Bread and Circuses
The Best of Fox Sports
Archive for March, 2007
March 31, 2007 at 7:03 pm · Filed under Uncategorized
Original post by Dudski
OK, the 17th annual Illinois-Carolina roto league baseball draft is over. Here’s what I ended up with:
Downtown Dunn: Does Adam Dunn even have a nickname? “The Red Menace” works, “The Redabomber” probably doesn’t. In any case, my first pick at #6. Just drop the 40 HR’s and 110 RBI off at the door, and whatever you do this year Mr. Dunn don’t break any arms or legs trying to steal bases. That’s not why I drafted you.
Multiple Mets: Last year I had Jose Reyes, but this year he went #3 overall (behind Pujols and Howard). I’m thinking that’s too high, even if he is the next Rickey Henderson. I didn’t have alot of hope for this, but I had hoped he’d still be around in Round #2. As it is, I met the USDA’s minimum Met requirements. Got David Wright in Round 2, Billy Wagner in Round 3, and Paul LoDuca in Round 15. Don’t ask me why LoDuca lasted that long. Everyone gripes about catching, then doesn’t draft it until the end when you get the 400 AB guys who hit .220 with 8 HR and 40 RBI. Or (involuntary shudder) Brad Ausmus.
The tortoise and the hare: Add Prince Fielder to Willy Taveras and we have a well rounded player. Separately, they are a 35 HR first baseman and a 35 SB outfielder. It all balances out.
The greatest player you’ll never hear of, and Austin Kearns (International Outfielder of Mystery). Chad Tracy is a very good hitter for Arizona who always is drafted low (round 5) because he’s a doubles hitter and not a power guy. I’m not picky, I’ll take .290-20-90. Austin Kearns used to be a hot prospect, now he’s just a good hitter in a pitcher’s ballpark (RFK in Washington). But we’ve got “high hopes”, we got…..well, you know the rest.
Did I tell you about the year Chipper Jones lasted in Round 11? So, I’m sitting there with two third basemen and nobody is drafting Jones. It gets funny. I start to wonder. Am I the only one who doesn’t notice this? In Round 11 it got to be too much and I picked him. First question everyone asks. Didn’t somebody pick him already?
Jerry has his kids, I’ve got mine. Is it Matt Murton, or Mutt Murton? Anyway, I’ve got him (happily). Good hitter with emerging power. Ronny Paulino hit .310 with the Pirates last season, which did two things. It told me he could hit, and it ensured that nobody else had heard of him (round #13). Then there is Troy Tulowitzki, shortstop of Colorado. He’s 22 and has potential. In 8 years he could potentially be 30. I’m hoping he hits, which by reputation he can. Scott Thorman can hit. He’s the new first baseman in Atlanta.
Who is John Patterson? Glad you asked. Really solid pitcher with Washington, before that Montreal. Stays hurt, but is lights out when he is on. He is the “ace” among my mediocre starters-Patterson, Zach Duke, Matt Morris, Noah Lowry, and Claudio Vargas. I don’t know why I drafted Vargas. I think it may have been because nobody else was left.
Fortunately, we got relievers. Wagner (see above), Jason Isringhausen, Mike Gonzalez (last year’s closer in Pittsburgh, now a setup man in Atlanta), and Clay Meredith (a good prospect with the Padres).
Not to mention Ray Durham. Which, of course, I didn’t. A good hitter for a second baseman, but his stolen base days are long over. For some reason he hits 4th in San Francisco. Not that there’s anything wrong with that.
There they are. This year’s version of whatever I’m naming this year’s team. I change the name every year. Two years ago they were the San Serif Islanders (San Serif is lovely this time of year), and last year the Baskerville Hounds. This year, maybe something different. Like, I don’t know, the Mets?
March 31, 2007 at 7:02 am · Filed under Uncategorized
By Bread and Circuses
A little bit of must reading as you listen to announcers getting sentimental about Georgetown’s trip to the Final Four under John Thompson Jr.
NYtimes.com
It’s a story of how a player with a 1.33 GPA whose high school transcript had 9 passing grades and 12 F’s (including Phys Ed) got admitted into Georgetown (where the average SAT score is about 1400).
