If we could all channel our inner Adam Sandler and “click” the rewind button back 2 ½ months, would we do anything different?
Would the Rebels have cut Ryan Theriot during Winter Waiver? No, dear god, no, no, no. Not when the alternative ended up being Jamey Carroll.
Would the Splinters have bid .12 on De Aza? We can only hope so. Certainly as columnist and editor for the Monroe Doctrine it has worked out great. De Aza has provided the one consistent piece throughout the year. And it wasn’t the bid amount (.12) that made De Aza the hit of the season. It was Teddy’s preamble to the bid and then his increased consternation when everyone else passed – and throughout the remainder of the draft. Turns out it was the best Draft Day experience since the Brett Barberie Incident.
Would the Picts still spend .55 on Pujols (.359, 18 runs, 23 rbi, 66 TB)? Yeah, that will probably work out.
Would the Ruffins have traded Vizquel (.283, 17 R, 12 RBI, 3 SB, 42 TB) to the Copperfields for Heilman (3.78, 4H, 3.33K/BB, 1.02 WHIP) during spring? Most assuredly. The Ruffins had a glut of MI and had to move one of them. Renteria is hot as a firecracker right now and Vizquel is showing his age. But since he’s on the Copperfields, I have no doubt that Vizquel will magically perform like he is 15 years younger.
Would the DoorMatts have had their best friend place 20 bucks while in Vegas on the Cubs to win the pennant? Why not? It’s only 20 bucks. And if the Cubs actually won the pennant the tough decision would be whether to cash in the ticket or have it framed.
Would the Rebels have traded David Weathers for Carlos Zambrano? Zambrano just finished up a week for the Rebels in which EACH of their starting pitchers gave up at least seven runs. It is the wrong time to be asking THAT question.
Would the Lambchops have decided to go back to their good luck charm, John Lemon and dump current GM Paul Mahlan? No way, PM is quality. The Chops are just in a drought right now.
Would the DoorMatts have decided to sign Pujols for an extra year? (ok, this exceeds the three month look back) Shoot, I would suggest he sign him for two extra years. This might have prevented the Matts from acquiring Jorge Julio.
Would Da Paul’s Meisters have decided on a different plan of attack than drafting (and keeping) really old ballplayers and former American Leaguers? Nah, that’s Paul’s MO. If he’s cool with it, who are we to judge?
Would the Stones decide on a different Draft Plan? (He admitted his 2007 Draft Plan was “not to blink”) Can’t judge that one. Steve’s won one more CFCL title than I have in the last ten years.
Would the Rebels have bid .17 on Angel Pagan? Two things regarding that. 1) It depends what is revealed in this week’s Report regarding the next highest bid, and 2) I came thisclose to claiming him on waivers earlier in the season!! Stupid, stupid, stupid.
Would the Picts (currently 11th place) have decided to not return to the CFCL this season? We certainly hope not. As one of the 12 beating hearts of the league and a big part of its soul, Nick would be a near irreplaceable cog in the CFCL machine.
Monday, May 28, 2007
Monday, May 21, 2007
You're Either In Or You're Out, Right Now
I am sick and tired (“The worst beating I ever got was when my mom said ‘I am sick’ and I said ‘and tired.’ I don’t remember anything else that day.” – gratuitous Cosby reference) of Roger Clemens and his ilk. For at least the second year in a row he has kept baseball and at least three teams on edge with “Will I or Won’t I” retire. He is asked about it after each season and he says he won’t make a decision until late spring of the following year, allowing the spotlight to shine on him while he is doing nothing.
He decided that he wants to sporadically play baseball this year for the Yankees. It’s not enough to make that decision, but he has to take the microphone and announce it during the seventh inning stretch from Boy George’s suite. Roger’s ego is officially larger than his ass, which is appropriate because that’s what he’s acting like. After negotiating with the Yankees to not only get more money for doing less work (did Roger have dinner with Pat Hughes the night before the announcement?) but also be able to disappear for family time whenever he wants, he couldn’t hold a press conference after the game. No, he had to make the announcement during the game. I’m sure Steinbrenner had something to do with it, but instead of trying to fit in with the team, Roger had to take the focus off of the field and put it on himself.
Now I’m sure Yankee Stadium was electric when he announced his intentions and the place went up for grabs, but I’m sick of the athletes that have to have the glow of the fans adoration and the TV lights in their eyes and do anything to get it.
