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Whatever happened to Midwestern hospitality? From the Des Moines Register-
(Don) Briggs briefly ejected the entire crowd — estimated at more than 100 fans — during a game between Winfield-Mount Union and West Burlington on Thursday night in West Burlington.
“It was something else — I’ll tell you that,” Winfield-Mount Union coach Scott McCarty said.
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Dave Anderson and Bud Legg of the Iowa High School Athletic Association said they know of no other sanctioned high school event in Iowa where an entire crowd has been asked to leave.
“I have no recollection of that ever happening,” Anderson said.
The ejection came in the fifth inning of the game, after McCarty left the dugout to argue whether a batted ball was fair or foul.
West Burlington coach Jeff Housel, who said he did not see or hear time called, tried to send a runner from third base to score during the debate — but Briggs sent the runner back.
Briggs said the crowd became unruly, and had been unruly during the game. McCarty and Housel, however, said the situation was overblown.
There was no school official, which by the rules in place in Iowa, was to be the person to make the decision about the crowd. Since no such person was there, Briggs took it upon himself.
What for? The article makes no mention of the fans becoming dangerous. So they were unhappy with a bad call? What’s new about that in a sporting event? No one was in danger, and if you believe what the article says, no one was doing anything worse than voicing their displeasure with the umpire’s decision. The fans were allowed back in the stands but told ‘anyone making a negative comment toward the officials would be ejected from the premises and could be charged with disorderly conduct’. So arguing with an umpire is now a criminal offense?
Sure sounds like an overreaction to me.
The Nationals keep finding ways to lose. From AP-
Even though he’s batting less than .200, the Tampa Bay Rays continue to show faith in Gabe Kapler.
That loyalty paid Friday night.
One pitch after an error prolonged his at-bat, the slumping Kapler hit a pinch-hit home run that snapped an eighth-inning tie and gave the AL champions a 4-3 victory over the Washington Nationals.
Stuck in a 3-for-31 slide that dropped his batting average to .173, Kapler went deep against Ron Villone (3-2) after first baseman Nick Johnson dropped a pop foul that would have been the third out.
“I was screaming at the ball and I think it heard me and skipped off Nick’s glove,” Kapler said. “I guess I really wanted that opportunity.”
Kapler primarily plays against left-handed pitchers and said he’s extremely appreciative that manager Joe Maddon continues to pencil him into the lineup and bring him off the bench against lefties.
“One of the things I’m most impressed with this season is the fact I’ve struggled fairly significantly, and every time there’s a lefty out there, I get the chance to start,” Kapler said. “It tells me he believes I can get the job done.”
Villone was on his way to an easy one-two-three eighth when Johnson settled under Kapler’s pop foul. He made a slight adjustment at the last moment, but couldn’t hold onto the ball.
“I just missed it. Plain and simple,” Johnson said. “Saw it the whole way, just didn’t catch it.”
With the win the Rays are now .500 barely. Unless Tampa gets it into gear soon, they won’t defend as American League champions.
The 2008-09 NHL season is now over. From AP-
Max Talbot scored two second-period goals, and the Penguins overcame the loss of captain Sidney Crosby to beat the defending champion Detroit Red Wings 2-1 in Game 7 and win the Cup on Friday night.
Instead of the Red Wings becoming the NHL’s first repeat champion since winning titles in 1997 and 1998, this turned into a Penguins party. The last time Pittsburgh was crowned champion, in 1991 and ’92, it was captained by owner Mario Lemieux.
This one wouldn’t have been possible without a clutch diving save across the crease by Marc-Andre Fleury, who denied four-time champion Nicklas Lidstrom with 1 second left.
“I knew there wasn’t much time left,” Fleury said. “The rebound was wide. I just decided to get my body out there and it hit me in the ribs so it was good.”
Hradek: 2009 Playoffs Top 10
It’s been a wild 2009 Stanley Cup Playoffs. Six of the 15 series went a full seven games and Sid the Kid became the youngest captain to win the Stanley Cup. Here’s E.J.’s favorite moments from this year. Story
Fleury was stellar in making 23 saves and erasing the memories of a 5-0 loss in Game 5 at Joe Louis Arena that put the Penguins on the brink of elimination. Pittsburgh returned home and gutted out a 2-1 win, behind Fleury’s 25 saves in Game 6, and forced the winner-take-all matchup.
*****
This was Pittsburgh’s second championship in four months, following the Steelers’ Super Bowl victory in February.
Jonathan Ericsson cut the Wings’ deficit to 2-1 with 6:07 remaining, and Niklas Kronwall nearly tied it with 2:14 left, but his drive smacked the crossbar. Detroit pressed further after goalie Chris Osgood was pulled, but Fleury stood his ground.
