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Of course there is a catch. From AP-
NFL fans whose local teams’ games are blacked out will be able to watch replays online for free — though not until after midnight.
The recession has left several teams in danger of having games blacked out this season. The league announced Thursday that home fans will be able to view the delayed broadcasts on NFL.com for 72 hours, except during “Monday Night Football.”
A game is not aired in the home market if it does not sell out 72 hours in advance.
NFL commissioner Roger Goodell says the league understands the economy is limiting some fans from buying as many tickets as they had in the past.
Anyone who wants to defend the NFL’s blackout policy, could say team owners are hard put too in this rough economic time. That is why they contiune to stick to their decades old blackout policy.
I think that’s a bunch of baloney. Other professional sports leagues don’t blackout home games and are able to be profitable. The NFL should wake up and enter the 21st century. Stop screwing your fans, both at their stadiums where food and drink are the most ridiculous of prices, and those who want to watch the games at home.
Sports Columnist Mark Whicker wrote a column yesterday about all the sports events Jaycee Dugard missed over the last 18 years. Who is Jaycee Duggard? She was an 11-year-old girl abducted in 1991 by Phillip and Nancy Garrido and had only escaped captivity late this last August. For 18 years Jaycee was held captive by a sex offender and had two children by Philip Garrido. If you want to read more about Dugard’s experience, click here or just do a google search.
A girl has been violated and scarred for life and some sports writer thinks this is a good hook for a column. A column about all the trivia she missed out in life while she was abused and tortured. I don’t know what is more appalling, that Whicker thought this was suitable for a sports column, or that his editorial supervisors at the Orange County Register approved it for publication. All the scorn that is being thrown at Whicker and the Orange County Register are well deserved in my opinion.
Tomorrow is 9-11′s eigth anniversary. If Whicker’s editors and the public hadn’t given him such a smacking to his brain matter deprived head, I could have just seen him writing a similar column featuring what the people killed on 9-11 missed over the last eight years.
BTW Whicker takes full credit for what he wrote. Columnists are often told by their editor to write about a topic but Whicker is not taking that way out.
Whicker came out and apologized today. The apology is worthless in IMHO. Why is that? Whicker had an email exchange with Michael David Smith of Fanhouse. He said it should come as no shock that Whicker’s clumsy attempt of using Duggard’s tragedy as fodder for a sports column has horrified and shocked people. Whicker then told Smith in a second email.
“Thanks for ripping me. I’m really happy I devoted part of this very hectic day responding to someone who had as little interest in my viewpoint as the crazies out there.”
Whicker is so sick between the ears he thinks his behavior is normal. What a pathetic human being he is. In light of his reply to Smith, Whicker’s apology should be considered both insincere and worthless. I’m betting he was made to apologize and feels he did nothing at all wrong.
Also I could point out that if Whicker or his employer wanted the apology taken seriously, it might help if they didn’t place an advertisement featuring a big breasted woman on the same web page. It makes it look like the OC Register and Whicker still have their heads in their rectums the gutter.
Ryan Ballangee writes-
Look, I try to make connections between social and political events with the sport that I cover. It’s natural to try to use sports to put things into context, and vice versa when the tone of sport needs to be reset. But nearly two decades of personal hell and painful captivity at the hands of a deranged freak of society is no context for an escape like sport is for many people.
Whicker may as well have used the Holocaust to talk about how 6 million Jews really lost out on some great World Cup action after World War II ended. It is that bad.
Clearly, Whicker did not have any kind of empathy for Jaycee Dugard or her family. Using their ordeal – and that’s putting it mildly – as a basis for a lame column defining a sports time capsule screams of someone who simply does not get what has been happening to Dugard without his knowledge until just a few weeks ago.
Every writer makes a big mistake like this at least once in their career.
*****
Mark Whicker probably shouldn’t get fired for what he wrote. Far worse is said in all corners of the Internet everyday about a host of people. What Whicker needs, though, is a serious adjustment in his perspective about the connection between life and sport.
Sport, yes, is an escape and Whicker’s sentiment in that regard is correct. Sport could never be used to explain something like what happened to Jaycee Dugard. To even try to make the connection is just rubbing salt in the many deep wounds that Dugard has because of what Phillip Garrido has done.
Much of what Ryan writes, I agree with. Except I think Whicker and whomever at the Register who approved that pile of excrement impersonating as a piece of journalism should be held accountable. Whicker should be fired, that will send a message loud and clear. Induction into Sports Journalism’s Hall of Shame just isn’t good enough. The rape, kidnapping, and torture of a being found suitable for a sports column should lead to permanent banishment from the profession of journalism.