Clemens and Brett Favre are two that come to mind that can’t seem to make a decision without having people chase them for months. You may feel more strongly against Favre (he is a Packer afterall) since he was holding one team hostage from making important personnel moves until Green Bay knew of Brett’s intentions, but the big picture is the same. These self-righteous guys are deciding that they are more important than the team.
Clemens started this whole thing when he actually MADE a decision to retire. Remember, he left the field during the playoffs against the Red Sox? Everyone rose and applauded a phenomenal (steroid filled?) career. The Red Sox even applauded when he was taken out of the game. The Yankees gave him a Longhorn burnt orange Hummer. Then during the following baseball season he decides that he wants to come back as an Astro.
He joined the likes of Michael Jordan, any professional boxer and Bobby Howry in deciding to retire and not making it stick. (Actually Howry’s problem was that he couldn’t retire any of the Phillies batters).
One argument that I’ve heard from the talking heads that like to play Devil’s Advocate (an interesting position during a discussion, but a lousy movie) is that Clemens (and Favre, et. al.) have earned the right to handle things this way.
The truly classy athlete (or individual for that matter) may have earned the right, but they would never exercise it.
He decided that he wants to sporadically play baseball this year for the Yankees. It’s not enough to make that decision, but he has to take the microphone and announce it during the seventh inning stretch from Boy George’s suite. Roger’s ego is officially larger than his ass, which is appropriate because that’s what he’s acting like. After negotiating with the Yankees to not only get more money for doing less work (did Roger have dinner with Pat Hughes the night before the announcement?) but also be able to disappear for family time whenever he wants, he couldn’t hold a press conference after the game. No, he had to make the announcement during the game. I’m sure Steinbrenner had something to do with it, but instead of trying to fit in with the team, Roger had to take the focus off of the field and put it on himself.
Now I’m sure Yankee Stadium was electric when he announced his intentions and the place went up for grabs, but I’m sick of the athletes that have to have the glow of the fans adoration and the TV lights in their eyes and do anything to get it.
Clemens and Brett Favre are two that come to mind that can’t seem to make a decision without having people chase them for months. You may feel more strongly against Favre (he is a Packer afterall) since he was holding one team hostage from making important personnel moves until Green Bay knew of Brett’s intentions, but the big picture is the same. These self-righteous guys are deciding that they are more important than the team.
Clemens started this whole thing when he actually MADE a decision to retire. Remember, he left the field during the playoffs against the Red Sox? Everyone rose and applauded a phenomenal (steroid filled?) career. The Red Sox even applauded when he was taken out of the game. The Yankees gave him a Longhorn burnt orange Hummer. Then during the following baseball season he decides that he wants to come back as an Astro.
He joined the likes of Michael Jordan, any professional boxer and Bobby Howry in deciding to retire and not making it stick. (Actually Howry’s problem was that he couldn’t retire any of the Phillies batters).
One argument that I’ve heard from the talking heads that like to play Devil’s Advocate (an interesting position during a discussion, but a lousy movie) is that Clemens (and Favre, et. al.) have earned the right to handle things this way.
The truly classy athlete (or individual for that matter) may have earned the right, but they would never exercise it.
Monday, May 14, 2007
Take Me Out to the Ballgame
The best day of the summer, so far, occurred last Wednesday when I sat at Elfstrom Stadium in Geneva with two of my daughters to watch the Kane County Cougars play. First I have to do some parental bragging. The reason we went on Wednesday evening was that both Katelyn (age 10 yesterday) and Ally (age 7) read the required amount of minutes or books to be part of the Ozzie Reading Club. As a result, they each received a ticket to the game and I was only too happy to accompany them.
Before the game began, all the students and their parents were allowed to parade around the warning track of the field. I can’t speak for the girls, but being able to walk on a professional baseball field is awesome. The players are right there warming up, others are sitting in the dugout preparing for the game. Walking through the bullpen, ambling alongside the first and thirdbase lines made my mind wander to “What would have happened if I could have hit a curve ball?”
After the parade the girls grabbed a hotdog and we settled in our seats. Katelyn was intent on learning the game’s subtleties, and more than once pointed out to me that “the bases were loaded” [That’s my girl, yo!] Ally was consistently amazed at the sight of all of her friends and various teachers in the stands.
