I don't pretend to be a lacrosse expert, but one rule of thumb is that when the opposing goalie records the first score of the game, on your home field, and lands in the No. 1 position on SportsCenter's list of Top 10 plays for Saturday . . . it is a very, very bad sign.
Cancel that rematch against Duke.
Oh, well. Remember, people: It's a basketball school.
Sorry for the short (40-minute) notice, but I finally got around to screening the debut episode of "Playing for Peanuts," a new documentary series about the South Georgia Peanuts that debuts at 6 p.m. Sunday on SNY.
(It will be shown three more times this week, so don't worry if you neglect to check WatchDog every five minutes and thus didn't read this post in time.)
It appears the series will cover the long-familiar territory of life in the minors, but some of the stuff that happens in the bush leagues never fails to amaze, such as an Opening Day parachutist who misses actually landing on the field by thismuch.
Perhaps the biggest draw of the series for New York baseball fans is Mr. Peanut himself, manager Wally Backman, seen here in his first baseball job since his dismissal by the Diamondbacks in 2004, less than a week after being hired to manage in the bigs.
(By the way . . . the independent league in which the Peanuts play has suspended operations for the 2008 season.)
I just watched Lynda Barnes beat a guy in the finals of a bowling tournament on CBS.
This apparently was a historic moment in the history of the sport, as never had a woman beaten a man in a nationally televised game.
(The big event actually happened Thursday in Kansas City and was shown on tape delay. But still, it was cool. I wrote about the unusual tournament in my Friday newspaper column.)
Ms. Barnes won $50,000.
Here is the complete version of my Friday newspaper column, including items about a new SNY show, Michael Kay's hectic schedule and bowling on CBS.
Also make sure to check out this interesting supplementary material for the lead item on Joe Girardi, as well as the comments posted below this truncated version of the column, in which readers bash me for writing about Girardi's media relations, a subject allegedly of no interest to fans.
This happens every time I write about coaches and players dealing with the media, and I am not offended in the least. I am well aware my job is silly. I just wish you wouldn't point that out to my editors.
I'm out until Monday. No blogging. No column. No nuthin'. Family matters to attend to.
You will be in good hands with the many other fine blogs here, most of which do cover matters of concern to fans.
Think about it: As a business, newspapers are facing the most trying times of their existence. But there never has been a better time to be a reader of the material newspapers produce.
There's more of it than ever, and it's mostly free. I don't know how long this model can be sustained, but enjoy it while you can.
This week's winner is loyal reader Ray, for turning my post about Joe Pepitone's hair into a look back at "Ball Four," the most important sports book ever. Here is his comment/excerpt:
One of my favorite moments in Ball Four is the recounting of the tale where, after a grueling loss, Pepitone came out of the shower to blow-dry his perfect coif:
So everyone was tired and angry and upset and you could hear a pin drop in the clubhouse, because after a loss that's the way it's supposed to be. Pepitone came out of the shower and turned his hair-dryer on . Whoooosh! Instant white. He looked like an Italian George Washington wearing a powdered wig. There was talcum powder over everything, his hair, his eyebrows, his nose, the hair on his chest. Of course, everybody went crazy. Loss or no, they all laughed like hell.
The paragraph ends with what may, in my legal opinion, be an admission of guilt by one J. Bouton of Teaneck, New Jersey.
Am I allowed to link to a competing newspaper's Web site if said Web site is running an NCAA Tournament diary by a Cornell lacrosse player?
The lead topic of my Friday newspaper column is Joe Girardi and his early work in handling the New York media.
Click below for thoughts that did not make it into the paper from Girardi, Yankees radio announcer Suzyn Waldman, Yankees media relations director Jason Zillo, Newsday Yankees beat reporter Kat O'Brien and Newsday baseball columnist Ken Davidoff.
I now have written media relations columns about the coaches/managers of the Giants, Jets, Yankees and Mets, plus one about Donnie Walsh vowing to clean up the Knicks' media mess.
As always, I stress the following disclaimer: I know fans care only about winning. But in this market, media matters are not irrevelant to the fortunes of your favorite team(s).
One thing I find interesting in the Girardi media dynamic is that he is a huge football fan, and in fact had several members of the Giants coaching staff attend Tuesday night's game as his guests.
Girardi often looks and sounds more like a football guy than a baseball guy, from the way he walks to the way he gets very careful when the subject turns to injuries.
Continue reading "Joe Girardi has early ups and downs with the media" »
I shared an elevator with Joe Pepitone at the Stadium Tuesday.
Heavens!
I am glad that when I am 67 I will not be under any pressure to maintain a spectacular head of hair (regardless of its color or origin) to preserve my image among my fans.
