ESPN.com is running a poll in which the fans can vote for the "Faces of College Football"....you are able to vote for only four former players out of a list of 21....the list is as follows:
Sammy Baugh, Jim Brown, Reggie Bush, Dick Butkus, Earl Campbell, Glenn Davis, Tony Dorsett, Tommie Frazier, Red Grange, Archie Griffin, Tom Harmon, Bo Jackson, Bronko Nagurski, Johnny Rodgers, Barry Sanders, Roger Staubach, Jim Thorpe, Doak Walker, Herschel Walker, Charles Woodson, Vince Young...
On June 22, with 22,463 votes cast, the top four were: Frazier (36.7%), Rodgers (28.0%), H. Walker (25.2%), Jackson (20.1%)...six days later, on June 28, with 132,287 votes cast, the top four were: Frazier (43.0%), Rodgers (39.6%), Griffin (35.2%), Thorpe (13.0%)...
Shockingly, Herschel dropped from 25.2% all the way to 7.4% and Bo went from 20.1% to 5.7%...Griffin rose from 19.6% to 35.2%...the benefactor of Herschel and Bo dropping was Thorpe who practically stayed even 13.7% to 13.0%...
Obviously, the Nebraska and Ohio State fans pumped up the numbers for Frazier, Rodgers, and Griffin...
When choosing my four, I broke it down into various eras - the early years, the mid years, and the current years...here are my four selections:
1. Herschel Walker (photo - right) - the greatest college player that I have ever seen...he was a beast...to me, Walker was the best in any era...
2. Roger Staubach - to represent the mid years, I went with Staubach who was a Heisman winner and made Navy a force...
3. Red Grange (photo - left) - to represent the early years, the Ghost was everything to college football...
4. Vince Young - to represent the current years, Vince was a one man wrecking crew his final two years at Texas...he took the position of quarterback and raised it to another level with his arm and legs...
Monday, June 30, 2008
Sunday, June 29, 2008
Sunday Stories
Dave Anderson of The New York Times writes how the Baseball Hall of Fame made a change to Jackie Robinson's Hall of Fame plaque... "When Jackie Robinson was on the Hall of Fame ballot in 1962, he requested that the voters among the Baseball Writers Association of America judge him only as a player. He didn’t want his social significance as the modern major leagues’ first black player to be considered. Vote for him — or don’t vote for him — on his merits as a player, as all the other Hall of Famers from Babe Ruth and Cy Young had been measured." ... Dave Anderson
Gary Carter Saga
Billy Witz of The New York Times writes about former N.Y. Met Gary Carter and how Carter explodes at Witz when talking about managing in The Show.... "It is clear now, some 25 minutes into an interview, that he is agitated. Then he is asked if he has any regrets about the radio interview he did last month in which he campaigned for a job Randolph still held. Carter protests that he was simply responding to a question: Would he be interested in managing the Mets? But actually he did more than that, saying in the interview that he had already contacted the Mets. He is then asked if he violated etiquette." ...Billy Witz
T.J. Simers of the Los Angeles Times also writes about Carter...throughout the article, Carter's arrogance increases... "He loves the Mets, but they don't seem to think much of him. A few years back, he managed one of their minor league teams and won, a year later did it again and won a title, but then he didn't go along with the plan -- the one that had him advancing to yet another minor league post." ...T.J. Simers
Other stories
Joe Lapointe of The New York Times writes how the balance of power has shifted back to the pitchers in MLB... "This season’s top pitchers have not equaled the élan of their predecessors from 1968, but their craft seems to be on the rise. Dave Duncan can sense it." ...Joe Lapointe
Bill Livingston of The Plain Dealer writes how the NBA needs to make a change when college players are eligible... "A two-year minimum, with the age limit at 20, would be more in keeping with NFL eligibility rules (three years of college) and would curtail the NBA's sabotage of its own farm system. It would also give more stability to college programs." ...Bill Livingston
Joseph Duarte of the Houston Chronicle writes about other famous baseball spats after the recent Shawn Chacon incident... "There have been fights involving teammates or players against managers. But few can remember when a confrontation between a player and general manager went beyond an exchange of words and turned volatile." ...Joseph Duarte
Albert Breer and Barry Horn of the Dallas Morning News writes about former Cowboys receiver Frank Clarke and his new job as a nanny... "Once upon a time, the nanny was the most prolific receiver in Cowboys history. He was fast, smart and determined to prove wrong critics of his toughness. He joined a ragtag expansion team in 1960 and was the last original Cowboy to retire. The NFL Championship Game of 1967, the storied Ice Bowl, was his final game." ...Albert Breer and Barry Horn
Carol Slezak of the Chicago Sun-Times writes about Bulls first round pick Derrick Rose... "The Englewood community where Rose grew up has more than its share of poverty and all that comes with it: gangs, drugs, violence and despair. But Rose's mom, Brenda, kept all her kids in line. And Rose's three older brothers -- Dwayne, Reggie and Allan -- made sure to keep him in line. When Rose's special talent became clear, the brothers kept the sharks away, allowing him to concentrate on basketball." ...Carol Slezak
Gary Carter Saga
Billy Witz of The New York Times writes about former N.Y. Met Gary Carter and how Carter explodes at Witz when talking about managing in The Show.... "It is clear now, some 25 minutes into an interview, that he is agitated. Then he is asked if he has any regrets about the radio interview he did last month in which he campaigned for a job Randolph still held. Carter protests that he was simply responding to a question: Would he be interested in managing the Mets? But actually he did more than that, saying in the interview that he had already contacted the Mets. He is then asked if he violated etiquette." ...
T.J. Simers of the Los Angeles Times also writes about Carter...throughout the article, Carter's arrogance increases... "He loves the Mets, but they don't seem to think much of him. A few years back, he managed one of their minor league teams and won, a year later did it again and won a title, but then he didn't go along with the plan -- the one that had him advancing to yet another minor league post." ...
Other stories
Joe Lapointe of The New York Times writes how the balance of power has shifted back to the pitchers in MLB... "This season’s top pitchers have not equaled the élan of their predecessors from 1968, but their craft seems to be on the rise. Dave Duncan can sense it." ...
Bill Livingston of The Plain Dealer writes how the NBA needs to make a change when college players are eligible... "A two-year minimum, with the age limit at 20, would be more in keeping with NFL eligibility rules (three years of college) and would curtail the NBA's sabotage of its own farm system. It would also give more stability to college programs." ...
Joseph Duarte of the Houston Chronicle writes about other famous baseball spats after the recent Shawn Chacon incident... "There have been fights involving teammates or players against managers. But few can remember when a confrontation between a player and general manager went beyond an exchange of words and turned volatile." ...
Albert Breer and Barry Horn of the Dallas Morning News writes about former Cowboys receiver Frank Clarke and his new job as a nanny... "Once upon a time, the nanny was the most prolific receiver in Cowboys history. He was fast, smart and determined to prove wrong critics of his toughness. He joined a ragtag expansion team in 1960 and was the last original Cowboy to retire. The NFL Championship Game of 1967, the storied Ice Bowl, was his final game." ...
Carol Slezak of the Chicago Sun-Times writes about Bulls first round pick Derrick Rose... "The Englewood community where Rose grew up has more than its share of poverty and all that comes with it: gangs, drugs, violence and despair. But Rose's mom, Brenda, kept all her kids in line. And Rose's three older brothers -- Dwayne, Reggie and Allan -- made sure to keep him in line. When Rose's special talent became clear, the brothers kept the sharks away, allowing him to concentrate on basketball." ...
Saturday, June 28, 2008
Uga VI Dies
By JEFFRY SCOTT
The Atlanta Journal-ConstitutionPublished on: 06/28/08
The University of Georgia's beloved and Churchillian English bulldog mascot Uga VI died peacefully Friday night in Savannah of congestive heart failure after serving nine years on the Bulldog sidelines as the school's winningest mascot.
Uga VI, owned by Savannah attorney Frank W. "Sonny" Seiler, was the biggest in the line of six solid white English bulldogs to serve as UGA's mascot since Uga I became a Georgia football game fixture in 1956.
"He was a good one," Seiler said in a prepared statement. "What can I say? He had a marvelous record. He was a very strong and healthy dog. He was the biggest of all the dogs, and he had the biggest heart. It just played out."
Damon Evans, UGA director of athletics, bestowed the highest praise on the beast that he could Saturday, in a statement:
"Uga VI was a damn good mascot and a damn good dog," said Evans.
With the passing of one Uga there's always speculation which bulldog is heir to the throne, which comes with a few perks, including an air-conditioned dog house, travel by Delta Airlines to away games, celebrityhood (Uga V was on the cover of Sports Illustrated in 1997 as the nation's best mascot) and a fanbase that's paparazzi-like in its obsession.
"People pet him so much his head gets sore," Seiler once said of his line of Ugas. "He's like a politician who shakes too many hands."
Seiler said Saturday that the "lineage is taken care of" and would be announced by Seilers and the UGA athletic association later.
Uga VI will be buried in a marble vault in the Southwest corner of Sanford Stadium with his ancestors in private ceremonies expected to be held early next week.
There had been speculation earlier this year that the 2007 season might have been Uga VI's last as a mascot because of his age. He would have turned 10 on July 22.
Seiler said in a statement Saturday he noticed Uga VI was breathing heavily shortly after Seiler arrived home from work Friday evening. He was taken to Dr. Stanley Lester, the family's veterinarian, who consulted with Dr. Bruce Hollett at UGA's College of Veterinary Medicine.
"I noticed a little congestion in his throat, which usually is not cause for alarm," said Seiler in the release. "I gave him a bath, which he always loved, to cool him off. After that, I called Dr. Lester, whose office is about a four-minute drive from our house.
"His heart just played out. He suffered no pain and died peacefully."
UGA president Michael F. Adams said in a statement Uga VI will be "missed and remembered by UGA alumni and friends everywhere."
During his reign as mascot, the UGA football team compiled a record of 87 wins and 27 losses, captured the 2002 and 2005 Southeastern Conference championships, and won six of eight bowl games, surpassing Uga IV's record of 77-24-4.
By far the biggest of the Ugas — he weighed 65 pounds, more than twenty pound heavier than his father — his full name was pretty hefty, too: "Uga V's Whatchagot Loran?"
— AJC staff writer Chip Towers contributed to this story.
Incredible Video
I will admit that I stole this video from The Zone Blitz...I am not a big Jessica Simpson fan, but this video clip of her is freakin incredible!!!!...I got a nosebleed watching it the first time...
Friday, June 27, 2008
Jordana Spiro - Is She Hot?
Last week I was flipping through the channels and came across TBS' My Boys starring Jordana Spiro...I never heard of her, but she is not bad looking...she plays a sportswriter who hangs out with men all the time...actually, she hangs out with losers...
P.J. Franklin
Spiro, who is Jewish, is 31-years-old and does not have much of a resume...she was born and raised in New York City...she studied acting in London...
Before landing the role as P.J. Franklin, she made guest appearances on various shows such as Cold Case, JAG, Beverly Hills 90210, etc.
My thoughts - let's cut to the chase...she is never mentioned with the hot women of today...she is like the girl that all the guys know, but don't consider, or even think about, hitting on because she is "one of the guys"...she was probably a tomboy growing up...she's more comfy in jeans and a baseball cap...in the end, all the guys kick themselves why none of them ever hooked up with her...she does have a dash of that Drew Barrymore thing going on...in the end, I vote "yes" that she is hot!!!...and highly under-rated...so this leads to the questions:
Do you think Jordana Spiro is hot?
If so, why doesn't she get the publicity?
Am I missing something?
Leave your comments
P.J. Franklin
Spiro, who is Jewish, is 31-years-old and does not have much of a resume...she was born and raised in New York City...she studied acting in London...
Before landing the role as P.J. Franklin, she made guest appearances on various shows such as Cold Case, JAG, Beverly Hills 90210, etc.
