Lots of shit to talk about this week, so lets get right into it...Thursday night news broke that the Cleveland Browns had hired a new head coach...I had planned on going to bed early, but the news broke just around 11:00PM and I had some shit to say on Facebook and Twitter...
The Cleveland Browns hired a guy that the Cleveland Browns had twice fired...No, I'm not lying...The Browns hired Rob Chudzinski...He was last the Panthers Offensive Coordinator...A position he held in Cleveland, before getting shit-canned for the second time...Thursday night, I wrote that I was "Officially tapping out." I'm standing by those words...I am done with the Cleveland Browns...Fuck fan loyalty, players and owners show no loyalty to fans...I've had enough of the shit football that as been played in this town, since 1999...Why is it so hard to hire a proven, winning NFL coach...'Cause the Browns refuse to...The Browns can Eat my ass!
Fans seem about 50/50 on the hiring of "Chud"...Those who are happy with it, point to the 2007 season when he was the Browns OC, and their offense was really good...Lets be clear, no team that he has been an OC of, has ever made the playoffs...In 2007 the Browns were 10-6...They didn't make the playoffs...Also, they all seem to refuse to look at the 2008 season, when his Browns offense was #31 in the NFL...31! "Chud" can eat my ass!
You know who else can eat my ass...Peyton Manning, and the nut-swinging sports media that love him so much...Peyton choked again, but how the talking heads wanted to stick up for him...The guys at BARSTOOL nailed it...The only thing worse is the ESPN darling, Ray Lewis...The most annoying, obnoxious, camera mugging, accessory to murder but got off, piece of shit, alive...I mean this totally...100%...I hope some one on the Patriots cripples him next week...Fuck that guy!
And while people are eating my ass...How about those high and mighty, ass-hat, baseball writers who vote for the Baseball Hall of Fame...These twats decided to not elect anyone to the Hall this year...They all are hiding under the umbrella of the whole steroids speculation...And that's the problem, right there...Speculation...Very little has been proven, so all were punished...That and the assholes who try to say a guy "isn't a first ballot Hall of Famer"...Holy shit, that's retarded...If he's a Hall of Famer, then that's it...No questions about it...And a guy like Craig Biggio, with over 3000 hits and never any speculation of 'roids should have been put in...His numbers are right there with other Hall of Fame second basemen...
But the best statement about what transpired, came from a commenter on ESPN.com...Of course it wasn't from some one who worked there...My pal AFD clued me into this guy Rob Erickson's comment....
"So the baseball writers who were covering the sport every day and watched guys' numbers and muscles inflate at an inhuman rate for years and didn't say anything about it are punishing the guys who aren't even suspected of using PEDs for not snitching... on their friends and teammates? Because they didn't feel like doing their own job as journalists, they're blacklisting an entire era of players for not doing something they weren't willing to do themselves. Great, shut out anyone who played in the steroid era. Just take away the HOF votes of any journalist who covered the sport during the steroid era too."
Dead on Rob!
And since I got an ESPN dig in there...Let me get another, because there's always a reason for them to eat my ass...Am I the only one who noticed that they love talking about coaching, with two certain members of their staff...Two certain ex-head coaches...Some how, these two ex-coaches are the know-it-alls when it comes to coaching...Odd, since they both have losing records as head coaches...That's right, Eric Mangini, and Herman Edwards....Shut the fuck up and go win some games before you tell us how to coach, or eat my fucking ass!
And how can I forget lance Armstrong? Lance has finally decided to come out and admit to having cheated....A sport that most people don't care about, that had hardly any credibility, now will have it's only star confess to being a fraud...And who will Armstrong confess to? Not a sports journalist...Not even a sports news reader...No, he's going to give confess to a rich bitch, who can't stick to a diet...That's right, Oprah...Just another reason not to take Lance or his sport seriously...This is simply a PR move for him...He's trying to save a bit of his rep, and repair the damage he did to the charity he started, that so many are thankful for...Lance, Eat my Ass...Just don't bring Oprah...there won't be anything left for the rest!
All this talk of SALAD_TOSSING reminded me of the "Macho Salad"....
Editor's Note: Since “The Onion” was already taken, and “The Bunion” has been tried by some lame college students back east, the only thing left is “The Grunion”, a group of fish that spawn on the beaches of Southern California at certain times of the year... just like athletes...
