Rick Reilly Insults the World, One Country at a Time
July 31, 2008
Rick Reilly is paid millions of dollars each year to work for ESPN. That includes a short column once a week for ESPN The Mag. What topic did Rick Reilly pick this week? Mocking the anthems of 17 different countries. What’s worse is that he shows astounding cultural ignorance in doing so. Let’s pick out just three of his entries:
Man-Ram Gone to LA - Red Sox Postseason Hopes Might Be Gone with Him
July 31, 2008
Wonder boy and his boss just outdid themselves…
Way to go Theo Epstein and John Henry. You just ruined your team’s batting order and blew your team’s chances at the playoffs. Oh, and the Los angeles Dodgers got the bat they needed - your player Manny Ramirez - for nothing when you could have allowed him to produce for you and lead you to the playoffs and then let him go.
And you got Jason Bay.
For a shoe-in Hall of Fame player you got J-A-S-O-N frigging Bay.
You guys - the Boston Red Sox - took what, a century to catch up to the New York Yankees? And you, Theo Epstein, were the spearhead of the Red Sox revival. Your 21st century baseball insight overtook the Big Apple 20th century machine. You brought in the right players from other teams, promoted the right guys from the minors, and stood firm when everyone around you in the American League was scuffling to make that magic move.
But today you blinked. You blinked hard, too. Maybe you could have traded Ramirez for Mark Texiera — maaaay-be. And that might have been okay. Might have.
Ron-Ron Comes Strong at Yao and the Rockets (with an update)
July 31, 2008
Yao Ming shot an arrow across the bow of ‘Good Ship Ron-Ron’ Artest yesterday. According to an article in the Houston Chronicle, all the way from China (’they can’t buy cell phones with chickens’ can they Jay Crawford?) Yao said this of Artest:
“When I text-messaged with Luis (Scola), we talked about team chemistry. That’s only what worries us. We worry about the new attitude to the team. We are adding talent to the team, and we need that, but building team chemistry is important. This is not bad. I don’t mean he is not welcome to Houston. But a new player always needs some time.
“There’s worry. Obviously, yes. … Hopefully, he’s not fighting anymore and going after a guy in the stands. … I have to find a way to talk to him and see what we can do as a basketball team. He has a history, but we know he is a physical player. He is a good player. He really can help us.”
Ron-Ron did not take too kindly to Yao’s remarks and showed that brothers do snark in Queensbridge, too:
“This is Tracy (McGrady) and Yao’s team, you know,” Artest said. “I’m not going to take it personal. I understand what Yao said, but I’m still ghetto. That’s not going to change. I’m never going to change my culture. Yao has played with a lot of black players, but I don’t think he’s ever played with a black player that really represents his culture as much as I represent my culture.
“Once Yao Ming gets to know me, he’ll understand what I’m about. But really, he doesn’t have to talk to me, because to me, I’m going (to Houston).”
Did Artest imply that Yao hasn’t ever met a real black man? I mean, he is saying that, at least not on the Rockets, he hasn’t! Damn! That’s quite the statement. But looking at things in a Will Leitch kinda way, Shane Battier does play for Houston and he isn’t really black, at least not according to the “Book of Leitch.”
ThinkLinks: Lebron Backs Obama; Brad Miller; AOL FanHouse; and New Female Sports Blog
July 30, 2008
Today’s version of ThinkLinks brings the “Big Blog Edition”. As I stated in the very first ThinkLinks, the idea is to promote positive and under-reported stories wherever we find it. Anyway, let’s start with DeadSpin (yeah, I said it!). Read more
*Breaking* Ivan Rodriguez Traded to Yankees! (plus the reactions from the New York press)
July 30, 2008
Wow!
The Detroit Tigers have battled their way back to within 5.5 games of the AL Central lead, so what do they do? Trade Ivan Rodriguez to the New York Yankees for right-handed relief pitcher, Kyle Farnsworth.
The move is a masterstroke for Brian Cashman as the Yankees get a catcher who can automatically settle the entire pitching staff, and act as the battery leader that has been sorely missing since Jorge Posada went down to injury.
As for Detroit, well they have only one catcher listed on their roster - and that’s “Pudge,” as Rodriguez is known. Rodriguez, 36, has won 13 Gold Gloves and was hitting .295 with five homers in 82 games with Detroit this season.