My thoughts - let's cut to the chase...she is never mentioned with the hot women of today...she is like the girl that all the guys know, but don't consider, or even think about, hitting on because she is "one of the guys"...she was probably a tomboy growing up...she's more comfy in jeans and a baseball cap...in the end, all the guys kick themselves why none of them ever hooked up with her...she does have a dash of that Drew Barrymore thing going on...in the end, I vote "yes" that she is hot!!!...and highly under-rated...so this leads to the questions:
Do you think Jordana Spiro is hot?
If so, why doesn't she get the publicity?
Am I missing something?
Leave your comments
Thursday, June 26, 2008
Remembering Len Bias
It's that time of year when the NBA Draft rolls around, people also stop to remember the life of Len Bias...ESPN.com has a solid story about Bias and the aftermath of his death....also, is a clip of Bias and what he meant to a lot of people...Bias' death should never have happened, but because of one mistake - doing cocaine to celebrate being drafted by the Boston Celtics - he died...it's not worth it...for those too young to remember, Bias was an amazing basketball player...he was Jordan-like...he would have been a difference maker in the NBA...hopefully his legacy and the mistake he made can be a difference maker in life...
Len Bias
Look who is in the basement?
The standings in the A.L. Central on June 26, 2008
Chicago - 42-35 .545
Minnesota - 42-36 .538
Detroit - 37-40 .481
Kansas City - 36-43 .456
Cleveland - 35-43 .449
Look who is in the basement?
The standings in the A.L. Central on June 26, 2008
Chicago - 42-35 .545
Minnesota - 42-36 .538
Detroit - 37-40 .481
Kansas City - 36-43 .456
Cleveland - 35-43 .449
Wednesday, June 25, 2008
Tuesday, June 24, 2008
NBA Draft and Take Me Out to the Ballgame
Would you make this trade?...
As the NBA Draft nears, the talk around the league, for some time now, is that Miami trading the second overall pick and Dwayne Wade to Chicago for the first overall pick and two other players (more than likely Kirk Hinrich and Ben Gordon or Luol Deng)...Heat G.M. Pat Riley is supposedly hot-to-trot for Memphis point guard Derrick Rose...if he stays at the 2 spot, Riley will be forced to take Michael Beasley from Kansas State...
My thoughts - The Bulls would be crazy not to make this move...Wade, who is also a native of Chicago, is an All-Star caliber player...plus they would still get the second overall pick in Michael Beasley who will be a stud scorer and rebounder in the NBA...the Heat would have Rose and Shawn Marion to build around....personally, if I was Riley, I would stay at number 2, take Beasley, then have a lineup of Wade, Beasley, and Marion....
Your thoughts?...
Other tidbit
"Take Me Out to the Ballgame" is 100 years old this year...Andrew Druckenbrod of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette has a nice article about this history of this great song...
Andrew Druckenbrod
Here are the words
'Take Me Out to the Ball Game'
Verse: Katie Casey was baseball mad
Had the fever and had it bad.
Just to root for the hometown crew
Ev'ry sou Katie blew.
On a Saturday, her young beau
Called to see if she'd like to go
To see a show, but Miss Kate said,
"No, I'll tell you what you can do."
Chorus: Take me out to the ball game,
Take me out with the crowd.
Buy me some peanuts and Cracker Jack,
I don't care if I ever get back.
Let me root, root, root for the home team,
If they don't win it's a shame.
For it's one, two, three strikes you're out
At the old ball game
As the NBA Draft nears, the talk around the league, for some time now, is that Miami trading the second overall pick and Dwayne Wade to Chicago for the first overall pick and two other players (more than likely Kirk Hinrich and Ben Gordon or Luol Deng)...Heat G.M. Pat Riley is supposedly hot-to-trot for Memphis point guard Derrick Rose...if he stays at the 2 spot, Riley will be forced to take Michael Beasley from Kansas State...
My thoughts - The Bulls would be crazy not to make this move...Wade, who is also a native of Chicago, is an All-Star caliber player...plus they would still get the second overall pick in Michael Beasley who will be a stud scorer and rebounder in the NBA...the Heat would have Rose and Shawn Marion to build around....personally, if I was Riley, I would stay at number 2, take Beasley, then have a lineup of Wade, Beasley, and Marion....
Your thoughts?...
Other tidbit
"Take Me Out to the Ballgame" is 100 years old this year...Andrew Druckenbrod of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette has a nice article about this history of this great song...
Here are the words
'Take Me Out to the Ball Game'
Verse: Katie Casey was baseball mad
Had the fever and had it bad.
Just to root for the hometown crew
Ev'ry sou Katie blew.
On a Saturday, her young beau
Called to see if she'd like to go
To see a show, but Miss Kate said,
"No, I'll tell you what you can do."
Chorus: Take me out to the ball game,
Take me out with the crowd.
Buy me some peanuts and Cracker Jack,
I don't care if I ever get back.
Let me root, root, root for the home team,
If they don't win it's a shame.
For it's one, two, three strikes you're out
At the old ball game
Monday, June 23, 2008
Curt Schilling - Hall of Fame or Not?
Curt Schilling may be done...YES!!!...as a Yankees fans, I hate Schilling with a passion...he is an arrogant prick...even though I despise the guy, that does not jade my view of him as a pitcher...Schilling was one of the best pitchers of his era...he was a better big game pitcher than Roger Clemens...he was a tough guy...but he is not a Hall of Famer...
On Baseball Tonight, Peter Gammons brought up the question if Schilling would make the Hall...Gammons never gave his thoughts on the topic...Schilling racked up some impressive numbers over the years...however, in my opinion, they are not Hall of Fame worthy...if Schilling should make the Hall, that would open the doors for many quality pitchers such as David Wells, David Cone, Jack Morris, Orel Hershiser, and Ron Guidry among others...let's take a look at their numbers...
Curt Schilling
216-146
3 time 20-game winner
6 All-Star Games
3 World Series titles
10-2 in post-season
1993 NLCS MVP
2001 World Series co-MVP
David Wells
239-157
1 time 20-game winner
3 All-Star Games
3 World Series titles
1998 ALCS MVP
1 Perfect Game
David Cone
194-126
2 time 20-game winner
5 All-Star Games
5 World Series titles
1 Cy Young
1 Perfect Game
Jack Morris
254-186
3 time 20-game winner
5 All-Star Games
3 World Series titles
6-1 post-season
1 No-hitter
Orel Hershiser
204-150
1 time 20-game winner
3 All-Star Games
1 World Series title
1988 NLCS MVP
1988 World Series MVP
1 Cy Young
59 consecutive scoreless innings
Ron Guidry
170-91
3 time 20-game winner
4 All-Star Games
2 World Series titles
1 Cy Young
25-3 mark in 1978
So when perusing the above stats, although impressive as Schilling's numbers are, there are other pitchers who are just as impressive who will never make Cooperstown...so my advice to Schilling is to head back to Arizona, keep working on his blog, and shove that bloody sock where the sun does not shine...
On Baseball Tonight, Peter Gammons brought up the question if Schilling would make the Hall...Gammons never gave his thoughts on the topic...Schilling racked up some impressive numbers over the years...however, in my opinion, they are not Hall of Fame worthy...if Schilling should make the Hall, that would open the doors for many quality pitchers such as David Wells, David Cone, Jack Morris, Orel Hershiser, and Ron Guidry among others...let's take a look at their numbers...
Curt Schilling
216-146
3 time 20-game winner
6 All-Star Games
3 World Series titles
10-2 in post-season
1993 NLCS MVP
2001 World Series co-MVP
David Wells
239-157
1 time 20-game winner
3 All-Star Games
3 World Series titles
1998 ALCS MVP
1 Perfect Game
David Cone
194-126
2 time 20-game winner
5 All-Star Games
5 World Series titles
1 Cy Young
1 Perfect Game
Jack Morris
254-186
3 time 20-game winner
5 All-Star Games
3 World Series titles
6-1 post-season
1 No-hitter
Orel Hershiser
204-150
1 time 20-game winner
3 All-Star Games
1 World Series title
1988 NLCS MVP
1988 World Series MVP
1 Cy Young
59 consecutive scoreless innings
Ron Guidry
170-91
3 time 20-game winner
4 All-Star Games
2 World Series titles
1 Cy Young
25-3 mark in 1978
So when perusing the above stats, although impressive as Schilling's numbers are, there are other pitchers who are just as impressive who will never make Cooperstown...so my advice to Schilling is to head back to Arizona, keep working on his blog, and shove that bloody sock where the sun does not shine...
Sunday, June 22, 2008
Sunday Stories
Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe writes who will be moving as the baseball trading season is open... "They (Phillies) would also be in on a No. 1 such as C.C. Sabathia if the Indians are serious about peddling him or Erik Bedard if the Mariners rip things apart. They are also taking a good look at A.J. Burnett, who has an opt-out, as well as Bronson Arroyo and Derek Lowe. The official said the Phillies see this year as a prime opportunity to make it to the World Series." ...
Nick Cafardo
Vincent Mallozzi of The New York Times writes about a person who sells cars to the stars... "Macky Dancy has made it his business to get the signatures of professional athletes — in triplicate. Dancy, who was born in Memphis and grew up in Brooklyn rooting for the Yankees, the Knicks and the Giants, sells luxury cars to athletes and entertainers." ...
Vincent Mallozzi
Erin Hicks of the Daily News writes about her try-out for the Nets dance team... "But when I heard the Nets basketball team was holding auditions for the 2008-09 dance team I thought: "Sure, I'll give it a go. Can't be that hard. All I have to do is flip my hair and shake my hips. Easy deal." Wrong. So wrong." ...
Erin Hicks
George Solomon of the Washington Post writes how the Washington Nationals are going to honor the late sports journalist Shirley Povich today... "For the next 27 years, Povich doggedly lobbied and wrote columns in hopes of helping to return baseball to the city he moved to in 1922 and lived in until his death in 1998." ...
George Solomon
With the NBA Draft on Thursday, the Chicago Sun-Times sports staff give their thoughts on who the Bulls should take with the number one pick...
Chicago Sun-Times
Greg Couch of the Chicago Sun-Times writes how Ozzie Guillen has choked this weekend in the series with the Cubs... "It's a little too easy to say Guillen blew both games. But he did. It's a little too easy to say that a manager who won a World Series is choking under the pressure of playing the big, bad Cubs, but he is. But it is not too simple to say that the Cubs are exposing the Sox for their flaws. That's exactly what's happening." ...
Greg Couch
K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Tribune writes about Michael Beasley's background... "Beasley grew up without a father figure under the watchful eye of his mother, Fatima Smith, who worked numerous jobs to support him and his siblings." ...
Jay Mariotti
Chuck Culpepper, special to the Los Angeles Times, writes about Roger Federer and the upcoming Wimbledon... "Even as tennis intellectuals whisper his empire's crumbling, the world's No. 1 player had the gall to turn up Saturday on the outside Court No. 10 for practice, looking sublime as ever, attracting a small crowd on the barren grounds of the All England Club two days before the action. After his hitting session under the usual grim sky, he stopped repeatedly to pose for photographs, even waiting alongside one child as her mother spent epochs adjusting the camera." ...
Chuck Culpepper
Paul Coro of the Arizona Central writes about new Phoenix Suns head coach Terry Porter... "After playing 17 seasons in the NBA and coaching for five, Porter may feel blessed to get a second crack at being a head coach but nobody who crossed his life's path will tell you he has not earned it or deserved it. They just didn't expect it." ...
Paul Coro
Nick Cafardo
Vincent Mallozzi of The New York Times writes about a person who sells cars to the stars... "Macky Dancy has made it his business to get the signatures of professional athletes — in triplicate. Dancy, who was born in Memphis and grew up in Brooklyn rooting for the Yankees, the Knicks and the Giants, sells luxury cars to athletes and entertainers." ...
