Major League Baseball needs to take a long, hard look at both it's discipline and it's umpiring, based on the suspensions given out for the Rays-Red Sox brawl last night.
The umpire was clearly afraid to make a call against the Red Sox which is why he never threw Lester out, even though he had three opportunities. Lester hit Crawford, threw behing Aybar and also threw at Floyd. He should have been tossed on any one of those if the Kellogg had any sack at all.
As for the suspensions:
Crisp - 7 games - unbelievable and totally ridiculous. Should have been 10 at least for the guy who instigated everything two nights in a row. Coco is the only coward in this whole situation. This is a clear indication of league bias toward Boston.
Shields - 6 games - seems a little high for just throwing at someones hip. But I do get the need to suspend the pitcher long enough through the rotation.
Gomes - 5 games - fine with it...was protecting Shields...would do it again...no problems here.
Lester - 5 games - got what he deserved for throwing at Rays' players all night. Considering he threw at two more than Shields, probably should have gotten 7 games or 1 more than Shields.
Jackson - 5 games - didn't do anything major, but then again that pitcher thing.
Crawford - 4 games - at least two games too high. It shouldn't matter if Crisp was on the ground, if you charge the mound you deserve what you get.
Iwamura - 3 games - not sure what he did. Given Crisp's cheap shot from the night before, he shouldn't have been suspended at all.
06 June 2008
05 June 2008
Wings Win Stanley Cup
Congrats to the Detroit Red Wings as the Stanley Cup Champions. And another hearty welcome back, this time to hockey back to it's earned, but not quite where it deserves, level of attention.
The final two games of the series, including the incredible triple OT game five which was one of the best I can remember watching. The Red Wings were clearly the better team in most of the series, but the Penguins will be the team to be heard from for many years.
A great series with two great teams and lots of action can cure a lot of ills, especially those arbitrarily imposed by self-important sports network shrews. There was more action and more excitement in game five than in two seasons of NBA basketball.
The final two games of the series, including the incredible triple OT game five which was one of the best I can remember watching. The Red Wings were clearly the better team in most of the series, but the Penguins will be the team to be heard from for many years.
A great series with two great teams and lots of action can cure a lot of ills, especially those arbitrarily imposed by self-important sports network shrews. There was more action and more excitement in game five than in two seasons of NBA basketball.
28 May 2008
The Rays? Who Are They?
Despite being off to the best start in team history and having the best record in baseball, few major sports media reporters are talking or even finding out anything about the Tampa Bay Rays. Which brings us to our next law.
Sports Media Law #2:
National Sports Personalities Are Too Lazy To Chase New Stories
Gone are the days of hard working newspaper columnists who research and write quality sports stories. Although there are a few still out there, most of it has gone way of the babbling idiot sports talk genre. And there have been several cases in point where the Tampa Bay Rays have been concerned recently.
Upon overtaking the Red Sox for first recently, ESPN's Baseball Tonight anchors Karl Ravetch and Buck Showalter presented the Rays' highlights evidently in stunned silence. Well, more likely they were too lazy to learn any of the names of Rays' players before the highlights rolled, and couldn't even comment on any of the scoring plays during the recap. For this to happen on a national highlight show, particularly for one specializing in a singular sport, is unprofessional and embarrassing.
Speaking of unprofessional and embarrassing, Tony Kornheiser's comment about the Rays on his televised show were noted in the St. Petersburg Times by writer Tom Jones. Kornheiser stated that he didn't know who managed the Rays or any of their players. Now this should come as no surprise to anyone who has watched Kornheiser or his show, knowing from that experience that he and his cohort Michael Wilbon talk about sports only to promote themselves, not the sports they are discussing. However, in a just world, being too lazy to take time to find out about the Rays should disqualify Kornheiser from ever appearing on a sports show again, but in this day and age where content certainly does not matter, such ignorance will remain.
Such shows are the product of sports talk, with the king of the sports personalities displaying ignorance is easily the ESPN Sunday Morning offering, The Sports Reporters. Never has any show had the ability to run each week talking about the same 3-4 people and/or teams. You only have to watch The Sports Reporters once or twice to realize you are watching the same show over and over again. Show mainstay Mike Lupica has historically shown the inability to complete a show or give a parting shot without having to drop Michael Jordan's or Tiger Woods' name to make his point. Heaven forbid he should have to come up with something lucid or learn another player's name on his own. But I think the epitome of Sports Media Law #2 came from longtime guest Bill Conlin. When discussing ESPN's policy of burying hockey at all times, Conlin's excuse for why reporters didn't want to cover hockey was that they couldn't handle learning another team full of names.
