Early end to the week, as I'm heading to Texas for a wedding. But plenty of stuff to leave you with.
• Olympics open tonight (this morning really) in Beijing. Will the delegations wear masks during the ceremony (my bet is no), will there be protests (my bet is yes but not during the ceremonies, and NBC is guaranteed to talk about them for 15 minutes or so) and will China's flag be the highest when the athletes carry them into the stadium (definitely, given that it will be carried by Yao Ming.
• Yankees avoided trouble last night. They lost Joba, lost Pudge and lost the first two games in Texas against the Rangers. Had they been swept or even lost 3 of 4 heading into Anaheim (with Giese and Kennedy set to pitch) it probably would have killed their hopes for a playoff berth. Good thing Mike Mussina stepped up big last night.
• Since I likely won't be able to update until Monday, keep an eye on Jim Furyk, +1 through round 1 of the PGA Championship. Not a great start, but as mentioned a while back, I still like him to pull through.
No time for spellcheck, so hopefully this willl be error free (at 4:30 a.m.? Not bloody likely.)
8.07.2008
Favre Lands With Jets
How fitting that on the day that professional reporters were tracking flight traffic to discern if Brett Favre had left Green Bay, the quarterback is traded to the New York Jets. At least the media coverage should die down in the media capital of the world ... oh ...
The Olympics begin tomorrow, but the soccer tournament has already begun with the U.S. women losing to Norway 2-0 and the men beating Japan 1-0. The women should still be able to make the medal round, but their prospects look a lot worse once they get there after a pasting like Wednesday's. Losing Abby Wambach in the team's tune-up win over Brazil was a brutal stroke of bad luck.
According to this story, the pollution in Beijing's bad air has actually gone indoors , w
ith a haze collecting on the ceiling of the aquatic center.
ith a haze collecting on the ceiling of the aquatic center. And since the Games have yet to award their first medal, that means that Afghanistan is atop the medal count! This could be the feel good story of the Olympics.
Sports Illustrated released its complete college football rankings. Georgia comes in at No. 1, though both East Carolina and Northwestern sit ahead of perennially over ranked Notre Dame. This thing must be broken.
8.06.2008
Wednesday Items
Sorry for the missed update on Tuesday, but just didn't have time to put it up.
The Favre Saga, still, is the big story of the day. The main rumor is that he'll be traded to Tampa Bay by the end of the day. Please just let this end.
The big story of my day on Monday was when F.C. Barcelona kicked us off our softball field in order to practice in Central Park. The team is in town to play the New York Red Bulls of MLS, well, fame is the wrong word, but they're part of Major League Soccer. Pretty cool to see Thierry Henry warming up in the park a few feet away. Dude's got his own Gillette commercial, in the States, so you know he's legit. Goals like these help too.
Funniest anecdote came when some kids started giddily sprinting toward the team and one of them, wrapped in an F.C. Barcelona flag, yells to his cohorts, "Guys! Don't Make a Scene!" Good call, flag boy, keep it subtle.
Manny Being Mangled? Okay, so it's Manny Parra and not Ramirez, but whatever. The Brewers' Prince Fielder took issue with Tuesday's starting pitcher and shoved him repeatedly in the dugout before teammates separated the two. Actually, that's a little inaccurate. They stopped the rather gargantuan Fielder from throwing Parra repeatedly into the bench, while Parra flopped like a shell-shocked doll.
This is the sort of reaction I was looking for after the Brewers getting swept at home by the Cubs. This isn't necessarily the beginning of the end for Milwaukee, this doesn't mean the clubhouse is going to explode in frustration or hold grudges (it's a guy thing). In fact, this could light a fire and get the team moving forward again. This is another turning point for their season, let's see where the Brewers go now.
Some final thoughts:
• Francisco Rodriguez is takes himself completely out of fielding position with his follow through. Why don't more people bunt against him?
• What exactly was that thing the Clay Buchholz was wearing around his neck on Monday and how much did it cost at the Denny's salad bar? (On review: Guess it's not made of foliage, but it sure looked that way on TV.)
• David Cone admitted on Monday while broadcasting the Yankees-Rangers game on YES that when he pitched he had some "sticky stuff" on his person, crediting notorious ball doctor Gaylord Perry for the tips. Does this affect anyone's perception of David Cone? Should it?
• Interviewed Garrett Dutton, better known as G. Love, for "Press Pass" this week. A snippet that didn't make the final piece:
Hume: You've always been known for your distinctive style. Who are some other artists you think are breaking ground with their sound these days?
Dutton: I really like Jack White. I have a lot of respect for him. We both have a lot of traditional blues in our recordings and live show and really appreciate it. I think he's a pretty visionary guy. I think Jack Johnson is also a visionary and groundbreaking musician. Even though, on the outside, it seems like he's not doing anything very hard, as a musician he's able to make a stadium full of people sing everyone of his words. Not too many people of our generation have been able to do that. Dave Matthews, maybe? But I think people go to sing along at a Jack Johnson show. I think hip-hop is where a lot of pretty groundbreaking production stuff is going on. And I guess Radiohead is pretty groundbreaking but I've never really listened to them.