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Following the lead of pro sports, a lockout in college football is planned for the 2013 season. Unlike the NFL, NHL, NBA, and MLB, CFB will lockout teams, not its players. While at first this may seem confusing, it actually makes perfect sense. Players will be allowed to play similar to previous years, however each school will be locked out of the annual National Championship game unless its membership is transferred to the SEC, thus avoiding another pitifully lopsided affair...
The conference will play a bunch of practice games, then have a 64 team tournament to determine the National Championship. Should a non-current SEC team mistakenly qualify for the finale against a current SEC team, they must win a best of three to prove that they really are that good, not just a fluke. If a current SEC team wins game one, it will be declared National Champions so as to not waste time and further embarrassment to the wannabe...
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The National Baseball Hall of Fame has announced a surprise “non-baseball player” for next year’s ballot. This previously unprecedented move became precedented when the committee appropriately selected the name of former cyclist Lance Armstrong to appear on its ballot. Unlike the 75% needed to become an HOFer, Armstrong only needs to surpass Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens in votes to become enshrined, which will probably happen rather easily. Though he has never played a game in the major leagues, Lance has been pitching his innocence when it comes to Performance Enhancing Drugs... and catching a lot of criticism as well...
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The revitalization of the famous soap opera “General Hospital” appears to be a reality as members of the Los Angeles Lakers will have major roles (as patients) in the pilot episode. The remake is predicted to do quite well, but just like its current NBA season, will probably be a major disappointment because Kobe Bryant plans be in every “shot” while delivering about 95% of the lines...
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And speaking of being in every shot, the NFL has announced that it will not show play-by-play action of this weekend's playoff game between the Baltimore Ray-vens and the Denver Broncos. The game, which has been moved to ESPN for obvious reasons, will feature just one camera, focused on Ray Lewis 100% of the time. When Ray makes a tackle, you will see it. When Ray relieves himself at halftime, you will see that, too. All commercials will feature Ray Lewis as well. This is probably the last time we will see Ray Lewis until he is enshrined (by himself and no one else) in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Therefore, ESPN has decided to call the event, “All Ray, All the Time.” When asked if he feels the audience will enjoy the “Ray-gasm”, Chris Berman replied, “We think so. That’s why we decided to take a ‘stab’ at it.”
Today ScottJax talks about Baseball Digest, Sports Weekly and more in this weeks edition of This and That….
I want to wish all the Gabbers a very Happy Thanksgiving.
Mrs. ScottJax is making me my favorite meal, veal parmesan for dinner. I am not a turkey eater.
As long as Jerry Jones has a hand in everything that goes on, the Dallas Cowboys will never win a Super Bowl. He is the modern version of Al Davis.
I enjoyed reading baseball digest when I was a kid. Every month I would go to the local candy store and at the newspaper/magazine section I would pick up my copy and read it from cover to cover. My favorite part of the Digest was “fans speak out.“ Fans would ask questions and the folks at Baseball Digest would come up with the answer and the statistics to back it up. When I joined the Navy I stopped reading the Digest. But recently I was at Publix’s supermarket at the magazine section and I notice they had the Baseball Digest, and so I purchased it.
I again read it from cover to cover, but there are differences with it now. First it is printed 6 times a year, the Digest is now printed in color, and scouting was added to it (it might have something to do with Baseball Digest merging with ProScouting). By the way, “fans speak out,” the crossword puzzle, baseball rules and baseball quick pick are still in the digest.
Another magazine that I enjoy is Sports Weekly.
When it first began, in 1991, it was called “Baseball Weekly” and as it suggests it strictly covered baseball. It was the last sports magazine to have the box scores of every MLB game. Beginning September 4, 2002, the name was changed to “Sports Weekly” as it now covered the NFL in addition to continuing coverage of MLB now minus the box scores.
Sports Weekly covered NASCAR for a year in 2006. But in 2007 college baseball and college football coverage was added. Now it looks like the magazine is starting to take the place of the Sporting News, as it has added college basketball and the NBA to its lineup. Now I have been a subscriber to Sports Weekly since the beginning and am glad it is picking up the slack vacated by the Sporting News.