The player, who transferred to another Division 1 school this season, was a two time state player of the year who passed through a prep school that the NCAA no longer will accept credits from. His own high school coach openly questioned how he could have gotten into Georgetown.
Here’s the fun part.
The article quotes Georgetown University President John J. DeGioia as defending the player’s admission and praising the character of players brought in by Coach John Thompson Jr. In one of those breathtakingly insipid statements only an academic can make, he said “I think if you look at the whole picture, and you look at the folks
that John has brought in, I think you will find a deep resonance with
the tradition and the standards and the character of the program.â€
DeGioia is probably right about the player fitting into the tradition and standards and character of the program, which is kind of the problem. John Thompson Sr. started that tradition by crying racism any time anyone questioned whether his players met the school’s academic standards. In some cases he made valid points about the hypocrisy of college sports, but fawning sports writers and announcers seldom made the connection that his views on the subject meshed with his need to get the best athletes on the court at Georgetown regardless of their academic ability.
Now you could be an optimist and say Georgetown’s other players all had far better academic records than this one recruit’s. And you could wait in your yard to be struck by an asteroid that you just know will fall out of the sky tonight at 9:37 PM.
What Georgetown did to the player the Times article highlights is the issue and not what they did for him. Georgetown is not a campus where someone who was failing the majority of their high school classes will thrive academically. The article quotes a former football recruit with an 1170 SAT who later dropped football. He summed up the situation by saying “I can’t really see where they thought he was going to make it here.†Indeed.
So what’s the point? Is Georgetown worse than the school it defeated last weekend (the University of North Carolina)? Only in terms of degree. Both recruit players who aren’t viable candidates for admission, then manage to keep them afloat long enough to get degrees (or not). What this case does point out is in an ethical swamp, Georgetown appears to be one of the biggest alligators.
You won’t hear announcers say that this weekend. The road to the Final Four is full of empty platitudes about what a great school Georgetown is and what fine men John Thompson Jr. and Sr. are. The Georgetown story will be made to sound like an episode of “The Waltons” before CBS gets done.
One more irony for the road. President DeGioia is a member of the Knight Commission, the watchdog group for college athletics. Wonder how that’s working out for him.
And a final quote, from the outgoing student body president at Georgetown. “To be honest with you, I think as long as they win, that’s the most important thing for most people.†Now there’s a student whose Georgetown education wasn’t wasted on him.
March 30, 2007 at 8:58 pm · Filed under Uncategorized
By Bread and Circuses
Holidays divide the year into manageable parts, commemorating all manner of religious and secular occasions. There’s one tomorrow, but you won’t find it on any calendar. It’s draft day. Roto draft day.
Since 1989 I’ve been part of the Carolina-Illinois League. It started with myself and a local doctor. We played pickup basketball together, and one day after a game discussed this new thing called rotisserie baseball. This was before the internet. The first year we copied stats out of each Wednesday’s USA Today into a bizarre spreadsheet program on a Commodore 64. We mailed the stats and standings out each week to seven members.
The first draft was held at the doctor’s home, and included players in both North Carolina and his native Illinois. Somebody drafted a hotshot rookie catcher named Craig Biggio, another (sitting with his back to the TV while the Cubs played on WGN, picked Andre Dawson as Dawson was being hauled off Wrigley Field on a stretcher.
Since then we’ve had league members come and go, along with every player we drafted that first day (except Biggio). But we’ve never had a draft that hasn’t been a sort of Christmas for grownups.
It starts in January each year. The baseball magazines start coming out late in the month. Everyone denies buying them that early. We all do. Things pick up during spring training. We set a draft date and time, which we usually change two or three times. Argue about the rules with all the intensity of the US and Korea meeting in the DMZ. And read everything we get our hands on about every team in the National League.
Why the National? Because the Illinois contingent consists of Cubs and Cardinals fans. Here in the east we’ve got five teams in North and South Carolina, but our team loyalties aren’t as pronounced. One of the Illinois guys (a Cubs fan) relocated with his company to South Carolina. We’ve got a Reds diehard in Raleigh. I’m partial to the Astros, but seldom (for reasons I don’t even understand) draft any of their players.