Vincent Mallozzi
Erin Hicks of the Daily News writes about her try-out for the Nets dance team... "But when I heard the Nets basketball team was holding auditions for the 2008-09 dance team I thought: "Sure, I'll give it a go. Can't be that hard. All I have to do is flip my hair and shake my hips. Easy deal." Wrong. So wrong." ...
Erin Hicks
George Solomon of the Washington Post writes how the Washington Nationals are going to honor the late sports journalist Shirley Povich today... "For the next 27 years, Povich doggedly lobbied and wrote columns in hopes of helping to return baseball to the city he moved to in 1922 and lived in until his death in 1998." ...
George Solomon
With the NBA Draft on Thursday, the Chicago Sun-Times sports staff give their thoughts on who the Bulls should take with the number one pick...
Chicago Sun-Times
Greg Couch of the Chicago Sun-Times writes how Ozzie Guillen has choked this weekend in the series with the Cubs... "It's a little too easy to say Guillen blew both games. But he did. It's a little too easy to say that a manager who won a World Series is choking under the pressure of playing the big, bad Cubs, but he is. But it is not too simple to say that the Cubs are exposing the Sox for their flaws. That's exactly what's happening." ...
Greg Couch
K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Tribune writes about Michael Beasley's background... "Beasley grew up without a father figure under the watchful eye of his mother, Fatima Smith, who worked numerous jobs to support him and his siblings." ...
Jay Mariotti
Chuck Culpepper, special to the Los Angeles Times, writes about Roger Federer and the upcoming Wimbledon... "Even as tennis intellectuals whisper his empire's crumbling, the world's No. 1 player had the gall to turn up Saturday on the outside Court No. 10 for practice, looking sublime as ever, attracting a small crowd on the barren grounds of the All England Club two days before the action. After his hitting session under the usual grim sky, he stopped repeatedly to pose for photographs, even waiting alongside one child as her mother spent epochs adjusting the camera." ...
Chuck Culpepper
Paul Coro of the Arizona Central writes about new Phoenix Suns head coach Terry Porter... "After playing 17 seasons in the NBA and coaching for five, Porter may feel blessed to get a second crack at being a head coach but nobody who crossed his life's path will tell you he has not earned it or deserved it. They just didn't expect it." ...
Paul Coro
Friday, June 20, 2008
My U.S. Olympic Team
The U.S. men's Olympic basketball team will be announced on Monday...Duke head basketball coach Mike Krzyzewski will be the Olympic coach....if I had to assemble the U.S. team, I would not load it with NBA All-Stars and egos...the international game is quite different than the NBA because it relies on outside shooting....here is who I would want....
Starting Five
Forward - LeBron James - James (photo) is the best player in the game...he is a must...he has an open invitation for the Olympic team for the rest of his career...
Forward - Carmelo Anthony - Anthony has played exceptionally well in international competition...he may be the best player on the team....
Center - Dwight Howard - big men do not have a major impact in the international game but every team needs at least one stud in the middle....Howard is the best young big man in the game....
Point guard - Jason Kidd - Kidd has never lost a game in international play....he is a bigger point guard who can rebound too....Kidd does not have to score....he understands his role....
Shooting guard - Kobe Bryant - Kobe (photo) is the second best player in the game....
Bench
Forward - Shane Battier - Battier is a defensive stopper who has the ability to hit the 3 ball...plus he played for Coach K at Duke and undestands his system....
Forward - Richard Hamilton - Rip is one of the NBA's better 3-point shooters....he is another outside threat....give me shooters!!!!....
Point guard - Deron Williams - Williams is a true point guard who is big enough not to get muscled....
Shooting guard - Dwayne Wade - he is the 6th man on this team...his role is to be like Vinnie Johnson was with the Pistons - the Microwave....he needs to heat it up when he comes in....
Shooting guard - Michael Redd - the U.S. can always use another outside shooter and Redd fits that bill....
Final Two
These final two spots are my luxury spots....
Point guard - Chris Paul - I would feel better with 3 quality true point guards on this team....with Kidd in his mid-30s, he is prone to injury....point guard play is important in the Olympics....
Center/forward - Kevin Garnett - Garnett can play either the 3, 4, or 5 spot....he is the NBA Defensive Player of the Year who can also score if needed....his versatility makes him a must...
BRING IT ON WORLD!!!!
Starting Five
Forward - LeBron James - James (photo) is the best player in the game...he is a must...he has an open invitation for the Olympic team for the rest of his career...
Forward - Carmelo Anthony - Anthony has played exceptionally well in international competition...he may be the best player on the team....
Center - Dwight Howard - big men do not have a major impact in the international game but every team needs at least one stud in the middle....Howard is the best young big man in the game....
Point guard - Jason Kidd - Kidd has never lost a game in international play....he is a bigger point guard who can rebound too....Kidd does not have to score....he understands his role....
Shooting guard - Kobe Bryant - Kobe (photo) is the second best player in the game....
Bench
Forward - Shane Battier - Battier is a defensive stopper who has the ability to hit the 3 ball...plus he played for Coach K at Duke and undestands his system....
Forward - Richard Hamilton - Rip is one of the NBA's better 3-point shooters....he is another outside threat....give me shooters!!!!....
Point guard - Deron Williams - Williams is a true point guard who is big enough not to get muscled....
Shooting guard - Dwayne Wade - he is the 6th man on this team...his role is to be like Vinnie Johnson was with the Pistons - the Microwave....he needs to heat it up when he comes in....
Shooting guard - Michael Redd - the U.S. can always use another outside shooter and Redd fits that bill....
Final Two
These final two spots are my luxury spots....
Point guard - Chris Paul - I would feel better with 3 quality true point guards on this team....with Kidd in his mid-30s, he is prone to injury....point guard play is important in the Olympics....
Center/forward - Kevin Garnett - Garnett can play either the 3, 4, or 5 spot....he is the NBA Defensive Player of the Year who can also score if needed....his versatility makes him a must...
BRING IT ON WORLD!!!!
Tuesday, June 17, 2008
Cleveland Cavaliers - Which logo do you like?
Today starts a new feature on Stiles Points called "Which Logo Do You Like"...over the years sports franchises have changed their logos for various reasons: to market new items or just to make a change...now you, the reader, can select which logo you like the best...
Today we start with the Cleveland Cavaliers...the Cavs have had four logos...their colors started with wine and gold, then moved to blue and orange, then to black and powder blue, now back to wine, gold, and blue....here are your choices...
Logo 1 - 1971-83
This was the logo during the Miracle at Richfield era when the Cavs sported the names of Chones, Bingo, Cleamons, Campy, Nate, etc.
Logo 2 - 1984 - 94
When this logo came out, the lowly Cavs just made the playoffs and almost beat the Larry Bird Boston Celtics...the Cavs were led by World B. Free, Edgar Jones, and Roy Hinson....a few years later the Cavs were for real with Price, Daugherty, Ehlo, Nance, and Hot Rod....
Logo 3 - 1995 - 03
This logo was designed by a marketing firm in order to boost sales at the new Gund Arena...the Cavs struggled while wearing this....the names of Shawn Kemp and Andre Miller were probably the best players under this regime..
Logo 4 - 2004 - present
The Cavs changed their entire image once they got LeBron...much of their fan base wanted the old wine and gold as the primary colors....management settled on this...
My thoughts - I am old-school all the way...I would go with the original Cavs logo...their current logo and uniforms are okay, but I would go back to the true wine and gold unis from the 1970s...those were sweet!!!!....
I also liked the orange and blue logo and unis....maybe because the Cavs were a solid "team" back then instead of having one mega-superstar and a bunch of lugnuts for teammates like they do now....
Logo 3 sucks!!!....when management starts asking marketing "experts" to design a logo and uniform, that is when you know they are out of touch with their fans....
So my pick is Logo 1.....your thoughts???
Note - I will be in Cincinnati the next two days -- the blog will resume of Friday...
Today we start with the Cleveland Cavaliers...the Cavs have had four logos...their colors started with wine and gold, then moved to blue and orange, then to black and powder blue, now back to wine, gold, and blue....here are your choices...
Logo 1 - 1971-83
This was the logo during the Miracle at Richfield era when the Cavs sported the names of Chones, Bingo, Cleamons, Campy, Nate, etc.
Logo 2 - 1984 - 94
When this logo came out, the lowly Cavs just made the playoffs and almost beat the Larry Bird Boston Celtics...the Cavs were led by World B. Free, Edgar Jones, and Roy Hinson....a few years later the Cavs were for real with Price, Daugherty, Ehlo, Nance, and Hot Rod....
Logo 3 - 1995 - 03
This logo was designed by a marketing firm in order to boost sales at the new Gund Arena...the Cavs struggled while wearing this....the names of Shawn Kemp and Andre Miller were probably the best players under this regime..
Logo 4 - 2004 - present
The Cavs changed their entire image once they got LeBron...much of their fan base wanted the old wine and gold as the primary colors....management settled on this...
My thoughts - I am old-school all the way...I would go with the original Cavs logo...their current logo and uniforms are okay, but I would go back to the true wine and gold unis from the 1970s...those were sweet!!!!....
I also liked the orange and blue logo and unis....maybe because the Cavs were a solid "team" back then instead of having one mega-superstar and a bunch of lugnuts for teammates like they do now....
Logo 3 sucks!!!....when management starts asking marketing "experts" to design a logo and uniform, that is when you know they are out of touch with their fans....
So my pick is Logo 1.....your thoughts???
Note - I will be in Cincinnati the next two days -- the blog will resume of Friday...
Monday, June 16, 2008
Diane Neal - Is She Hot?
Sticking with the Law and Order theme, is Diane Neal hot?...Neal replaced Stephanie March as District Attorney on the show...
Casey Novak
Neal was born in November 1976 making her 32-years-old...she has kind of a strange background...she was born in Virginia then moved to Colorado when she was young...she went into pre-med only to drop that and become a model...she then dumped that career and studied archaeology in Israel...then she got into figure skating...
To top that off, she got engaged after dating someone for just two weeks...after seven years of engagement, they did finally get married...
In 2003 Neal got her break on Law and Order SVU as District Attorney Casey Novak...interestingly, Neal appeared, as another character, on 1 Law and Order SVU episode in 2001 as a female rapist...
After six years on SVU, Neal decided to leave the show after the 2008 season...maybe she was wanting to rekindle that figure skating career?... (as a side note, the show's braintrust is not bringing Stephanie March back as D.A. Alex Cabot)...
My thoughts - Honestly, I am surprised that she is only 32-years-old...she looks older on SVU...I thought she was about 38 or 39...she looks good in some episodes while on others she looks haggard...she does have nice legs...but overall, I would not rate her as hot...however, if I saw her in a bar, I would buy her a drink and let the chips fall where they fall...so this leads to the questions:
Do you think Diane Neal is hot?
If so, why doesn't she get the publicity?
Am I missing something?
Leave your comments
Casey Novak
Neal was born in November 1976 making her 32-years-old...she has kind of a strange background...she was born in Virginia then moved to Colorado when she was young...she went into pre-med only to drop that and become a model...she then dumped that career and studied archaeology in Israel...then she got into figure skating...
To top that off, she got engaged after dating someone for just two weeks...after seven years of engagement, they did finally get married...
In 2003 Neal got her break on Law and Order SVU as District Attorney Casey Novak...interestingly, Neal appeared, as another character, on 1 Law and Order SVU episode in 2001 as a female rapist...
After six years on SVU, Neal decided to leave the show after the 2008 season...maybe she was wanting to rekindle that figure skating career?... (as a side note, the show's braintrust is not bringing Stephanie March back as D.A. Alex Cabot)...
My thoughts - Honestly, I am surprised that she is only 32-years-old...she looks older on SVU...I thought she was about 38 or 39...she looks good in some episodes while on others she looks haggard...she does have nice legs...but overall, I would not rate her as hot...however, if I saw her in a bar, I would buy her a drink and let the chips fall where they fall...so this leads to the questions:
Do you think Diane Neal is hot?