I'm not going to joke around, my manager wanted to release Lemonade as a free digital release like a year before they did that and I definitely saw the power in it. But the reason it was so groundbreaking was because they're going to sell a million copies, whereas if we did that we only would have sold like 150,000 copies, so it wouldn't have been in Time Magazine, you know?
• I know I haven't written about much TV of late, but let's face it, when your girlfriend is reduced to watching Project Runway reruns, the pickings are pretty slim. When the fall arrives, I'll have more. And no, I'm not afraid to start with Gossip Girl.
The Favre Saga, still, is the big story of the day. The main rumor is that he'll be traded to Tampa Bay by the end of the day. Please just let this end.
The big story of my day on Monday was when F.C. Barcelona kicked us off our softball field in order to practice in Central Park. The team is in town to play the New York Red Bulls of MLS, well, fame is the wrong word, but they're part of Major League Soccer. Pretty cool to see Thierry Henry warming up in the park a few feet away. Dude's got his own Gillette commercial, in the States, so you know he's legit. Goals like these help too.
Funniest anecdote came when some kids started giddily sprinting toward the team and one of them, wrapped in an F.C. Barcelona flag, yells to his cohorts, "Guys! Don't Make a Scene!" Good call, flag boy, keep it subtle.
Manny Being Mangled? Okay, so it's Manny Parra and not Ramirez, but whatever. The Brewers' Prince Fielder took issue with Tuesday's starting pitcher and shoved him repeatedly in the dugout before teammates separated the two. Actually, that's a little inaccurate. They stopped the rather gargantuan Fielder from throwing Parra repeatedly into the bench, while Parra flopped like a shell-shocked doll.
This is the sort of reaction I was looking for after the Brewers getting swept at home by the Cubs. This isn't necessarily the beginning of the end for Milwaukee, this doesn't mean the clubhouse is going to explode in frustration or hold grudges (it's a guy thing). In fact, this could light a fire and get the team moving forward again. This is another turning point for their season, let's see where the Brewers go now.
Some final thoughts:
• Francisco Rodriguez is takes himself completely out of fielding position with his follow through. Why don't more people bunt against him?
• What exactly was that thing the Clay Buchholz was wearing around his neck on Monday and how much did it cost at the Denny's salad bar? (On review: Guess it's not made of foliage, but it sure looked that way on TV.)
• David Cone admitted on Monday while broadcasting the Yankees-Rangers game on YES that when he pitched he had some "sticky stuff" on his person, crediting notorious ball doctor Gaylord Perry for the tips. Does this affect anyone's perception of David Cone? Should it?
• Interviewed Garrett Dutton, better known as G. Love, for "Press Pass" this week. A snippet that didn't make the final piece:
Hume: You've always been known for your distinctive style. Who are some other artists you think are breaking ground with their sound these days?
Dutton: I really like Jack White. I have a lot of respect for him. We both have a lot of traditional blues in our recordings and live show and really appreciate it. I think he's a pretty visionary guy. I think Jack Johnson is also a visionary and groundbreaking musician. Even though, on the outside, it seems like he's not doing anything very hard, as a musician he's able to make a stadium full of people sing everyone of his words. Not too many people of our generation have been able to do that. Dave Matthews, maybe? But I think people go to sing along at a Jack Johnson show. I think hip-hop is where a lot of pretty groundbreaking production stuff is going on. And I guess Radiohead is pretty groundbreaking but I've never really listened to them.
I'm not going to joke around, my manager wanted to release Lemonade as a free digital release like a year before they did that and I definitely saw the power in it. But the reason it was so groundbreaking was because they're going to sell a million copies, whereas if we did that we only would have sold like 150,000 copies, so it wouldn't have been in Time Magazine, you know?
• I know I haven't written about much TV of late, but let's face it, when your girlfriend is reduced to watching Project Runway reruns, the pickings are pretty slim. When the fall arrives, I'll have more. And no, I'm not afraid to start with Gossip Girl.
8.04.2008
Who Made Manny?
Having spent less than a week with the Los Angeles Dodgers enigmatic left fielder Manny Ramirez now says he would like to end his career with the team. I wonder how long that sentiment will last.
Ramirez has been playing major league baseball for almost 15 years now and, even in this era of intense media scrutiny, we know surprisingly little about what makes this guy tick. Our only explanation for his absurd conduct is to turn our palms skyward, shrug our shoulders and repeat the cliche "That's just Manny being Manny."
He pouts. He doesn't hustle. He laughs off errors. He uses (likely) phony injuries as leverage. He shoves down senior citizens. And he's still loved by fans. How does this happen?
My question to you all, Who Made Manny? Is this the inevitable evolution of a spoiled athlete used to getting his way, content with the millions he knows he has made and will make, who treats the game he plays as just that, a game.