As an added treat, the girls each received an Ozzie Reading Club T-Shirt and the tradition has become that all the kids sign each others shirts with a Sharpie (both girls were able to snag Ozzie’s autograph as well). Some fortunate kids in Katelyn’s class even received my autograph which went thusly: “Mr. B. Derrek Lee is a stud! Cubs.” I had trouble concentrating on the game for the long line of autograph hounds.
The game itself had a little bit of everything. Amazing defensive plays, poor defensive plays [at one point in the game, the Cougars line score resembled a druken man’s vision of Hank Aaron’s uniform: 4 4 4] and a building no-hitter. The home town Cougars were being no hit until the 5th inning. The crowd really came to life in the 5th, not when the Cougars erupted for four runs, but when the P.A. system blared “Who lives in a pineapple under the sea?” And the crowd yelled back “SPONGEBOB SQUAREPANTS!!”
During the seventh inning stretch we all rose and sang “Take Me Out to the Ballgame” and when the line came to “root, root, root for the Cougars” Katelyn looked at me and said “Why did they say Cougars? They were supposed to say ‘Cubs’”, I just smiled the smile of a father who knows he’s done his job well.
The lower 40 degree temperature and wind gusting in from centerfield eventually did us in by the 8th inning, but a good time was had by the girls and an incredible time was had by their dad. Oh yeah, the Cougars ended up winning 5-3.
Before the game began, all the students and their parents were allowed to parade around the warning track of the field. I can’t speak for the girls, but being able to walk on a professional baseball field is awesome. The players are right there warming up, others are sitting in the dugout preparing for the game. Walking through the bullpen, ambling alongside the first and thirdbase lines made my mind wander to “What would have happened if I could have hit a curve ball?”
After the parade the girls grabbed a hotdog and we settled in our seats. Katelyn was intent on learning the game’s subtleties, and more than once pointed out to me that “the bases were loaded” [That’s my girl, yo!] Ally was consistently amazed at the sight of all of her friends and various teachers in the stands.
As an added treat, the girls each received an Ozzie Reading Club T-Shirt and the tradition has become that all the kids sign each others shirts with a Sharpie (both girls were able to snag Ozzie’s autograph as well). Some fortunate kids in Katelyn’s class even received my autograph which went thusly: “Mr. B. Derrek Lee is a stud! Cubs.” I had trouble concentrating on the game for the long line of autograph hounds.
The game itself had a little bit of everything. Amazing defensive plays, poor defensive plays [at one point in the game, the Cougars line score resembled a druken man’s vision of Hank Aaron’s uniform: 4 4 4] and a building no-hitter. The home town Cougars were being no hit until the 5th inning. The crowd really came to life in the 5th, not when the Cougars erupted for four runs, but when the P.A. system blared “Who lives in a pineapple under the sea?” And the crowd yelled back “SPONGEBOB SQUAREPANTS!!”
During the seventh inning stretch we all rose and sang “Take Me Out to the Ballgame” and when the line came to “root, root, root for the Cougars” Katelyn looked at me and said “Why did they say Cougars? They were supposed to say ‘Cubs’”, I just smiled the smile of a father who knows he’s done his job well.
The lower 40 degree temperature and wind gusting in from centerfield eventually did us in by the 8th inning, but a good time was had by the girls and an incredible time was had by their dad. Oh yeah, the Cougars ended up winning 5-3.
Monday, May 7, 2007
Baseball History
I recently listened to Ken Burns’ Baseball Documentary on tape. Going through the history of baseball is always fascinating. But the thing that struck me, the way the tape was narrated, was the changes that baseball made and how ridiculous the changes before or after seem.
For example: in 1973 the designated hitter was adopted in the American League, blemishing baseball. The way the narration went was “and from this point forward baseball would be played by two sets of rules”. When I heard those words, my first thought was “Who would ever agree to that?” What sense does it make to have played baseball for over 100 years with everyone following the same rules and then decide that there would be two sets of rules from now on? It doesn’t. It’s stupid.
In 1961 an amazing race was on between Mickey Mantle and Roger Maris. Maris, as we all know, eventually won the race over Mantle to surpass Ruth’s single season homerun record. But Commissioner Happy Chandler decided that an asterisk should be used to denote the fact that Maris needed eight more games in a regular season to reach 61. Funny, but no one ever considered the need to put an asterisk next to Cy Young’s name even though the rules allowed him (or made him) pitch underhand, putting less stress on his arm.