His last save started a wild scene that culminated in the awarding of the Cup.
I watched last night’s game. Not long into the second period, I told my wife whoever scores first is going to win. A minute or two later Talbot scored the first of his two goals. So I was right.
Pittsburgh Penguin coach Dan Bylsma becomes only the second rookie coach to win a Stanley Cup. The last time it happened was 1971.
Much will be made about Pittsburgh’s win taking place without Sydney Crosby in the lineup for half the game. Some of it will be over sensationalized. I think Detroit was the best NHL team for the 2008-09 season, but the Penguins are the champs. Enjoy it Pittsburgh fans, you will tougher time getting back to the finals next year than Detroit will.
I never of this happening to a MLB before today. From AP-
Boston Red Sox closer Jonathan Papelbon has been fined by major league baseball for slow play.
Papelbon said Friday that he was taking too long to make his first pitch upon entering the game from the bullpen. Speaking before the Red Sox opened a three-game series against the Philadelphia Phillies, Papelbon said he had been warned about breaking the rule.
The Daily Item in Lynn, Mass., first reported the fine of $1,000. The paper said that Papelbon was the first player fined this season for breaking the rule designed to speed up games.
Papelbon was warned and baseball does have a slow play problem. The fine sounds reasonable to me.
He played in the NFL for 15 seasons with four different teams. From AP-
Veteran quarterback Trent Green says he has decided to retire, Fox Sports reported.
Green, whose career was hampered by injuries, played for five teams over 15 seasons and spent last season with the St. Louis Rams as Marc Bulger’s backup. The Rams released him earlier this year.
He was the Kansas City Chiefs’ starter between 2001 and 2005, passing for more than 3,600 yards in each season. But concussions — most notably, a frightening hit in the 2006 season opener — slowed his latter career.
In 120 career games, Green completed 2,266 of 3,740 passes for 28,475 yards, with 162 touchdowns, 114 interceptions and a passer rating of 86.0. He threw for at least 24 touchdowns in three consecutive seasons (2002-04 ) for the Chiefs and led the team to a pair of playoff appearances, in 2003 and 2006, losing to the Indianapolis Colts both times.
One of Green’s injuries helped shape the fortunes of another NFL quarterback.
Green was slated to be the Rams’ starting quarterback in 1999 when he was hurt during a preseason game. Kurt Warner took over and took the Rams to a pair of Super Bowls, winning it all in the 2000 game against the Tennessee Titans.
Green also played for the Washington Redskins and Miami Dolphins.
Green was a good player and a smart person till 2006 when everything began to get scrambled after he suffered a concussion. The Miami Dolphins traded for Green before the 2007 only to see him go down again with yet another concussion. Afterwards Green went doctor shopping as he tried clinging to an NFL job.
After the Dolphins disasterous 07 season, Green was released but the St. Louis Rams picked him up and even installed him as the team’s starting quarterback for a while but his play was less than impressive. Now that he has given up playing, Green might have a future as a quarterback coach. I wish him well wherever life may take him.
No we are not talking about a warped episode of Batman but this news-
Ahn Shi-hyun’s drive on the ninth hole at the LPGA Championship on Friday hit a robin, killing the bird in a puff of feathers.
“It’s a shame,” marshal Nina Dawson told Reuters. “The bird was in the wrong place at the wrong time. It was instantaneous.”
Ahn in spite of her fowl crime, managed to shoot a two-under 70 today and stands at -1 for 36 holes.
*- Shi Hyun Ahn’s nickname on the LPGA Tour is Cinderella. She was only 19 years of age when she won her one and only LPGA event. A few years ago, some food establishment asked what golfer went by that nickname and as a result my home blog was getting lots of visitors who wanted to know what the answer was.
Update- A commenter referred me to this story where a Tom Kite tee shot hit a bird. In Kite’s case it resulted in a double bogey and took him out of contention for a Champions Tour title.
For my reader’s viewing pleasure, I updated this post to include a picture of the tasty Ms. Ahn. Enjoy!
Honestly, I thought this took place a long time ago.
Quarterback Michael Vick’s time with the Atlanta Falcons is officially over.
Vick, who is serving the remainder of his prison sentence on dogfighting charges under house arrest in Virginia, was released by the team Friday.
“Michael remains suspended by the NFL,” Falcons general manager Thomas Dimitroff said in a statement. “However, in the event NFL commissioner Roger Goodell decides to reinstate Michael, we feel his best opportunity to re-engage his football career would be at another club.