Great call on YES Thursday by John Flaherty, who predicted big things from Robinson Cano based on how he did NOT swing at a pitch:
"Robinson Cano took the first pitch from Byrd in this at-bat, and it was probably the smoothest take that I have seen him have in a long time. That tells me he's kind of getting comfortable now. Look for good things to happen if he can take pitches like that."
Milliseconds later, Cano hit the ball into the rightfield seats.
Later, Joba Chamberlain pumped his fist after getting the third out in the eighth. Uh, oh. Time for another round of debate on that topic.
David Cone noted Chamberlain still is learning how to be a major leaguer, and also acknowledged he comes by his emotion naturally.
Still, he said this: "I didn’t have any problem with a fist pump here and there but it was more for your team. Never look in the other dugout and fist pump to them. That’s a direct show up. Right to your team is OK, fire up your team.
"You don’t want to become a freak show, though. You don’t want to be known for your act. You want to be known for your pitching."
One way in which people who write blogs and people in the "mainstream media" are alike is their endless fascination with examining themselves and their colleagues/counterparts.
Not that there's anything wrong with that, if you are interested in such things, which only media people are.
For those of you in that category, here is an essay examining whether or not the blogosphere is an overly chummy place.
Some belated ratings stuff from the Rangers-Pens series last week:
Game 4 was Versus' highest-rated and most-viewed NHL telecast ever, drawing 1.1 percent of homes that have the network and 1.2 million viewers.
In New York, the game attracted 2.1 percent of homes, the highest-rated NHL game Versus has shown here. The network also was the top-rated cable channel in the New York market for that time period.
I keep meaning to do a feature on TNT studio host Ernie Johnson, but I keep waiting for a more timely opportunity, such as when the Knicks are in the conference finals.
I really should do it sooner than that, though, because Mr. Johnson is wildly popular. Here is a Deadspin post on that topic that offers an amusing YouTube clip of the TNT boys in action.
And check out the related link to the standings for Deadspin's media approval ratings. (As always, parents: Beware of naughty language in the comments sections of blog posts.)
All you need to know is that Johnson and Charles Barkley are the only sports media humans more popular than two titans of the industry: Erin Andrews (see post below) and Vin Scully.
Friday column time. Ciao.
This article says Derek Jeter has dated six of the women on Maxim's Hot 100 list - including Vanessa Minnillo, left - which begs an obvious question:
Only six?
Also, this: Don't they know there are problems with his VORP? So wrote Davidoff here.
ESPN's Erin Andrews, respected TV professional, is not known to have dated Jeter, thank goodness. But she is scheduled to appear on Donnie Deutsch's "Big Idea" at 10 p.m. Thursday on CNBC.
I was invited to spend the day hanging out with Ms. Andrews in New York before and after she taped the show. I declined, passing up enough cheap page views to keep Glauber in my rear view mirror at least until training camp.
Why?
Because I wrote about her recently, because I have a newspaper column to write, because I have to mow the lawn and because I am out of my mind.
I was going to write this item for my Friday newspaper column, then I said to myself, "Self, no one cares about this other than people in the media or media junkies, so why not stick it in the blog, which is predominantly read by people in the media or media junkies."
So here it is: Did you know there are fewer than 10 newspapers in the nation that employ a full-time sports media and/or business columnist? This is way, way down from 10-20 years ago, presumably because as newspapers attempt to get leaner and meaner, the media beat is among the first things to go.
So there are fewer people doing my job than there are United States Senators or NFL head coaches. We're roughly as common as Supreme Court justices.
All four New York papers have full-time people in the role, perhaps no surprise in the media headquarters of the galaxy.
Check this out, though: Since Newsday was the second newspaper with a full-time TV sports writer (Stan Isaacs, 1978) and since the first (The Boston Globe) no longer has one, that makes Newsday the paper with the oldest continually appearing full-time sports media column.
That's all. Carry on, members of the media and media junkies.
I finally got around to watching my DVD of Wednesday's night's YESterdays, in which Cynthia Rodriguez' dishes her already infamous description of A-Rod's squeamishness during the birth of their first child.
As I figured from reading the transcript, Cynthia's tone is playful and affectionate, and after an initial look of concern A-Rod himself warms up to the story and, smiling, confirms of his behavior/reaction, "It was terrible."
That doesn't make me less ticked off at myself for not posting the A-Rod-fears-doctors-and-blood-and-stuff information Monday (or mentioning it in the Tuesday newspaper), thus allowing the venerable Peter Abraham to post it Tuesday and reap perhaps 10,000 or more page views when Deadspin and other blogs linked to him.
Life lesson: Our time on Earth is short, and you can never get those page views back.
