Category: Sports
Covering the pro sports world in oh-so-many words.
The flattery and the frustration
Not only was I quoted in USA Today yesterday, but my quote was placed between Tony LaRussa and Crash Davis’ immortal monologue in Bull Durham… Unbelievable…
Unfortunately, the article isn’t online. That being said, unless you have Tuesday’s USA Today sports section (page 3C), you’re not going to see what was said…
“Renewing the DH Debate” – USA Today
Click on the title for the article. It happens to have a quote from me jammed between remarks from manager Tony LaRussa and “Crash” Davis’ famous monologue from Bull Durham
Going All out at Busch Stadium
Taken from Cards Fan in Cubs Land
Another of the attractions at the stadium will be bean ball cages. Inspired by the film Happy Gilmore, fans will be able to step into the cage and feel what it is like to be hit by a major league fastball.
I don’t know whether to just :rolleyes at this or what… One of the other features of new Busch stadium is supposedly “Luna Landing” which will be sponsored by NASA?!
Someoen is pissed — and rightly so
Tom Benjamin is pissed off, and with good reason ladies and gentlemen. Here is politics at it’s worst and Pork Barrels in America also at it’s worst:
How does it work? In the United States the entire sports franchise is apparently a depreciating asset. Never mind that the franchise does not wear out like a building or a tangible asset. Never mind that history tells us franchises appreciate over time. Everybody will pretend they depreciate and if you have the money to buy an NHL hockey team in the United States, you get to write off the entire purchase price over 15 years.
Please read the full story on this…
Four and Twelve seems like a real possibility
I haven’t talked about the Tampa Bay Buccaneers for a real long time… I think the last time I put up a post was in January where I gave a general sports roundup. Of course, my sports eye has been on my primary love in Tampa Bay — The Lightning — and that means the Bucs (who I grew to love during their hapless years) have taken a back seat.
Before anyone lays into me about being a bandwagon fan, I support the Buccaneers and haven’t turned a blind eye because another team in town won a championship. The Bucs earned my love over the years from miserable to respectable, and the Lightning won my love since their inception and I place hockey just ahead of football because it was a sport I liked to compete in.
Anyway, I haven’t abandoned the Bucs but I have to turn my eyes because of the train wreck the franchise has become.
Lets go to January of 2003 first and foremost and Jon Gruden / The Tampa Bay Buccaneers winning the Super Bowl. When Jon won the title, little did fans know it gave him carte blanche over the Buccaneer Franchise. A team assembled by Rich McKay and Tony Dungy was put over the top by Jon and of course we all loved him for it because this was the Buccaneers finally reaching the paramount of the NFL after being as low as you could get for so long.
Things fell apart last year as Jon Gruden started to follow a trend that previous Buccaneer coaches have shown and fallen with — Absolute power corrupts absolutely. The Glazer’s catered to his every whim and the only guy who stood in his way was Rich McKay…
Was, past tense. Rich left the only franchise he had known and went north to Atlanta… Jon was allowed to keep walking the walk he wanted and the Bucs continued the downward spiral.
A trend from Oakland seems to be in place here — not just a desire for veteran players over building a team from the ground up with talented youngsters, but also a “Just win, baby” mentality that tells players their off-field antics amount to shit as long as they perform on the field.
Case in point – Michael Pittman remains on the Buccaneer roster even though he is guilty of ramming his car into his wifes vehicle with children inside. He faces possible jail time and Jon Gruden could give a shit.
The Bucs picked up another ass-clown from the Raiders in the form of Bruce Allen who cut one foo the greatest players in Tampa Bay Buccaneer history – John Lynch — and signed one of the most notorious players in NFL history — Darrell Russell, who drugged a girl and taped him and his friends raping her.
Allen went so far as to compare Russell with former president Bill Clinton and said the rapist is guilty of less crimes than Clinton. (side-note, Allen’s brother is a Republican Senator in Virginia)
I could keep going with moves the Bucs have made and crimes their players have committed since the Super Bowl Championship, but I can’t. It’s watching a train wreck as it occurs and their are more people than just myself who can see this. For the first time since Raymond James Stadium was opened, their are tickets available on Ticketmaster for Buccaneers games this late after the initial public offering of tickets. The Bucs boast a season ticket waiting list of 110 thousand but all it takes is filling out a form online in order to do so. Somehow, my name is on the Season Ticket waiting list and I hate watching football in person. I didn’t sign up and I don’t have the foggiest clue how I got on there…
The number is artificially inflated and more than half of those on this waiting list would not invest in the current product on field.