Another stupid factor is (and I know baseball wasn’t only at fault here, it was the whole country) that only white ballplayers could play in the major leagues until 1947. Interesting note from the Baseball tapes: During the off-season it was common for the Negro League ballplayers to barnstorm against the Major Leaguers. In fact they played against each other over 300 times. The Negro League teams won over 200 of those contests.
Here’s a random thought on the whole Jackie Robinson celebration night. I get the fact that baseball wanted to honor Jackie Robinson and his accomplishment on the 60th anniversary of him breaking the color barrier. But if baseball decided to honor Jackie, doesn’t it make sense to honor him AS SOON AS POSSIBLE? By that I mean, someone thought of the idea and then baseball waited around how ever much time until the 60th anniversary rolled around. Blacks were made to wait an ungodly amount of time to join their white brothers and then there are more delays to honor Robinson simply because of a convenient round number (60).
If you’re celebrating an accomplishment (like a wedding anniversary or the CFCL’s 25th year in existence) it makes sense to wait until the appropriate date. But if you want to celebrate something long overdue, why wouldn’t you do it RIGHT AWAY?
Another thought from the tapes. Pete Rose, obviously, has been banned for life for betting on baseball. Pete even, finally, admitted betting on his own team. I don’t particularly care for Rose now or when he played, although he was a hell of a player who accomplished things with his hard work and talent – as opposed to McGwire, Bonds, Sosa and a host of others who had to use steroids and HGH to produce their gargantuan numbers. The thing with Rose is, he’s banned from baseball for betting on his own team, yet John McGraw, one of the greatest managers in baseball history, also was known to have bet on his team back in the day.
And yet with all the stupidity and inequity in baseball, after listening to the tapes and picturing Mays running down Vic Wertz’ deep fly ball, and Hank Aaron chasing Al Downing’s pitch over the left field wall and hearing about Fisk using his body english to make the ball hit the foul pole ----- Baseball is the greatest sport in the world.
For example: in 1973 the designated hitter was adopted in the American League, blemishing baseball. The way the narration went was “and from this point forward baseball would be played by two sets of rules”. When I heard those words, my first thought was “Who would ever agree to that?” What sense does it make to have played baseball for over 100 years with everyone following the same rules and then decide that there would be two sets of rules from now on? It doesn’t. It’s stupid.
In 1961 an amazing race was on between Mickey Mantle and Roger Maris. Maris, as we all know, eventually won the race over Mantle to surpass Ruth’s single season homerun record. But Commissioner Happy Chandler decided that an asterisk should be used to denote the fact that Maris needed eight more games in a regular season to reach 61. Funny, but no one ever considered the need to put an asterisk next to Cy Young’s name even though the rules allowed him (or made him) pitch underhand, putting less stress on his arm.
Another stupid factor is (and I know baseball wasn’t only at fault here, it was the whole country) that only white ballplayers could play in the major leagues until 1947. Interesting note from the Baseball tapes: During the off-season it was common for the Negro League ballplayers to barnstorm against the Major Leaguers. In fact they played against each other over 300 times. The Negro League teams won over 200 of those contests.
Here’s a random thought on the whole Jackie Robinson celebration night. I get the fact that baseball wanted to honor Jackie Robinson and his accomplishment on the 60th anniversary of him breaking the color barrier. But if baseball decided to honor Jackie, doesn’t it make sense to honor him AS SOON AS POSSIBLE? By that I mean, someone thought of the idea and then baseball waited around how ever much time until the 60th anniversary rolled around. Blacks were made to wait an ungodly amount of time to join their white brothers and then there are more delays to honor Robinson simply because of a convenient round number (60).
If you’re celebrating an accomplishment (like a wedding anniversary or the CFCL’s 25th year in existence) it makes sense to wait until the appropriate date. But if you want to celebrate something long overdue, why wouldn’t you do it RIGHT AWAY?
Another thought from the tapes. Pete Rose, obviously, has been banned for life for betting on baseball. Pete even, finally, admitted betting on his own team. I don’t particularly care for Rose now or when he played, although he was a hell of a player who accomplished things with his hard work and talent – as opposed to McGwire, Bonds, Sosa and a host of others who had to use steroids and HGH to produce their gargantuan numbers. The thing with Rose is, he’s banned from baseball for betting on his own team, yet John McGraw, one of the greatest managers in baseball history, also was known to have bet on his team back in the day.