Here is a page on the Mets' Web site that features various players - and Mr. Met! - in brief public service announcement videos regarding the team's community work and encouraging others to get involved.
The Mets asked me to tell you about it. I said I would.
Why not?
Don Imus' 19th annual radiothon will be held Thursday and Friday, now on WABC rather than WFAN. Here is the info if you are interested in contributing.
At the prodding of a loyal reader, I asked WFAN operations manager Mark Chernoff whether the station or its personalities would have any formal role in helping the radiothon, given the 18-year history of the station carrying the event, or whether such participation/contributions would strictly be a personal matter.
Chernoff said it would be a personal matter. But I'm guessing some of Imus' old friends at WFAN will pitch in financially for what remains as worthy a cause as ever.
I hope so, anyway.
Don't blame Joba for that blown game against the Indians Tuesday, Yankees fans.
I was in the stands for part of the night, and I know what went wrong. The Wave. Really. With the Yankees up, 3-2, not in some boring blowout.
And the inebriated young men sitting next to me were among the ringleaders. Strangely, they were not abusive or cursing or throwing stuff or any of the things commonly associated with inebriated young men at baseball games.
No, I had to sit next to the only drunks in the major leagues who were mostly interested in . . . The Wave.
Wasn't that last in style around the time Joba was born?
Click below to read the latest in the NFL Network vs. Comcast war, in which the NFL officially files a complaint with the FCC.
Fang's Bites predicted Tuesday that this news would cause me to develop gallstones. Really, it's more like lingering nausea, as if I had eaten bad cheese or something.
(The NFL makes many fair points here, in my opinion. But the entire cable industry thinks I'm the league's lapdog, so don't take my word for it.)
If Comcast would like to respond, I'll post that, too. Other than that, leave me out of it!
Continue reading "NFL Network vs. Big Cable dispute slogs on . . ." »
Well, silly, naive, little old me. I assumed Antonio Pierce being the most Googled term in the world this morning had something to do with Michael Strahan.
It turns out, as several loyal readers have informed me, the real reason is he began an internship on Howard Stern's Sirius Satellite Radio show, during which he will screen callers, fetch coffee and dish locker room dirt - or at least as much of it as Stern can pry out of him.
I assume many of Howard's listeners never had heard of Pierce and were looking up his background. He's a linebacker, and the guy who speculated Strahan is through.
More about the ticket prices at the new Cowboys stadium.
Eventually it will be your turn, Giants and Jets fans.
I kept nosing around for the original link to the amusing Jimmy Kimmel/Bill Simmons spoof of ESPN's recent "ambush" interview of Miguel Tejada, but I finally gave up.
So here's one via The Big Lead.
Just to clarify: No, I have NOT dropped my week-long ban on listening to talk radio.
One of my hard-working editors tipped me off to Michael Kay's comments on 1050 ESPN Tuesday, then I ran up to the press box to catch him before he went on TV in order to produce this item.
Thanks for understanding.
(I also did not hear Mike D'Antoni's name regularly mispronounced on WFAN Tuesday afternoon, but I got e-mails alerting me that it was.)
Loyal WatchDog reader (I think) Jiggs McDonald e-mailed Tuesday night with the following tribute to Chris Botta, who stepped down as the VP of media relations for Our Islanders Monday:
"Chris Botta raised the bar for not only the NY Islanders but the entire fraternity of NHL PR Directors. He was, and always will be a special person. I wish him only the best wherever he goes and whatever he does in the future."
I had a pleasant chat outside the Yankees dugout before Tuesday night's game with Giants offensive coordinator Kevin Gilbride. He was there with defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo and other members of Big Blue's staff as guests of manager Joe Girardi.
And what did Gilbride most want to talk to me about? Michael Strahan, of course. Turns out he doesn't know anything more about his plans than you or I do.
Here's a startling illustration of the interest level in Mr. Strahan's near future:
Antonio Pierce speculated about it Tuesday in an interview with WFAN.
This morning, the most popular Google search term IN THE ENTIRE WORLD is "Antonio Pierce," according to Newsday's Web wizards.
Yikes.
Michael Kay was not bashful about criticizing Joe Torre on his 1050 ESPN radio show even when Torre was managing the team for which Kay works as a play-by-play man.
With Torre on the West Coast, though, Kay has added another layer to his Torre repertoire, calling him "St. Joe," as he did Tuesday in criticizing the Dodgers manager for having contact this season with former players of his such as Andy Pettitte and Jorge Posada.
I asked Kay about this Tuesday between his radio and TV gigs.
"He’s earned that aura from all his years," Kay said. "He can do no wrong. I don’t think he’s doing anything in his mind that’s wrong. But he shouldn’t be calling players from other teams in my opinion.
