In this issue of Rants and Raves there is Jackie Robinson/Branch Rickey, also a mind provoking theory on steroids and the difference between dog fighting/cockfight and boxing, or do I?
There will be no nodding off while reading this interesting blog. Will you??
I have mixed feels about Roids. If Bonds, did take them and he got "Jacked up," as he appears in the before and after picture,
how come weight lifers, or bodybuilders, aren't in baseball?? They should be able to crush the ball?? I guess when Steroids can make a person hit a fastball, slider or curve ball then all the studs of the world will be playing baseball. You can have all the power in the world but if you don’t have hand/eye coordination, your nothing in baseball.
Let’s not put the blame only on the players. The thing that is missing?? Major League Baseball. They knew about this. They did nothing to stop the use of Steroids. I can remember reporters interviewing Mark McGwire at his locker and behind him was a bottle of androstenedione (Andro) proudly displayed in his locker for all to see. How come there isn’t any inqury into the way MLB allowed this to go on. You know why? Baseball was starting to rebound from their shutdown. With Ripken’s consecutive game streak and Sosa and McGwire going after Maris’ homerun record, baseball was becoming relevant again. That is why baseball didn’t pursue it.
I was having a talk with a neighbor when the subject of Michael Vick and his time in jail was brought up. A different spin was put on it. I would like to impart that conversation with you.
- If you are brought up in the environment of dog fighting or cockfighting, to you that would seem like a normal way of life. Millions of people have been doing this before the Michael Vick incident, and believe me, his prison term did nothing to slow down the dog fighting scene otherwise, you would have seen a lot more arrests involving a lot more people.
- If you kill a dog in the gaming world, as Vick did, you can expect several years in prison.
- If you kill someone in the boxing ring accidentally nothing happens to you.
- If you kill someone with your car, it can be called involuntary manslaughter and you can serve time in prison.
Any particular reason why fighters can get away with this???
I hope the NBA is watching what is going on with the NFL. On June 30th, the NBA’s collective bargaining agreement ends. There has been talk of work stoppage. The 2011 Las Vegas Summer League has been canceled as has the annual internship program as well. The NBA says more than half of their teams are losing money. The League says it is proposing a hard salary cap, shorter contract lengths and non-guaranteed deals.
Meanwhile the National Basketball Players Association says differently. They think only a small number of teams are losing money, which can be addressed through revenue sharing. The Association is not willing to have a hard salary cap. Billy Hunter, the NBA Players Association chief, says a hard cap would end guaranteed contracts. "If you get a hard cap, owners get a guaranteed profit. And you get franchise values that go through the roof. That's what you get." The Players Association say costs like fuel, security, coaches, front office personnel, marketing, and for some owners, high purchase costs, are what's cutting into owner profits, not salaries.
Last week Major League Baseball honored Jackie Robinson and his courage for being the first African American to play in the Major Leagues. He endured a lot during his time in the minors and the Majors while bringing an end to racial segregation in baseball. He had a great career with the Dodgers. He was in 6 World Series in 10 seasons with the Dodgers, a lifetime batting average of .311, 197 stolen bases, 1,518 hits, 137 homeruns and 734 runs batted in. He also was the Rookie of the Year in 1947 and won the National League Most Valuable Player Award in 1949. His number 42 is retired by every major league team.
Among his accomplishments off the field, was him being the first black television analyst in Major League Baseball, the first black vice-president of a major American corporation. He help establish the Freedom National Bank, an African-American owned financial institution in Harlem.