And yet with all the stupidity and inequity in baseball, after listening to the tapes and picturing Mays running down Vic Wertz’ deep fly ball, and Hank Aaron chasing Al Downing’s pitch over the left field wall and hearing about Fisk using his body english to make the ball hit the foul pole ----- Baseball is the greatest sport in the world.
Monday, April 30, 2007
Admitting a Problem is the First Step
‘Welcome to Sportsline Live Scoring Fantasy Game Center Addicts Support group.’
“Hi, my name is Rich”
‘Hiii Rich’
“I think I may have a problem. Sportsline updates the standings to my fantasy baseball league, the CFCL, pitch by pitch! I can’t believe it! I watch each night as my team moves up and down the standings. I can’t get enough of it.”
‘Admitting you have a problem, Rich, is the first step to recovery. This support group for Addiction to Sportsline Live Scoring Fantasy Game Center (ASLSFGC) is designed to help fantasy owners with the issues that you have expressed. In fact, you may recognize that guy in chair number two. He’s here because he would rather look at the Game Center than his own son.’
“Hey, Kenn. How’s it going?”
‘If you’re serious about getting help, we are happy to assist you. Are you familiar with the “12 Steps”?’
“Not in detail.”
‘OK, let’s review them.’
1) Admit we are powerless
“Gotcha. I am powerless. Every night I find myself clicking on my bookmarked page to see how my team is doing and then just sit there entranced until the final out of the evening is recorded. I also admit that I am powerless to the fact that Grady Little won’t play Wilson Betemit so Willie can work his way out of his slump.”
2) Power greater than ourselves can restore us to sanity
“I’m not sure how this will help. The power of Derrek Lee’s swing and Aaron Harang’s fastball is what got me in trouble to begin with.”
3) Made decision to turn our will and lives over to God
“I’ve always viewed Hank Aaron as a baseball god. He’s been through much more than I have ever been and currently has to deal with this whole Bonds mess, so I’m willing to turn over my life and will to him. No problem with two out of three so far.”
4) Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves
“I think I’m okay here. I made a few deals during the off-season and morally I feel good. Some may have questioned the legitimacy of Zambrano for Weathers, but given the opportunity Weathers currently has and the fact it saved the DoorMatts .22 for the draft, I’m comfortable with it. Moral inventory – check.”
5) Admit to God, ourselves and others exact nature of our wrongs
“Hank, I should have drafted you last year. Finishing last without pulling out all stops, that was just flat wrong.”
6) Ready to have God remove all defects of our character.
“By all means, please. And while you’re at it, can you remove the defects from Sportsline’s website? I mean, not being able to view a Waiver List is insane. And what’s with the IBB column? Like we have to be told that the pitcher Issued a Base on Balls. Is there any other kind of Base on Balls other than one that was issued by the pitcher? And HA?! Of course the pitcher Allowed a Hit! Is there also a column for Hit Not Allowed? . . .Oh man, I’m only half way through the list and already I’m going back to my bad place.”
7) Humbly ask Him to remove our shortcomings
“Hammer, don’t hurt me.”
8) Make a list of all persons we have harmed and become willing to make amends to them all
“Okay, let’s see, there’s Kim, Katelyn, Ally and Kristi. Am I still harming them if I mainly have this addiction at night after they’ve gone to bed? Never mind, I’ll probably slip up on a weekend afternoon. Make amends – check.”
9) Make direct amends to all such people, except when to do so would injure them or others
“I’m glad you point this out. While I don’t want any bodily injury to come my way, although I think it’s inevitable, I’m concerned that the frying pan directed at my head may miss me and smack one of the girls.”
10) Continue to take personal inventory and when we are wrong, promptly admit it
“Wow, you’re good. Step number 10 and you’ve already caught me. Between Steps 8 and 9 I clicked over to find that I’m still in second, now only ONE point behind the Copperfields. Back around Step 2 I was three points behind.”
11) Sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God as we know him
“Now I lay me down to sleep, Hank Aaron takes Al Downing deep. If I dream before I wake, let Prince Fielder a cycle make.”