"I said I don’t think anybody is going to do anything about it, because it’s St. Joe. You can’t go up against Joe Torre, and I know I’ll be criticized. A caller called up and said, 'You must not like Joe Torre because he was on with [WFAN's Mike Francesa and Chris Russo].'
"I don't care that he was on with them. He had a relationship with them, he got paid by them. That really has nothing to do with it. I just feel it’s improper.
"I never used St. Joe when he was here. I just put 'saint' on it. Even when he got fired it was like you’d gotten rid of Pope John Paul. So now I call him St. Joe.
"I don’t mean it in a derogatory way. I actually think that’s the way he’s thought of, as a saint. A lot of people take that as a negative."
Click below for a bunch of stuff that will be said Wednesday night on the premiere of the "YESterdays" featuring Alex Rodriguez on the YES Network (as transcribed by YES).
It's on after the Yankees post-game.
I have to admit I'm feeling a little stupid for not mentioning in my Tuesday newspaper column Cynthia's tales of A-Rod's squeamishness during the birth of their first child.
I had that transcript Monday, and it became a big story Tuesday, at least in cyberspace.
Just wondering: Would it have been as big a deal if it were about Pettitte or Jeter or anyone else? Bottom line: Fans and journalists will miss no opportunity to make fun of A-Rod.
Continue reading "A-Rod is wimpy around doctors, Cynthia sez" »
Am I linking to this story about the Cowboys appearing on HBO's "Hard Knocks" because it is interesting information or as an excuse to share more exploitive pictures of scantily clad, very young females with body types not commonly found in nature?
I just don't know anymore.
The people at "Fox and Friends" are the latest to try to pry something out of Michael Strahan regarding his future.
No dice.
I've learned to keep tabs on this dude in Toronto for my TV hockey news, such as Don Cherry (!) contributing to ESPN.
I could never get away with writing as much about hockey as they do in Toronto, of course. Unless perhaps I was in Detroit, which still really cares quite a lot about the NHL, perhaps second only among American markets to Buffalo. (Scroll down a bit for the Detroit reference in the above link.)
Anyway, enjoy the conference finals, even though Our Rangers are through.
Speaking of which . . . the fact the Rangers' elimination was not the featured back page element of ANY of the three New York tabloids Monday was a shocking, collective diss of the sport.
That's it for me today. I've got stuff to do. If I'm not back Wednesday, it's because I got fired for publicly complaining about the lack of hockey on the back page.
At least I sacrificed my career for a worthy cause.
Congratulations to Richard Deitsch of SI for securing a prestigious fellowship at Michigan.
Does this mean he will be dropping out of cyberspace for a while, increasing the burden on the rest of us?
Say it ain't so.
Check out this fascinating/scary story from the Sports Business Journal on the business side of the All-Star festivities at Yankee Stadium.
Sometimes the links don't give the entire story to non-subscribers. Click below for the cut and paste version.
If that is illegal or immoral, I am sure the people at SBJ will let me know. I have friends in high places there.
Continue reading "This All-Star thingee at Yankee Stadium is a big deal" »
Those of us in the NY area didn't see it due to blackout rules, but guess who turned up as TBS' analyst for Sunday's Mets-D-backs tilt?
Jim Kaat!
Turns out he is working a couple of games this season when Ron Darling and Buck Martinez are unavailable.
Just for old times' sake, click below for excerpts of Kaat's thoughts during the game.
Continue reading "Jim Kaat back on TV calling a New York team's game!" »
After this link to Deitsch's latest power ratings, which is very heavy on last week's "Costas Now" show, and this link to The Big Lead's interview with Buzz Bissinger (one of several the Buzzman has done in the past week for damage control, and which, by the way, parents, contains a number of naughty words), I am officially done with this subject.
The huge winner was HBO, which exists more to generate buzz (and thus subscribers) than for ratings.
On the other hand . . . Does anyone outside the Sports Media Navel Gazing Society care about this stuff?
When Deitsch asked HBO Sports boss Ross Greenburg after the show whom he envisioned as the audience for it, he cracked that it probably was mostly members of the media.
Chris Botta has resigned as the Isles' VP of media relations, according to this Greg Logan article and an e-mail I got from Botta late Monday night.
I'm not sure what the "personal reasons" are, but I'm assuming based on Logan's article Botta does not want to discuss them publicly.
Fair enough. But Isles fans should know he worked hard over an insanely long stretch to help reporters (and by extension fans) navigate a roller coaster era in the team's history.
Most notably, he was innovative and forward-thinking, with ideas such as the Blog Box. Check out this memorable interview<