Note- I won’t quote one word from Whicker’s column. It is such a piece of filth, I won’t let it soil this website. You’ll have to go to the link if you want to read it yourself.
Last night’s NL west game is a prime example of why I am not a fan of the intentional walk.
Joe Torre chose to look on the bright side after the Los Angeles Dodgers walked in the winning run in a 4-3 loss to the Arizona Diamondbacks on Wednesday night.
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Diamondbacks’ winning rally began when Ramon Troncoso (4-3) threw away Gerardo Parra’s roller to the mound, allowing him to reach second on the error.
*****
As it turned out, that was the only ball that left the infield in the bottom of the ninth.
Trent Oeltjen ran for Parra and took third on Ryan Roberts’ sacrifice. After intentional walks to Stephen Drew and Justin Upton, Troncoso missed with a 3-2 fastball to Mark Reynolds, who had fouled off a pair of pitches with two strikes.
“I was just trying to put the ball in play,” Reynolds said. “I just fouled off some tough pitches and was able to work a good AB.”
Torre said he walked Drew and Upton to set up a force at home. He also hoped Troncoso could strike out Reynolds, who leads the majors with 190 strikeouts.
Not one ball put into play outside the infield and the Dodgers lose. Isn’t that ridiculous? I know what Torre was trying to do, to set up a double play or force play. By loading the bases he takes away his pitcher’s margin of error. Do you know batting averages are higher when the sacks are full. The simple reason why- A pitcher has to try being perfect with the batter up there, and we humans are error prone.
Don Zimmer while managing the Chicago Cubs intentionally walked his team out of a World Series appearance in 1990. Mr. Potato Head ordered his pitcher to IW one batter which filled the bases with one out. The pitcher got the first out, then Will Clark hit a grand slam. That worked real well, eh? The list of managers who hated issuing intentional walks is long. Billy Martin, Dick Howser, Walter Alston in his last years managing the Dodgers. Yes there are times it is a good strategy but to fill the bases just so you can get a force at all bags isn’t one of them.
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| Wednesday, September 9, 2009 |
 Alex Massie argues that college football is America’s greatest sport. While I’m a huge fan, I personally prefer the NFL game. Steven Taylor points out one reason why: absurd mismatches scheduled to give big powers an easy win. In Fixing College Football, I offer some suggestions on solving that problem.
Here are the conferences that matter: ACC, Big Ten, Big 12, Pac-10, SEC. Go ahead and throw the Big East in, too, if you want to pretend. Those are the BCS conferences.
Let’s limit the national championship to schools playing in those conferences. Let’s mandate that schools in those conferences schedule games only against other schools in those conferences. And — here’s the exciting part — let’s take a page out of European soccer’s playbook a have a system where the lesser teams in those conferences get replaced by the best teams from outside.
I elaborate in some detail.
Meanwhile, Jon Stonger offers his 2009 NFL Preview and Big XII preview.
He is believed to have an unknown heart condition. Until a year ago, I would have wondered how a person wouldn’t have warning signs of heart problems. That changed when I was hospitalized on July 30th. I had a bicuspid heart valve and an ascending aortic aneurysm and almost no symptoms from either condition. RIP Jim Griffin.
Griffin, 23, was found dead Tuesday morning in his residence hall, according to coach Jimmy Tillette. Tillette said the senior from Chicago apparently died from an undetectable heart condition.
“It’s a cruel twist of fate,” Tillette said, according to the Birmingham News. “Jim was a guy who was known for playing with his heart, and for him to possibly pass away from a heart malady is hard to take.”
The Jefferson County coroner’s office has not released a cause of death, but an autopsy was scheduled for Wednesday.
Samford spokesman Philip Poole said Griffin apparently died in his sleep. He had played in a pickup basketball game and lifted weights Monday night.
Tillette said Griffin had not had a previous medical condition.
“It’s devastating for our team right now,” Tillette said, according to the Birmingham News. “He was a sixth man, but he was everybody’s favorite guy. He was probably our least athletic guy but got the most out of it.”
Who knew traveling from Toronto to Detroit would become so complicated. From the Windsor Star-
A dispute between Canada and the U.S. on rules concerning charter flights has prevented the Toronto Blue Jays from landing at Windsor Airport — and more sports teams could have the same trouble.
The Blue Jays had originally planned on taking a flight from Toronto to Windsor and then crossing the border to Detroit by bus for their series against the Tigers this weekend.
“It’s a logistical thing. It was just a little easier if we went to Windsor and took the bus over because it’s closer to the hotel and whatnot than the Detroit airport,” said Mike Shaw, manager of team travel for the Blue Jays.
But that travel plan became impossible last month when Transport Canada began strict adherence to regulations that prevent U.S. air charter companies from carrying passengers between Canadian locations.
