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Sports Outside the Beltway

Memo to Jeff Gordon- It’s the economy stupid

The NASCAR driver was surprised by the empty seats last weekend in Atlanta.

Despite warm temperatures and sunny skies, Atlanta Motor Speedway was a tough draw on Sunday. Though the announced crowd was 94,400, the grandstands were at most two-thirds full for the Cup race.

“To me, this is some of the best racing we’re putting on in the series anywhere we go,” Jeff Gordon said. “I know there’s a lot of race fans around here. I’m a little baffled by it. I’ve been hearing that they were going to have some empty seats. It’s hard to say.”

When people fear losing their job or have trouble paying their bills, they naturally cut back on luxuries. Like listening to what bozo athletes think they should be doingspending money to go to sporting events. Someone please inform Gordon that US unemployment right now is higher than it has been in 25 years. Thank you.

 

Davis Cup match to be played in empty arena

If no fans are allowed, who’s to say it really happened? From AP-

Sweden and Israel will play their first-round Davis Cup match in an empty arena next month because of security concerns.

Several anti-Israeli demonstrations are planned during the best-of-five series, which will be played March 6-8 at the 4,000-seat Baltic Hall.

Malmo officials announced the decision afterg a vote on the issue in the city’s recreational committee. The Swedish Social Democratic Party and the Left Party won the vote 5-4 after a long debate.

The committee said it could not guarantee security for the fans.

“It’s a high-risk match,” committee chairman Bengt Forsberg was quoted as saying by Swedish news agency TT.

High risk from what? Hysteria? This website claims Sweden has stricter gun laws than the US and a lower homicide rate.

Only officials, some sponsors and journalists will be allowed to enter the arena.

Journalists can be trusted never to be violent…..Oops.

*****

This will be the second time a Davis Cup match will be played in an empty arena in Sweden. In 1975, two years after a military coup led by Augusto Pinochet against the elected Chilean government of Salvador Allende, Sweden played Chile in Bastad and no spectators were allowed.

History always repeats itself. I have written three Tennis posts in less than a week. What’s next? Another post about figure skating?

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  • OTB Sports linked with Tennis stadium evacuated for bag scare...
 

Florida Panthers to play two games in Europe

Wouldn’t it have been nicer to open the year after Panther’s most successful season in a decade in front of its own fans? From the Sun-Sentinel-

The Panthers will open the 2009-10 regular season in Europe.

Team president Michael Yormark said Thursday the Panthers have accepted the NHL’s invitation to play two games against the Chicago Blackhawks.

“It’s good for the profile of our franchise and our exposure,” Yormark said.

The games reportedly will take place in Helsinki, Finland, though Yormark would not confirm the site. He said an official announcement is expected in late February.

It had been rumored that the Panthers and Blackhawks would play a pair in the Czech Republic, from where five players on the roster hail.

As a fan, I don’t like seeing the teams I root for playing half way around the world in some kind of promotion. I lose, other Panther fans lose. What do I care if Finnish people get to see a Panther game, or the Brits a Miami Dolphin game. These are my teams, not theirs.

 

NFL- No Thanksgiving game or blackout rule changes for now

NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell addressed these issues at a press conference yesterday.

The Detroit Lions’ Thanksgiving Day game is safe, at least for 2009. But NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell says that could change.

During a news conference Friday, Goodell said owners will discuss having other teams host Thanksgiving Day games “as we get later into the year.”

The Lions have hosted Thanksgiving Day games since 1934, but the club fought off a resolution to rotate the game among NFL teams in 1999.

Goodell also says the NFL won’t change its television blackout policy despite economic troubles nationwide and in cities like Detroit. Five of the Lions’ last six home games in 2008 weren’t televised locally because Ford Field didn’t sell out.

I have no problem with the Lions continuing to be a Thanksgiving tradition. Trivia time- When was the last time a Thanksgiving game was played that didn’t involve Detroit or Dallas, and what was the result. Check under the fold for the answer.

As for the blackout policy, the NFL should get its head out out of its arse. They are the only major sport that blacks out home games if they aren’t sold out. This policy should be deader than the dodo bird.

 

Penalty shot

The Las Vegas Wranglers are planning a Rod Blagojevich night, Jan 30, 2009.

The hockey club is holding Blagojevich night on Friday, January 30th.

The team will wear vintage prison uniforms, the kind with the stripes.

Their jerseys will feature prison numbers, and a seat between the two benches will be auctioned off to the highest bidder.

After the game, those prison uniforms will be signed and auctioned for charity.

(h/t LA Times, Sean and Frank Show)

The Wranglers seem to be bi-partisan in taking shots at politicians.

In 2006, the team attracted national attention by hosting Dick Cheney Hunting Vest Night to mock the vice president’s aiming skills while hunting.

Crossposted on Soccer Dad.

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Joe Calzaghe: Boxing on the ropes

The Welsh fighter voiced this opinion in London today.

Joe Calzaghe believes boxing is on the ropes, with too many champions and few real stars.

Still weighing whether he’ll retire after beating Bernard Hopkins and Roy Jones Jr. this year to remain unbeaten in 46 fights, Calzaghe said Wednesday he was glad he was almost on the way out of the sport instead of just starting out.

“I think boxing is a dying sport. Globally — in America for instance — you’ve got UFC, which has taken a lot off boxing, business-wise,” Calzaghe said, referring to the mixed martial arts Ultimate Fighting Championship.

The Welshman who held the WBO super middleweight world title for more than 10 years before moving up to light heavyweight to fight Hopkins and Jones also said boxing has its own problems.

“There is too much politics in boxing, too many belts and too many champions, which dilutes real champions like myself,” he said. “There are four world champions in each division and it’s bad because there are no stars any more. It’s a big problem.”

