Month: May 2009 (Page 16 of 61)

      Sports become less family friendly, again

      May 24, 2009 /

      http://meignorant.com/files/images/angry_kid_playing_chess.jpg

      While this story is a few days old, it brings up an important problem in sports-spectating today (the picture represents the reaction of Ms. Vasquez). We start off with the recent interview of Carmelo Anthony’s fiancée, Lala Vasquez concerning an incident at the Western semis Game 5 between her and a group of fans as posted on Mom Logic:

      They began yelling ‘F*** the Nuggets!’ right in front of my son.” Then she says they started calling the Nuggets players “n*****s.” She was shocked. “I’ve been at a ton of games — but I have NEVER heard fans say things like that.” Then, looking directly at her while taunting Anthony on the court, Lala says the fans called her son a “bastard.”

      While this seems a case taken to an extreme, it certainly isn’t so uncommon to anyone bringing their children to a game. Especially this year’s playoffs (with Mark Cuban dumping on somebody’s mom and children being tossed aside by large men) it seems like sports, specifically basketball, have become less and less family friendly.

      OK, OK. I’m blowing this a little out of proportion, besides I’m a single, young guy. Why should I care about this anyway? Well, come on, some things belong in sports and some don’t. The kind of language and behavior I’m talking about goes far beyond anything acceptable at a bar, let alone a public all-ages event. So it’d be nice to see something done at least to dissuade people from unloading a salvo of vulgarity at the back of an 8-year-old’s head. What if they rise up against us? Look at that face up there and tell me you wouldn’t run for it.

      Bullz-Eye Sports Channel, NBA, Rumors & Gossip, Women

      Major League Relegation? A Modest Proposal

      May 24, 2009 /

      http://www.magpieszone.com/toon/2008/01/25012008_alan-smith.jpg

      OK, hands up everybody who knows the relegation system of Barclay’s Premier League. Nobody? No worries I gotcha covered. As the Associated Press reports (and I got this from Sports Illustrated btw):

      Newcastle and Middlesbrough were relegated from the Premier League on Sunday, while Hull and Sunderland stayed up.

      Newcastle lost 1-0 at Aston Villa and Middlesbrough was beaten 2-1 at West Ham to finish in the last three teams on the final day of the league season.

      Hull lost 1-0 to newly crowned champion Manchester United and Sunderland went down 3-2 at home to third-place Chelsea.

      Last-place West Bromwich Albion was already certain to go down and drew 0-0 at Blackburn.

      If this will insult your intelligence as a “football” fan, then feel free to skip to the next paragraph. Let me quickly go through the idea of relegation: The 3 bottom-placed teams at the end of each season of the Premier League are busted down to what amounts to kind of a minor league system. The 3 top teams from that league take the place of the losers from the Premier League. Thus, the bottom of the roster in the Premier League changes quite a bit from season to season.

      So let me propose an idea here. Relegation is something that basically doesn’t exist here stateside. But I think there’s an argument to be made that it could be advantageous to install something like that in some of the more inflated sports leagues we have. Continue reading »

      Barstool Debates, Bullz-Eye Sports Channel, News, Rumors & Gossip, Soccer

      Which baseball fans are the most valuable?

      May 24, 2009 /

      The fans of the San Francisco Giants, apparently. Forbes.com has an interesting article up which ranks the MLB’s most valuable fans. To find the results, they divided the local revenue of each team (including such sources as local television and radio revenue, gate receipts and sponsorships) for the 2008 season by the population of its metropolitan area, according to the 2008 U.S. Census Bureau estimate. It’s an interesting piece worth checking out.

      A look at the top-ranked Giants’ $78 revenue per fan reflects just how juiced Bay Area fans are to see their team, regardless of its last few lackluster seasons. In comparison, the Dodgers, who made it to the National League Championship Series last season, only generated $38 in revenue per fan.

      Of the $166 million the Giants generated in local revenue last year, 71% came from gate receipts and from their local television deal. The Giants get better television ratings than most other teams in similar markets. In December 2007, the team smartly acquired a stake in FSN Bay Area, resulting in a station name change to CSN Bay Area and $30 million in rights fees, a 30% increase from the prior year (and more than double what the Minnesota Twins and San Diego Padres get from their local deals).