Tomorrow we’ll all dial into a conference call that spans 3 states and 10 teams. We’ll laugh at each other’s picks, heckle the guys who take too long to make a choice, and generally have a great time.
I’ve got the sixth pick. Odds are it will be a Met. I figure Pujols, Howard, and Soriano are locks for the first three picks. Next should come Cabrera, Berkman, and possibly Reyes of the Mets. Which should leave me with Reyes, Beltran, or Wright.
All over the country the process is being repeated. Men and women gathering together, swapping stories, picking players. It’s not on any calendar, but it’s a holiday. And one of my favorites.
March 30, 2007 at 7:37 am · Filed under Uncategorized
Spurned. True love left broken and sad. Hey wait, no one’s dancin’ with that coach!!
Billy Gillispie, so we’re told, has declined the offer to coach the Arkansas Razorbacks. Well, actually, Gillispie was never officially offered the job. Seems his AD Bill "Slow" Byrne never gave Arkansas permission to talk to Gillispie until he had a firm commitment from BG that he wouldn’t bolt for the Arkansas job. By then, the picture was clear to even Arkansas AD Frank Broyles, and the two ships passed in the night. Byrne’s refusal is possibly unethical and certainly unorthodox. But hey, he got his man.
Or did he? Gillispie has yet to accept that hefty contract that the Arkansas offer squeezed out of A&M. Turns out Billy has his eye on the prettiest girl at the dance, that gorgeous Kentucky Wildcat. Of course Bill "liar -liar my pants are" Byrne-ing says the contract was in the works all along, the Arkansas offer was never a factor. Byrne-dtoast says it’s only coincidence that BG has been offered double his current salary, and that the oft-delayed construction on a new state-of-the-art practice facility will begin Monday, post haste. Gillispie, meanwhile had this to say………………………………….
That’s right, still no comment from Gillispie. Gillispie has been rumored to be on the short list at Kentucky, which is two pages long. Page one is Billy Donavan, page two is everyone else. Billy, Billy, Billy, tsk, tsk, tsk. Of course BG has wanted to marry a super model all his life, and we wish him well. A warning though, to whomever lands the Kentucky job. She’s fickle, has very expensive tastes, and doesn’t stay satisfied long. (Sounds like the Paris Hilton of coaching jobs. At some point everyone will get their shot.)
You might read all of this and think I’m bitter. But hey, We’re Arkansas, we’re used to rejection and scorn. Looking around the dance floor, we see several sensible, very pretty coaches who look more like the marrying, stay at home type, and we don’t need some bimbo anyways. Let’s just saunter up to one of those sensible ones and strike up a conversation. Hey!?! Isn’t that the Creighton coach?!?
"Dana!! Yo, Dana!! Over here!!"
No Comments
Original post by Bread and Circuses
March 29, 2007 at 8:00 am · Filed under Uncategorized
The hottest news on the college coaching carousel is the Kentucky job, left open when Tubby Smith bolted for the still waters of Minnesota. Speculation has been rampant. Everyone from Calipari to Donavan to Pitino to Crean to Izzo has been mentioned for the job. Calipari and Pitino immediately took their names out of the mix. Donavan has been quietly non-commital, fueling speculation that he may head to Lexington after this weekend’s final four. Lost in all of this is another coaching search, with all the drama, twists and turns we’ve come to expect from everyone’s favorite soap opera, the Arkansas Razorbacks.
The Hogs fired coach Stan Heath Monday, after back-to-back trips to the NCAA tournament. Heath arrived at Arkansas in the turmoil of the Nolan Richardson firing and subsequent racial discrimination lawsuit. (The suit has since been decided in the school’s favor.) Heath had done a good job of reviving a program that had fallen to shockingly low levels following Arkansas’ incredible run in the ’90’s. He brought in better athletes, a sense of discipline, and the man overflows with class. Naturally, he wasn’t a good fit on the Hill.
The biggest problem with Heath was his bench coaching. Whether it was his easy demeanor or lack of experience, the Hogs seldom responded in close games with the fire that was a trademark of Nolan’s teams. As usual the UA administration handled Heath’s dismissal with total ineptitude. It was leaked that if Heath didn’t make the NCAA tournament this season, he would be let go. It seemed a pretty safe bet at the time. Arkansas was 16-14, and coming off an embarrasing home court loss to Tennessee, where the Razorbacks struggled to even inbound the ball against Tennesee’s full-court press.