I look at the Buccaneers this season and I see the train wreck in progress. I feel bad for guys like Derrick Brooks and Mike Alstott who are pillars in the community and who will be cut lose if it meant a marginal offensive tool could be picked up. The once vaulted defense is in shambles and Jon Gruden was given a contract extension before the season to continue is free reign over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
6-10 may be a reach but 4-12 is still a possibility this season. Break out the orange, it’s Yuccaneer football all over again.
Just when you thought you could escape the voting sites
Well, the Bolts won the cup — Hurray!
The Calgary Flames have their Flames Girls instead of the Cup and all can enjoy them — Hurray!
Now? How about Hockey perverts showing off on the web and being able to rate them?!
What a perfect name for a race horse
I wonder if there’s ever been “Elmer’s Glue Incorporated” in the sport of Horse Racing.
What a great name!
Designated Hitter and USA Today
Heads up, sports fan… I might be mentioned in USA Today in an upcoming article about the Designated Hitter. I was talking to writer Mike Dodd about the DH last week and… well, it appears that later this summer (after the Olympics in Greece) there will be an article featuring m’self talking about the Designated Hitter.
Something strange is afoot here…
Just when did i get on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers Season Ticket waiting list???
I got an email from the team that addressed me as a Season Ticket Waiting list member. I don’t recall ever adding my name to the season ticket waiting list. Hell, I don’t even have the money to get a season ticket – let alone would I enjoy being at Buc games (sorry boys but Football is better, for me at least, on Television).
Fintal Fight,
This will lead you to my write-up before I left for Game 7 of the 2004 Stanley Cup Finals.
Stranger in a strange land
So the Lightning have one last game this season, and that last game is the true title game as the Stanley Cup Champion will be crowned after this game.
And Keith is heading down here tonight and will be arriving early tomorrow morning in Tampa to catch the game and stay a couple of day sin Tampa Bay.
It”s odd enough for me to deal with the fact the Lightning are playing for the Stanley Cup, it’s been a wild last couple of days and last couple of weeks as I have had several things change around me — which I never blogged in here .
But now I have to play International Host which I have never done before. Hell, i have never traveled by myself and can’t fathom how Keith is doing it – flying from Calgary to Tampa… I feel some insecurities because I’m still a gimp for the most part and he wants to take in some events here in Tampa and o course i want to show him around too… And doing that by car isn’t exactly how I planned it.
ON one hand, I wan tot meet him and show him the beauty of Florida before the Bolts kick the shit out of the Flames (and after :tongue) :biggrin, and on the other hand – now I know the feeling that others might feel when they are told someone is going to be visiting their neck of the woods to almost specifically meet.
But then again – it’s immaturity to look for a escape route – which I’ve seen in the past. Which I’ve participated in, in the past.
How is Chuck LaMar still Tampa Bay GM?
| Would someone care to explain to me how this assclown still has a job?
Charles M. LaMar the worst General Manager in Baseball and one of the worst in pro sports in general, has not been held accountable for years upon years of sub-mediocre play by the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. How many times do people have to point out LaMar needs to be held accountable? John Romano did it years ago. David Egbert has done it several times and in different places. Of course, I have done it more than once, on here. In the Times and elsewhere. And of course, even the message boards get into it — I mean you can even find stuff on FanHome quite easily…. over, and over, and over again. And what do Rays fans get? They get LaMar for another two years thanks to him refurbishing the team with a new set of mediocre players. What’s even worse? The assclown even blames himself for the team being abysmal. It’s like he’s mocking those who don’t like him or how he’s run this team. “Yup, I’m to blame but there is absolutely shit you can do. Nyah-nyah-nyah-nyah-nyah!” |
 |
I have followed Tampa Bay’s quest for a baseball team, I have had high hopes when the team came together and how LaMar was doing at the beginning…. but year after year, mistake after mistake – LaMar wore me down, he’s ruined my love for baseball by being the idiot who has been in charge of architecture of the league’s 30th franchise. He’s made me lose the pride I have in this area with a mockery of players that are also-rans, has-beens or never-will-be’s… And of course, when he does find a diamond in the rough – the player is assured to be traded for more questionables.
Yes, you can tell me that this is baseball and there is no such thing as a sure thing in this game… but after 8 years of LaMar at the helm of the Rays, 8 years of blunders, 8 years of mistakes, 8 years of zero accountability – it’s time to pull the plug and end this farce once and for all.
Fire LaMar. Fire LaMar now and declare this season over – as it has been since Opening Day for the Devil Rays.
To the BROOM Alice!!!