The Tigers will most likely move Brandon Inge back to his natural position as a catcher with Rodriguez’s departure.
More to come…..
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Word has it that Tigers president Dave Dombrowski did not want to trade Rodriguez, but felt the team had more urgent needs in the bullpen:
“First let me say that Pudge has done an outstanding job for us,” Dombrowski told reporters before Detroit played the Cleveland Indians. “I’m sure he was very surprised by this, but for him this is a good situation. He’s going to New York City, and they are in contention.”
Rodriguez’s agent, Scott Boras:
“Pudge had a no-trade clause and he waived it today to go to New York,” Rodriguez’s agent, Scott Boras, told The Associated Press on Wednesday afternoon. “Pudge has always wanted to play in New York and Detroit felt it needed a relief pitcher, so both sides were able to get what they wanted to some degree.”
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Here’s the news from the Detroit Free Press:
…the club believes Brandon Inge is ready to succeed Rodriguez as the No. 1 catcher for the rest of this season. “Brandon Inge is ready to tackle being the everyday catcher. He gives us a quality chance to win on a day-in, day-out basis and this allows us to address the one area of our club that needs to be addressed the most, which is our bullpen, ” Dombrowski explained. He also said Inge will be the No. 1 catcher next season.
Lastly, the Tigers need bullpen help. “Our major focus was our bullpen,” said Dombrowski. Todd Jones has been replaced at closer by Fernando Rodney, but neither Rodney nor Joel Zumaya, who were injured much of the year, are as durable right now as the Tigers hope they will be. Rodney has struggled with his control in both of his outings since he replaced Jones at closer.
He stressed that the deal doesn’t in any way represent a retreat from the Tigers’ playoff aspirations for this season. He said he believes the trade makes the club stronger now….
After his 4-for-4 performance on Sunday, he had the best offensive numbers of any prospective free-agent catcher. He is hitting .295 with five homers in 82 games this season. Among all catchers with at least 290 at-bats, Rodriguez ranks fifth in on-base-plus-slugging percentage, with .759. The four catchers ahead of him this year are All-Stars Brian McCann, Joe Mauer, Geovany Soto and Russell Martin.
Farnsworth, like Rodriguez, can be a free agent after this season. He pitched for the Tigers in 2005. At the trading deadline that year, the Tigers traded him to Atlanta for pitchers Zach Miner (now a Tigers starter) and Roman Colon (since dealt to Kansas City). The Tigers made the deal after Farnsworth, also a pending free agent that season, turned down a multi-year contract offer from them.
This season, Farnsworth is 1-2 in 45 appearances. His statistic that would raise the most concern is homers allowed: 11 in 44 1/3 innings.
“He has been throwing well lately, between 94 and 98 mph,” Dombrowski said.
With Thursday’s 4 p.m. trading deadline about 24 hours away, Dombrowski said, “I’ve talked to a dozen clubs today. I don’t think I’m close on anything. You never know when things take place this time of year. This one (the Rodriguez trade) came out of the blue. This deal all really happened today.”
Dombrowski said the club hadn’t held any contract discussions with Rodriguez about next season.
In a related development, Dane Sardinha was called up from Triple-A Toledo to be the No. 2 catcher behind Inge.
And just this morning, Detroit Free Press columnist Lynn Hennings had this to say about the Tigers as they neared the trade deadline:
A gut feeling throughout July’s shopping bazaar known as the non-waiver trade deadline is that the Tigers’ deals would be summed up accordingly:
Nothing.
This was more or less confirmed Tuesday when Dave Dombrowski, the Tigers president and general manager, was asked if he anticipated Detroit dealing for short-term, or long-haul, help ahead of Thursday’s deadline.
“I do not know what will happen,” Dombrowski said. “But we continue to talk with clubs to have a feel about what will be taking place.”
Although Dombrowski obviously and intentionally offered not a shred of insight there, it’s highly unlikely the Tigers will do anything remotely close to significant ahead of Thursday’s 4 p.m. deadline, for a couple of reasons.
Mathematically, they’re still in the playoff chase. Realistically, they haven’t come close to changing their competitive personality this season. It’s a stretch to believe any trade-deadline dealing will alter realities there.
The Tigers have to be careful about making any bold trades that would in any way further deplete their core of young talent that’s the key to this ballclub remaining competitive in the years ahead.
That’s how much a surprise the Pudge to New York trade is.