On that note, another individual should be acknowledged as well, for without this visionary, there might not have been a Jackie Robinson or a Jackie Robinson Day. That man is Branch Rickey. While several teams were interested in signing a black ballplayer, Branch had already began the process of scouting the Negro Leagues for players the Dodgers could use in their system. From a list of black players, Jackie Robinson’s name was selected. He was interviewed by Rickey. They met for three hours. During that time Branch asked Jackie if he could face the racial onslaught without taking the bait and reacting angrily. This question was asked based on Robinson’s prior problems with law enforcement officials at Pasadena Junior College and in the military. Robinson relied “Are you looking for a Negro who is afraid to fight back?” In which Rickey replied that he wanted a Negro player “with the guts enough not to fight back.” Robinson gave his word to “turn the other cheek” to racial antagonism. Jackie Robinson was then signed for $600. From that memorable day, the rest is history of the lives of Jackie Robinson and Branch Rickey.
Pictures by: Joe Biden - media.trb.com, Jackie Robinson - wc.pdx.edu, Jackie Robinson and Branch Rickey - insidesocal.com, NBA Logo - realclearsports.com, Bodybuilders - muslemagazine.com, Barry Bonds - farm2.static.flickr.com, Michael Vick - thealphanetworkeralliance.com, Mark McGwire - misunderestimation.com, MLB Steroids - cdn0.sbnation.com
So, let's look at this. Here are a couple of guys that are good enough to be recruited by several SEC schools. During a recruiting visit, they decide to ransack the locker room to steal a few I-pods and cell phones? Huh? I admit that I have done many stupid things in my youth, but this is beyond stupid. No, wait...actually; there is more:
After the arrests were made, Georgia's police chief Jimmy Williamson told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution that Facebook was "a big help" in finding the perpetrators. Well, Williamson lied. Or, at least, he got his social networking sites confused. I present to you these screenshots of the Twitter page belonging to Bonner.
That's right...the "recruits" tried to sell the I-pods on twitter. Of course, it did not take long before the authorities put two and two together and realized that the recruits were responsible for the locker room theft. I know that this is sad situation, but I could not help but laugh at a few of the twitter comments.
Here are a few of the best...
"Not a very difficult case to solve.
A group of high school football players visit the lockerroom. Hours later UGA players report that their iPods and iPhones are missing. Even a redneck Georgia sheriff can solve that one."
"I guess they're going to Auburn now"
"Twitter busted Georgia high school thieves
EPIC FAIL"
Not to be outdone, Mike Leake of the Cincinnati Reds decided to stroll into Macy's this week and shoplift 6 tee shirts. I know that pitchers are normally a bit odd, but c'mon Mike! With an annual salary of $425,000 (not including signing bonus) can't you afford to pay for tee shirts? Leake simply pulled the tags off theshirts and walked out of the store. When I first heard this report, I thought that there had to be some kind of mistake...but apparently not. Leake was allowed to pitch on Tuesday evening, but his future with the team remains in question. The Reds issued this statement on Tuesday:
"We do not condone behavior of the type alleged, which is wholly inconsistent with the principles of this organization and our community and is detrimental to the positive direction we seek to follow. When the legal process has been completed, we will handle this matter internally."
The value of the tee shirts stolen is estimated at $59.88. Leake was charged with a first degree misdemeanor charge of shoplifting. The charge carries a maximum penalty of 180 days in jail, but as a first time offender, Leake will probably not see jail time.
Another Red's pitcher was in the news this week, but thankfully for baseball related news. During Tuesday's game against Pittsburgh, Aroldis Chapman's fastball registered 106.Now, there is some question regarding the accuracy of this speed, but judging the reaction of Pittsburgh's Andrew McCutchen...it was very fast.
Another pitcher seemingly always in the news is SF's closer Brian Wilson. I know that you have seen this crazy guy in all of the commercials about his beard.Typically when a player is this hyped, a falloff in performance is usually just around the corner. But rather than rest on his fastball, Wilson has developed a new pitch this year.
"It's a two-seam, sinking fastball that Wilson just added to a menu that largely consists of a straight, four-seam fastball, cutter and slider. If he can use it effectively, hitters will be in for even tougher at-bats against last year's major-league saves leader.
"The cat's out of the bag. It's another weapon," pitching coach Dave Righetti said, calling Wilson's two-seamer a "big-time" development."