Was going to do the Obsessive/Compulsive thing in this post but I decided not to, too nice an end to the day to dwell on things that bother me…
I was going to make a brief mention that my dad is OK (thanks for the well wishes Stephen), but that has taken a back seat…
The Lightning have swept the Habs in the Eastern Conference Semi-Finals! :biggrin :woot
Thoughts on Pat Tillman — former NFL player killed in Afghanistan
Pat Tillman, former NFL player who gave up the game and turned his back on millions from the Arizona Cardinals to join the Army Rangers after 9-11, was killed while involved in the hunt for Osama Bin Laden and Al Qaeda in Afghanistan. I know at the time he joined up and news was everywhere about it, I was a little put back by this — for political reasons, admittedly — but now I have such a new appreciation for him and I can’t fathom the amount of sacrifice this man has made for America.
I wrote a couple of “Letters to the Editor” at the St. Petersburg Times over this, and I won’t repost it entirely because I took jabs at Simeon Rice, Defensive End for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and former Defensive End for the Arizona Cardinals who put down Tillman in general in the media after he enlisted (and personally I like taking jabs at that pompous son of a bitch when I can get the chance) but I did make the statement that Tillman has made the ultimate sacrifice for his country, and he is a prime example of why we here in America are able to enjoy the comforts we know and live a good life where we can do things like play a game for a living in the first place.
Tillman was fighting on the front that mattered IMHO… Someone attacks the US and you go find the source and deal with it… And to lose your life trying to stand up for your country… that just means a hell of a lot to me. That’s Patriotism, that’s what the government has distorted and perverted for Politics since 9-11 happened.
It further cements certain ideals in me… That Iraq was wrong (and costing us billions while costing US Soldiers their lives to fight for a rich man’s principles), that the War on Terrorism needs a new game plan, etc… Yet it gives me a better understanding of how and why we should appreciate the comforts we have…. Because these comforts were paid in the price of blood by many before us. It also makes me feel a monumental appreciation — that’s not even the right word, admiration might work better — for Tillman who gave it all up, who turned his back on MILLIONS to fight to protect his country. Fighting to protect makes me feel so much more for a war than fighting to spread an ideal. Vietnam was fighting to spread an ideal and it wasn’t the right thing to do. Iraq is fighting to spread an ideal and it’s spreading hatred instead and helping the forces we wanted to stop in Afghanistan It’s ironic I blasted Rice because I admire Defense so much more than Offense as these political statements make.
I could go on about political beliefs here and thoughts on war but this should be Pat Tillman’s post… because Tillman’s sacrifice can’t be dismissed.
Rest in peace, Pat Tillman. And let honor ring around your name as it rings around the names of those who have fallen before you to protect the nation and the world.
Atonement
I posted last night about Hit for the Cycle and Charles Hamilton’s quest to bike to every MLB baseball stadium. I also posted about how crappy the Devil Rays game was for him and how much of a hard time the Rays gave him.
Well, in an attempt to make up for the sins of the local team, I’ve been trying to give some extra press to Charles by emailing local sports personalities. I’ve also offered to host his site and set up a web log for him — if he wants it. I’ve also offered to buy tickets at another stadium for him in case he needs them… because if the Devil Rays won’t give him a freebie, a Devil Rays FAN will do what he can to set him up for a freebie.
HitfortheCycle.org — worthy cause and Worthless Rays
Paythe Rays is what Charlie Hamilton had to sum up his experience at Tropicana Field. Hamilton happens to be biking to every single major league ballpark to raise money for the Dana Farber Cancer Institute…
So instead of donating tickets or being treated special — the Rays made it impossible for him to get tickets, gave him a run around and shitty service to boot. And people ask me why I hate this team? :rolleyes
If you’re a baseball fan, Hamilton’s cause is a notable one. Make sure you check out his page and his schedule and route map and perchance help him along on his quest… or better yet — join him for a day at the ballpark.
The Competition
I didn’t want to post this on Boltsmag and ridicule another Tampa Bay Lightning web log, but after reading the journal in question and this post — I just want to gag…. :puke
tb_lightning: *eagerly awaiting the Lightning to lead the series 2-1*
*eagerly awaiting the Lightning to lead the series 2-1*
I wish this area had more supportive fans like are seen on this journal.I was sitting in French class today, and the girl next to me goes: “I don’t really care who wins, but the Islanders are all much better looking than the Lightning”… I had to remain silent (else I would have screamed!- “Elle est tres stupide!”) since I was writing an essay, but seriously… a puckbunny? and for the wrong team. I sure hope this area at least becomes more supportive of the Lightning. And fast. I can deal with bandwagon fans if they’ll at least support FOR REAL for once.
p.s- The Lightning will win tonight. Afterall, we’ve seen the hunger in interviews, we just need to see it out on the ice. They are so very beautiful when they win.
p.p.s.- does anyone besides me notice that the Islanders play the consistently same defense every night? we just need to not pass and sneak in from behind maybe? their trapping wouldn’t work then. and their puckhandling has nothing on ours anyhow.
also, in case anyone wants to have any hockey parties and let me know about them, I am willing to bake or bring NHL 2001 for the Playstation, lol.