First of all, who is Joe Calzaghe? Never heard of him before today. I probably just make this fighter’s point.

Boxing has found PPV profitable but at the same time it has dwindled the fan base. I’ve only once paid to watch a fight. As no fighter is high profile enough, because I have never seen or even heard of them, I just don’t feel obliged to pay $50-60 to watch 36 minutes of boxing. I make a bet many sports fans feel the same as I do about the sport. What ever happened to the days when there fights on prime-time network television? They’re gone, I don’t think they will coming back.

 

Tampa Bay Lightning lose 5th in a row

Is it too early to start a Rick Tocchet gets fired watch? From AP-

Richards netted two goals, including the winner on a power play 2:05 into overtime, and the Philadelphia Flyers sent the Tampa Bay Lightning to their fifth straight loss with a 4-3 victory Tuesday night.

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The Lightning missed an opportunity to win with 16.3 seconds left in regulation when Ryan Malone was awarded a penalty shot, but his attempt went wide when Martin Biron just got a piece of the puck.

“I didn’t know he was going to go wide, but I got a toe on it” Biron said.

Malone hit the post on a breakaway and was given the penalty shot when Philadelphia forward Scott Hartnell threw his glove at the puck

So far the Lightning are 1-3-4 under Tocchet. They were 6-7-4 under Barry Melrose before he was fired. I don’t think that coaching move has worked too well, do you?

This game was very annoying to me. Because of the NHL’s television package, other NHL games are not broadcast on the night of a Versus game if the games are played at the same time. So I didn’t get to watch a banged up Florida kick the crap out of Washington. Such a great television deal you negotiated NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman.

 

Cowboys Consider Time Share Tickets

Dallas Cowboys fans are facing sticker shock at the record-setting prices for season tickets at the new stadium. Jerry Jones is working on a creative solution, Andrea Ahles and Charean Williams report.

Cowboys Consider Time Share Tickets The new Cowboys stadium in Arlington, shown Friday, is scheduled to open for the 2009 football season.Are the Dallas Cowboys considering a time share-type ticket at the team’s new $1 billion stadium in Arlington?

According to a blog item on the Dallas Observer, Cowboys owner Jerry Jones said that a group of friends could purchase a single ticket to a game at the new stadium and then take turns going inside to watch the action while the rest enjoyed the game atmosphere outside. Jones described this ticket-sharing scenario at a meet-and-greet event last week, according to an item posted Monday.

Cowboys spokesman Brett Daniels said he could not confirm Jones’ comments, adding, “This is not a program we have in place at this time.”

However, in its Super Bowl pitch to the NFL, the Cowboys and the North Texas bid committee said that 20,000 fans will be able to buy tickets to standing-room-only party plazas outside each end zone, where the game will be shown on digital screens.

Earlier Monday at the NFL owners meeting in Palm Beach, Fla., the Star-Telegram spoke with Jones about his stadium, where he alluded to “different ways to watch and be a part of the game.”

Considering how expensive tickets are, this may be the only way for most fans to be able to afford a live game experience. That’s not a criticism — Jones has every right to charge what the market will bear and he’s got a very desirable product with very limited availability. That he’s figuring out a way to make maximum profit and still do something for “the little guy” is both commendable and smart business.

 

NY Mets won’t charge fans to watch practice

The money was supposedly going to charity. From TC Palm-

PORT ST. LUCIE — The New York Mets have turned their mandatory charge to attend spring training practice into a donation.

To raise money for local charities, the team on Thursday began charging fans age 15 and older $2 to watch team workouts.

But after fielding angry calls from fans Friday morning, the team reversed its policy. Team officials said they no longer will charge fans, beginning immediately, although donations still can be made with all money going to local charities.

“We got some negative feedback,” St. Lucie Mets general manager Paul Taglieri said. “I think it’s still a good opportunity for us to be able to do something like this.”

Admissions from Thursday’s workout totaled $1,800, which will go to the Boys and Girls Club of St. Lucie County. Friday’s donations were set for the American Cancer Society, and today’s will go to the Exchange Club Castle program.

Being a cynic, I wonder how much of the money pre-protest would have gone to any charities. Fans get shaken down enough by sports franchises, the outrageous sums asked for food and drink, to parking, to almost anything. I give money to charity, volutarily. Given a choice of attending a practice or donating $2 I’d stay home. It is the principle, no one can require me to give to their chairty.

Update- I just remembered another S. Florida sports facility that wanted to collect money from fans supposedly to give to charity. The home to the Florida Panthers, the Bank Atlantic Center. The BAC wanted to charge fans $5 if they parked anywhere but on the grounds of the arena. It was bullshit then and it is bullshit now.

 

NFL Reverses Call On Church Parties

It took an uproar from Congress for the football league to change course.

The NFL, which found itself on the receiving end of protests and controversy after it objected to churches showing the Super Bowl on big-screen televisions, has reversed course and will now permit the viewings.

In a letter to Sen. Orrin G. Hatch (R-Utah), NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said the league would not object to “live showings — regardless of screen size — of the Super Bowl” by religious organizations.

In response to questions from Hatch, Goodell said in the letter, dated Feb. 19, the NFL will implement the policy starting with next year’s Super Bowl.

A story in The Washington Post about churches — most of them evangelical — canceling their Super Bowl parties because they were afraid of lawsuits from the NFL if they showed the game on their jumbo screens kicked up a storm of protest on Capitol Hill and among some conservative leaders.

The NFL sent two churches a letter last year saying they violated the league’s policy. I don’t know what the law says, but to me if someone isn’t charging admittance to view the sporting event, the church should be allowed to do so.

 
 


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