Then, lo and behold, the team pulled together and won five games in a row. Two of the wins were against Vanderbilt, two more against Mississippi State. It was just enough to get them a ticket to the dance, coming in by most people’s opinion as the last and least deserving at-large team. A blow-out at the hands of USC (how many times must one sad blogger type that phrase?) ended Arkansas’ season. But Heath had done the improbable, salvaging a lost season and doing what it was known he must do. So naturally, Arkansas fired him anyway.
Enter Billy Gillispie. Gillispie is the up and coming coach at Texas A&M, a future star in the coaching profession. A Texas high school coaching legend, Gillispie had instantly turned UTEP, then A&M into winners. In similar fashion to the way the Heath situation was handled, it was made known that Gillispie was AD Frank Broyles’ #1 man. Everyone was assured that Broyles wouldn’t have fired Heath unless he was sure he could get his guy. A&M fans, meanwhile were amazed and unbelieving that anyone would leave College Station and the plains of East Texas, with it’s 12,000 seat field house, for Fayetteville, the Boston Mountains and 20,000 seat Walton Arena. Arkansas’ history of 6 Final Fours, 15 Sweet 16 appearances and almost 600 wins in a 25 year period over the last quarter-century could in no way compare to back-to-back tourney appearances, culminating in a Sweet 16 appearance this year.
Arkansas fans scoffed at the basketball newbie, seen as trying to reach for what they already have. The A&M faithful scoffed at what they see as a delusional program living in the past, irrelevent to today’s players and coaches. And through it all Gillispie said nothing.
It was reported that Gillispie was the choice, nothing. It was reported that Arkansas would be willing to pay $1.6 million, nothing. It was reported that A&M was willing to meet and exceed any offer the Hogs made, nothing. The last report is that A&M has offered a 10 year deal at $2 million per. Gillispie’s response? Nothing. An Arkansas regent responded that money would not be an issue in the Arkansas search. Gillispie’s response, you guessed it. Give the guy credit. Not only has Gillispie made no comment, he hasn’t even been available for a comment.
The Houston Chronicle reported that several A&M regents had assured the paper that Gillispie was staying. The story was quickly amended to say that Gillispie had not officially accepted anything, but the Aggie faithful were "confident". Gillispie’s response? Nothing.
Gillispie’s silence is the only thing keeping this story alive, and he could end speculation as quickly as Calipari and Pitino did in the Kentucky opening, as quickly as Bruce Pearl did with the Iowa job. His silence must be unnerving to both sides.
Bottom line - - Billie, you’re quite the dancer, and we think you’re one fine lookin’ coach. But we’re lookin’ to get hitched, and we’re ready for a honeymoon you’ll never forget. It’s time to say something. Billy, will you marry us?
No Comments
Original post by Bread and Circuses
March 28, 2007 at 5:33 pm · Filed under Uncategorized
Should the Bears take the Redskins offer to swap first round picks (getting the 6th and giving up the 31st along with the rights to all pro linebacker Lance Briggs)?
NO! Absolutely not. Nada. Nyet. Un-uh. No way. Forget it.
Right now the Bears have Briggs services because they hung the "franchise player" tag on him. They also have the 31st pick in the draft. In terms of talent, a late first round pick and a second rounder are about equal in value.
Let’s say the Bears take the deal. They have a)the chance to gamble on one of several very good, but not great prospects and b)a gaping hole in their defense. If they used the pick to replace Briggs there’s a problem. The best linebacker available, Patrick Willis of Mississippi, is no Lance Briggs and probably would last until somewhere between the 10th and 15th pick. So, picking Willis at 6 is wasting some of the value of the choice.
Then you think about what you can get at #6. Probably one of three players, Brady Quinn (QB, Notre Dame), Gaines Adams (DE-Clemson), or Levi Brown (T-Miami). Quinn would be a popular choice with fans, but create an instant quarterback controversy. Rex Grossman won’t be as good as Quinn will be in three years, but Quinn won’t be as good in 2007 as Quinn in 2009 either. And you still have to replace Briggs, who is part of a defense that allows you to live with Grossman at quarterback in the first place.