If so, why doesn't she get the publicity?
Am I missing something?
Leave your comments
Sunday, June 15, 2008
Sunday Stories
Tim Russert
Mark Leibovich of The New York Times writes about the impact within the Beltway of Tim Russert's death... "News of the “Meet the Press” host’s death moved entirely too fast, in that unnerving way that these things do in the viral media world, but especially here — the cycle of rumor to “did you hear?” to confirmation (“it’s online”) to disbelief lasted a matter of minutes. Riders on the D.C. Metro stared into their BlackBerrys, and every politician with access to e-mail was issuing statements, from the president on down." ...
A team of reporters from the Buffalo News write about native son Tim Russert... "Yet those who knew him will remember Russert differently, as a man who not only remade the art of the television interview, but who lived every day in the spirit of kindness that he found in the city and the church he loved so much." ...
Katie Couric of CBS News writes a special column in the New York Daily News about former colleague Tim Russert... "He never forgot where he came from. In his heart, he was a kid from Buffalo who made it to the big time - but never got "too big for his britches," as my mother would say. I think he used his Dad, Big Russ, to take the temperature of the country. And I remember how he used to call him to ask questions and get feedback." ...
Celtics-Lakers
Maria Cramer of the Boston Globe writes how the Boston police are readying themselves for a Celtics championship... "For police, these victories have not meant throwing back pints of beer with friends, but suiting up in riot gear, grabbing a baton, and praying the city stays quiet. Tonight, as the Celtics try to become the next New England team to win a championship, many in the Boston Police Department are watching yet again with an anguishing mixture of excitement and dread. They don't want the Celtics to lose, but they're not sure they want them to win either." ...
Bill Plaschke of the Los Angeles Times writes how the Lakers don't have a home court advantage because of too many celebrities who know nothing about the game... "But during a postseason when home-court advantage reached historic levels, it's important to note that Boston has it in shamrocks, and the Lakers only barely." ...
Other news
Emilie Deutsch of The New York Times writes about the day the late-Jim McKay interviewed Fidel Castro... "The two sat and faced each other, Castro’s interpreter sitting just off-camera. It was a striking tableau — two men in their 60s, one a sports journalist in coat and tie, the other a Communist dictator in uniform, raised in different cultures but both educated by Jesuits and able to find a common ground in sport." ...
The Associated Press story reports on the death of former NBC sports announcer Charlie Jones... "Jones started at ABC in 1960, the year the AFL made its debut. He moved to NBC in 1965, remaining with that network until 1997." ...
Jay Mariotti of the Chicago Sun-Times writes about Tiger Woods incredible finish during the third round of the U.S. Open... "When all of us wondered if the leg might collapse and the ambulance would whisk him away to DQ land -- and I don't mean Dairy Queen -- he simply ignored the pain. And resumed being Tiger, the greatest and gutsiest of them all." ...
Mary Kay Cabot of The Plain Dealer writes about Browns head coach Romeo Crennel - the father... "Fortunately for Crennel, he inherited not only his dad's regimented, military side, but his mom's sweet, nurturing side. His late father Joseph, affectionately known as Sarge to his five children and the rest of the kids in their neighborhood, retired as a first sergeant after 26 years of service. His late mother, Mary, was a devoted homemaker who ruled with a big heart while Joe was overseas." ...
Harvey Araton of The New York Times writes how winning the Super Bowl has not changed Eli Manning... "“I tried not to do anything too different in the off-season,” Manning said. “Just because you win the Super Bowl doesn’t mean you do more stuff. I tried to do the same charity events and work with the people I have sponsorships with. I might have been in the newspapers more, but it was about the same. I really didn’t do anything unusual.” ...
Mark Snyder of the Detroit Free-Press writes how the Michigan quarterback competition is heating up... "(Steven Threet) The thing that stands out to me the most is how comfortable everybody's getting. There's not as much confusion with what route we're supposed to run or always lining up in the right formation. It's starting to click a little bit better." ...
James Walker of ESPN.com writes how the NFL now has its rookies learn about the history of the game... "This offseason, the NFL is sending every incoming player for a special tour of the Hall of Fame. Former Dallas Cowboys receiver and 2007 Hall of Fame inductee Michael Irvin came up with the idea last summer to increase rookies' awareness and help them recognize the value of their opportunity." ..."
Finally, I want to wish all dads a HAPPY FATHER'S DAY!!!
Friday, June 13, 2008
Tim Russert - A Fair Journalist is Gone
Most Americans like to discuss who is the best at a certain profession...in the NBA, is it Kobe or LeBron?...in the NFL, is it Peyton, Brady, or LaDainian?...but when it came to political journalism, Tim Russert of NBC News was flat out THE BEST...end of story!...
The nation lost a good journalist who was fair - which is often hard to find these days...Russert's climb to become the best in the business is a true American Dream...he was a kid from Buffalo who's parents were just average working class people...but while growing up, he learned a lot of lessons from his parents, most notably his dad, Big Russ, who is still alive...that work ethic helped him rise to become the best...
One of the main reasons I watch NBC News is because of Russert...no matter what I was doing, whenever he came on the air, I would stop to listen...he was "the man" inside the Beltway and I knew he was not slanting his reporting to favor a Republican or Democrat...
What I liked most about Russert was that he was not some handsome, plastic journalist...he was a bit overweight, his hair was always messed a tad, and he had a face not for television...but he always had a smile on his face...he seemed like a nice fella...his co-workers stated that he would talk to anyone no matter who they were or what their job was...that is something that many people lack in today's society...Russert did not think he was better than anyone else...
Russert was also a huge sports fan...he was often seen as Washington Nationals, Wizards, or Redskins games, even though he loved his Buffalo Bills...a few years ago, I was fortunate to get Russert's autograph on a baseball...I have collected almost 200 autographed baseballs, and he has always been one of my top five...
He became NBC News' Washington Bureau Chief at the young age of 34...and today, at the age of 58-years-old, he died...the one person I cannot get out of my mind is his dad Big Russ...about 4 years ago, Russert wrote a book about his dad, who is in his mid-80s and still lives in Buffalo...I cannot imagine the grief Big Russ is feeling -- losing a son -- just two days before Father's Day...
God Bless Tim Russert and his family...
The nation lost a good journalist who was fair - which is often hard to find these days...Russert's climb to become the best in the business is a true American Dream...he was a kid from Buffalo who's parents were just average working class people...but while growing up, he learned a lot of lessons from his parents, most notably his dad, Big Russ, who is still alive...that work ethic helped him rise to become the best...
One of the main reasons I watch NBC News is because of Russert...no matter what I was doing, whenever he came on the air, I would stop to listen...he was "the man" inside the Beltway and I knew he was not slanting his reporting to favor a Republican or Democrat...
What I liked most about Russert was that he was not some handsome, plastic journalist...he was a bit overweight, his hair was always messed a tad, and he had a face not for television...but he always had a smile on his face...he seemed like a nice fella...his co-workers stated that he would talk to anyone no matter who they were or what their job was...that is something that many people lack in today's society...Russert did not think he was better than anyone else...
Russert was also a huge sports fan...he was often seen as Washington Nationals, Wizards, or Redskins games, even though he loved his Buffalo Bills...a few years ago, I was fortunate to get Russert's autograph on a baseball...I have collected almost 200 autographed baseballs, and he has always been one of my top five...
He became NBC News' Washington Bureau Chief at the young age of 34...and today, at the age of 58-years-old, he died...the one person I cannot get out of my mind is his dad Big Russ...about 4 years ago, Russert wrote a book about his dad, who is in his mid-80s and still lives in Buffalo...I cannot imagine the grief Big Russ is feeling -- losing a son -- just two days before Father's Day...
God Bless Tim Russert and his family...
Georgia vs. Miami Preview
Saturday - 7:00 p.m. EST
Georgia Bulldogs (41-23-1) vs. Miami Hurricanes (52-9)
Both rosters are loaded with studs...five players were drafted in the first round of the recent baseball draft...The U had Yonder Alonso (firstbase, Reds); Jemile Weeks (secondbase, Athletics) and Carlos Gutierrez (pitcher, Twins) while the Dawgs had Gordon Beckham (shortstop, White Sox) and Joshua Fields (pitcher, Mariners)...Alonso was drafted 7th overall and Beckham eighth...three more Hurricane players were selected between rounds 2-4...
Beckham showed why he is one of the top players in the country as he led Georgia (.401, 26 homers, 72 RBI, 17 SB)...pitching has been the Dawgs weakness as their best starter has an ERA of 4.25...
Miami may not have that one superstud like Beckham, but they are flat out loaded...Alonso and Weeks both hit .367 for the year...Alonso clubbed 71 homrs while Weeks hit 11 homers and had 21 stolen bases...outfielder Blake Tekotte was close behind with (.357, 11 hr, 47 RBI, 26 SB)...the Hurricanes' ace is Chris Hernandez who went 11-0 with a 2.62 ERA and gave up only 3 homers all year...Carlos Gutierrez is the closer with 13 saves...
Georgia Bulldogs (41-23-1) vs. Miami Hurricanes (52-9)
Both rosters are loaded with studs...five players were drafted in the first round of the recent baseball draft...The U had Yonder Alonso (firstbase, Reds); Jemile Weeks (secondbase, Athletics) and Carlos Gutierrez (pitcher, Twins) while the Dawgs had Gordon Beckham (shortstop, White Sox) and Joshua Fields (pitcher, Mariners)...Alonso was drafted 7th overall and Beckham eighth...three more Hurricane players were selected between rounds 2-4...
Beckham showed why he is one of the top players in the country as he led Georgia (.401, 26 homers, 72 RBI, 17 SB)...pitching has been the Dawgs weakness as their best starter has an ERA of 4.25...
Miami may not have that one superstud like Beckham, but they are flat out loaded...Alonso and Weeks both hit .367 for the year...Alonso clubbed 71 homrs while Weeks hit 11 homers and had 21 stolen bases...outfielder Blake Tekotte was close behind with (.357, 11 hr, 47 RBI, 26 SB)...the Hurricanes' ace is Chris Hernandez who went 11-0 with a 2.62 ERA and gave up only 3 homers all year...Carlos Gutierrez is the closer with 13 saves...
Wednesday, June 11, 2008
Florida State - Stanford Preview
Saturday - 2:00 p.m.
Stanford Cardinal (40-22-2) vs. Florida State Seminoles (54-12)
The Seminoles have one of the best prospects in catcher Buster Posey. He was selected fifth overall in last week's baseball draft by the San Francisco Giants. The Cardinal catcher, Jason Castro, was not far behind as he was taken 10th overall by the Houston Astros.
Stanford has more players drafted in the first four rounds than did Florida State. Stanford left-handed pitcher Jeremy Bleich was selected in the supplemental first round by the Yankees. In round 3, 2nd baseman Cord Phelps was snatched by the Indians and in round 4, outfielder Sean Ratliff went to the Mets.
Ratliff leads the Cardinal with 21 homers. Castro and Phelps are the leading hitters at .379 and .349 respectively. Bleich is 3-2 with an 0.92 ERA. Jeffrey Inman and Erik Davis lead the team with 7 wins each.
Even though Stanford has a bevy of stars, Buster Posey is a beast. He batted .460 with 26 homers and 92 RBIs. The Seminoles have speed in Jack Rye, Tony Delmonico, and Tyler Holt. On the mound, Matt Fairel (12-2) and Ryan Strauss (10-1) are the leaders.
Stanford Cardinal (40-22-2) vs. Florida State Seminoles (54-12)
The Seminoles have one of the best prospects in catcher Buster Posey. He was selected fifth overall in last week's baseball draft by the San Francisco Giants. The Cardinal catcher, Jason Castro, was not far behind as he was taken 10th overall by the Houston Astros.
Stanford has more players drafted in the first four rounds than did Florida State. Stanford left-handed pitcher Jeremy Bleich was selected in the supplemental first round by the Yankees. In round 3, 2nd baseman Cord Phelps was snatched by the Indians and in round 4, outfielder Sean Ratliff went to the Mets.