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Most of the New York baseball writers haven’t yet weighed in on the trade. But here’s a quote from a New York Times brief on the breaking news:
“You’re talking about a Hall of Fame catcher coming in here,” [Yankees manager, Joe] Girardi said. “He’s been playing very well.”
While Girardi, who was emotional about losing Farnsworth, would not specifically say Rodriguez will start over Molina, he did say, “Pudge is going to play.”
6:44 (EST): From the NY Daily News:
Here comes the Pudge.
Two days after announcing Jorge Posada would have season-ending shoulder surgery, the Yankees moved swiftly, obtaining 14-time All-Star Ivan Rodriguez from Detroit on Wednesday for reliever Kyle Farnsworth….
As for Farnsworth, his tumultuous pinstriped tenure ended just as he was pitching at his most effective level in three seasons with the Yanks. He was in tears as he spoke and received hugs from several Yankees, including closer Mariano Rivera.
Farnsworth had seemingly solidified his spot as Joe Girardi’s primary eighth-inning setup man since Joba Chamberlain was moved to the starting rotation in June.
Farnsworth is 1-2 with a 3.65 ERA in a team-high 45 relief appearances, including a stretch of 11 straight games without allowing a run (9-1/3 innings) before he was tagged for two Monday night against Baltimore.
He appeared in 46 games for the Tigers before getting traded to Atlanta during the 2005 season.
And from Newsday, which includes quotes from Brian Cashman on the trade:
The Yankees are apparently all in on the 2008 season. They traded for Tigers catcher Ivan “Pudge” Rodriguez Wednesday afternoon, sending setup man Kyle Farnsworth to Detroit.
It was a quick-developing deal, Yankees general manager Brian Cashman said, beginning with a 10 a.m. phone call from Tigers GM Dave Dombrowski. Dombrowski wanted to know if Cashman would be interested in a straight-up Farnsworth-for-Rodriguez trade. Cashman spoke with all the relevant parties, from manager Joe Girardi to Yankees co-chairmen Hank and Hal Steinbrenner, and during the game, he got back to Dombrowski with a “yes.”
The Tigers spoke to Rodriguez, who agreed to waive his no-trade clause, and by the eighth inning, it was a done deal.
“We want this (playoff) race to be interesting,” Cashman said, “and we want to cross that finish line and play a 163rd game.”…
The Yankees have used Jose Molina as their starting catcher most of the season… And as good as Molina is behind the plate, Rodriguez is among the best ever.
“This is Pudge Rodriguez we’re talking about,” Cashman said.
Said Girardi: “I know he still shuts down a running game. He can still catch. … Guys like Pudge Rodriguez don’t come along every day.”
But getting Rodriguez did not come at no cost. Farnsworth has been tremendous for the Yankees. After having more downs than ups in the first two years of his three-year contract, he performed well this season after being reunited with his former teammate Girardi. Farnsworth had a 3.65 ERA in 45 games and 44 1/3 innings for the Yankees.
Farnsworth was teary after hearing the news, and Cashman said it was one of the more difficult trade conversations he’s had.
“Farnsy did a hell of a job for us,” Cashman said. “We are robbing Peter to pay Paul here, so I hope it works out.”
Josh Childress on the Dan Patrick show
July 30, 2008
Josh Childress was taking a statistics final today at Stanford and had to postpone his Dan Patrick Radio Show interview until later in Patrick’s program. Here are some excepted notes from that interview that took place just minutes ago (it is 11:43 EST).
-Childress had been to Europe six times and Greece once —— last week.
-The former Atlanta Hawks swingman said Greece looked good when his “opportunities [in the NBA] began to dry up.” When asked if mopney was an issue Childress said everyone in professional sports is looking to maximize their earning potentaland he is no different. He did also let Patrick know that the disparity in the US dollar and the euro made his decision easier.
-Childress has the option after each year he plays to return to the NBA should he choose:
“I’ll come back at 28 years old. I wouldn’t say it’s [returning to the NBA] a goal I need to weigh my options maybe I come back after one year or two… That’s the beauty of the contract.”
Notes: Brett Meets Mark Murphy “On the Porch”; Artest Traded to Houston
July 30, 2008
The Brett Favre-GB scenario
Brett Favre met with Green Bay Packers president Mark Murphy yesterday at Favre’s home in Mississippi. Murphy asked the QB not to file his reinstatement papers to give the team time to deal Favre to another team.