Does it seem odd to anyone else that the NFL makes a huge production over releasing the schedule for 2011? At this point, we are not even sure that there will be an NFL season next year. It has also occurred to me that college football was king for many years, prior to the NFL rise to popularity. After considering this, I have decided that I would be perfectly fine with no professional football next year. Better yet, how about another league completely? Wouldn't it be funny to see the players just go to play in a different league? Wouldn't it be funny that they would make half of what they were making? Oh...you aren't laughing? Well, it was just a thought.
This picture has nothing to do with anything, but I found it extremely funny. Also, it gives me an excuse to have a hockey photo in my blog...
That's all I have for today, but I willleaveyou with a bit of Jack Handey to ponder...
I can still recall old Mister Barnslow getting out every morning and nailing a fresh load of tadpoles to the old board of his. Then he'd spin it round and round, like a wheel of fortune, and no matter where it stopped he'd yell out, "Tadpoles! Tadpoles is a winner!" We all thought he was crazy. But then we had some growing up to do.
Once my friend told me that he had found Jesus. I thought to myself, "WooHoo, we're rich!" It turns out he meant something different.
Thanks for stopping by and as always...comments are most welcome!
Eff the disclaimers – if you don’t like cursing, don’t read this because quite frankly I’m pissed and I don’t give a rats ass how this sounds – it comes from the heart. How do you describe the loss of something that for 26 years was the center of your sporting existence no matter where you were? Well, I’m gonna try. DVT referred to a Kings fan years back at the Honda Center. Imagine 17,000 of them – night in and night out. Yeah, we're a crazy bunch up here, and yeah, we have fans who dress up, paint their cars, and act like four year olds on a sugar high from hell!
What’s happening to the fans of the Sacramento Kings SUCKS! They are the ones getting screwed!!! You all know I hate the NBA, but that doesn’t mean I can’t love the team that brought this city so much. I’ve never seen this city as together as it was during the time the Kings were here. This town bled purple and black. It had (and still has) things that the NBA doesn’t – HEART AND LOYALTY!!! 26 years of mostly ineptness later and look how the fans show up:
Did this team win as much as we wanted them to? Hell no, but sometimes it isn't about that - it's about love, community, brotherhood, togetherness. I don't give a damn what anybody else says, Sacramento has the best fans in the NBA, with only Salt Lake coming in second place. That being said - it's time to get semi-medieval around this bitch, but before I do spew this hateful venom - it needs to be understood clearly - THIS HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH THE PLAYERS - THE KINGS PLAYERS ARE SOME OF THE GREATEST PEOPLE AROUND.
Hate is a term that I prefer not to use because to me it conjures up images far beyond that of a simple game with a simple ball. But let me say this to the NBA, its superstar players, its officials, the brothers Maloof, the leadership of the city of Sacramento, the developers here who have the politicians in their pocket, the Palms Hotel in Vegas, the city of Anaheim, the Sacramento newspaper and their blatant dislike of the Kings, and obnoxious LA Laker fans – I FUCKING HATE YOU!!!
I know, I know – childish retort to the fact that the Maloofs are moving my beloved Sacramento Kings out of town. The residents of this region hung on everything involving this team, and stood with them despite the 2002 screw job Stern threw on the fans. The folks here ain’t stupid hillbillies, we knew that Stern would NEVER allow this city to earn one of his precious champsionships, yet they still loved this team regardless.