What is your favorite sports newspaper or magazine?
Maryland, a charter member of the Atlantic Coast Conference in 1953, is leaving the ACC to join the Big-10 effective 2014-2015 academic year.
Meanwhile Rutgers University is leaving the Big East to join Maryland in the Big-10.
We here at The Gab want to congratulate B.O.B. for coming out of the 4th spot in the standings and making it to the finals of the YGS Fantasy Baseball league and squeaking out the win over (me, ) Sully's Sox, with a final score of 9-8-1.
Great job B.O.B....and I'll be looking for some redemption next season!
Hello and welcome to another Wednesday of deep thoughts. It has been a hectic past few days and truthfully, I did not have much opportunity to follow sports much … After a Thursday night football game, we finished the week…then headed south for a college visit at UT Pan American. I have to admit that I had no idea what to expect of the college recruiting process. It has always been a bit unnerving to watch my son play knowing that scouts were sitting and watching…and judging. As a parent, I suppose I am as guilty as anyone else of seeing the positives and overlooking deficiencies in my son’s play. I cannot tell you how many times I have been asked if Blake was going to quit football and focus on baseball. It was if by continuing to play high school football that Blake was diminishing his baseball opportunities.
Opportunities are strange; you really never know when or where they will appear. This weekend was an opportunity for my son. The University of Texas at Pan American decided that they wanted Blake to be a Bronc next year. After a few days of eating and touring the facilities, we finally heard the offer…half of a scholarship to play Baseball at Pan Am. To understand what this means, college baseball has 11.75 baseball scholarships to offer. Nobody gets a full scholarship (unless you are 6’5” and throw 95). To get half a scholarship means that the school really wants you… Selfishly, I wish Blake was playing closer to home so that I could watch him play more often. But, realistically this opportunity may be the best thing that could have happened. Pan Am is a division 1 program that previously had a reputation as a great baseball school. Recently, the team fell on hard times and the current coaching staff is in their third year of rebuilding the program. The assistant coach that recruited Blake was an undersized catcher for the Angels. By his own admission, he was a poor hitter and his catching ability allowed him to play professionally. What impressed us the most is the integrity of the coaching staff. Three rules for each player…take care of business in the classroom, work hard on the field and don’t embarrass the team. Follow those rules and scholarships will not be pulled.
On the long trip home, we talked about Blake’s decision. Pan Am gave Blake three days to think about the offer…Blake took one day to decide to become a Bronc. A great opportunity…
Blake's first view of the field...
Funny thing is this kid hitting went to Westwood when Blake was a freshman...
Coach Lopez working with the catchers...
Student center from the outside...
This is the student center and it is amazing. Basketball courts, tennis courts and a climbing wall. A favorite with the Pan Am students...
Here is the rock climbing wall...pretty cool.
Last Thursday, Westwood faced the Dragons from Round Rock. This was the first district game for both teams. Westwood played well in the first half and led 21 to 6 at the half. A fumbled punt gave Round Rock the opportunity to punch in a cheap score to make the game 21 to 14, but the Warrior defense held tough and Westwood got the win 21 to 14. This week is a match up against the McNeil Mavericks. This game might be interesting as we probably won't have our starting QB.
Defensive strategy...
Tuesday night, the amazing A’s tied the Rangers for the division lead. It is funny how the season comes down to this one game. I don’t imagine that anyone believed this game would matter when the schedule came out. I have to think that if the Rangers are to get to the Promised Land that they need to win tonight. Big time players play well in big games. I have to think that Josh Hamilton has a good game, but we shall see…
What would you do if you found a bear on your porch? I bet the kids in the neighborhood steer clear of this woman’s porch.
This guy might not be able to ride all the rides, but he can flat out ball. Amazing that he does this at less than 5 feet tall...
That is all I have today, but I will leave you with a bit of Jack Handey:
I'd like to be buried Indian style, where they put you up on a high rack, above the ground. That way, you could get hit by meteorites and not even feel it.
I bet when Neanderthal kids would make a snowman, someone would always end up saying, "Don't forget the thick heavy brows." Then they would get embarrassed because they remembered they had the big hunky brows too, and they'd get mad and eat the snowman.
Thanks for stopping by and feel free to leave a few deep thoughts of your own.