“A puckbunny?” That’s you, kiddo. That’s everyone who uses your site, so it seems. Little girls or children who are fans because these players are cuties and don’t really understand the game…
I’ve dealt with enough puck bunnies in my time to have to be associated with another one… :rolleyes
The Way to beat the Lightning
Those who stayed in on this beautiful spring day (at least in Florida) got to see exactly how to beat the Lightning.
Aggressive checking and a backstop worth a damn will do wonders…
Moving on to Nassau Collesium…
The Madness
Does it trouble anyone else that March Madness lasted till mid April?
Just an observation… :wink
Lightning clinch #1 seed
With Boston’s tie against Washington, the Bruins can do no better than tie the Lightning for most points in the conference.
Meaning for the first time in their history, the Tampa Bay Lightning are regular season Eastern Conference champs and secure home ice advantage throughout the playoffs! :woot
Lemme say this again because this is weighty stuff for anyone who has been following this team since their inception, through the ups and downs:
THE TAMPA BAY LIGHTNING ARE REGULAR SEASON EASTERN CONFERENCE CHAMPIONS!
Yes, this means absolutely jack shit in the playoffs, but this is still an incredible feet for a franchise that lost 50 games for 4 straight seasons)
:smile
LaMar's Contract extended and a friends take on MY take….
From Paul who runs Witty Librarian…
Just saw this on the Trib’s web site. John, go ahead, I’ll cover my ears
now…**space provided for John F. to scream a scream of the damned so loud it
would shatter the world**
….sigh
Nooooooooooo!!!!!
BASTARDS!!!!!
**additional space provided for John F. to issue a string of profanities that
would impress the hell out of the U.S. Navy**
Motherfucking cocksucking Devil Ray snotty bastards… Christ almighty in a handbasket, these goofy pieces of shit don’t understand crap when it comes to how to hold fuck-ups accountable and they deserve to rot there lice infested carcases in hell for all fucking eternity!!!!
Whew, okay are you done?
Not yet, Paul. Soon. :smile
**additional space provided for John F. to express how he really feels about
the most incompetant baseball general manager in human history, even worse
than the numbnuts who mismanaged the Cubs during the 60s and 70s and 80s and early 90s**
(due to content of this post and overall repetition of ranting about the worst GM in baseball — Charles M. “Chuckles” “Chucky”, “Chuckles the Clown”, “Worthless”, “Lamer” LaMar — over the years, this potion of my rant is kept out :smile )
Finished?
For now, Paul, yeah… Mostly because you said that no more space was allowed due to the FCC cracking down on salty language :smile
King Gimp
Oh, the life of a walker-bound sports fan…
Last night me, Michelle, her brother Geoff and one of Geoff’s friends attend the Lightning vs. Devils game at Times Palace. The game itself was a bore for the most part but the company was real good.
What sucked was getting to and from the arena.
I haven’t walked through a cityscape with this walker and my first experience with that was last night – it’s tough folks. It’s even tougher getting into an arena without knowing the access points for cripples and gimps… No offense intended towards the disabled.
And leaving the building? Don’t get me started…
Even the fans are in Spring Training — in understanding baseball
Keith: Rain?
Keith: First fucking baseball game of the year, and it has to Rain in Florida?
Keith: bah! A Pox on the state of greyhairs!
John F.: rain?
John F.: are you serious?
John F.: it’s sunny here
John F.: was it yesterday? It was sunny THEN too
Keith: http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/scoreboard ESPN has all games in a rain delay
Keith: Or, they are testing their “R” key out
John F.: R stands for RUNS
John F.: LMAO
Keith: (blush)
Keith: fuck
* Keith goes back to bed
The Tampa Bay Lightning weblog
I launched Boltsmag last week. It’s another Blog devoted to the NHL but I’m not sure how many southern hockey teams have Blogs like this….
…Hell, there aren’t many fan pages for the Lightning, let alone a full weblog like I am running now.
I also could use contributors – someone who is a devote message board poster might work best.