Despite a shitty product put on the floor night after night, for 26 years the fans of Sacramento filled a 17,300 seat arena (no, glorified high school gym) to watch their Kings usually lose. They came decked out in purple and black and silver and white, and man were we loud. The fans cheered their hearts out and at the end of the game quietly walked out to their cars. I say quietly because nobody had a fucking voice left. I’ve been around the world and I’ve never seen a fan base support their team the way this city and its people did. Of course there’s this time in Australia washing the footy, but I digress…
The great times weren’t just in 1985 when the Sacramento Kings beat the Boston Celtics, 1996 when the Kings made their first playoff appearance, 1998 and 1999 with those awesome playoff series with the Utah Jazz, 2000-2002 playoff series vs. the HATED LA Lakers, Kevin Martin’s steal and layup to win a playoff game against the San Antonio Spurs here at Arco. Coming back from 35 down to beat the Bulls in Chicago last year, and finally coming back from 20 down in the fourth quarter in the last game ever at ARCO, damn near punking out Stern’s little darlings. Which unfortunately brings me to this:
David Stern. How do you define this guy? Crooked little monkey seems apt! Here’s a stat that some of you already know, but some don’t. 64 NBA Champions have been crowned, 43 of them are divided between four different teams (Boston – 17, Lakers – 16, Bulls – 6, Spurs – 4). Throw in four for Philly and three for Detroit, and you now have six cities taking 50 of the 64 championships. That’s insane, and since you would expect the law of averages to catch up and it hasn’t, then how the hell can this be explained? Yeah – IT’S FUCKING FIXED!!! Sometimes NBA, it really isn’t about the almighty dollar it’s about remaining committed to some of the most loyal fans you’ll ever see. But your ignorant asses would NEVER understand that.
Oh yeah Godfather, Mayor Kevin Johnson sure as hell put a swerve on your monkey ass last Thursday and Friday, didn't he?
If Stern is a crooked little monkey, the brothers Maloof are slimy little weasels. Wonder if they'll show up to an Anaheim Duck playoff game? But before they go, I’m gonna speak my peace. The Maloofs are using their little mouthpieces here in Crack-town to say they love the fans of Sacramento and this has nothing to do with the fans. BULLSHIT YOU STUPID LITTLE ASS CLOWNS! Just how fucking stupid do you think we are? It just goes to show that you idiots never knew us, nor did you ever want to. Go to Anaheim, you'll fit in with all of those fake ass LA wanna-bes who have no concept of what reality truly is!
Look you dumb ass Maloofs, Warren Buffett or Bill Gates you're not! It’s your sorry ineptness with regards to business management and your purposely not doing anything to improve the team that caused the fact that you have to do the drop and gobble with an Anaheim billionaire who by the way will steal the team from you within two to three years. You were so busy putting what money you had into your shitty casino down in Vegas (which is highly overrated by the way), hanging with D-List (and noted STD possesser) celebri-tards like Paris Hilton, getting DUI’s, appearing in shows like “Real Housewives”, investing in professional skateboarding, and movie-making that you had to sell of your beer distributorship (how the hell do you have to sell a beer distributorship to make everything else work by the way?) – all while ignoring your most precious asset – THE SACRAMENTO KINGS. Enjoy Anaheim you dickheads, but I promise you will NEVER have the fan love, respect, and appreciation that you had here! Go – move (no, RUN) to Anaheim you traitorous bastards.
Memo to the Monkey and the Weasel - This is Sacramento! We know what the water-thieving fakes in LA scream about us (and if you ever took the time to be honest, you think the same things). But get this through your head - we aren’t one-tooth, cousin or sister-fucking, moonshine runnin’ dumb-ass hillbillys, we know the score! We know you've never taken this town seriously. We also know the NBA game is rigged, we know you'll never allow this city to capture an NBA championship, and we know you want out because you wanna be cool little playboys in a big market. But despite all of your character flaws, for some insane and unexplained reason we love the KINGS, and you know what? Most of the players that rolled through here the past 26 years loved us too. To this day, many still live here!
We know thWeWWeHey Anaheim, enjoy these douche bags (Stern and the Maloofs), you can have ‘em! DVT, I got nothing but love for ya, but even you said you’re going to the games to root for the Clips. It may be bias on my part, but I've spent time in SOCAL and I just can't imagine a big following for the Anaheim Royals. If the Maloofs remain your owners then dammit, it’ll suck for ya – you’re just gonna have to find out for yourself! But I will warn you that the team got in trouble for being below the MINIMUM salary cap level at one point this season and had to quickly sign a guy to get back over. Bottom line here - the folks in Anaheim will NEVER give this team the love and support that Sacramento did! That being the case, treat ‘em right my brother!