You couldn't hope to ask for hacks...errrr...reporters such as Kornheiser and Conlin to better demonstrate Sports Media Law #2 but announcing their laziness in such spectacular fashion. But, sadly, that is the state of sports journalism today.
Sports Media Law #2:
National Sports Personalities Are Too Lazy To Chase New Stories
Gone are the days of hard working newspaper columnists who research and write quality sports stories. Although there are a few still out there, most of it has gone way of the babbling idiot sports talk genre. And there have been several cases in point where the Tampa Bay Rays have been concerned recently.
Upon overtaking the Red Sox for first recently, ESPN's Baseball Tonight anchors Karl Ravetch and Buck Showalter presented the Rays' highlights evidently in stunned silence. Well, more likely they were too lazy to learn any of the names of Rays' players before the highlights rolled, and couldn't even comment on any of the scoring plays during the recap. For this to happen on a national highlight show, particularly for one specializing in a singular sport, is unprofessional and embarrassing.
Speaking of unprofessional and embarrassing, Tony Kornheiser's comment about the Rays on his televised show were noted in the St. Petersburg Times by writer Tom Jones. Kornheiser stated that he didn't know who managed the Rays or any of their players. Now this should come as no surprise to anyone who has watched Kornheiser or his show, knowing from that experience that he and his cohort Michael Wilbon talk about sports only to promote themselves, not the sports they are discussing. However, in a just world, being too lazy to take time to find out about the Rays should disqualify Kornheiser from ever appearing on a sports show again, but in this day and age where content certainly does not matter, such ignorance will remain.
Such shows are the product of sports talk, with the king of the sports personalities displaying ignorance is easily the ESPN Sunday Morning offering, The Sports Reporters. Never has any show had the ability to run each week talking about the same 3-4 people and/or teams. You only have to watch The Sports Reporters once or twice to realize you are watching the same show over and over again. Show mainstay Mike Lupica has historically shown the inability to complete a show or give a parting shot without having to drop Michael Jordan's or Tiger Woods' name to make his point. Heaven forbid he should have to come up with something lucid or learn another player's name on his own. But I think the epitome of Sports Media Law #2 came from longtime guest Bill Conlin. When discussing ESPN's policy of burying hockey at all times, Conlin's excuse for why reporters didn't want to cover hockey was that they couldn't handle learning another team full of names.
You couldn't hope to ask for hacks...errrr...reporters such as Kornheiser and Conlin to better demonstrate Sports Media Law #2 but announcing their laziness in such spectacular fashion. But, sadly, that is the state of sports journalism today.
25 May 2008
24 May 2008
Baseball - Welcome Back
Another big welcome back to the sport of Major League Baseball. Sorry you have been gone for so long, but it's good to have you back. Imagine my delight, turning on the television this season and seeing pitchers making quality starts, teams manufacturing runs, running, bunting, performing hit and runs.
Yes, it was Bud Selig and his implicit support of performance enhancing drugs which sent baseball on it's long hiatus. Judging by the swelled ranks of the disabled lists this year, players are once again breaking down naturally as their bodies do when overworked. And bloated hitters are no longer hitting check-swing, bat-handle home runs to the opposite field. So look forward to the first legitimate World Series champion this year since probably the 93 Jays.
Sorry, Yankees, but those 4 most recent titles you won, they were not baseball championships. So congrats on those years where you won what resembled Beer League Slow Pitch Softball titles. Frankly, it wasn't the sport of baseball. Neither was Barry Bonds, Mark McGwire, Sammy Sosa or Roger Clemens. Cheats and charlatans all.
But this year, I'm proud to say baseball is back in it's real form. And it's far more interesting.
Yes, it was Bud Selig and his implicit support of performance enhancing drugs which sent baseball on it's long hiatus. Judging by the swelled ranks of the disabled lists this year, players are once again breaking down naturally as their bodies do when overworked. And bloated hitters are no longer hitting check-swing, bat-handle home runs to the opposite field. So look forward to the first legitimate World Series champion this year since probably the 93 Jays.