12) Have a spiritual awakening of these steps we try to carry this message to others afflicted with ASLSFGC
“The other ten of you are welcome to join Kenn and me at the next meeting. Internet connectivity is strictly forbidden.”
“Hi, my name is Rich”
‘Hiii Rich’
“I think I may have a problem. Sportsline updates the standings to my fantasy baseball league, the CFCL, pitch by pitch! I can’t believe it! I watch each night as my team moves up and down the standings. I can’t get enough of it.”
‘Admitting you have a problem, Rich, is the first step to recovery. This support group for Addiction to Sportsline Live Scoring Fantasy Game Center (ASLSFGC) is designed to help fantasy owners with the issues that you have expressed. In fact, you may recognize that guy in chair number two. He’s here because he would rather look at the Game Center than his own son.’
“Hey, Kenn. How’s it going?”
‘If you’re serious about getting help, we are happy to assist you. Are you familiar with the “12 Steps”?’
“Not in detail.”
‘OK, let’s review them.’
1) Admit we are powerless
“Gotcha. I am powerless. Every night I find myself clicking on my bookmarked page to see how my team is doing and then just sit there entranced until the final out of the evening is recorded. I also admit that I am powerless to the fact that Grady Little won’t play Wilson Betemit so Willie can work his way out of his slump.”
2) Power greater than ourselves can restore us to sanity
“I’m not sure how this will help. The power of Derrek Lee’s swing and Aaron Harang’s fastball is what got me in trouble to begin with.”
3) Made decision to turn our will and lives over to God
“I’ve always viewed Hank Aaron as a baseball god. He’s been through much more than I have ever been and currently has to deal with this whole Bonds mess, so I’m willing to turn over my life and will to him. No problem with two out of three so far.”
4) Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves
“I think I’m okay here. I made a few deals during the off-season and morally I feel good. Some may have questioned the legitimacy of Zambrano for Weathers, but given the opportunity Weathers currently has and the fact it saved the DoorMatts .22 for the draft, I’m comfortable with it. Moral inventory – check.”
5) Admit to God, ourselves and others exact nature of our wrongs
“Hank, I should have drafted you last year. Finishing last without pulling out all stops, that was just flat wrong.”
6) Ready to have God remove all defects of our character.
“By all means, please. And while you’re at it, can you remove the defects from Sportsline’s website? I mean, not being able to view a Waiver List is insane. And what’s with the IBB column? Like we have to be told that the pitcher Issued a Base on Balls. Is there any other kind of Base on Balls other than one that was issued by the pitcher? And HA?! Of course the pitcher Allowed a Hit! Is there also a column for Hit Not Allowed? . . .Oh man, I’m only half way through the list and already I’m going back to my bad place.”
7) Humbly ask Him to remove our shortcomings
“Hammer, don’t hurt me.”
8) Make a list of all persons we have harmed and become willing to make amends to them all
“Okay, let’s see, there’s Kim, Katelyn, Ally and Kristi. Am I still harming them if I mainly have this addiction at night after they’ve gone to bed? Never mind, I’ll probably slip up on a weekend afternoon. Make amends – check.”
9) Make direct amends to all such people, except when to do so would injure them or others
“I’m glad you point this out. While I don’t want any bodily injury to come my way, although I think it’s inevitable, I’m concerned that the frying pan directed at my head may miss me and smack one of the girls.”
10) Continue to take personal inventory and when we are wrong, promptly admit it
“Wow, you’re good. Step number 10 and you’ve already caught me. Between Steps 8 and 9 I clicked over to find that I’m still in second, now only ONE point behind the Copperfields. Back around Step 2 I was three points behind.”
11) Sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God as we know him
“Now I lay me down to sleep, Hank Aaron takes Al Downing deep. If I dream before I wake, let Prince Fielder a cycle make.”
12) Have a spiritual awakening of these steps we try to carry this message to others afflicted with ASLSFGC
“The other ten of you are welcome to join Kenn and me at the next meeting. Internet connectivity is strictly forbidden.”
Monday, April 23, 2007
What's in a name?