NBA players – you are killing the goose who laid the golden egg. Hey look morons, it’s your absolute right to form all-star teams (albeit your using the idiots in the media to do your public tampering for you), but at some point having three or four teams with almost all of the superstars? By the way “superstars”, how much help do you need from the refs anyway? But enough about that - small towns like Sacramento may not have the "glitz and glamour" of New Crap City or that swamp of creatures known as Lower Alabama (err Los Angeles), but Crack-town ain't bad either. There's peace and quiet, and the folks here respect your privacy. Shit, if I go any further here, I'm gonna sound like a certain Chamber of Commerce member from the Cleve - so I'll stop right friggin' now!
In the end, even after 26 years, sometimes love just ain’t enough and sometimes love can’t find the way back! Chances are this is goodbye. To the players who graced us with their presence, thanks for everything to those who put on the uniform of the SACRAMENTO KINGS from 1985-2011. Just a few who come to mind that I wanna celebrate: Reggie Theus, Eddie Johnson, the late Waymon Tisdale, Spud Webb, Lionel Simmons, Walt Williams, Spud Webb, Mitch Richmond, Corliss Williamson, C-Webb, Vlade, Christie, Peja, Chocolate Thunder Jason Williams, Mike Bibby, Bobby Jackson and Jon Barry. Tyreke Evans, DeMarcus Cousins, Samuel Dalembert, Marcus Thornton, and Pooh Jeter. I know there are names on there you don’t know, but to the people of Sacramento, these players (as well as all who played here) will be revered until the end of time. Finally, here’s Sacramento’s very own Tesla to say Goodbye!
To cities like Milwaukee, Minneapolis/St. Paul, Salt Lake City, New Orleans, and yeah Jeff even to San Antonio, watch what’s happening in Sacramento VERY carefully. It could be coming to you.
With all this crazy bullshit going on, I'm going to the coast, renting a house up in Mendocino and just unwinding.
So here I sit, late Sunday night and wondering what to write about...First let me start with linking an outburst I had last week, in case you missed IT...
What else happened? The Mrs. and I celebrated our 10 year anniversary...We had a great dinner at the Fish House since that's where this whole thing began...The took great care of us, really hooked us up...Christ, they should have since I've spent 15 years working for them...
Then there was the Hockey...Yes, the NHL playoffs have not been going as well as I would have liked...Mainly since the Rangers are down 2-1...They squeaked out their first win Sunday afternoon...The big problem is the same one they've had all year...They are struggling to score...They're also really missing Ryan Callahan...Kid played on the Penalty Kill, the Power Play, and they couldn't get his regular shift out there enough...Callahan was injured at the end of the season, blocking a shot...One of the probably 200 he blocked all year...
Chris Drury is back from injury, but he's covered in rust...Gaborik who has battled injuries all year, and his whole career has had tons of ice time, with little to show for it...Goalie Henrik Lundqvist has spent all year caring the team, and he's going to have to do it through the playoffs if the Rangers are going to go anywhere...
The Bruins have not looked like the same team they did during the regular season, and the Habs are loving it...I was thinking the Chicago Blackwawks could really shake up teh experts and knock-off the Canucks, but that doesn't look like it's going to happen, as Vancouver is up 3-0...
Moving on, Baseball season is in full swing now...We're a couple of weeks in and the monotony is already setting in...I know people love Baseball and Hell I do, but the season seems too long for me...Thankfully there is Fantasy Baseball, which helps me stay focused...I know people think I should be fired up about Baseball since the Indians are doing so well, but I'm not sold...It's early, and I don't thing the young rotation will be able to keep tearing it up like this...Plus I really hate those red hats they wear at home on weekends...Not to sound like a gay fashion guy, but they just look bad!