Favre’s response was to send in his reinstatement papers to NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell’s office. As a result of Favre’s action Murphy and the Packers have 24 hours to either invite Favre to camp or release him.
Maybe Murphy is setting up Favre? Here’s the scenario: Favre retires, does the whole announcement, cry thing. All the while Bretty Boy has a Green Gay Packers-issued cell phone. Months later the Packers leak the fact of the cellphone to the press. Not only does Favre have the phone, but he used it to call the Vikings to tell them he wants to play for Minnesota.
So, Murphy flies down to Mississippi and “begs” Favre not to show up at camp, thst is, do not yet file for reinstatement, knowing all that Brett will take the bait because he is jock stubborn, and file his papers.
Nenad Krstic Latest NBA Player to Hop the Pond
July 29, 2008
New Jersey Nets power forward Nenad Krstic has signed a two-year $3 million euros deal with Triumpg Moscow. Krstic averaged 6.6 ppg and 4.4 rpg while averaging 18 minutes a game. Krstic injured his ACL in 2007, was slow to return to the Nets, and was limited to playing in 45 games last season.
Krstic becomes the sixth NBA player to bolt the league for eurodollars. The other players are: Josh Childress, Bostjan Nachbar, Juan Carlos Navarro, Jorge Garbajosa, Carlos Delfino and Primoz Brezec.
The $3 million euros deal is worth about $9 million in US dollars. Marc Cornstein, Krstic’s agent said he worked untile midnight trying to get the former Nets player at least a mid-level contract with an NBA team, but found no takers:
“At the end of the day, Triumph offered him the most love,” Cornstein told ESPN.com. “This was too good of a deal to pass up for him.”
Triumph, unlike Olympiakos the Greek team that signed Childress, is not a top tier Euroleague team. In the 2008 Russian Superleague playoffs Triumph lost in the first round to Dynamo Moscow, 2 games to 1. Dynamo is the team pursuing Cleveland Cavaliers point guard Delonte West.
Notes: AOL FanHouse Adds Another Hue to Its True Colors
July 29, 2008
If you haven’t noticed AOL has embarked on a marketing blitz for “FanHouse.” “Brought to you by “FanHouse” has begun to infiltrate televised commercial space across the country during sporting events giving the impression that the crew of blurb bloggers there equates to something more than idle morning pre-first cup of coffee prattle that is so numbing in its sameness, so filled with hateful readers-commenters, that it serves as a silent reminder of what passes for quality is sometimes solely quantity and that racism is very alive and very well as a national sickness.
Despite this baleful environment there has been one laudable aspect to FanHouse. It included women and treated them as equals in its own white, male, snark and circumstance-dominated bandwidth and pushed women as equals to the rest of the white, frat boy-patrolled sports blogosphere.
What’s a Summer Without the US Open Series?
July 28, 2008
We are now officially in the midst of the the US Open Tennis Series where 200 tennis players from around the world will treat us to sand in-the-eye fashion choices of the companies that endorse them. Unless, of course, you are Bethanie Mattek (right and below, left) and have your own special brand of, this is what a tennis dress looks like after an evening of Ciroc and cranberry juice followed by boilermakers hewn out of Jager and beer.
There are For those of us sports watchers inclined to turn to ESPN2 for something more than watching Skip Bayless’ contorted face as he screeches at whatever black person the network can conjure for him to demean - yes, we were treated to “Nelly versus Skip” one glorious ESPN morning - or for late-night reruns of the late Stu Ungar’s cocaine-ravaged nose pulp as he sits next to “Dolly” Brunson who looked old then, too.
For us, there is NASCAR Now. Just kidding, that’s the afternoon fare.
For us so wanting for one-on-one human battle that does not involve beating someone until their face appears ready to float from their heads and for those of us who also possess satellite television, there is the US Open Tennis Series, officially the Olympus US Open Tennis Series. Oddly, just outside the doubles alleys Olympus is not the decal of choice, it is ATP Master’s Series.
So what we really have here in tennis land during the post-Wimbledon summer is the Olympus US Open ATP Masters Tennis Series; or the Olympus US Open WTA Tennis Seris if you are a woman. If that’s not enough of a mouthful in itself to turn you away from watching a yellow sphere become misshapen after it is struck by a kevlar-graphite compound stick with bovine gut - bovine serosa, actually -strings, you must be someone who truly loves the game.