There was a lot of talk in recent years about team nicknames. Is the Cleveland American League Baseball Team being disrespectful of Native Americans by using the nickname Indians and having a logo with an Indian caricature? Is the University of Illinois being disrespectful by calling their teams the “Fighting Illini” and having Chief Illiniwek do a traditional dance on the basketball court at halftime? Was the Washington Professional Basketball Team really promoting violence in the nation’s capital by naming their team the Bullets? (Sure they were, so let’s fix the problem by changing the team name to the Wizards. That shouldn’t cause any issues in a city that is predominantly African American.)
We (as a country) basically commit genocide and then want to use “Indians”, “Braves”, “Redskins”, “Fighting Illini” and say that these tribes and people are being “honored”. Perhaps we should have honored them from the beginning by not taking their land, attacking them for no other reason than they had what we wanted and making them basically a Third World Country when they were, in fact, a great nation.
Even the team names a little closer to home can come into question. Dem Rebels can be viewed as a politically incorrect name, especially with the sabers on the logo (coupled with the fact that in the original Rebel logo, from years ago, a modified version of the Stars and Bars) and that somehow the Rebels support racism and slavery. Nothing could be further from the truth. Rebel was the first (and only) word that came to mind when I put my initials together (REB). Certainly I was in a hurry to come up with a great name and get away from the colossal mistake of the Electric Eels from 1984 (Full name: BEN T’s ELectric Eels).
The decision makers on whether a mascot or team name is offensive should be the group that the team name represents, NOT the US Government, PETA, Oprah or any other group trying to get their name in the papers.
Personally I think that alcohol and guns should be outlawed and NEVER used. But then I don’t drink and am not into firearms. If those two items were to be outlawed – no skin off my nose, I wouldn’t even miss it. But if someone came along saying that Fantasy Baseball and Red Licorice are bad for society, I would be picketing, sitting in, and fighting THE MAN any way I could think of. Point is, the people doing most of the bitching about team names and mascots:
A) Aren’t from that ethnic group,
B) Don’t have much intelligence, and
C) Don’t care if the mascot/team name goes away because they are not tied to it.
College football, baseball, professional football and any other organized sports group should sit down with leaders from the groups whose names, nicknames, culture is being used and find out if the leaders and their nation/society/people are offended. If they are, change the team nickname. If they aren’t, use the nickname and everyone else shut the hell up.
We (as a country) basically commit genocide and then want to use “Indians”, “Braves”, “Redskins”, “Fighting Illini” and say that these tribes and people are being “honored”. Perhaps we should have honored them from the beginning by not taking their land, attacking them for no other reason than they had what we wanted and making them basically a Third World Country when they were, in fact, a great nation.
Even the team names a little closer to home can come into question. Dem Rebels can be viewed as a politically incorrect name, especially with the sabers on the logo (coupled with the fact that in the original Rebel logo, from years ago, a modified version of the Stars and Bars) and that somehow the Rebels support racism and slavery. Nothing could be further from the truth. Rebel was the first (and only) word that came to mind when I put my initials together (REB). Certainly I was in a hurry to come up with a great name and get away from the colossal mistake of the Electric Eels from 1984 (Full name: BEN T’s ELectric Eels).
The decision makers on whether a mascot or team name is offensive should be the group that the team name represents, NOT the US Government, PETA, Oprah or any other group trying to get their name in the papers.
Personally I think that alcohol and guns should be outlawed and NEVER used. But then I don’t drink and am not into firearms. If those two items were to be outlawed – no skin off my nose, I wouldn’t even miss it. But if someone came along saying that Fantasy Baseball and Red Licorice are bad for society, I would be picketing, sitting in, and fighting THE MAN any way I could think of. Point is, the people doing most of the bitching about team names and mascots:
A) Aren’t from that ethnic group,
B) Don’t have much intelligence, and
C) Don’t care if the mascot/team name goes away because they are not tied to it.
College football, baseball, professional football and any other organized sports group should sit down with leaders from the groups whose names, nicknames, culture is being used and find out if the leaders and their nation/society/people are offended. If they are, change the team nickname. If they aren’t, use the nickname and everyone else shut the hell up.
Monday, April 16, 2007
San Diego steals another one
Another talented Chicagoan was signed by the San Diego Padres recently. Not only did Greg Maddux sign with San Diego, but now Andy Masur will provide play by play and color commentary on XX Sports Radio (1090 AM and 105.7 FM). This is a well deserved opportunity for the talented team player. An opportunity I wish he was receiving at WGN.
