Warning: This blog contains some middle school style humor.

If you are easily offended, see you next week...

I am not a racing fan. Sorry, but I just can’t get into it. I guess the only time I’ve ever made a point to watch racing is on Memorial Day weekend when they cart our Granny, the 144 year old wrinkle-ladened woman named Mary Almond Joy (or something like that), and she proclaims, “(Lady and) Gentlemen, start your engines.” That’s pretty cool to watch.

Come to think of it, there’s one more ditty worth watching. Does Jim Nabors still sing, Back Home Again in Indiana? Gahhhh-leeee, Sargeant Carter. Actually, Gomer will be singing at the Speedway this year after missing 2012’s event due to heart surgery.

So, that’s about it for me and racing. I get dizzy watching people drive in circles. However, those who are into it are REALLY into it. But not me. I liked King Richard Petty when he was winning all those races. (Me thinks it’s the aura of the cowboy hat.) And I like Jeff Gordon... but I never watch the races. I mean, they travel 500 miles and they still end up in the same place. 

I went to a tractor pull once in Burley, Idaho. That was pretty fun. And talk about fun, during my days at KCR, our San Diego State campus radio station, I was invited to be a “celebrity” go-kart racer. That was a blast.

But when I think of racing, only one name comes to mind. And with a name like that, how could I resist? Dick Trickle... a name made for racing. That’s right. I mean, come on... “Slam dunk by Dick Trickle???” “Swung on and missed, Dick Trickle tosses a perfect game???” It just doesn’t sound right. Maybe as a hockey player... Maybe...

Wanna get a smile or a laugh??? Just say, “Dick Trickle” and it’s guaranteed. I actually did that two weeks ago in front of my all-boys Algebra class. One of my students couldn’t stop laughing. And then, I added that Dick was a short track legend. “Dick” and “short” go together perfectly, don’t they??? (Well, for some of you guys they do.) The kids loved it.

So when word came last week that Trickle took his life, I was truly sad. Apparently he couldn’t bear the pain and decided to end it. Trickle’s brother Chuck told Mark Anderson of the Las Vegas Review-Journal that Dick was suffering from unbearable pain under his left breast. It was so bad, he was seeing the doctor twice a day.

Most suicides seem to be from mental pain... kinda like Junior Seau. He just couldn’t cope with his internal demons. The pain must have been excruciating for Trickle. Former NASCAR driver Geoff Bodine called Trickle, “Fun... just plain fun.” Bodine also noted that Trickle kept a cigarette lighter in his car. He even cut a hole in his racing helmet to he could smoke that thing... the cigarette, not the lighter. Brother Chuck added that Dick “...could’ve run for president and won.” (http://www.reviewjournal.com/sports/motor-sports/dick-trickle-was-constant-pain-apparent-suicide-brother-says)

The greatest name in the history of sports...

The greatest short track racer in the history of short track racing...

More than 1,200 documented short track wins...

And a big time personality who was...

More than just a funny name...

dvt

http://thumbs2.ebaystatic.com/d/l225/m/mEuGDFt8j8ls8Sb7oJ9yKjQ.jpg

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yZ3_2A5x53I

http://www.biography.com/imported/images/Biography/Images/Profiles/P/Richard-Petty-9439013-1-402.jpg

http://www.indykarts.com.au/SEO/images/go-kart-racing-sydney.jpg

http://stmedia.startribune.com/images/614*425/M121489.JPG

http://www.gannett-cdn.com/media/USATODAY/USATODAY/2013/05/18/1368928885000-Trickle-5-19-13-1305182218_4_3_rx404_c534x401.jpg?87cc7ae5b5e3d133be9f113f907a13faa9f8741e

It’s another week and another installment of talking sports. Let’s go right to bat with this weeks issue.

NHL Update

The Boston Bruins have a commanding lead over the New York Rangers lots of blood in this one. What I don’t get is one of the local news stations on Wednesday was talking about how bloody Tuesdays game was. Last time I looked it was Hockey and guys get stitches without missing a shift. Sure Zedino Chara was bleeding and a few kids from the Rangers but that’s NHL Hockey. The news was acting like it was awful and horrible just part of the game.