Is he a creation of the Red Sox front office? Did they repeatedly allow Manny to get away with these ridiculous antics. Did they choose to turn a blind eye to incidents, knowing they needed his bat in the middle of the lineup to contend for a World Series title, and thereby encourage his childish behavior?
Or is it the fans' undying love of him that fosters this behavior? And why do they love him? Is it the bat? Is it the smile? How is this guy given a free pass, when Kenny Rogers (shoving camera men) and others would be crucified for throwing an elderly clubhouse attendant to the ground? Really, does the smile make it all okay? If he scowled like Barry Bonds, would he be equally loathed?
He doesn't hustle, he's a lousy fielder, his minor injuries flare up when he faces hard-throwing right-handed pitchers, he laughs of errors, he hits 500 home runs, he is a World Series MVP, he beats up old men, he was essentially voted off the team by his teammates and yet fans continue to love the guy. How in the world does this happen? How does Manny come to be?
Now, even if Aaron Rodgers beats out Favre, there will be claims that the Packers' front office was desirous for Favre to go away and Rodgers was destined to win all along. The next few days at Packers' camp are going to be insane.
I know it's the summer and the NFL is short on news, but let's step back and think about what kind of undue attention this story has gotten. Favre had a great year last year, but Drew Brees threw for more yards and Derek Anderson had more TDs. Meanwhile, Peyton Manning is coming off surgery and Tom Brady is coming off a record-setting career year and a stinging loss in a Super Bowl that was supposed to serve as the Pats' coronation as the best team ever.
• Remember when Albert Pujols was supposed to have a terrible year because of all those injuries in the spring? Looks like that prognosis was a little off.
• Speaking of Pujols, Brad Lidge, the man whose psyche Pujols demolished with a monster home run in the 2005 NL Championship Series, has yet to blow a save in 2008.
• Good reporting by ESPN on the USA basketball team's previous opposition to China's human rights abuses and their current position that they're just there to play basketball. For the record, I have no problem with the stance. I also have no problem if an athlete does decide to speak out. For a detailed explanation on my position, see "speech, free."
Ramirez has been playing major league baseball for almost 15 years now and, even in this era of intense media scrutiny, we know surprisingly little about what makes this guy tick. Our only explanation for his absurd conduct is to turn our palms skyward, shrug our shoulders and repeat the cliche "That's just Manny being Manny."
He pouts. He doesn't hustle. He laughs off errors. He uses (likely) phony injuries as leverage. He shoves down senior citizens. And he's still loved by fans. How does this happen?
My question to you all, Who Made Manny? Is this the inevitable evolution of a spoiled athlete used to getting his way, content with the millions he knows he has made and will make, who treats the game he plays as just that, a game.
Is he a creation of the Red Sox front office? Did they repeatedly allow Manny to get away with these ridiculous antics. Did they choose to turn a blind eye to incidents, knowing they needed his bat in the middle of the lineup to contend for a World Series title, and thereby encourage his childish behavior?
Or is it the fans' undying love of him that fosters this behavior? And why do they love him? Is it the bat? Is it the smile? How is this guy given a free pass, when Kenny Rogers (shoving camera men) and others would be crucified for throwing an elderly clubhouse attendant to the ground? Really, does the smile make it all okay? If he scowled like Barry Bonds, would he be equally loathed?
He doesn't hustle, he's a lousy fielder, his minor injuries flare up when he faces hard-throwing right-handed pitchers, he laughs of errors, he hits 500 home runs, he is a World Series MVP, he beats up old men, he was essentially voted off the team by his teammates and yet fans continue to love the guy. How in the world does this happen? How does Manny come to be?
***
Brett Favre is back with the Pack and the quarterback competition begins tomorrow in Green Bay. This is probably how it should have been decided all along in an ideal world. But the ideal world doesn't include a media maelstrom following every breath Favre draws.Now, even if Aaron Rodgers beats out Favre, there will be claims that the Packers' front office was desirous for Favre to go away and Rodgers was destined to win all along. The next few days at Packers' camp are going to be insane.
I know it's the summer and the NFL is short on news, but let's step back and think about what kind of undue attention this story has gotten. Favre had a great year last year, but Drew Brees threw for more yards and Derek Anderson had more TDs. Meanwhile, Peyton Manning is coming off surgery and Tom Brady is coming off a record-setting career year and a stinging loss in a Super Bowl that was supposed to serve as the Pats' coronation as the best team ever.
• Remember when Albert Pujols was supposed to have a terrible year because of all those injuries in the spring? Looks like that prognosis was a little off.
• Speaking of Pujols, Brad Lidge, the man whose psyche Pujols demolished with a monster home run in the 2005 NL Championship Series, has yet to blow a save in 2008.
• Good reporting by ESPN on the USA basketball team's previous opposition to China's human rights abuses and their current position that they're just there to play basketball. For the record, I have no problem with the stance. I also have no problem if an athlete does decide to speak out. For a detailed explanation on my position, see "speech, free."
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