In my opinion this was a huge loss for the Cubs and WGN. On the Cubs broadcast side Masur always did a fantastic job filling in for Pat Hughes during Pat’s 7th or 8th inning breaks. I was always amazed at how this guy could do score and baseball news updates throughout the game and then sit in Pat’s chair for a half inning at the end of the game and sound like he had been calling the whole game. [THIS JUST IN – Pat Hughes, in his negotiation of his new contract, asked for and received an additional half inning break. So now he only calls eight innings. Imagine sitting down with your employer and stating that you would like to keep working for them (at a raise in pay no doubt) and do 11% less work?!! Don’t anyone tell me that the Sandberg deal, when they signed him for $7 million a year and the previous high in baseball was $5 million per, was a bad negotiation.]
Until the Cubs signed Hughes to a long-term deal I had secretly hoped (and expected) that Masur was being groomed to take over. Hughes has never really done it for me. “Welllll, what kind of beverage are you drinking there, Ron?” gets kind of old by May. Oh sure, he’s a talented play by play man and just won the 2006 Illinois Sportscaster of the Year Award, but when you’re up against Harrelson, Singleton and Joniak you BETTER win the award.
I had even heard that at one point in the 2005(?) season Hughes sat down with the then Program Director of WGN and said “I don’t know how much longer I can do this. I need a break. I’m exhausted. I need a vacation.” Exhausted from sitting at a ballpark and talking with a close friend? I know the travel isn’t as romantic as one might think, but “exhausted”? From sitting in a shaded booth with endless supplies of food and drink? The bellhops carry the bags and while Masur was around, Hughes didn’t even have to remind Ron to pack his toupees or other accessories.
Based on that conversation I assumed the Cubs might move in a different (Masurly) direction once Hughes’ contract came up. But that didn’t happen. Could be because the Program Director changed before Hughes’ contract expired. Could be that Hughes was rejuvenated over the last season or so by doing more Pilates in the off season to prepare him for the 162 game grind (although with Pat’s new clause of “one inning off per game” Hughes won’t broadcast 162 innings this year – the equivalent of 18 GAMES!!!!). Who knows? All I know is that Chicago lost another talent to the San Diego Padres.
In my opinion this was a huge loss for the Cubs and WGN. On the Cubs broadcast side Masur always did a fantastic job filling in for Pat Hughes during Pat’s 7th or 8th inning breaks. I was always amazed at how this guy could do score and baseball news updates throughout the game and then sit in Pat’s chair for a half inning at the end of the game and sound like he had been calling the whole game. [THIS JUST IN – Pat Hughes, in his negotiation of his new contract, asked for and received an additional half inning break. So now he only calls eight innings. Imagine sitting down with your employer and stating that you would like to keep working for them (at a raise in pay no doubt) and do 11% less work?!! Don’t anyone tell me that the Sandberg deal, when they signed him for $7 million a year and the previous high in baseball was $5 million per, was a bad negotiation.]
Until the Cubs signed Hughes to a long-term deal I had secretly hoped (and expected) that Masur was being groomed to take over. Hughes has never really done it for me. “Welllll, what kind of beverage are you drinking there, Ron?” gets kind of old by May. Oh sure, he’s a talented play by play man and just won the 2006 Illinois Sportscaster of the Year Award, but when you’re up against Harrelson, Singleton and Joniak you BETTER win the award.
I had even heard that at one point in the 2005(?) season Hughes sat down with the then Program Director of WGN and said “I don’t know how much longer I can do this. I need a break. I’m exhausted. I need a vacation.” Exhausted from sitting at a ballpark and talking with a close friend? I know the travel isn’t as romantic as one might think, but “exhausted”? From sitting in a shaded booth with endless supplies of food and drink? The bellhops carry the bags and while Masur was around, Hughes didn’t even have to remind Ron to pack his toupees or other accessories.
Based on that conversation I assumed the Cubs might move in a different (Masurly) direction once Hughes’ contract came up. But that didn’t happen. Could be because the Program Director changed before Hughes’ contract expired. Could be that Hughes was rejuvenated over the last season or so by doing more Pilates in the off season to prepare him for the 162 game grind (although with Pat’s new clause of “one inning off per game” Hughes won’t broadcast 162 innings this year – the equivalent of 18 GAMES!!!!). Who knows? All I know is that Chicago lost another talent to the San Diego Padres.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)