The Penguins just looked unbeatable last night Syd the Kid scoring his 7^th playoff goal and the Senators looking a bit lost out there. The Penguins have a 3-1 lead.The Sharks and The Kings are battling with that series tied at 2. Both teams winning in their own buildings. Finally, the Black Hawks are trailing in their series with the Red Wings 2-1 . The Black Hawks should bounce back and take this series but then again the Wings also could be this years LA Kings just getting hot at the right time.

NFL

OTA ok I have seen this term thrown out there. I thought it meant Oklahoma Transportation Authority but it has a whole new meaning in NFL terms Organized Team activities. It’s May who cares. They use to call that mini camp but since as a society we don’t use whole words any more Mini Camp is OTA. There is no doubt this was either media creation or PR guy with this term.

Brian Urlacher called it a career after 13 years with the Bears . When he was at the top of his game was there anybody who hit harder. Urlacher was sidelined after a hamstring injury last season. He was unhappy with the Bears offer of 2 million. For 1year and not a lot of interest from other teams. Urlacher said yesterday that he would not play up to his standards and was happy he only wore 1 jersey. I think we may not have heard the end of Brian Urlacher. I think if the right team shows interest or need help you may see him back.

MLB

It’s a funny thing here in Boston people a continuously talking about David Ortiz batting and he is on a roll batting at .351. However, sliding under the radar is Dustin Pedroia who has been on a tier himself batting .332 and has hit in 12 of his last 13 games. John Farrell also hasJohn Lester and Clay Bucholz both having good years Bucholz is 7-0 and Lester is 6 and1. I have always said the John Farrell is the best thing to happen to Josh Beckett he has struggled without him. Farrell is the calming influence that has also tweaked Lester from his awful 2012 season and has kept Bucholz on the field. The guy knows pitching.

LIl Lanz

There was a Pitching and Catching clinic Sunday for minor Little leagues a few of us coaches ran it. I bring Lil Lanz and he is Mr. Noodle arm. Just not stepping and throwing being lazy about it. So I'm getting pissed at him because I know when he wants to throw he has a pretty good arm. remembering he wanted go to this thing he was awful. So he and I doing errands and we run into the guy I coached with last year and says to him Matt hows your throwing it wasn't prompted he says you had a pretty strong arm just needed some accruarcy. I'm not sure of that statement got to him but we had a game later on Sunday he was playing 3rd just was making solid throws with good form. Not sure what's up with him. Of course being the true hockey kid he is The teacher in school last week asked him a question . He answers I don't know but the Bruins won last night. As the Mrs. says he can't remember his name half the time but ask him about some Russian hockey player he tell you all about him.

Behind The Mask

I was doing a Little League game the other night it was minor little league game that I was doing as a favor for an assignor. I didn’t want to do the game and questioned why I took. It ended up being one of the better games I had all year it was 1-0 game. The kids mostly 9, 10 and 11’s pitched solid and made plays. There was a kid on second  Line drive as he was running to third gets him square in the back Not sure how so I a called him out for interference which is the right call. The kid didn’t understand why he was out the coach did a good job explaining it. I went over to the coach after the inning and saidI hate to call a kid out on that but that’s the rule. The coach says this kid has been up 25 times and has K’d 23. He finally gets on base and that happens to him.My reaction was that poor kid and the coach just agreed and the game went on.

Weird weather here in MA. The weather people have been predicting late May temps and what has been happening it starts to get up there rain and fog move in around 3:30 or 4pm and the temps just drop. I was doing a game Tuesday afternoon The sun was out as we were changing we decided not to wear Jackets. I was on the bases I froze my rear end off. Game started fine I was talking to some fans and I said great weatherThey laiughed as the offered me an extra blanket.

Welcome to another Wednesday, Gabbers. The plus side of this week is that we have a bright light at the end of the week: Memorial Day. Memorial Day is a nice day to reflect on the sacrifices of our service men and women. It’s also a great time to get together with family and rediscover the outdoors. It’s the unofficial start of summer. I’m taking off for Cincy Friday. I hope my mother-in-law to be has a grill.