“Our entire organization sincerely hopes that Michael will continue to focus his efforts making positive changes in his life and we wish him well in that regard.”
The Falcons have been trying to trade Vick for months, but found no takers. Instead of holding onto him and hoping that someone would step forward with a trade, they chose to put the Vick era behind them.
The move was no surprise. Owner Arthur Blank has said Vick would not return to the Falcons.
Vick was a talented athlete, but probably not good enough a quarterback to bring a team to a Super Bowl. In light of this and his obvious character deficiencies, and I can why no NFL team may not want to have him.
His playing had been beset by injuries of late. From AP-
Former Australian Open champion Thomas Johansson is quitting professional tennis after more than 15 years on the ATP tour.
The 34-year-old Swede won nine singles titles and reached a top ranking of No. 7 in 2002. Injuries forced him to take long breaks from the game in recent years.
“After a lot of thinking, I have now decided to step off the train and end my professional tennis career,” he said in a statement Friday. “During the fall I had to go through yet another operation after a foot injury and a month ago I became a dad for the second time.”
Johansson, who made his ATP debut in Bolzano, Italy, in 1993, said the biggest moments of his career were winning the 2002 Australian Open title and reaching the Wimbledon semifinals in 2005. He was also part of Sweden’s Davis Cup-winning team in 1998 and won an Olympic silver medal in doubles in Beijing last year with Simon Aspelin.
In March, Johansson was knocked out in qualifying for the Sony Ericsson Open in Key Biscayne, Fla. Earlier that month, he beat Harel Levy, but lost to Dudi Sela as Sweden was defeated 3-2 by Israel in a Davis Cup quarterfinal.
All athletes come to a point in their career when they must decide if they are no longer competitive and should therefore retire. Some have trouble recognizing their skills aren’t what they used to be, and the late stages of their career become almost joke like. Johnansson looks like he is getting out at the right time. I wish him well in retirement.
How gullible can a baseball fan be? From AP-
Coco Crisp thought he still had a chance to get to Shin-Soo Choo’s bouncing base hit. A bird beat him to it.
The ball flattened a low-flying gull in the 10th inning and rolled past Kansas City’s center fielder and Mark DeRosa scored from second base without a throw to give the Cleveland Indians a 4-3 win over the Royals on Thursday night.
“Crazy things happen in this game,” Crisp said after Shin-Soo Choo’s line single over the second-base bag clipped the wing of one of hundreds of birds that buzz the ballpark. “It was hit so sharply, I felt like I had a chance,” Crisp said. “You never know what the heck is going to happen.”
The stunned bird flopped around for a few seconds before finally flying off.
Just another wild win at Progressive Field.
“I didn’t see it, but I’ll take it,” Choo said.
Two years ago, a swarm of bugs rattled New York Yankees pitcher Joba Chamberlain in the AL division series, helping the Indians rally.
The ballpark which has hosted the Cleveland Indians for over 15 years, is close to Lake Erie and regularly has problems with birds through the stadium. I’m surprised it too so long before one of them interfered with a game being played.
Feel free to add your own jokes about what happened last night.
He coached women’s and men’s teams at the college level where he won national championships with three different schools. RIP.
Auburn swimming coach Richard Quick, who won 13 NCAA titles with three schools during a career that spanned four decades, has died of cancer. He was 66.
Auburn said in a statement on its Web site that Quick, who coached men’s and women’s teams at the school, died Wednesday. His family told the Austin American-Statesman that he died in Austin, Texas.
Quick had been diagnosed in December with an inoperable brain tumor.
“While he lost a valiant battle against a cruel disease, Richard was an inspiration to countless people who were touched by his steadfast faith and amazing courage in the face of tremendous adversity,” Auburn athletic director Jay Jacobs said.
He won one title at Auburn, seven at Stanford and five at Texas. He also led the U.S. Olympic teams in 1988, 1996 and 2000 and was an assistant coach at the 1984, 1992 and 2004 Games.
Quick’s women’s teams at Texas won five straight titles from 1984-1988. The Stanford women’s team won the title in his first year there in 1989.
Auburn’s men won the championship in 2009 and Quick was named NCAA Coach of the Year for the sixth time.
“Richard will be remembered as one of the greatest coaches in the history of swimming, but more importantly, he will be remembered as a devoted and loving husband, father, grandfather and teacher,” Jacobs said.
Quick coached at Auburn from 1978-82 and returned there in 2007. In between, he coached the women’s teams at Texas and Stanford. He also served as the men’s head coach at Iowa State during the 1977-78 season and the women’s head coach at SMU in 1976-77.
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