense has lost strength with the departures of Kevan Kaesviharn, Shaun Smith and Brian Simmons, though it’s not as if we were stopping anyone with those dudes. If you count yourself amongst the football cognoscenti, look to the development of linebacker Ahmad Brooks; if he can overcome his natural thuggishness and rogue shark tendencies to be the baller we spent a supplementary draft choice upon, perhaps the D can match the O for once.
If not, I may join the arrest list after the defenestration of any Steelers or Browns fans I run across.
Continue Reading July 24th, 2007
Who among us hasn’t locked their young child in his room with a loaf of bread and a bucket and then gone off to watch the Packers at an Indian casino? (Long pause). Um, anyone? Cripes, this is embarrassing.
A couple who admitted locking a 7-year-old boy in his room with a bucket for a toilet while they watched Packers games at a casino received jail sentences Monday. Scott Scherer, 39, and Melanie Hardrath, 30, admitted locking Hardrath’s son in his room with a loaf of bread, peanut butter and jelly, and a bucket that he would have to clean when they returned. They had enough money to hire a baby sitter, said Assistant District Attorney Chris Liege, who showed the judge photographs of the couple’s extensive collection of Packers memorabilia.
Before you judge, have you seen that Potowatami Casino buffet?
Couple Locked Up Boy During Packers Game [Yahoo News]
Packers Fans: The Most Dedicated In The Land [Deuce Of Davenport]
Continue Reading July 24th, 2007
Filed under: Culture, Sports, Rhythm, Business
Activision has surpassed EA by approximately $20 million in sales the first half of this year, making it the top third party publisher on the block. Well, that explains how they could afford to hire Jamie Kennedy to make a mockery of their press conference. If this information causes a massive “¡¿QUE?!” in your mind, Activision has done insanely well with their acquisition of Red Octane (Guitar Hero), their movie license games (which people are compelled to purchase for ungodly reasons) and franchise staples like Tony Hawk and Call of Duty.
Activision made $387 million up until June, versus EA’s $365 million. This would be the first time somebody else has held the top third party publisher spot in … well, a very long time. Activision’s aquisition of Red Octane was obviously a smart move on their part, as the franchise is expected to break $1 billion in sales very soon and makes up a fifth of the company’s revenue with $360 million in sales this year according to analysts. For the EA fanboys, don’t worry, Madden still hasn’t come out this year and that game always boosts EA’s bottom line.
[Via Gamasutra]
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Continue Reading July 24th, 2007
Right now, NBA commissioner David Stern is addressing, for the first time, the whole Tim Donaghy situation. We are curious to see if he can avoid picking up the lectern and throwing it across the room.
Because we’re sitting in our parents’ basement in our underwear, we thought we’d do that the kids call a “live blog,” because there’s nothing more exciting than a live blog of a guy talking into a microphone.
After the jump, all kinds of David Stern goodness.
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11:53. OK. We have a whole other site to work on it now and therefore gotta get back to it. Frankly, you all are doing a rather outstanding job on your own in the comments. We’ve come away impressed by Stern in this press conference … not that it’s gonna stop him from being repeatedly hammered in every newspaper in the country for the next two months. At least.
11:50. Stern uses the old “when did I stop beating my wife?” comment to bat down a leading question from the Newark Star Ledger. We understand what he’s saying … but we’re not sure everyone did.
11:48. A WNBA reference. Nice.
11:45. Excellent question from Liz Robbins from The New York Times, which says, essentially: You’ve fined players for criticizing officials before. How you feel about that now? Stern responds by calling Donaghy,” a rouge, isolated criminal.” OK.
11:43. After this press conference, Stern is heading over to the NBA Family Picnic. Boy, that’s gonna be one inspired potato sack race. What a joyous occasion.
11:40. After two solid, factual questions, Rachel Nichols from ESPN pops up. And what a question she has: “Can you take us through the range of emotions you went through when you found out about this?” CHRIST. Hey, Rachel: You’re not a sideline reporter right now. Is that really the only question you know how to ask? The guy from Bloomberg News just ate his own tie.