Coming or not, here it is…
Well, just in case it DOES happen, here’s the logo for that Lightning site I was talking about in a previous entry….
Thinking of taking a (hockey) Dive….
I used to write, a long long time ago, for a hockey publication.. A local one… One that had a good little mix of local readers and local fans talking it up and hanging out on the site…
This of course was a crappy Rivals.com site but it worked. It had a dedicated owner, a dedicated set of fans and a couple of kids (including me) who wanted to do what they could to get noticed and get published and what not….
I’d like to try setting something like that up again…. But an MT version of it… (meaning a journal report on the Lightning if it’s possible).
It IS possible, the thing is I am not a great writer — well, it’s not exactly writing as so much reporting and I am a worse reporter than I am a writer… Why? I can’t get to locations to report… Not only hat but when I DO report, I get the information wrong…
I’d love to have a site, though, dedicated to one of the local sports teams and with a team of fans to help report on the team…. The Lightning is the best team to achieve that with, as the Buccaneers want to keep everything in house and the Devil Rays happen to resent their fans with a vengence….
A Tampa Bay Lightning fan site while the Lightning are getting ready for their next playoff push might be fantastic to launch… Though it also might be suicide seeing the NHL is on a collision course with the Apocalypse.
Long Overdue Sports Roundup
Well, I have totally avoided the subject of sports for the most part — I don’t mean certain sports topics because I know I have left a couple of sports entries the past month but I haven’t written much of anything with concern of los deportes since October 2003 with the Marlins winning the World Series, and there is always a vast allotment of things to talk about with regards to Pro Sports that I have passed over for the sake of just being a lazy ass….
So let me get cracking with regards to sports and my sports world here in Tampa Bay. Where shall I begin?
I made a post in October regarding the Bucs vs. Indianapolis Colts and expect the Bucs to get a win and my friend Bill’s new born niece to get a “birthday present”. I never, however, posted the fact that Los Buccaneeros de Tampa Bay went ahead and blew the game. That game and the utter let down by both the offense and the defense basically summed up the Bucs season from that point on — full of sound and fury, signifying nothing. The once dominating Tampa Bay defense turned into a shell of itself. The over-hyped Jon Gruden offense was a disaster area, committing penalty after penalty in order to kill drives and kill chances of victory. Former University of Florida offensive lineman Kenyatta Walker was horrendous with regards to committing infractions at the worst times….
And this was just the start of things.
Jon Gruden and Keyshawn Johnson clashed and Jon Gruden deactivated Keyshawn at midway through the season. This caused a great deal of conflict in the Buccaneers front office, along with other problems that weren’t known to the average Buc fan. Rich McKay, Buccaneer General Manager and son of it’s first head coach, Jim McKay, ended up leaving the team because of conflicts with Gruden. Some people might have sided with Jon Gruden and his “Just win, baby” style that he picked up from Al Davis while he coached with the Raiders, but I’m someone who believes that McKay was the more-valuable between the two. McKay built the Buccaneer team that went on to win the Super Bowl in 2003. He helped turn the Buc franchise around from perennial losers to the winning franchise it has been the last 6 years.
But now he’s been shown the door…
He wasn’t very fond of some of the low-quality personnel that Jon Gruden was after — low quality when it comes to moral standards and length-of-rap-sheets and I am one that agrees on that. I guess it’s the fact that I saw Tony Dungy – a high quality person and a moral leader – come into the Bucs, change them into winners on field, and expect players to perform on field and be respectable off it as Dungy did. When players got into trouble while Dungy was head coach, it would mean that you would soon be shown the door if your infraction was big enough. I’m not talking about missing team meetings, I’m talking about crimes that players get away with so often in society.
The Bucs finished 7 and nine, there worst finish since 1998. Looking at 2004 with Gruden and Ray Allen, newly hired GM from the Raiders, in charge…. i don’t hold optimism toward the team for one reason or another. Maybe it’s parity alone that spoils my optimism for the club or perhaps it is the “Just win” attitude? The mystique is gone for the time being… When it returns for me is anyone’s guess.
Meanwhile, the Tampa Bay Lightning seem on a rebound as of late after falling into the gutter through November and December. After a white-hot start, the team fizzled through the next 24 games and only now dseem to be turning the corner back towards winning – and even now, that isn’t certain. Looking at the problems the Bolts have faced, I have been somewhere in the middle with regards to firing John Tortorella or just making a trade to shake up the roster and bring in some new blood. I personally believe that a new player – an upper echelon type of guy, could have helped the team get back to winning but hindsight is 20-20… it also might have led to destroying the chemistry of the team…
Pete Rose is all over the news because he finally came out and admitted he bet on Baseball. It’s an awkward situation because Rose took the hoopla away from the Hall of Fame ballotting that happened this week and also hasn’t won over any traditionalists in baseball. The sympathizers (like myself) think Pete should be in the hall regardless… The traditionalists think the lifetime ban should stay in place because now there is proof Rose committed the cardinal sin of Baseball by betting on games…
Only time will tell if Pete gets his just due and gets enshrined in the hall.