Oh, and on the topic of Baseball...There was that awful incident with the Giants fan getting beat down by Dodger fans...First, Just another reason to hate LA...Second, Now teams are getting rid of there half-priced beer nights, and are talking about cutting back beer sales...Fuck that for a couple reasons...1. Once again, the many are being punished because of the acts of a few...2. I don't know if you've noticed but there have been a lot of empty seats in the Baseball Stadiums this year...Even places like Wrigley...These teams need to do whatever they can to get people to show up, and cheap beer works...And cheap is a relative term....They over-charge so much for beer, that even half-price isn't that great!
You know, some things aren't the fault of booze...They're simply the fault of stupid fucking idiots!
Some thing else I need to get off my chest..."The Royal Wedding" Fuck this shit...Fuck the Prince, and this skirt he's banging...Most importantly, fuck the media that has been building this shit up for the last two months...Why is there a story about this on the evening news, in the United States, every fucking night...
These twats aren't our powerless, figureheads...They belong to England, yet the U.S. media just keeps cramming this shit down our throats...And then of course there are the mindless Americans that actually care...They act like this wedding, this marriage, is going to do something amazing to the world...It's not dummies...It's not going to bring world peace...It won't fix the economy, here or world wide...It won't save Japan from breaking into a million Nuclear reactive pieces...It has no meaning or long-term affect on anything, except for the lives of these two dopes who are getting hitched...
Oh, please talking head, news reporter, please list the guest list snubbs...My day won't be complete until I know which waste of sperm isn't invited to the shindig...Sweet Jesus, please do another story on how the Bride's life will change once she marries the Prince! Here, I'll knock it out real quick for ya...Bitch is gonna be rich as fuck, and not have to work for anything for the rest of her life! Done...
Why the fuck is America so enamored by the country our Forefathers fled from?
I was fretting recently over the potential loss of future Hall-of-Famer, Albert Pujols and it indeed looked like this season was going to be a trainwreck. The Cardinals in the offseason signed Lance Berkman and although he appeared to be a nice get, it wasn't a deal that made you feel good about the upcoming season, or the future, Boy, was I wrong. I know that it is very early in the season and baseball is a game of streaks, however this winning streak and hot play, has come at just the right time.
As it is I am still ruminating over the things that are going on in my life. From the disappearance of Marizela Perez, the Japanese disasters, to my own struggled with depression, I need this, I need a chance to breathe and
some instant clarity. St. Louis started off fast last year too but that was a different team and I believe management may know a lot more than some college girl, about running an organization. As erxpected the Cincinnati Reds seem to be the team to beat, but at least now the Cardinals are not like six games under .500 and they just scored three more runs against the Los Angeles Dodgers, to garner a 5-1 lead, in the fifth inning,
As the Cardinals go, so go I and for now, the going is acceptable. Kyle Lohse is having a good run too at 2-1 and Jaime Garcia strong at 2-0. We were seeing signs last year of the demise of Chris Carpenter and he has struggled this year, giving us a sense that his days are numbered. Depending on how this season goes, he could be traded. I am still not too worried about the start by Jake Westbrook. I believe he will be fine.
Another thing that has bothered me is the bashing of Ryan Mallet. It seems that ESPN and their merry band of clucking hen reporters, are still trying to get back at Coach Bobby Petrino for leaving the Altanta Falcons and Mike Vick, to the Arkansas Razborbacks. Arkansas is now getting the last laugh in that matter. But back to Mallet, the spread rumors about the guy but let criminals like Scam Newton slide. We all know that Scam is dirtier than a drunken prostitute on skid row, but the haters want to bash Mallet. In time, Scam will take a seat next to fellow con man and smoke some Hippie Lettuce, while Mallet and Tim Tebow, make liars of the frauds who call themselves objective reporters.