Change is a lot of things. For the NFL, it’s mostly annoying and transparently a huge money grab. The league has decided to move the draft back from March to May. The league wants to tap into sweeps week. It’s also a move that will help free agents as the free agency period would still be at the same time of year, but give teams more time to consider veteran players.

This year’s free agency period has been a rough one for many veterans. Players like Brian Urlacher and Charles Woodson are still waiting for new teams. The problem is most teams would be far more likely to wait the extra month to consider younger, more inexpensive solutions to overpaid, older athletes. It’s no secret that veterans would be less than likely to accept rookie salary money. It’s a weak argument by the league to say that this move is for the veterans. If they wanted to help the veterans, they could listen to the many current retirees who are calling for more safety precautions and aid for severely injured vets. Giving teams an extra month to mull over the veteran-rookie debate doesn’t do much. It just helps the league horn in on more primetime, high rating time slots.

Sidenote: The Raiders are reportedly trying to bring Woodson back. If I’m Woodson, I take less money to find a team that needs veteran help and is closer to a playoff run. The Raiders are too far behind in an improving AFC West.

Goodell has also revealed that the league may be planning a third international game following the sellout of both London games in 2013. I hope international means Canada in this case. I suppose Londoners like the game or at least enough of them do. It gives them a chance to wear horribly outdated jerseys and see mediocre teams in action. Still, this is a huge burden on the teams selected to make the trip.

A lot of people put a great deal of stock into the old NHL Original Six match-ups. Apparently, some Chicagoans didn’t before the start of their semi-final match-up with the Red Wings. In most of their fans defense, the Red Wings had failed to beat the Blackhawks at any point in their last 7 match-ups. Though a few went to overtime, Chicago found ways to win. Many doubted whether the Wings were still a threat.

http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2013-05-16/sports/ct-spt-0517-dan-mcneil-blackhawks-chicago-20130517_1_detroit-goaltender-jimmy-howard-justin-abdelkader-red-wings

Last Wednesday’s game one did little to change this line of thinking. The Wings and Hawks were tied at one after the first period. Howard and the young Wings were hanging tough with the Blackhawks. Then they started the third period and the Blackhawks scored 3 unanswered goals. The Blackhawks win 4-1. Looks like a short series.

Saturday afternoon and Hawks fans look for a 2-0 series lead. The Hawks score in the first and hold a 1-0 lead going into the 2^nd period. The next two periods, the Wings offense wakes up and scores 2 goals per period. Wings win 4-1. The series comes back to Detroit. After stealing a game in Chicago, the Wings follow up with another. The Wings prove most hockey fans right: the NHL playoffs are unpredictable. Rivalries always take strange shapes.

Well, that’s it for me this Wednesday. I have two days of subbing and then get to run off to Cincy. I hope you folks have a nice weekend and get out and enjoy things, weather permitting. Thanks as always for stopping by. I leave you with your word of the week.

bacon tetris, noun

Greetings from the Hoodwood, where the locals are praying for our peeps in Oklahoma, stay Okie strong Hoodwood sends its love and prayers.

NBA: Another Knick flameout

I think its funny that there were so many that thought that the New York Knicks were really going to beat the Pacers. After they had nearly choked away their firsr round series with the Celtics. They got smoked in the 1^st game with the Pacers. But the Knick fans shrugged it off as so much that their squad was tired from the battle royal with the Celtics. It seemed validated when they routed the Pacers in game 2. “See!” Knick apologists like Colin Cowherd said. The Knicks will roll and win it in 5. Problem was the Pacers weren’t having any of it. They bounced the Knicks in games 3 and 4 in Indy and the Knicks were pushed to the brink. Winning a game 5 handily, the so called experts said that all the pressure was on the Pacers. Win in Bankers Life Fieldhouse Saturday night in game 6 or face a winner take all showdown game 7 in MSG, after racing to a big lead the Pacers had to weather a barrage of 3 pointers by the Knicks by Iman Shumpert (that’s where Nerlens Noel gets the hightop fade look from) JR Smith (where had he been) and fought back into the game. Unheraled Chris Copeland made a couple threes to start the 4^th, and the Pacers were on the ropes. When Smith drilled a 3 to give the Knicks a 92-90 lead and the Pacers Paul George missed a mid ranger jumper it look like the Knicks could deliver the knockout blow and Carmelo Anthony who was having a monster game and would finish with 39 points would head to the bucket when this happened…