Traditionless
I was flipping through the cable channels this evening and came across ESPNews, which was reporting a trade between the New York Knicks in the NBA and another team. I started thinking about the Knicks name, which is short for Knickerbockers, and how classy/traditional the name is in a sense that it just seems totally old school…
It then occured to me that any or every NBA player has to ask themselves what the hell a Knickerbocker is. They also probably wonder why the team is keeping such a lame name…
Welcome to the NBA.
You look at the other professional sport leagues and not only are names with non-modern/urban undertones in existence, but there are traditions stacked upon traditions in each league. The NHL has the hat trick — which leads to caps thrown onto the ice. Major League Baseball has the 7th Inning Stretch. The NFL has the coin flip, gatorade dousings and individual traditions (as do MLB and teh NHL) such as the Lambeau Leap and the Thanksgiving Day games involving the Cowboys and the Lions….
What does the NBA have?
The NBA has rapists, drug abusers, teenagers who skipped College for the money and shoe deals with Nike. The NBA has arrogance and individualism. The NBA tries to be one big highlight reel of slam dunks….
And people wonder why I don’t follow the sport?
While fans in Detroit are tossing Octopi onto the ice at Joe Louis Arena to celebrate a Red WIngs goal, and while Yankee fans are dancing to Rock and Roll Part Two (the Hey song) or YMCA between innings, NBA fans have mascots doing basketball tricks and players bitching at each other and making threats. While the Buccaneers have their pirate ship firing after a touchdown (a relatively new tradition), the NBA has gimmick slam dunks that everyone tries to imitate.
Michael Jordan is not the norm of the NBA — he’s just the most imitated player.
The lone bright spot after a week of Insomnia
Look at the time this is getting published. I am not a happy camper…
And at the saem time… Indeed I am a happy camper. I got m’self published again in the local rag…:
Rays’ LaMar must go
Published December 21, 2003
Since the inception of the Devil Rays there have been two constants for the franchise: mediocrity and Chuck LaMar. Each season LaMar shows his judgment of talent is less than stellar. Each season his sub 70-win teams earn him another year under contract.
Why is the worst executive in major-league baseball allowed to continue his free rein of ridiculousness? Why hasn’t LaMar been held accountable for the Rays never winning 70 games? For never placing outside of the cellar in the American League East? For poor signings, poor scouting, bad judgment, poor personnel moves? Please don’t feed me the “just look at who he is competing with in the American League East” logic. If the last few years have shown baseball fans anything, it’s that a good judge of talent and some key signings of players who aren’t necessarily superstars can put a team in contention.
The only thing LaMar’s decisions have led to is more futility, more ridiculousness and a further shroud of dread that follows the Devil Rays wherever they go. It’s high time LaMar and his front-office staff were finally held accountable for the mediocrity that is continually shown on field, and thus shown the door.
— John Fontana, Palm Harbor
Ode to FanHome
Jeezus, did Kevin M. Cabral screw the pooch when I look over domain registrations in InterNIC and what not this morning.
This summer I had taken time to just check up on domain registrations for names of sites that used to be part of the FanHome.com network – names like www.baseballboards.com, www.hockeyboards.com, www.footballboards.com. Very valuable domain names that already have other domains pointing to them and thus great recognizability on the Internet.
Kevin let each of these wayward domain names expire, pissing away their value much like he pised away the value of FanHome when he originally got offered to sell the site out for 50 thousand dollars in 1999 (which is more than it’s worth now).
What does this have to do with FanHome? I don’t know exactly. I DO know I am missing the original site since I read an article on the Howard Dean Connection and the phenomenon that is bringing the Dot-Com age back into chic. In 1999-2002 I was intimitaley tied to FanHome in one way or another. In 1998 I had been a dot-commer and went dot-bomb like the rest of the industry… The thing is, there was this sense, this aura, that always drove you when you were involved on these projects (be it FanHome or Weblink Communications Inc – my former Dot-Com bosses)… “The Revolution” was a phrase that was used so much, as a joke of sorts but at the same time, it was the attitude of those working together on any given project. We weren’t just changing how business was done, we were forging a new entry into business entirely.