Ratliff leads the Cardinal with 21 homers. Castro and Phelps are the leading hitters at .379 and .349 respectively. Bleich is 3-2 with an 0.92 ERA. Jeffrey Inman and Erik Davis lead the team with 7 wins each.
Even though Stanford has a bevy of stars, Buster Posey is a beast. He batted .460 with 26 homers and 92 RBIs. The Seminoles have speed in Jack Rye, Tony Delmonico, and Tyler Holt. On the mound, Matt Fairel (12-2) and Ryan Strauss (10-1) are the leaders.
Tuesday, June 10, 2008
Stephanie March - Is she hot or am I missing something?
Law and Order has had some good looking women...do you remember Stephanie March from SVU?...she played D.A. Alexandra Cabot....
D.A. Cabot
March was born in July 1974 which makes her 34-years-old...she was born and raised in Dallas....ironically, March attended the same high school as Angie Harmon, who played a D.A. in the original Law Order...March was a sophomore while Harmon was a senior....now that is a coincidence!!!....
Before getting the role as D.A. Cabot in 2000, March played bit parts in many shows and on Broadway....she lasted on SVU from 2000 - 2003....March appeared in the March 2000 Maxim - so that says something right there...she is married to chef Bobby Flay who proposed to her while ice skating at Rockefeller Center...
My thoughts - She is a classy babe....March always looked good in those business skirts and glasses while on SVU....some may not be on to her because she is skinny and light skinned...but she gets two thumbs up from me...now, I have to get my hands on that yearbook from her high school days to see who beat her and Harmon out for homecoming....so this leads to the questions:
Do you think Stephanie March is is hot?
If so, why doesn't she get the publicity?
Am I missing something?
Leave your comments
D.A. Cabot
March was born in July 1974 which makes her 34-years-old...she was born and raised in Dallas....ironically, March attended the same high school as Angie Harmon, who played a D.A. in the original Law Order...March was a sophomore while Harmon was a senior....now that is a coincidence!!!....
Before getting the role as D.A. Cabot in 2000, March played bit parts in many shows and on Broadway....she lasted on SVU from 2000 - 2003....March appeared in the March 2000 Maxim - so that says something right there...she is married to chef Bobby Flay who proposed to her while ice skating at Rockefeller Center...
My thoughts - She is a classy babe....March always looked good in those business skirts and glasses while on SVU....some may not be on to her because she is skinny and light skinned...but she gets two thumbs up from me...now, I have to get my hands on that yearbook from her high school days to see who beat her and Harmon out for homecoming....so this leads to the questions:
Do you think Stephanie March is is hot?
If so, why doesn't she get the publicity?
Am I missing something?
Leave your comments
Monday, June 9, 2008
Random Thoughts
This is weird!!!!...the Drudge Report picked up on this story from the News of the World about a woman, who became a man, but kept her female organs and is now pregnant...so this man is having a baby in four weeks....all I know, this baby will clearly need to get some mental help when she gets older...
News of the World
Why do some men go shirtless, but still wear long jeans during hot weather?...if they want to keep cool, put on a pair of shorts and t-shirt...
I hate when runners run without shirts...what the fuck?!?!...they act all macho like they are Mr. Universe or that they are too "cool" to wear a shirt...put a fucking t-shirt on already!!!... no one wants to see your near naked body...
Now that Hillary Clinton is out of the race, we don't have to hear women saying "You Go Girl" anymore...that saying is just as annoying as when people say "thinking outside the box"...
The other night I stopped to get something to eat at Taco Bell for the first time since probably Christmas...I ordered a Nachos Bellgrande, minus the beans and sour cream, and with extra cheese...first off, the price went up to $2.79...but what pissed me off the most, I eliminated the beans and sour cream, but they still charged me 45 cents extra for the cheese...shouldn't I have gotten the cheese for free being that I eliminated two items...it was a 2 for 1 trade-off in which they were getting the edge...then I get slammed for another 45 cents...Bullshit!!!...
I still can't get over Big Brown's dud of a performance...that would have been like the perfect New England Patriots losing 41-10 in the Super Bowl...
Here is a tip...when at work, whenever you send an email to someone asking them a work-related question, always CC it to someone else to cover your behind...
Kelly Pavlik dominated Gary Lockett in their title fight on Saturday...let's be honest though, Lockett was a tomato can...
Speaking of Lockett, did you see the expression on his face as he entered the ring...he looked like he was either pissed off or had the worst headache in the world...
Some faith-based organizations sure have a lot of nerve...a local church asked Pavlik for a $100,000 donation to repair their church and hall...now that takes some balls to ask Pavlik to just give $100,000...Pavlik has been super at giving his time and trying to help local causes in the Youngstown-Warren area...but let's get real, he is not going to just hand out money for free...and I don't blame him...
Since we are on the subject of boxing, whatever happened to Randall "Tex" Cobb?...
The College World Series starts this weekend in Omaha...one year I am going to take two weeks off work and head to Omaha to watch all the games...maybe when I retire...I have 16 more years to go...
Roger Federer has the misfortune of playing against possibly the greatest clay court tennis player ever in Rafael Nadal...after Nadal smoked Federer on Sunday, it looks like the French Open will be the only Grand Slam title that he will not win...
Why are the media making a big brouhaha about Ed McMahon possibly losing his mansion...who gives a shit if this 85-year-old fart is going to lose his mansion!!!...there are thousands and thousands of hard working middle class Americans who are losing their homes...so what if Ed McMahon may have to live in an average house...honestly, I do not feel sorry for him...
I don't know how long I can keep that photo up of the dude who is pregnant...it is freaking me out...
Why do some men go shirtless, but still wear long jeans during hot weather?...if they want to keep cool, put on a pair of shorts and t-shirt...
I hate when runners run without shirts...what the fuck?!?!...they act all macho like they are Mr. Universe or that they are too "cool" to wear a shirt...put a fucking t-shirt on already!!!... no one wants to see your near naked body...
Now that Hillary Clinton is out of the race, we don't have to hear women saying "You Go Girl" anymore...that saying is just as annoying as when people say "thinking outside the box"...
The other night I stopped to get something to eat at Taco Bell for the first time since probably Christmas...I ordered a Nachos Bellgrande, minus the beans and sour cream, and with extra cheese...first off, the price went up to $2.79...but what pissed me off the most, I eliminated the beans and sour cream, but they still charged me 45 cents extra for the cheese...shouldn't I have gotten the cheese for free being that I eliminated two items...it was a 2 for 1 trade-off in which they were getting the edge...then I get slammed for another 45 cents...Bullshit!!!...
I still can't get over Big Brown's dud of a performance...that would have been like the perfect New England Patriots losing 41-10 in the Super Bowl...
Here is a tip...when at work, whenever you send an email to someone asking them a work-related question, always CC it to someone else to cover your behind...
Kelly Pavlik dominated Gary Lockett in their title fight on Saturday...let's be honest though, Lockett was a tomato can...
Speaking of Lockett, did you see the expression on his face as he entered the ring...he looked like he was either pissed off or had the worst headache in the world...
Some faith-based organizations sure have a lot of nerve...a local church asked Pavlik for a $100,000 donation to repair their church and hall...now that takes some balls to ask Pavlik to just give $100,000...Pavlik has been super at giving his time and trying to help local causes in the Youngstown-Warren area...but let's get real, he is not going to just hand out money for free...and I don't blame him...
Since we are on the subject of boxing, whatever happened to Randall "Tex" Cobb?...
The College World Series starts this weekend in Omaha...one year I am going to take two weeks off work and head to Omaha to watch all the games...maybe when I retire...I have 16 more years to go...
Roger Federer has the misfortune of playing against possibly the greatest clay court tennis player ever in Rafael Nadal...after Nadal smoked Federer on Sunday, it looks like the French Open will be the only Grand Slam title that he will not win...
Why are the media making a big brouhaha about Ed McMahon possibly losing his mansion...who gives a shit if this 85-year-old fart is going to lose his mansion!!!...there are thousands and thousands of hard working middle class Americans who are losing their homes...so what if Ed McMahon may have to live in an average house...honestly, I do not feel sorry for him...
I don't know how long I can keep that photo up of the dude who is pregnant...it is freaking me out...
Sunday, June 8, 2008
Sunday Stories
Tributes to Jim McKay Mike Lupica - New York Daily News
Jerry Izenberg - Newark Star Ledger
Lakers-Celtics
T.J. Simers of the Los Angles Times write about legendary Lakers play-by-play announcer Chick Hearn... "The same might be said about Chick and Lakers fans, everyone knowing just what he meant when he would say, "He's in the popcorn machine," or who he was talking about when he would mention "The Big Fella." Nine championships, Chick behind the microphone for each of them, but he dies before they pass out the rings for winning it all in 2002 -- a ring dedicated to him." ...T.J. Simers
Big Brown's stunning loss
Legendary sports columnist Furman Bisher of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution writes about Big Brown's loss... "Sometimes I think I know horse racing. Never have I been so sure that we had finally had a Triple Crown winner in the Belmont Stakes. This was Big Brown’s day. His year. He would join Secretariat in immortality. There was no fail in him. Maybe I felt that strong about Majestic Prince, but that was so long ago, who could remember? That was 1969. But even Majestic Prince came closer than Big Brown. Never has such an odds-on favorite ever finished last in such a monumental race." ...Furman Bisher
William Rhoden of The New York Times writes how steroids is being questioned in Big Brown's success... "On Friday, the trainer Rick Dutrow told reporters that he had not given Big Brown a shot of the anabolic steroid Winstrol since before the Kentucky Derby and would not use it Saturday at the Belmont." ...William Rhoden
U.S. Open
Nick Canepa of the San Diego Union Tribune writes about the Torrey Pines course... "“No one can play out of the long rough,” he said. “It's the way the U.S. Open is supposed to be. It's not unfair; it's not like other Opens I've seen." ...Nick Canepa
Larry Dorman of The New York Times writes how Torrey Pines can humble the world's best golfers... "Mike Davis, the senior director of rules and competitions for the United States Golf Association, has overseen the setup at Torrey Pines the past two years. He has gone over every aspect of the course, looking for any flaw the way a parent combs through a child’s hair for head lice." ...Larry Dorman
Jay Posner of the San Diego Union-Tribune writes how viewers of the U.S. Open have to deal with Chris Berman for two days... "Some of Berman's critics – and I have been one – might term it a cruel trick rather than a tantalizing treat. If they hear one more nickname or fake Scottish “Monty,” they might throw a Footjoy through their plasma screen." ...Jay Posner
Other tidbits
Scott Ostler of the San Francisco Chronicle writes about baksetball and Barack Obama... "All I'm saying is that if we wind up with a basketball player as our president, it's about time. Basketball is our national game and, better than any other sport, it develops the skills and values a person needs to thrive in the world's toughest job." ...Scott Ostler
Chris Gasper of the Boston Globe writes how Tom Brady is ready to get the new season started... "The Patriots' franchise quarterback wasn't being hounded by paparazzi in Brazil or Costa Rica or New York. He was throwing passes to his receivers and encouraging teammates. Celebrity or not, Brady is still first and foremost a football player." ...Chris Gasper
Jay Mariotti of the Chicago Sun-Times rips Bears running back Cedric Benson after another alcohol-related incidents... "How does someone with a functioning brain and a pending alcohol case put any amount of alcohol in his body ... and drive? Worse, how does he do so in a renowned party town with police on every corner, steering his BMW at 3:15 a.m. in the city’s entertainment district weeks after accusing the local authorities of roughing him up? You don’t think those Austin coppers were licking their chops as if served a plate of chicken-fried steak? Given Benson’s troubled history, it’s hard to believe anything he or his attorney say in his defense anymore." ...Jay Mariotti
Teddy Greenstein of the Chicago Tribune writes how Cubs outfielder Kosuke Fukudome is always followed by the Japanese press... "But after the interview room cleared and the Cubs beat writers returned to the press box, Fukudome entered to a faint smell of cigarettes and a mass of 14 Japanese reporters." ...Teddy Greenstein
Jeff Darlington of the Miami Herald writes how the Dolphins quarterback situation is heating up... "But Lee also warned during this weekend's minicamp that anyone anticipating a starting quarterback to be named before training camp might be in for a longer wait than expected. That's because practices might matter -- but games matter more." ...Jeff Darlington
Michael Wilbon of the Washington Post writes how some NBA people question whether NBA players should be playing in the Olympics... "The Beijing Olympics begin in two months and for the fifth time NBA players will compete. The U.S. team again will have only professional players, to the delight of NBA Commissioner David Stern, but to the detriment of the league, if you believe skeptics such as Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban and Lakers Coach Phil Jackson." ...Michael Wilbon
Bill Livingston of the Plain Dealer writes about the day when Dr. J owned the NBA... "In his dreams, he still flies. "Sometimes, I dream about jumping from the foul line [and dunking]," said Julius Erving, "although I have no illusions I can." ...Bill Livingston
Lakers-Celtics
T.J. Simers of the Los Angles Times write about legendary Lakers play-by-play announcer Chick Hearn... "The same might be said about Chick and Lakers fans, everyone knowing just what he meant when he would say, "He's in the popcorn machine," or who he was talking about when he would mention "The Big Fella." Nine championships, Chick behind the microphone for each of them, but he dies before they pass out the rings for winning it all in 2002 -- a ring dedicated to him." ...