But Briggs isn’t happy, will cost alot of money as a franchise player ($7.5 million), and is threatening to six out 10 games (so he still knocks off one year of the three the Bears can hang the franchise tag on him). So?
If Briggs sits, he sits. You have to replace him, but if you trade him you have to do that anyway. You also open yourself up to the same power play from other players who have seen you cave in to Briggs. Suddenly the leverage an NFL team has in using the franchise tag isn’t worth anything and any Bear not happy with their deal (and Briggs isn’t the only one) is pressuring the team to let trade them to more generous teams.
Replacing Briggs with the #6 pick is actually more expensive than keeping him and paying him the franchise player rate. That’s because NFL rookies at the #6 pick make more than franchise players with Briggs experience. It may not be fair, it may not sound right, but it’s the deal the NFL Player’s Association agreed to.
There is one last reason not to trade Briggs and that’s to spite the Redskins. It sounds petty, but I’m thinking Briggs agent (Drew Rosenhaus) and Washington owner Dan Snyder have already been talking contract on the side. In the tight club that is the NFL ownership group, that’s a major offense to the established order. Washington has jumped in and made a bad situation for the Bears worse. If Briggs is traded, it won’t be to the Redskins. It could even be to Dallas in order to get back at Snyder.
There are really only two reasons to trade Briggs. First, you think you can trade the Redskins #6 for two late first round picks (remember you already had Briggs and one of those going in) or second you think he’s more of an aggravation than he is a talent. Unfortunately for Briggs, he’s alot more talented than he is annoying. I hope he likes the Windy City. He could (and should) be there for the next three years.
No Comments
Original post by Bread and Circuses
March 27, 2007 at 5:49 pm · Filed under Uncategorized
So Pacman Jones is going to meet with Roger Goodell. Probably the first such meeting to start with the commissioner telling the player, "My family knows I’m meeting with you and if I’m not back in an hour they have been instructed to call the police."
Message to Kobe Bryant. I’ve eaten every negative word I ever wrote about you. Bottom line, it’s not selfish to score 40+ every time out of the gate if your team wins as a result. (And crow isn’t that bad. Use some Texas Pete on it and it tastes just like chicken.)
Payton Manning’s SNL sketch made fun of the NFL United Way spots. Two thoughts. One, I finally have a hero in sports. Two, wonder how hacked off the league is right now? They probably have goons from the United Way on the way to break Manning’s kneecaps. Or worse, they’ve filled in 2500 payroll deduction cards with his name and employee ID number.
John Kerry is fighting for the average Joe against Major League Baseball as Selig & Co. try to sell off a premium channel to Direct TV. Yet somehow I just can’t picture Kerry actually watching a baseball game on TV. Maybe at Fenway Park, but only if the have Gray Poupon mustard for the Fenway Frank.
AT&T is demanding to be allowed to place it’s logo on Jeff Burton’s car. Meanwhile, Thighmaster went to federal court in Philadelphia to demand that MLB let it place ads on the legs of Ryan Howard’s uniform.
I’ve given careful consideration to the Cubs problems with Mark Prior and Kerry Woods. Being from the South, I think I have an answer. Duct tape. Lots and lots of duct tape.
Explain to me again how North Carolina just suddenly stopped scoring against Georgetown. Game under control, Hansbrough scoring at will, and suddenly it all just stopped. And how do you get 17 more points at the free throw line than your opponent and lose?
Here’s another one for you. The Houston Texans pass on Vince Young because they are committed to David Carr at quarterback. They then bypass Reggie Bush and take Mario Williams, a defensive end who charitably could be described as having an unimpressive season. Then the Texans cut Carr the next year and trade for a backup quarterback (Matt Schaub) with the same skill set. Drug testing for GM’s should be further up the NFL’s radar.
NBC renewed it’s deal with the NHL to broadcast a limited number of regular season games and some Stanley Cup finals. The league is reported to be thrilled with the deal, which provides officials with a complete set of the "Friends" deluxe box set and a free tour of NBC studios.