The Pacers were busting out the Kool-Aid and I was ready to bust out some Funkadelic on the 8 track...It was a funky block party in Nap-town and the Knicks were just not hip to the beat. After the block they just seemed to wilt. The Pacers got back to back buckets from former Bearcat Lance Stephenson including a critical 3 point play on a driving layup and getting fouled by JR Smith who was having a miserable series and just was not the same player after getting that one game suspension in the Celtics series. The Knicks would never get close to the lead again and the Pacers rolled home to a 106-99 win it was ironic that Smith took the last shot for the Knicks a 25 footer that missed of course Smith scored only 15 points on 4-15 shooting. Melo had 39 points but he and Smith were two of only three players on the Knicks scoring in double figures, Shumpert had 19 points on an efficient 6-10 shooting. But the other geriatric Knicks, Jason Kidd, Amare Stoudamire, and Kenyon Martin scored under 5 points. Raymond Felton was 0-7 and was shutout. The Knicks won 54 games and Im trying to figure how. 11 of the 16 so-called experts polled on ESPN picked the Knicks and of course look like fools. The Pacers now face the Heat whom they’ve beaten twice in 3 tries. I think the Heat will in 6 but the Pacers will be a tough out.

What happened to LA Sports

I remember a piece a couple decades ago that was written about the New York rap scene it literally asked “Has New York fallen the fuck off or what?” Now the death of the New York rap scene has of course been greatly exaggerated and the Big Apple rap scene continues to thrive. But the same question could now be asked about the LA sports scene. Of course with no pro football there is no movement in that front in the city of Angels. Speaking of Angels, they and the Dodgers looked to make big splashes with high priced acquisitions. The Angels already bolstered with the signings of Albert Pujols last year and then the Halos then acquired Josh Hamilton. With those feared sluggers the Angels looked to be the real bully of not only the AL West but the AL as well. But the Angels have struggled mightly at 17-27 are 11 games behind the rolling Texas Rangers only the neophyte Houston Astros are further back. Across town in Chavez Ravine the Dodgers are just as bad at 18-25 are only 7 games behind the Giants but are just not playing well. Dodger management has publicly stated that they are nowhere close to firing manager Don Mattingly but the lineup that is packed with stars like Adrian Gonzalez, Matt Kemp, Andre Eithier and Carl Crawford  is just not producing runs. The Bums are -36 in run scoring differential. If it wasn’t for Clayton Kershaw the Dodgers pitching would be lifeless. With the slow return of Zach Greinke the Dodgers are 5-12 this month after starting at exactly .500 The Dodgers and Angels are the bull teams for interleague next week and face each other but the excitement of the first round of the Freeway series just elicits yawns and wonder of which Angelino baseball team will stink it up more. The mediocrity isn’t limited to the baseball teams, both basketball teams were bounced out of the NBA playoffs in the 1^st round. Though the Clippers won their first ever division title, and roared out to a 2-0 first round lead they then dropped the next four against the Grizzles and were sent home. The Lakers (stop laughing) were pretty much destroyed when Kobe Bryant went down and Dwight Howard just wasn’t able to pick up the slack. They were swept by the Spurs. Wow, who is facing off in the Western conference finals??? The Grizzlies and Spurs. Hmmmm. I know dvt, I know the Kings are repping strong as the defending Stanley Cup champs and are thumped the Blues in their first round Stanley Cup playoff series. They also have won their first two games at Staples against the Sharks. But they lost game 3 and may be in some serious trouble.