Big Brown's stunning loss
Legendary sports columnist Furman Bisher of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution writes about Big Brown's loss... "Sometimes I think I know horse racing. Never have I been so sure that we had finally had a Triple Crown winner in the Belmont Stakes. This was Big Brown’s day. His year. He would join Secretariat in immortality. There was no fail in him. Maybe I felt that strong about Majestic Prince, but that was so long ago, who could remember? That was 1969. But even Majestic Prince came closer than Big Brown. Never has such an odds-on favorite ever finished last in such a monumental race." ...
William Rhoden of The New York Times writes how steroids is being questioned in Big Brown's success... "On Friday, the trainer Rick Dutrow told reporters that he had not given Big Brown a shot of the anabolic steroid Winstrol since before the Kentucky Derby and would not use it Saturday at the Belmont." ...
U.S. Open
Nick Canepa of the San Diego Union Tribune writes about the Torrey Pines course... "“No one can play out of the long rough,” he said. “It's the way the U.S. Open is supposed to be. It's not unfair; it's not like other Opens I've seen." ...
Larry Dorman of The New York Times writes how Torrey Pines can humble the world's best golfers... "Mike Davis, the senior director of rules and competitions for the United States Golf Association, has overseen the setup at Torrey Pines the past two years. He has gone over every aspect of the course, looking for any flaw the way a parent combs through a child’s hair for head lice." ...
Jay Posner of the San Diego Union-Tribune writes how viewers of the U.S. Open have to deal with Chris Berman for two days... "Some of Berman's critics – and I have been one – might term it a cruel trick rather than a tantalizing treat. If they hear one more nickname or fake Scottish “Monty,” they might throw a Footjoy through their plasma screen." ...
Other tidbits
Scott Ostler of the San Francisco Chronicle writes about baksetball and Barack Obama... "All I'm saying is that if we wind up with a basketball player as our president, it's about time. Basketball is our national game and, better than any other sport, it develops the skills and values a person needs to thrive in the world's toughest job." ...
Chris Gasper of the Boston Globe writes how Tom Brady is ready to get the new season started... "The Patriots' franchise quarterback wasn't being hounded by paparazzi in Brazil or Costa Rica or New York. He was throwing passes to his receivers and encouraging teammates. Celebrity or not, Brady is still first and foremost a football player." ...
Jay Mariotti of the Chicago Sun-Times rips Bears running back Cedric Benson after another alcohol-related incidents... "How does someone with a functioning brain and a pending alcohol case put any amount of alcohol in his body ... and drive? Worse, how does he do so in a renowned party town with police on every corner, steering his BMW at 3:15 a.m. in the city’s entertainment district weeks after accusing the local authorities of roughing him up? You don’t think those Austin coppers were licking their chops as if served a plate of chicken-fried steak? Given Benson’s troubled history, it’s hard to believe anything he or his attorney say in his defense anymore." ...
Teddy Greenstein of the Chicago Tribune writes how Cubs outfielder Kosuke Fukudome is always followed by the Japanese press... "But after the interview room cleared and the Cubs beat writers returned to the press box, Fukudome entered to a faint smell of cigarettes and a mass of 14 Japanese reporters." ...
Jeff Darlington of the Miami Herald writes how the Dolphins quarterback situation is heating up... "But Lee also warned during this weekend's minicamp that anyone anticipating a starting quarterback to be named before training camp might be in for a longer wait than expected. That's because practices might matter -- but games matter more." ...
Michael Wilbon of the Washington Post writes how some NBA people question whether NBA players should be playing in the Olympics... "The Beijing Olympics begin in two months and for the fifth time NBA players will compete. The U.S. team again will have only professional players, to the delight of NBA Commissioner David Stern, but to the detriment of the league, if you believe skeptics such as Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban and Lakers Coach Phil Jackson." ...
Bill Livingston of the Plain Dealer writes about the day when Dr. J owned the NBA... "In his dreams, he still flies. "Sometimes, I dream about jumping from the foul line [and dunking]," said Julius Erving, "although I have no illusions I can." ...
Saturday, June 7, 2008
A sports broadcasting legend dies
The sports journalism field lost a true legend on Saturday with the death of Jim McKay...they following is a story about McKay which appeared on The New York Times website on Saturday, June 7, 2008
Jim McKay, Pioneer Sports Broadcaster, Dies at 86
By FRANK LITSKY and RICHARD SANDOMIR
Jim McKay, the genial ABC Sports broadcaster whose calm voice and trustworthy demeanor were synonymous with the network’s Olympic broadcasts and the celebrated sports anthology series “Wide World of Sports,” died Saturday at his country estate in Monkton, Md. He was 86.
The death was confirmed by Leslie Anne Wade, a spokeswoman for CBS Sports, where Mr. McKay’s son, Sean McManus, is the president.
Mr. McManus said his father, who hosted and commented on Triple Crown races for ABC, might have had only one regret in his life: missing Big Brown’s chance on Saturday to be the first winner of the Triple Crown since 1978.
Mr. McKay was a hype-averse optimist and poetic storyteller who left analysis and brickbats to co-workers like Dick Button, Peggy Fleming, Donna de Varona, Jackie Stewart and Bill Hartack.
Emotion occasionally slipped through objectivity. After an American athlete won a gold medal in the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, Mr. McKay said: “If I said I was an objective reporter, I’d be lying through my teeth. I think when an American wins, you’re excited. And why not?”
No matter. As Peter Alfano wrote in The New York Times during those Olympics, television allowed Mr. McKay “to play Uncle Sam for two weeks.”
Mr. McKay’s sincerity came through. Bob Costas of NBC Sports, a younger-generation sportscaster, once said: “Jim McKay had a very important quality. You never felt what he expressed wasn’t genuine. You never felt his reaction was, ‘What’s called for here is a tear.’ You never had a sense that he professed to be moved and when they went to a commercial he blew his nose.”
His professionalism and sensitivity melded in 1972. During the Munich Olympics, as he left the hotel sauna and was about to go into the swimming pool on his only day off, he received word that Arab terrorists had invaded the Israeli living quarters in the Olympic Village. Mr. McKay hurried to the studio, and for 16 consecutive hours he anchored ABC’s extraordinary news coverage, with field reporting from Peter Jennings, Howard Cosell and others.
The episode ended with the killing of 11 Israeli athletes, coaches and trainers. When that word reached Mr. McKay, he said he thought that he would be the person who told the family of David Berger, an Israeli-born weight lifter whose family lived in Shaker Heights, Ohio, “if their son was alive or dead.”
He looked at the lens and said, “They’re all gone.”
When ABC finally signed off, Mr. McKay, physically and emotionally spent, returned to his hotel room. Only then did he realize he had been wearing a wet swimsuit beneath his trousers.
The next day, Mr. McKay received this cable from an old CBS colleague: “Dear Jim, today you honored yourself, your network and your industry. Walter Cronkite.” Mr. McKay’s work at Munich won him an Emmy Award for news coverage, the first for a sportscaster, and the George Polk Award. Through the years, he won 12 more Emmys.
Mr. McKay was born James Kenneth McManus — the name he used on his passport and for hotel reservations — on Sept. 24, 1921, in Philadelphia. He moved at age 13 to Baltimore, where in 1943 he received a bachelor’s degree from Loyola College. He served in the Navy from 1943 to 1946, including a period in which he captained a minesweeper escorting convoys from Trinidad to Brazil.
In 1946 and 1947, he was a police reporter for The Baltimore Evening Sun before being shifted to the newspaper’s new television station as a broadcaster, writer and producer. In 1950, when he moved to CBS in New York to host a local daily 90-minute variety show, he was told that his new name, at least for TV, would be Jim McKay, to suit the title, “The Real McKay.” During his debut, Mr. McKay sang “It Had to Be You.”
The next decade brought more television stints at WCBS-TV and the CBS network as a weatherman, a public-affairs moderator, a game show host and a sportscaster. He covered the Masters golf tournament, did play-by-play of Ivy League football games and provided sports reports on CBS’s answer to NBC’s “Today,” the “Morning Show,” which was hosted by Mr. Cronkite.
Mr. McKay was designated to host CBS’s broadcast of the 1960 Winter Olympics from Squaw Valley, Calif., but he had a nervous breakdown and Mr. Cronkite took over. At the Summer Games that year in Rome, Mr. McKay began his run as the TV personality most intimately identified with the Olympics until the late 1980s. He covered 10 Olympics for ABC, and he worked on his last Olympics for NBC, in 2002. His connection to the Olympics is so strong that it seems he was the prime-time host more than he really was.
Before ABC revolutionized Olympic broadcasting and satellites transmitted sports events instantly, CBS had footage shipped from the Rome Games daily to New York’s Idlewild Airport (now John F. Kennedy International), where a remote broadcast unit put the footage on the air while Mr. McKay narrated from a studio erected at Grand Central Terminal.
“The tapes came in frozen one night,” he said in 2002. “The producer and I held the tapes against our bodies to warm them.”
In 1961, Roone Arledge, the executive producer of ABC Sports, needed a host for “Wide World.” One of his producers suggested “Burrhead,” a reference to Mr. McKay’s crew cut. Mr. Arledge called Mr. McKay at the noisy press room at Augusta National Golf Club during the Masters, which was his last assignment for CBS. In his autobiography, “The Real McKay,” Mr. McKay said Mr. Arledge promised him only 20 weeks as the host of a summer replacement series that would cover “a number of sports not normally seen on TV.”
It lasted for 37 years, with Mr. McKay the host for at least 25 of them, and became the most honored anthology series. As the adventurous host, he traveled more than five million miles to cover boxing, skiing, soccer, gymnastics, track and field, figure skating, rodeo, barrel jumping, horse racing, cycling, demolition derby and Eiffel Tower climbing. A promoter once demanded $100,000 for the rights to cliff diving in Acapulco, but Mr. McKay moved in and offered the divers $10 each. They accepted.
He and Mr. Arledge were believed to have collaborated on the introduction to “Wide World,” which Mr. McKay narrated over a montage of sports scenes. The enduring script included the phrase “the thrill of victory,” followed by a melodramatic pause, ominous music and the words “the agony of defeat.”
Mr. McKay is yet another of ABC Sports’s early giants to die: Mr. Arledge is gone, as are Mr. Cosell and Chris Schenkel.