Of course, then things went to SHIT with FanHome.
I say things went to shit – I burned out of course. I was one man doing most of the administration work even though I wasn’t doing the software side of it. I did have underlings and I did have support from those underlings, along with the remainder of administration at FanHome… But 60 thousand users just got to be too much… no pay? That too. The fact I was in love? That three… I didn’t want to spend time talking about AEC and Ledge again, I wanted to focus on my own life and the fact that I needed to get my ass in action (even though it’s tough to do with my medical condition).
That was more than a year ago of course.
So where do we sit now? FanHome remains shit as part of the Insiders network – using the worst message board software availible to message board users (EZ Boards) while retianing a loyal base of users that slowly errodes while Kevin continues to live the rich-boy life. Matt Rogish, technical database administrator extrodinaire is off somewhere working a solid job. I think he finally graduated from the University of Miami (Ohio) while Alberto Corral, COO of Fanhome, continues towards a masters degree and is looking at a new job coming to him in the near future (if he doesn’t already have it).
And John F? Who cares, he’s blogging….
REALLY great show of Support for Kobe
Oh yeah, this is really going to convince me that we should give Kobe Bryant the benefit of the doubt — a crazy asshole / convicted rapist is lobbying to clear Kobe because — hey! Rough sex is rough sex and all athletes deserve a little pussy now and again :rolleyes :puke
In other sports news — Grady Little got the axe after blowing Game 7 of the ALCS by leaving in his pitcher just a BIT too late…
:woot :woot :woot :woot :woot
Too Little, too late though….
FISHIES!!!
OH MY GOD!!!!!!
The MARLINS WIN THE WORLD SERIES! THE MARLINS WIN THE WORLD SERIES!!
(side note — if I saw Chicago vs. Florida as a sign, what kind of sign should I take THIS as?!?!? :biggrin)
Congratulations to Miami fans! At least THIS team isn’t going to be gutted next year!!!
Got any Yankees? GO FISH!
I’m not that big of a Marlins fan — but please, oh please dear Lord… Let the Fish win this thing!
Yuck the Fankees
Grady Little is the biggest fucking chump of all time.
“Duh…. Lets see, Pedro looks worn out.. . Ah… wait for the tie game.. yeah… then yank him!”
Forget Buckner and forget the other goats the Red Sox have dealt with — it’s the managers who keep screwing the pooch. McNamara put in a shitty Schiraldi and kept Buckner in after Subbing the guy in late innings all year…
But even Little trumped him by keeping Martinez in too long on 4 days rest…
My heart is…
….with Boston tonight.
SCREW THE CURSE!!
And on a lighter note, the Abolish the DH petition site is finally fixed. Heh. Took me a year……
Congratulations are in order
Holy Cow!
The Florida Marlins have won the National League Pennant! The first time since 1997 have they accomplished this feat…
Wow — I am just stunned… I mean, I went to school with a guy who was traded from the Marlins this summer. He’s gotta be kicking himself now…
Congratulations Miami fans…. THIS team doesn’t earn my wrath like the 1997 “Bought championship” team.
There’s so much I could say here and so much I won’t … Take that as you will…
My World Series desires….
It’s the end of the world as we know it,
It’s the end of the world as we know it,
It’s the end of the world as we know it
And I feel fine
Cubs vs. Red Sox is my intrepid desire for the WS… Looks like I may get at least half of it… Go Cubs!
One down, three to go
Bolts win in a slaughter — 5-1
USF is just hanging on vs. TCU…. Very much still in the game, 13-3…
Cubbies are holding on against the Marlins, 2-1….
And the 4th… well… Won’t happen.
What am I supposed to make of this?
Chicago Cubs vs. Florida Marlins — National League Championship Series.
Sarah, if you read this, your mom must be doing cartwheels (if not the whole fam)… congrats to her…. Congrats to Cubbie fans everywhere….
The Pros and Cons of Rush Limbaugh
I need to sound off here a week after some stuff came up in the national media regarding fellow Cochlear Implant user Rush Limbaugh and his big, fat, mouth…
You see, Rush did something that was stupid – really stupid. If he had watched what he said and had found another way around the issue, he could have gotten away with it and gotten props from many around the country. Instead? He played the race card and he can now eat shit and die for all the country cares – because he committed the crime of trying to suggest a great quarterback was over-rated because the media wanted to paint a black QB as great.