Sorry, Yankees, but those 4 most recent titles you won, they were not baseball championships. So congrats on those years where you won what resembled Beer League Slow Pitch Softball titles. Frankly, it wasn't the sport of baseball. Neither was Barry Bonds, Mark McGwire, Sammy Sosa or Roger Clemens. Cheats and charlatans all.
But this year, I'm proud to say baseball is back in it's real form. And it's far more interesting.
Stanley Cup - Pens vs Wings
All I have to say...bout time...
I could be wrong and this may end up another horrible 4 game sweep, but this shapes up to be one of the best Stanley Cups in recent memory. A load of stars...Crosby, Zetterberg, Malkin, Lidstrom, Hossa, Datsyuk. And two very talented, SKATING supporting casts.
In other words, this is what hockey should be. Not teams of Greco-Roman wrestlers resembling hockey players such as Lamoriello's Devils or Sutter's Flames. Not teams which have to commit 3 or 4 interference penalties each time the other team enters the neutral zone. I'm talking great skating, great action hockey.
It's been a long time...and I'm going to enjoy watching
I could be wrong and this may end up another horrible 4 game sweep, but this shapes up to be one of the best Stanley Cups in recent memory. A load of stars...Crosby, Zetterberg, Malkin, Lidstrom, Hossa, Datsyuk. And two very talented, SKATING supporting casts.
In other words, this is what hockey should be. Not teams of Greco-Roman wrestlers resembling hockey players such as Lamoriello's Devils or Sutter's Flames. Not teams which have to commit 3 or 4 interference penalties each time the other team enters the neutral zone. I'm talking great skating, great action hockey.
It's been a long time...and I'm going to enjoy watching
23 May 2008
Kill The Bugs and Grab Your....
Something I've come across only just recently, and a deliciously entertaining website is the one by the baseball guys over at Bugs And Cranks. Finally a bunch of people who don't really take themselves or the sport they follow all that seriously. Or maybe they do, but the writers just may not feel it is worth being a complaining bitch to be a fan. In any case, regardless of your team, it is a fun read. Be sure to check them out.
Welcome To The Chaos
Welcome, sports fans...well, at least those of you who watch sports with a curmudgeon's eye.
The Sports Anarchist is here to show what is right and wrong with sports today, and to point out some of those nasty truths (and conspiratorial ideas) that we all think about, but that no sports reporter will touch.
As an ongoing series, we will compile a list of what drives sports today.
Sports Media Law #1:
ESPN exists to create sports stories, not report on them.
The real evil empire, residing in Bristol, CT, no longer has any real interest in athletic competition or results. This type of reporting now is so star and team-star centric, that ESPN has become the sports equivalent of TMZ, which is one of the reasons this former great network is striving to be the Basketball Network. No game is more contrived or lends itself to paparazzi-like name dropping than the NBA. Results are literally irrelevant as long as on of "ESPN's Own" can drop Allen Iverson's name (oh...excuse me...his cute initials) into some alleged "take". Forget about following your team or favorite player unless they are one of the chosen...for 95% of teams and players do not exist to the great cable behemoth. At what point the best thing for sports on television became the absolute worst is unclear, and the only thing clear is that it is bad for sports and what attempts to pass for sports journalism today.
The Sports Anarchist is here to show what is right and wrong with sports today, and to point out some of those nasty truths (and conspiratorial ideas) that we all think about, but that no sports reporter will touch.
As an ongoing series, we will compile a list of what drives sports today.
Sports Media Law #1:
ESPN exists to create sports stories, not report on them.
The real evil empire, residing in Bristol, CT, no longer has any real interest in athletic competition or results. This type of reporting now is so star and team-star centric, that ESPN has become the sports equivalent of TMZ, which is one of the reasons this former great network is striving to be the Basketball Network. No game is more contrived or lends itself to paparazzi-like name dropping than the NBA. Results are literally irrelevant as long as on of "ESPN's Own" can drop Allen Iverson's name (oh...excuse me...his cute initials) into some alleged "take". Forget about following your team or favorite player unless they are one of the chosen...for 95% of teams and players do not exist to the great cable behemoth. At what point the best thing for sports on television became the absolute worst is unclear, and the only thing clear is that it is bad for sports and what attempts to pass for sports journalism today.
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