11:37. Questions! Who let the Bloomberg News guy in? Stern’s back on the “rogue employee” motif. Seriously, he’s going to have Donaghy killed; he’s treating him as Osama, except, you know, you can catch Donaghy.
11:34. Stern says “this is the most serious situation and worst situation I have ever experienced, either as a fan of the NBA, a lawyer for the NBA or as commissioner of the NBA.” And then he makes a pledge to get to the bottom of this, regardless of cost. And we absolutely do not doubt that. We’re not a game-fixing referee, and we’re pretty scared right now.
11:32. Stern emphasizes that “that’s all he’s been told.” He seems to be in the dark about a lot of what’s happening, but he’s being as open as one could possibly imagine in this spot. He emphasizes that he had no idea Donaghy might have been gambling during the season, and if he had, he would have been fired. (And shot. And eaten alive.)
11:30. “On July 9, Mr. Donaghy resigned.” Well, that’s nice! “Suffice it to say, we would have liked to have terminated him earlier.” The time period being investigated, says Stern is the last two years. He refereed 139 regular season games, eight playoff games and four preseason games. Stern makes this clear: “He is the only referee accused.”
11:27. We think he’s licking his chops. “He is accused of betting on games in the NBA. We’re not positive that it’s games that he works, though I understand that there are accusations that there were games that he worked. He may have bet on other games in which he didn’t work. I understand that he is accused of providing information to others for the purpose of allowing them to profit on betting on NBA games. I don’t know the number of games. I don’t know which games. Until this moment, I have no deployed the people necessary to do the work that would satisfy us. I felt constrained by the FBI office to keep this as quiet as possible.”
11:24. Stern says the FBI called him on June 20 2007 about a referee alleged to be betting on games. Stern says he’s pleased with the cooperation of the FBI and their “informing us of the danger that is here.” But because they’re still helping, he says, “he can continue not to comment on the ongoing investigation.” Stern’s been pretty open so far, and he’s not stopping now. “I’m gonna give you the best of my understand of what Mr. Donaghy stands accused of.” So here goes.
11:22. Stern says the league told Donaghy in 2005 that he wouldn’t be doing the next round of playoffs because they were not happy with his neighbor behavior. Then he moved to Florida and “there were no more reports of any kind.” Stern’s detailing that his league — kind of mob-like, actually — watched Donaghy like a hawk for years and never saw any problems. Which is fascinating, whether the allegations are true or not.
11:20. Stern says an allegation was made that Donaghy was making bets at The Borgata in Atlantic City (which doesn’t have sports betting). Donaghy denied it, and the NBA found no proof that he’d been there. “The only thing that persisted was this ongoing dispute with his neighbors, and we informed him that this made us unhappy.”
11:17. Finally, Donaghy comes up. Stern brings up that “dispute with this neighbor” in 2005. He says the league hired an investigator to look into the complaint, and Donaghy told the league the allegations with him were untrue. Thankfully, that guy don’t lie.
11:13. Contrary to this Slate column, Stern says the league has a representative in Vegas who informs them when there are odd betting patterns. Wait: There are NBA representatives who don’t live in Vegas?
11:11. It’s pretty awesome that every time ESPN shows footage of Donaghy, he’s shown arguing with a player. This reminds us of “The Naked Gun” jumbotron montage; we fully expect him to be attacked by a tiger in a second. Stern still isn’t saying anything.
11:09. Stern says he has security people from “the secret service, the U.S. Army and the New York City police department.” We hope they all wear camouflage. He’s also droning on. We keep waiting for him to make some sort of statement, you know, about what’s going on.
11:07. Stern, looking far more uncertain than he usually looks, is going through the procedures to make sure refs don’t, you know, try to fix games. He sounds a little like John Skipper in that ESPN memo. He actually mentions “pamphlets.” Yeah, well, that worked.
11:06. Opening statement from Stern. He doesn’t look happy. He talks about how he’d “rather not have this press conference, but we felt an obligation.” Hey, thanks!
11:05. Here comes Stern. He’s shorter than everyone in the room, but he always looks somehow taller.
11:03. Skip Bayless is talking. We’re gonna mute this until The Commish comes on.
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