Florida Coach Billy Donovan is said to be considering his options beyond this season. Two words. Boston Celtics. How much more Irish do you need to be to coach the Celtics than Billy Donovan? Plus, he looks vaguely like the guy on their logo.
There is great excitement among the New York Yankees because Andy Petitte threw 25 pitches in the bullpen. Something tells me the Astros made the right call letting Petitte (and his back) go back to New York.
And finally, Duaner Sanchez.
No Comments
Original post by Bread and Circuses
March 26, 2007 at 6:47 pm · Filed under Uncategorized
Come on, people. We’re letting Payton Manning off much too easy. One Saturday Night Live does not make this guy Chris Rock. Alot of people have invested alot of time hating him. Are we just going to let all that negativity, all those nasty blog entries go to waste? Because of ONE good night.
Get your heads out of your DVD’s, line back up at that keyboard, and let’s pound this guy. What’s next? Love letters to Kobe Bryant? Are you going to watch Barry Bonds play with a syringe sticking out his back pocket and say, "Well, we don’t know for sure, we’re can’t really tell if it’s a syringe, Babe Ruth was on heroin most of his career." Yada, yada, yada. We’re bloggers here, so let’s try to act like it. Give me a break.
First off, Manning is overrated. Sure, he’s had a few good commercials and the SNL gig was OK, but you have to consider his supporting cast.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NZpPf-q2_es&mode=user&search=
When you see Manning on TV he’s working in a system that was designed for him. Put those kids in the lineup and they’d make Aaron Brooks into the next Richard Pryor. Put Manning in a lineup with the kids from "Phil From the Future" and he wouldn’t connect on 35% of his jokes. Plus, we haven’t seen Manning work with animals, or animated characters, or super models. Oh yeah, super models.
Tom Brady has worked with super models. He dates one, Giesel Bunchen.
Brady used to date actress Bridget Moynahan, who is expecting his
child. Manning married his college sweetheart. Brady takes risks.
Manning goes with the safe call.
Then there were the passes he threw to the kids. Did you see anything over 10 yards? Did you see him air it out? Sure, he hit 75% of those kids, but in that spread offense you’ve got to nail at least one of the little suckers every down. Johnny Unitas would have shot a bullet to one of those kids on a deep corner and left them in a sling. Manning didn’t even bruise their tiny little hands.
You probably laughed at Manning’s joke about why Brady is like a three ring circus compared to Manning (two more rings). If you look at the film you’ll see that he saw pressure from the SNL band, came up to the mike, and checked down to a safer joke than the one Tony Dungy had sent in.
From the cheap seats it looked to me like Manning phoned in the locker room sketch. Granted, he sustained the routine for over 4 minutes, but when it came time to punch it in Mr. Big Time Commercial Guy couldn’t come up with the key punchline.
Here’s the bottom line. Archie Manning never won an Emmy. Payton Manning has never won an Emmy. Eli Manning is probably never going to win an Emmy. But Tom Brady will probably sleep with someone who does. And that (along with two more rings) is why Payton Manning can’t carry Tom Brady’s cue cards.
13 Comments
Original post by Bread and Circuses
March 25, 2007 at 4:44 pm · Filed under Uncategorized
March Madness could just as easily be called March Mundanity. So many platitudes, so little substance. The coaches talk in coach speak, the players talk in cliches, and the announcers talk endlessly without saying anything.
It’s probably for the best. If I got to hear the interviews and comments I want, coaches would be out of jobs, players would be on probation, and announcers would be begging for spare change on street corners. Still, it might be fun to hear…
(Announcer) "Really, the turnaround came when the alumni forced out Coach Spotless and brought in Elmer Greed from Sleeze U. He was willing to lower academic standards and hook his players up with wealthy alumni. And I’m sure he feels just as bad as anyone about what happened to those girls. Bottom line, Greed did what it took to bring a winner to Foggy State."
(Coach) "Harvey doesn’t know the meaning of the word fear. Heck, I could go on all day about the words Harvey doesn’t know the meaning of. He’s got the heart of a warrior. The brain of a crack addict whose been drinking heavily, but the heart of a warrior."