      For an additional wow factor, the Giants introduced two new luxury suites: the Legends Club, a 120-person party space in left field, and McCovey Cove Loft, a 40-person patio space off the right field wall that creates the illusion fans are actually sitting on top of the grass.

      Not surprisingly, the Florida Marlins were ranked as having the least-valuable fans which bring in only $11 per person. You can’t blame it on the players since the Marlins have won two World Series championships and boasted winning records the last five seasons. Maybe if their stadium didn’t have the disposition of a cemetery a few more people might show up.

      As for the Giants, despite having one of the most gorgeous ballparks in the league, the experience at their games is great. I went to AT&T Park a bunch of times when I was in college and had a great time, even though I was decked out in Dodgers regalia. The stadium is clean, the views are perfect, and the concessions prices aren’t absolutely terrible. On top of that, the place looks beautiful at night and the whole experience is augmented by their loyal fans. I can’t stand the team, but I love where they play ball.

      MLB

      Murray and Ivanovic advance at French Open

      May 24, 2009 /

      The 2009 French Open at Roland Garros kicked off today with a slew of quality matches. Third-ranked Andy Murray and defending women’s champion Ana Ivanovic both got off to sluggish starts but managed to pull through. In other notable matches, Marat Safin, Lleyton Hewitt, Gilles Simon, Fernando Verdasco, Marin Cilic, David Ferrer, Nadia Petrova, and Victoria Azarenka all advanced.

      Murray, who has reached only one clay-court semifinal in his career, was broken in the first game of the match, but he then dominated Chela with 55 winners and 10 aces to advance to the second round.

      “After that, I was very happy with the way I played,” Murray said of the early break. “I wasn’t expecting to play that well in the first match.”

      Defending champion Ana Ivanovic struggled on the important points in the opening match on center court before beating Sara Errani of Italy 7-6 (3), 6-3 in the women’s draw.

      The eighth-seeded Serb converted only five of the 20 break points she earned against her opponent. Errani broke three times and even served for the first set at 5-4.

      “I knew I had to work hard for my points today, and I’m very happy I did that,” Ivanovic said. “And I kept my composure.”

      Murray looked rusty early in his match, but he soon began to hit some hard groundstrokes and move Chela around the court. While Murray only had four fewer unforced errors — 19 to Chela’s 23 — the Briton had 41 more winners.

      I think people often forget about the dramatic weight in the women’s competition amidst all the Federer vs. Nadal speculation. Ana Ivanovic, who has taken a complete nosedive since winning this tournament last year, is going to have a rough road ahead of her if she wants regain her position as one of the best players in women’s tennis. Serena Williams and Dinara Safina have both been playing great tennis and I would put my money on either of them over Ivanovic.

      As for the men’s draw, don’t count on Murray making it to the finals. He’s not a great clay-court player and both Nadal and Federer know Roland Garros better than any player on the tour. Anything less than a Nadal/Federer final would be an injustice to all of tennis.

      Tennis

      Daly honors Mickelson’s ailing wife

      May 24, 2009 /

      John Daly wore bright pink trousers during the final round of the BMW PGA Championship in England on Sunday in a sign of support for Phil Mickelson’s wife after she was diagnosed with breast cancer last week.

      According to their management group, Amy Mickelson will have major surgery for removal of the cancer within the next two weeks.

      Daly on his decision to wear the pink trousers:

      “I had a pair, so I figured I’d do that for her today. I thought it would be a good gesture,” Daly said of his trousers. “I know Phil very well and I know Amy. I’ve known them for a long time — we’ve played the Tour together. She’s a great lady. She has always been a sweetheart to everybody.”

      Daly had not yet spoken to Phil Mickelson, but said he had been impacted personally by breast cancer.

      “I sent out a media message,” Daly said. “He’s probably surrounded by callers right now and I didn’t want to bother him. I’m sure everybody on Tour and everybody in the world is thinking about her.”

      Many in the golfing community have expressed their support and are eager to help in any way possible. Fellow golfer Darren Clarke has spoken to Mickelson recently, but wouldn’t reveal the details of their conversation. Clarke lost his wife to breast cancer in August 2006, and credits the Mickelsons in helping him through the tough times following her death.

      Mickelson has suspended his PGA Tour schedule indefinitely.

      Golf

      « Older posts Newer posts »

      © 2026 The Scores Report – The National Sports Blog

      Theme by Anders Noren — Up ↑