Phat Dap Head Slap

Phat Dap

I don’t think Ive ever given someone Phat Dap two weeks in a row but given the situation, I think this merits it. Dap to Dodgers CF Matt Kemp who immediately pledged $1000 donation for every homer that he hits from now until the All-Star break for the victims of the OKC tornadoes. Kemp got off to a good start on his pledge homering Monday in a Dodger win. Matt Kemp is fast becoming one of my favorite players and one fo the good guys in the sporting world

Head Slap

A pair to Sergio Garcia and Tiger Woods who just cant let their little spat go. Woods bluntly said “No” when asked had he ever thought of picking up the phone and calling Garcia to mend their tiff. And while the response garnered some chuckled from the assembled media at the AT&T invitational, Garcia was not one laughing, he stated at a London Press junket that he thinks that Woods “called him a whiner which may be true but it’s the first honest thing that he has said in 15 years. This war of words is getting silly and it makes both golfers look petty and like a pair of whiny bitchy schoolgirls. The media is eating it up but I would have expected more from both. Let the rivalry be on the golf course with good play not catty he said, he said shit.

That the view from the Hoodwood for this week, Until Next Post Fellow Sports Fans!

Last Monday night, the Bruins scored 3 goals in the third period – 2 in the last 2 minutes of the game – to tie up Game 7, force overtime, whereupon Patrice Bergeron scored the game winner to send the B’s to the next round of the playoffs and send the Garden faithful home happy.  Well, the “faithful” who stayed in their seats long enough to witness it.

Two lessons from this game of note: 1) Only a hockey player can get away with a name like “Patrice” – that cat must’ve gotten his butt kicked back in middle school.  2) You never, ever leave a game early.

I’ve learned this the hard way throughout my life, examples illustrated for your reading pleasure. 

November 29, 1987 The Patriots played at the old Sullivan Stadium (nee: Schaefer Stadium) against the Philadelphia Eagles in this week 11 tilt.  It was my very first game, spent with one of my best friends – a man I count among my friends today. 

Given I present this as a lesson in why one should never leave a game early, this box score should come as no surprise:

Here’s the thing.  What it doesn’t tell you is that the game was completely out of hand at 31-10 at the start of the fourth quarter.  Up and out we went.  We didn’t even listen to the game on the way back to home base.  Imagine our surprise, then, when we arrived home to find the game went into OT.  Of course, as soon as we tuned back in, the Eagles scored the FG for the win.  If you’re going to leave the game, leave the game.  Don’t look back.  Don’t ever mention it again.  The best way to avoid that existential angst?  Don’t leave the freaking game, but if you do, leave it all...and leave your fan card on the seat.  You don't need it anymore.

May 25, 2002  The Mrs and I were given tickets to Game 3 of the NBA Eastern Conference Finals between the Celtics and the Nets.  We had sweet company seats and enjoyed the night out.  Heading into the 4th quarter, the Celtics were down by 21-points, and we decided the game was out of hand.  Doing the quick math of what would be required for the C’s to make a game of it, we said “screw it,” packed it in, and headed to a Brazilian barbeque in Allston.  Of course, after gorging on beef, we got in the car and tuned into the Sports talking heads to find out how the game played out.  The box score below shows it all:

The upside was that our quick math was pretty much right on.  My argument for leaving was that they would have to score no less than 40 points, and given that it took the previous 2-quarters to do that, we deemed that entirely unlikely.   Note, I didn’t check on the game until after it was over.  If you leave, and you check, your team will absolutely lose – so if you’re going to be a scumbag (and yes, I’m calling myself a scumbag) and bail on your team, don’t wuss out and check back in on your team.  You gave that up by leaving the game.  By checking in on the game in progress, you’re only guaranteeing you’re going to see your team lose to fulfill your scumbag prophesy. 

To the scumbag fans who left the garden at the end of the second period, or even worse, mid-way through, thank you for not tuning back in.  And please don’t be that guy posting the “Be Calm and Bergeron” graphic on your Facebook.  You’re not worthy. 

I’ve learned that the hard way.