The charter service used by the Blue Jays is the Florida-based company Miami Air International.
The Canadian rules are being enforced in response to the U.S. Department of Transportation imposing similar restrictions on Air Canada south of the border.
Although the rules aren’t new, sports teams had previously been given special consideration in both countries.
What was the need for the rules in the first place? Probably some charter business owner lobbied for these new rules. Will that person please step forward so I can give him a Knucklehead award at my home blog.
BTW the Blue Jays will now fly into Detroit Metro rather than Windsor. I used to fly into DTW quite frequently when I was a Platinum Northwest Frequent Flyer in the late 90′s and early part of this decade. My flying days came to an end before the new terminal was built in Detroit.
Life isn’t becoming tougher just for the Blue Jays but for the Toronto Raptors and NHL teams also. Maybe the rules will be revised, but I doubt it will happen quickly if at all.
If I was a Cougar football player, my heart would be breaking now. From AP-
Washington State will pay $300,000 for canceling its 2011 game at Hawaii.
Hawaii athletic director Jim Donovan says he received a letter last week from Washington State, canceling the final contest of a three-game series between the schools.
WSU cited uncertain changes in the Pac-10 scheduling. The cancellation fee will need to be paid within 30 days of the scheduled game, which was set for Nov. 26, 2011, at Aloha Stadium.
The teams met in November in Honolulu and the Cougars host the Warriors in Seattle on Saturday.
The Cougars aren’t the only team to cancel a date against the Warriors in recent years. Michigan State paid $250,000 to get out its 2007 matchup. Hawaii went 12-0 that year before losing to Georgia in the Sugar Bowl.
Uncertain scheduling? Since most conference games are scheduled years in advance, is the real reason WSU’s need for a ‘body bag‘ game. Hawaii isn’t a pushover anymore. Honestly, the reason could be the cost of traveling to Hawaii.
The last team to open a game with 8 consecutive hits was the 2000 New York Yankees. From AP-
In the midst of a disappointing season, the Chicago Cubs started a game like no team has in almost two decades.
Aramis Ramirez, Geovany Soto and Kosuke Fukudome had two-run hits in a record-tying first inning and the Cubs handed the hapless Pittsburgh Pirates their 11th loss in 12 games, 9-4 on Tuesday night.
The Cubs tied the major league record with eight hits to start the game against the Pirates on Tuesday. They’ve done it before.
Chicago tied a major league record with eight consecutive hits to start the game. The most recent team to do that was the New York Yankees, on Sept. 25, 1990 against the Baltimore Orioles.
With yesterday’s win, the Cubs improved their record to 70-67. They are out of the playoff picture which means it will be at least 65 years between World Series appearances for the franchise.
William Del Biaggio III defrauded investors and banks in part in order to buy the team. From AP-
A federal judge has sentenced a Silicon Valley financier to more than 8 years in prison for bilking banks and investors out of millions of dollars in an attempt to buy a pro hockey team and finance a lavish lifestyle.
William “Boots” Del Biaggio III was sentenced Tuesday in San Francisco. He pleaded guilty earlier this year to a felony charge of forging financial documents to obtain $110 million in loans from several banks and two NHL owners.
He used the money to buy an interest in the NHL’s Nashville Predators and to pay personal expenses that included $4 million in gambling debts.
The judge also ordered him to pay more than $67.4 million in restitution. His interest in the hockey team will be sold and the proceeds distributed to his victims.
Are the Predators worth 67 million? They have been a mediocre NHL franchise at best that has been rumored in the not too distant past to be moving out of Tennessee. Yes, they’re probably worth enough to make restitution for Mr. Del Biaggio but now NHL owners are probably getting migraines as they face yet another franchise with ownership problems. The mess in Phoenix is still ongoing.
The closer will miss three games. From ESPN-
Detroit Tigers pitcher Fernando Rodney has been suspended for three games and fined for throwing a ball toward the stands following a game last week.
During a postgame celebration on the field after Detroit beat Tampa Bay 4-3 on Friday night, Rodney threw the game ball toward the seats and it ended up in the press box. No one was hit by the ball, which Rodney said he was throwing to the fans.
It followed an arduous 35-pitch save by the right-hander.
“I threw the ball to the fans — it was nothing,” Rodney said at the time. “I know I’m not supposed to throw the ball, but I’m feeling the moment. I threw it to the right spot and didn’t hit anybody.
The penalty was announced Tuesday by baseball vice president for discipline Bob Watson.
The Tigers have a 6.5 game lead in the Central Division and appear safe for the post season but as any baseball historian knows, crazier things have happened. Why not just fine Rodney rather than possibly alter a pennant race by suspending a crucial player?
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