“Because of the profession I’m in, not a day goes by when someone doesn’t stop me and say, ‘We think of him all the time’ and ‘We admire him,’ ” Mr. McManus said Saturday. “That tells you a lot about the kind of man he was.”
In recent years, Mr. McKay owned racehorses and lived in a 19th-century farmhouse in the horse country of Monkton, north of Baltimore. His most recent work included commentary from the Winter Games in Salt Lake City and writing and narrating a documentary about himself for HBO.
Besides Mr. McManus, he is survived by his wife, Margaret Dempsey, a former columnist for The Baltimore Evening Sun; a daughter, Mary Guba, of Sparks, Md.; and three grandchildren.
Except for his globetrotting, Mr. McKay and his wife were nearly inseparable during a nearly 60-year marriage. In sedentary semiretirement, he said in 2002, he read to her from newspapers and recalled a recent illness that did not allow her to move her arms or legs.
“When she said, ‘I’m dying,’ it was the worst moment in my life,” he said, with fear and love in his familiar voice.
Jim McKay, Pioneer Sports Broadcaster, Dies at 86
By FRANK LITSKY and RICHARD SANDOMIR
Jim McKay, the genial ABC Sports broadcaster whose calm voice and trustworthy demeanor were synonymous with the network’s Olympic broadcasts and the celebrated sports anthology series “Wide World of Sports,” died Saturday at his country estate in Monkton, Md. He was 86.
The death was confirmed by Leslie Anne Wade, a spokeswoman for CBS Sports, where Mr. McKay’s son, Sean McManus, is the president.
Mr. McManus said his father, who hosted and commented on Triple Crown races for ABC, might have had only one regret in his life: missing Big Brown’s chance on Saturday to be the first winner of the Triple Crown since 1978.
Mr. McKay was a hype-averse optimist and poetic storyteller who left analysis and brickbats to co-workers like Dick Button, Peggy Fleming, Donna de Varona, Jackie Stewart and Bill Hartack.
Emotion occasionally slipped through objectivity. After an American athlete won a gold medal in the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, Mr. McKay said: “If I said I was an objective reporter, I’d be lying through my teeth. I think when an American wins, you’re excited. And why not?”
No matter. As Peter Alfano wrote in The New York Times during those Olympics, television allowed Mr. McKay “to play Uncle Sam for two weeks.”
Mr. McKay’s sincerity came through. Bob Costas of NBC Sports, a younger-generation sportscaster, once said: “Jim McKay had a very important quality. You never felt what he expressed wasn’t genuine. You never felt his reaction was, ‘What’s called for here is a tear.’ You never had a sense that he professed to be moved and when they went to a commercial he blew his nose.”
His professionalism and sensitivity melded in 1972. During the Munich Olympics, as he left the hotel sauna and was about to go into the swimming pool on his only day off, he received word that Arab terrorists had invaded the Israeli living quarters in the Olympic Village. Mr. McKay hurried to the studio, and for 16 consecutive hours he anchored ABC’s extraordinary news coverage, with field reporting from Peter Jennings, Howard Cosell and others.
The episode ended with the killing of 11 Israeli athletes, coaches and trainers. When that word reached Mr. McKay, he said he thought that he would be the person who told the family of David Berger, an Israeli-born weight lifter whose family lived in Shaker Heights, Ohio, “if their son was alive or dead.”
He looked at the lens and said, “They’re all gone.”
When ABC finally signed off, Mr. McKay, physically and emotionally spent, returned to his hotel room. Only then did he realize he had been wearing a wet swimsuit beneath his trousers.
The next day, Mr. McKay received this cable from an old CBS colleague: “Dear Jim, today you honored yourself, your network and your industry. Walter Cronkite.” Mr. McKay’s work at Munich won him an Emmy Award for news coverage, the first for a sportscaster, and the George Polk Award. Through the years, he won 12 more Emmys.
Mr. McKay was born James Kenneth McManus — the name he used on his passport and for hotel reservations — on Sept. 24, 1921, in Philadelphia. He moved at age 13 to Baltimore, where in 1943 he received a bachelor’s degree from Loyola College. He served in the Navy from 1943 to 1946, including a period in which he captained a minesweeper escorting convoys from Trinidad to Brazil.
In 1946 and 1947, he was a police reporter for The Baltimore Evening Sun before being shifted to the newspaper’s new television station as a broadcaster, writer and producer. In 1950, when he moved to CBS in New York to host a local daily 90-minute variety show, he was told that his new name, at least for TV, would be Jim McKay, to suit the title, “The Real McKay.” During his debut, Mr. McKay sang “It Had to Be You.”
The next decade brought more television stints at WCBS-TV and the CBS network as a weatherman, a public-affairs moderator, a game show host and a sportscaster. He covered the Masters golf tournament, did play-by-play of Ivy League football games and provided sports reports on CBS’s answer to NBC’s “Today,” the “Morning Show,” which was hosted by Mr. Cronkite.
Mr. McKay was designated to host CBS’s broadcast of the 1960 Winter Olympics from Squaw Valley, Calif., but he had a nervous breakdown and Mr. Cronkite took over. At the Summer Games that year in Rome, Mr. McKay began his run as the TV personality most intimately identified with the Olympics until the late 1980s. He covered 10 Olympics for ABC, and he worked on his last Olympics for NBC, in 2002. His connection to the Olympics is so strong that it seems he was the prime-time host more than he really was.
Before ABC revolutionized Olympic broadcasting and satellites transmitted sports events instantly, CBS had footage shipped from the Rome Games daily to New York’s Idlewild Airport (now John F. Kennedy International), where a remote broadcast unit put the footage on the air while Mr. McKay narrated from a studio erected at Grand Central Terminal.
“The tapes came in frozen one night,” he said in 2002. “The producer and I held the tapes against our bodies to warm them.”
In 1961, Roone Arledge, the executive producer of ABC Sports, needed a host for “Wide World.” One of his producers suggested “Burrhead,” a reference to Mr. McKay’s crew cut. Mr. Arledge called Mr. McKay at the noisy press room at Augusta National Golf Club during the Masters, which was his last assignment for CBS. In his autobiography, “The Real McKay,” Mr. McKay said Mr. Arledge promised him only 20 weeks as the host of a summer replacement series that would cover “a number of sports not normally seen on TV.”
It lasted for 37 years, with Mr. McKay the host for at least 25 of them, and became the most honored anthology series. As the adventurous host, he traveled more than five million miles to cover boxing, skiing, soccer, gymnastics, track and field, figure skating, rodeo, barrel jumping, horse racing, cycling, demolition derby and Eiffel Tower climbing. A promoter once demanded $100,000 for the rights to cliff diving in Acapulco, but Mr. McKay moved in and offered the divers $10 each. They accepted.
He and Mr. Arledge were believed to have collaborated on the introduction to “Wide World,” which Mr. McKay narrated over a montage of sports scenes. The enduring script included the phrase “the thrill of victory,” followed by a melodramatic pause, ominous music and the words “the agony of defeat.”
Mr. McKay is yet another of ABC Sports’s early giants to die: Mr. Arledge is gone, as are Mr. Cosell and Chris Schenkel.
“Because of the profession I’m in, not a day goes by when someone doesn’t stop me and say, ‘We think of him all the time’ and ‘We admire him,’ ” Mr. McManus said Saturday. “That tells you a lot about the kind of man he was.”
In recent years, Mr. McKay owned racehorses and lived in a 19th-century farmhouse in the horse country of Monkton, north of Baltimore. His most recent work included commentary from the Winter Games in Salt Lake City and writing and narrating a documentary about himself for HBO.
Besides Mr. McManus, he is survived by his wife, Margaret Dempsey, a former columnist for The Baltimore Evening Sun; a daughter, Mary Guba, of Sparks, Md.; and three grandchildren.
Except for his globetrotting, Mr. McKay and his wife were nearly inseparable during a nearly 60-year marriage. In sedentary semiretirement, he said in 2002, he read to her from newspapers and recalled a recent illness that did not allow her to move her arms or legs.
“When she said, ‘I’m dying,’ it was the worst moment in my life,” he said, with fear and love in his familiar voice.
Friday, June 6, 2008
The Pride of Youngstown, Ohio
This story appeared in the June 4, 2008 edition of The New York Times about Youngstown, Ohio's Kelly Pavlik, the Middleweight Champion of the World... unlike Ray "Boom Boom" Mancini, who moved out of Youngstown to L.A. as soon as he made it big, Pavlik is a Youngstown man all the way....
June 4, 2008
Pride of Youngstown: A ‘Ghost’ Who Didn’t Vanish
By SEAN D. HAMILL
YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio — Called the Ghost early in his career for his ability to make opponents swing and miss, Kelly Pavlik, this city’s favorite son, has developed into a relentless power puncher with an iron chin. But still, he cannot shake the nickname, which now applies more to his complexion than to the straight-ahead, proficient fighter he has become.
In what has long been one of boxing’s glamour weight classes — former champions include household names like Sugar Ray Leonard, Marvin Hagler and Thomas Hearns — Pavlik has quietly and suddenly amassed two of the four middleweight belts.
Twice in the last year he has pummeled the middleweight champion Jermain Taylor, uncorking his lean, 6-foot-2 frame and 75-inch reach to ascend to undisputed champion in the 160-pound division. If you have not heard of Pavlik, it is not your fault. Attribute it to a boxer who refuses to abandon his beleaguered hometown and to a struggling sport that is not producing enough marquee names or worthy fighters in his weight class to allow him to elevate his story or his game.
His next opponent, the Welshman Gary Lockett, whom he fights Saturday night in Atlantic City, is seen by many in the sport as beneath Pavlik, despite being the No. 1 contender for one of Pavlik’s belts.
But if the 26-year-old Pavlik continues to win — perhaps even with an extra dose of style — he may be able to attract some big names from other divisions to cross over and fight him. And if he stays undefeated (he is 33-0 with 29 knockouts), he has the potential to transcend the glamour list of boxers.
“In a totally nonpolitically correct way of saying it: He’s white and a Midwestern kid,” said Bert Sugar, a longtime boxing journalist and analyst. “That gives him a constituency that a lot of other American fighters don’t have.”
In addition, Sugar said, “he has a great story; he’s wrapped himself in the fabric of his city and he’s a hero to Youngstown.”
“And we just don’t have heroes today,” he said. “For some reason, we’re out of the hero business.”
In Youngstown, a former industrial stronghold that has lost more than half of its population since 1960 — from 166,688 in 1960 to 81,520 in 2006 — after most of its mills closed, Pavlik is revered for staying home when he could have easily left.
Two weeks ago, while running stairs at the football stadium of Youngstown State University, more than 100 elementary school kids on a field trip spotted him from a long distance and started chanting: “Kel-EEE!, Kel-EEE, Kel-EEE!”
“He has brought pride back to Youngstown, in a town that doesn’t have a lot of good to talk about,” said Nades Rafeedie, 36, owner of Mickey’s bar on Market Street in the city. “You see these guys making their money and usually they’re off to Las Vegas and California. He stayed.”
Before the March Democratic primary in Ohio, Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton competed for Pavlik’s endorsement — Clinton won his endorsement and the primary.
Pavlik has that local hero status in part because money has not changed him. Even though he will gross $2.5 million from the Lockett fight and is earning thousands more from an increasing stable of endorsements, he still lives in a very modest home with his longtime girlfriend, Samantha Kocanjer, 25, and their 2-year-old daughter, Sydney. He remains a regular, laid-back jokester devoid of ostentation and bling.
Pavlik learned how fleeting economic security can be as an 8-year-old who watched his father lose a good steel mill job. “He’s still Kelly,” said Lori Greenwalt, the manager of Civics, the local bar Pavlik frequents with friends and family, “even if he is the champ.”
The boxing trainer Jack Loew, a no-nonsense Youngstown native and part-time driveway sealer, said Pavlik did not stand out when he started training at the gym as a 9-year-old. Loew said he was tough and brave but “nothing special.”