Two sides to it this:
In defense of Rush — Donovan McNabb being over-rated is something that me and my friends have mused about over the years. He’s also a killer QB when he is on and I have nothing but respect for him. We talk about how the media kisses up to certain quarterbacks — Michael Vick is the current wonder boy, Chad Pennington also last year — and that Donovan has gotten put on a pedestal – which imay or may not be above his abilities. Would I willingly trade Brad Johnson for Donovan McNabb? I’d be at war with myself trying to make that decision but McNabb end’s up winning that battle… Yet I still believe the guy gets over-rated at times. If Rush Limbaugh had focused on the idea that certain quarterbacks get propped up and named names – he could have avoided everything.
In revile of Rush — What the fuck were you thinking bringing in the race card?! Don’t spew your “liberal media” bullshit, because that ain’t it. That’s the remarks of a racist — not of a commentator which you tried to be with ESPN. Listen, you have an interesting mind but you have a shitty way of drawing conclusions and therefore you got just what you deserved — getting chased out of this job because you can’t keep your political leanings and staunchly, overly in fact, conservative views from upsetting the viewing public.
In closing: Keep the race card out of the NFL and pro sports in general. If a guy can play – let him do it. If a guy has no talent, keep the bum off the field… and if Rush Limbaugh applies for a job with you — only hire him if it’s a non speaking role.
I CAN'T LOOK! I CAN'T LOOK!!!
Anyone who knows me knows I love the Buccaneers — or did love the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Maybe they were hapless in yesterday, maybe they were oh-so-close and that’s why I loved them. Right now I can’t bring myself to love them, or even watch them for that matter. On this first day of Autumn (or is that tomorrow?) I can’t bring myself to sit down and enjoy the game like I would usually do.
“Why?” you ask. Well, The problem is there is differences in this offense and this team compared to the old teams. There was this “They could do it! They just got to do a little bit more than the basics to get it done!” attitude to everything in the past. In fact I grew up on Slam-mouth football (running the football and passing on key downs alone) with the New York Giants and the Buccaneers under Tony Dungy… Yet now with Jon Gruden, the team has become a flying circus or it at least feels like it is being one under Gruden’s playcall.
Barely any running, giving too many attempts at the pass… Not owning the clock, not giving the defense a chance to rest… Just ATTACK, ATTACK, ATTACK. It just is NOT how you should play football unless you have a significantly weaker opponent. And you RARELY get that in the NFL.
At any rate, I’ll update you all (or key people) how I am doing later on… Right now I need to vent. I need to eat. I need to drink. I need to get my ass in gear and WRITE my next assignment.
Yuck-aneers
I’m angry — the Bucs just played the worst game I have seen them play since the early 1990’s. Too many penalties, no real fire in them…
12-9 the final. One word: UGLY
The War begins
It’s just past 6 minutes into the Buccaneers vs. Philadelphia Eagles game at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia and I can’t believe the hype coming from the locals and from the national media — it feels like the NFC Title game all over again, yet I doubt a mad contingent will flock to Raymond James Stadium to greet the Buccaneers home after the game.
But seeing replays from last year, hearing quotes and seeing a god game so far has given me chills and brought to life some of my inner passion — which, for the record, doesn’t usually need to be brought to life, thankyouverymuch.
This also signals my escape from the void which has been plaguing me since I got out of the hospital on Wednesday. I haven’t broken down today or concentrated on the negative, and yet the negative remains and my heart is heavy with grief — gripping at air for the positives that are surely out there in a world that has become a graveyard to me.
Kobe Bryant and the Spoils of an NBA Star
Saving a post from KillTheweb.com’s blog because we may be getting rid of it. Want to save this before it goes the way of the dodo
I think by now all of you Kobe Bryant case. Maybe you’re thinking his accuser is just a gold digger, maybe you’re thinking Kobe is just another sports-star-turned-human?
In all likelihood, this is a guy who’s spoiled life from the age of 18 has finally caught up with him.
Think about it – Kobe went in the NBA draft, forgoing college, and was selected by the now relocated Charlotte Hornets. What did he do? He whined, saying he wouldn’t play in the Carolina’s and manipulated his way to Los Angeles.
Nice start to a career, isn’t it? Being handed millions upon millions of dollars just to suit up for a team and then saying “No! I don’t want to! Not there! Nooooooooo!”
He’s played some great games but he’s also been a selfish bastard at times, complaining he wants more, wants more, “I wanna be featured!”
There’s no I in team, Kobe.
And of course, even if things get settled in his favor, he’s gotta patch things up with his wife… a 4 million dollar ring helps for starters but… Um… That just proves how materialistic a society we are, and if she really wants to prove that with him – take him for half of everything he owns in divorce.
Kobe needs a wake up call — and this experience will be that, unless things are manipulated in his favor once again.