(Player) "Don’t believe the hype. Johnson didn’t belong on the same court with me. When you look in their eyes and see fear you know they are beat. I took him downtown and left him in the dumpster. After that last pump fake his shoes and the rest of his equipment weren’t even in the same area code."
(Announcer) "It’s like Coach Jones always has said, it’s about the kids. Can’t win without em’, can’t take them out in a field and put them out of their misery."
(Coach) "The sixth man makes the difference for Carolina. You might hold their starters down on any given night, but the refs will always be their extra man on the court. You know it, I know it, the player’s grandmothers know it. You draw the Tarheels in a bracket you might as well just pack up and go home."
(Player) "I got 25 points and 8 boards, in a couple of months I’m going pro. I’ve got a sneaker contract that will pay me more in a year than everyone of your relatives has made going back to when they came to America, and on beyond the next generation. And you think I’m upset because we didn’t win a tournament? I’m high right now, but I’m not as far out as you have to be to ask me that."
(Announcer) "Billy, I’m sitting here listening to you and it occurs to me that you don’t have any idea what you’re talking about and probably haven’t the whole time we worked together. Do you ever listen to what you’re saying?"
(Coach) "Should I have sat Peterson with two fouls at the end of the first half? You’re asking ME, about a coaching decision. Son, I own cuff links that are worth more than what you make in a year. Why don’t you go warm up the Prius and wait in the car while the adults talk basketball."
(Player) "Sometimes in practice Coach would make us run the same play over and over until we were about to drop out. Then I’d just look at him and think, ‘My son is going to have one mean sunofagun for a grandfather.’"
(Announcer) "I’m sorry Jay, what did you say. Did you see that cheerleader?"
It won’t happen, but it never hurts to dream.
1 Comment
Original post by Bread and Circuses
March 24, 2007 at 3:19 pm · Filed under Uncategorized
Bob Woolmer went down hard, just like the Pakistani cricket team he coached. The Jamaican hotel room he was found in had blood on the floors. A bone in his throat was broken. A police investigator said he suspects more than one man would have been involved to subdue Woolmer. He was a big man, in cricket and in life.
Cricket exists in parts of the world that don’t know or care about baseball. In the same way soccer is football to the world, cricket inspires great passion. And now, violence.
Bob Woolmer coached Pakistan’s team in international competition for five seasons, the last just ended with a surprising loss to Ireland. Rumors are that among the most surprised were gamblers, who wager enormous sums on cricket’s World Cup in the way Americans bet on March Madness or the Super Bowl.
The police interviewed and finger printed his players one day, got DNA samples the next. It’s been a bad year for the team, sponsored by President Pervez Musharraf. Two players were suspending in a doping scandal, then the team forfeited a match to Britain after being accused of doctoring the ball.
Woolmer was well liked in cricket circles both in England (where he had been a star player) and in Pakistan, making his murder all the more surprising. This is, naturally, big news in Pakistan and wherever cricket is popular. To put the events in context, it is what it would be like here if Joe Torre was murdered after losing to the Tigers in the playoffs and police were photographed interviewing Derek Jeter and Alex Rodriquez.
Regarded as an honest man, Woolmer had proposed to write a book on cricket, including allegations about gambling and doping. He was upset recently to discover that galley proofs on a book he was working on (which may or may not have been the one he had discussed) turned up missing.
We assume that however complicated "real life" is, that sports are what they seem to be. When we watch March Madness we don’t stop to ponder every odd looking pass or missed layup in the context of whether the games are on the level.
Consider this. Anywhere sports generates passion it also generates interest, interest gamblers turn into enormous profits. Every dollar bet on sports is an enducement to change the dynamics of the game, to change outcomes by bribes and threats. It happened to baseball in the 1919 World Series, it brought down New York City college basketball in the 50’s, and put Pete Rose out of baseball. In 2004 the NCAA surveyed college basketball players 388 players anonymously and found that 17 had taken money to play poorly in a game.
It’s possible a Pakistani fan (and many were very upset with the loss to Ireland) killed Woolmer, or even that his death is unrelated to his role as coach. But the death of Woolmer may be another line crossed on the path to gambling putting an even harder grip on sports. And what happened in Jamaica could easily happen here to a player or coach.
6 Comments
Original post by Bread and Circuses
Next entries »