To show how far Pavlik has come, Loew keeps an enlarged photo above the inside of his club’s front door of his 15 amateur fighters in 1992, all posed after a fight night. They are all wearing the red and black warm-ups of the South Side Boxing Club — except Pavlik, whose skills did not yet warrant the issuance of official gear.
It was the night of Pavlik’s first fight, and Loew matched him up against someone with 24 fights on his résumé.
“He beat the hell out of him,” Loew said of Pavlik’s first win. “He smacked him around the ring.”
In the photo, Pavlik is beaming with the look of someone who has found his calling. Boxing was satisfying in a way that made sense to Pavlik.
“It was the one-on-one aspect,” Pavlik said. “Not being selfish, but you win by yourself. If you lose, there’s no one to blame. It’s everything you put into it.”
It would be six years, though, before everything would really click for Pavlik, who was all gangly legs, arms and size 14 feet at age 16 when everyone realized he could hit with surprising ferocity and force.
Pavlik soon stopped the dancing that earned his nickname and began pounding and dropping everyone who came his way. In 1998, he won the National Junior Golden Gloves. In 1999, when he was 17, he won the United States National Under-19 title. By 2000, he was fighting for a spot on the Olympic team, narrowly losing to Jermain Taylor, who went on to win a bronze medal for the United States.
People started paying attention. Pavlik signed with Top Rank’s Cameron Dunkin, one of boxing’s top managers. Two long-accepted rules of boxing are that fighters have to get more experienced trainers if they are to make it to the top level, and that they have to get away from home for training camp.
Pavlik did not buy into either notion.
“Kelly is an extremely loyal person,” said his father, Michael Pavlik Sr., who is a manager for his son. “And he’s in a comfort zone. He rolls out of bed and he’s here training in two minutes.”
That did not stop Top Rank’s matchmakers and other luminaries in boxing, including Ray Mancini, a friend of the family and a Youngstown native, from trying to persuade Pavlik to leave home and go with a big-name trainer.
Dunkin, Pavlik’s lead manager, said he fought for years with Top Rank’s matchmaker, Bruce Trampler, over the issue. Pavlik finally agreed to train in Las Vegas before a couple of fights in 2004 and 2005, but he “was “miserable,” Dunkin said.
Then, in October 2005, he knocked out the contender Fulgencia Zuniga in the ninth round.
“After that, the heat was sort of off,” Dunkin said, “because he fought a solid guy and won.”
He has trained in Youngstown for his last seven fights.
“I have everything I need right here,” Pavlik said. “And you do have your real fans, your real true fans.”
One of the quirks of his training regimen is that he still sleeps on the couch in his parents’ Youngstown home, leaving his family members at their suburban Boardman home. This is mainly so his father can keep an eye on his diet. Then he is off to the pleasantly shabby, one-room storefront of a former grocery story where he has trained with Loew for 17 years.
Ultimately, Dunkin explained, Pavlik would like to have a chance to unify all four major middleweight belts, which would mean fighting the German boxers Felix Sturm, who holds the World Boxing Association belt, and Arthur Abraham, who holds the International Boxing Federation belt. Because neither are big names in this country, Pavlik may instead move up a weight class to 168 pounds and fight the undisputed and undefeated super middleweight champion, the Welshman Joe Calzaghe (45-0).
But first there is Lockett, who has a 30-1 record with 21 knockouts but is four inches shorter than Pavlik. Even though Lockett is the No. 1 contender in the division, the British press is calling this fight his “Rocky moment” because he is a relative unknown.
When Pavlik is not training, he devotes several days a week to local charities, helping with fund-raisers or meeting with sick children.
Last year, after the first Taylor fight, he added a tattoo on his back, depicting an angel crying and hugging the world, over the phrase “Lift Our Spirits.”
“She’s tired of everything going on in the world today,” Pavlik said of the angel, conceding the tattoo reflects how he feels sometimes when he realizes he cannot help everybody in Youngstown. “But I’ve never seen anything near what they did for me when I came home from the first Taylor fight. People in Youngstown are on their feet again. It’s just awesome to see that again.”
His goal, he said, is to be so successful that he’s “mentioned in the same breath as the Hearns, Leonards, Haglers, Durans, Benitezes.”
“I want to be there,” Pavlik said.
June 4, 2008
Pride of Youngstown: A ‘Ghost’ Who Didn’t Vanish
By SEAN D. HAMILL
YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio — Called the Ghost early in his career for his ability to make opponents swing and miss, Kelly Pavlik, this city’s favorite son, has developed into a relentless power puncher with an iron chin. But still, he cannot shake the nickname, which now applies more to his complexion than to the straight-ahead, proficient fighter he has become.
In what has long been one of boxing’s glamour weight classes — former champions include household names like Sugar Ray Leonard, Marvin Hagler and Thomas Hearns — Pavlik has quietly and suddenly amassed two of the four middleweight belts.
Twice in the last year he has pummeled the middleweight champion Jermain Taylor, uncorking his lean, 6-foot-2 frame and 75-inch reach to ascend to undisputed champion in the 160-pound division. If you have not heard of Pavlik, it is not your fault. Attribute it to a boxer who refuses to abandon his beleaguered hometown and to a struggling sport that is not producing enough marquee names or worthy fighters in his weight class to allow him to elevate his story or his game.
His next opponent, the Welshman Gary Lockett, whom he fights Saturday night in Atlantic City, is seen by many in the sport as beneath Pavlik, despite being the No. 1 contender for one of Pavlik’s belts.
But if the 26-year-old Pavlik continues to win — perhaps even with an extra dose of style — he may be able to attract some big names from other divisions to cross over and fight him. And if he stays undefeated (he is 33-0 with 29 knockouts), he has the potential to transcend the glamour list of boxers.
“In a totally nonpolitically correct way of saying it: He’s white and a Midwestern kid,” said Bert Sugar, a longtime boxing journalist and analyst. “That gives him a constituency that a lot of other American fighters don’t have.”
In addition, Sugar said, “he has a great story; he’s wrapped himself in the fabric of his city and he’s a hero to Youngstown.”
“And we just don’t have heroes today,” he said. “For some reason, we’re out of the hero business.”
In Youngstown, a former industrial stronghold that has lost more than half of its population since 1960 — from 166,688 in 1960 to 81,520 in 2006 — after most of its mills closed, Pavlik is revered for staying home when he could have easily left.
Two weeks ago, while running stairs at the football stadium of Youngstown State University, more than 100 elementary school kids on a field trip spotted him from a long distance and started chanting: “Kel-EEE!, Kel-EEE, Kel-EEE!”
“He has brought pride back to Youngstown, in a town that doesn’t have a lot of good to talk about,” said Nades Rafeedie, 36, owner of Mickey’s bar on Market Street in the city. “You see these guys making their money and usually they’re off to Las Vegas and California. He stayed.”
Before the March Democratic primary in Ohio, Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton competed for Pavlik’s endorsement — Clinton won his endorsement and the primary.
Pavlik has that local hero status in part because money has not changed him. Even though he will gross $2.5 million from the Lockett fight and is earning thousands more from an increasing stable of endorsements, he still lives in a very modest home with his longtime girlfriend, Samantha Kocanjer, 25, and their 2-year-old daughter, Sydney. He remains a regular, laid-back jokester devoid of ostentation and bling.
Pavlik learned how fleeting economic security can be as an 8-year-old who watched his father lose a good steel mill job. “He’s still Kelly,” said Lori Greenwalt, the manager of Civics, the local bar Pavlik frequents with friends and family, “even if he is the champ.”
The boxing trainer Jack Loew, a no-nonsense Youngstown native and part-time driveway sealer, said Pavlik did not stand out when he started training at the gym as a 9-year-old. Loew said he was tough and brave but “nothing special.”
To show how far Pavlik has come, Loew keeps an enlarged photo above the inside of his club’s front door of his 15 amateur fighters in 1992, all posed after a fight night. They are all wearing the red and black warm-ups of the South Side Boxing Club — except Pavlik, whose skills did not yet warrant the issuance of official gear.
It was the night of Pavlik’s first fight, and Loew matched him up against someone with 24 fights on his résumé.
“He beat the hell out of him,” Loew said of Pavlik’s first win. “He smacked him around the ring.”
In the photo, Pavlik is beaming with the look of someone who has found his calling. Boxing was satisfying in a way that made sense to Pavlik.
“It was the one-on-one aspect,” Pavlik said. “Not being selfish, but you win by yourself. If you lose, there’s no one to blame. It’s everything you put into it.”
It would be six years, though, before everything would really click for Pavlik, who was all gangly legs, arms and size 14 feet at age 16 when everyone realized he could hit with surprising ferocity and force.
Pavlik soon stopped the dancing that earned his nickname and began pounding and dropping everyone who came his way. In 1998, he won the National Junior Golden Gloves. In 1999, when he was 17, he won the United States National Under-19 title. By 2000, he was fighting for a spot on the Olympic team, narrowly losing to Jermain Taylor, who went on to win a bronze medal for the United States.
People started paying attention. Pavlik signed with Top Rank’s Cameron Dunkin, one of boxing’s top managers. Two long-accepted rules of boxing are that fighters have to get more experienced trainers if they are to make it to the top level, and that they have to get away from home for training camp.
Pavlik did not buy into either notion.
“Kelly is an extremely loyal person,” said his father, Michael Pavlik Sr., who is a manager for his son. “And he’s in a comfort zone. He rolls out of bed and he’s here training in two minutes.”
That did not stop Top Rank’s matchmakers and other luminaries in boxing, including Ray Mancini, a friend of the family and a Youngstown native, from trying to persuade Pavlik to leave home and go with a big-name trainer.
Dunkin, Pavlik’s lead manager, said he fought for years with Top Rank’s matchmaker, Bruce Trampler, over the issue. Pavlik finally agreed to train in Las Vegas before a couple of fights in 2004 and 2005, but he “was “miserable,” Dunkin said.
Then, in October 2005, he knocked out the contender Fulgencia Zuniga in the ninth round.
“After that, the heat was sort of off,” Dunkin said, “because he fought a solid guy and won.”
He has trained in Youngstown for his last seven fights.
“I have everything I need right here,” Pavlik said. “And you do have your real fans, your real true fans.”
One of the quirks of his training regimen is that he still sleeps on the couch in his parents’ Youngstown home, leaving his family members at their suburban Boardman home. This is mainly so his father can keep an eye on his diet. Then he is off to the pleasantly shabby, one-room storefront of a former grocery story where he has trained with Loew for 17 years.
Ultimately, Dunkin explained, Pavlik would like to have a chance to unify all four major middleweight belts, which would mean fighting the German boxers Felix Sturm, who holds the World Boxing Association belt, and Arthur Abraham, who holds the International Boxing Federation belt. Because neither are big names in this country, Pavlik may instead move up a weight class to 168 pounds and fight the undisputed and undefeated super middleweight champion, the Welshman Joe Calzaghe (45-0).
But first there is Lockett, who has a 30-1 record with 21 knockouts but is four inches shorter than Pavlik. Even though Lockett is the No. 1 contender in the division, the British press is calling this fight his “Rocky moment” because he is a relative unknown.
When Pavlik is not training, he devotes several days a week to local charities, helping with fund-raisers or meeting with sick children.
Last year, after the first Taylor fight, he added a tattoo on his back, depicting an angel crying and hugging the world, over the phrase “Lift Our Spirits.”
“She’s tired of everything going on in the world today,” Pavlik said of the angel, conceding the tattoo reflects how he feels sometimes when he realizes he cannot help everybody in Youngstown. “But I’ve never seen anything near what they did for me when I came home from the first Taylor fight. People in Youngstown are on their feet again. It’s just awesome to see that again.”
His goal, he said, is to be so successful that he’s “mentioned in the same breath as the Hearns, Leonards, Haglers, Durans, Benitezes.”
“I want to be there,” Pavlik said.
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