Category: General Sports (Page 26 of 112)

      Twittering Athletes

      May 2, 2009 /


      As I write this, I’m amazed that I could simultaneously post a message on my Twitter account that reads: Writing a new post for Scores Report. Very excited. Still haven’t showered. The thing is, while I’m in awe of the technology, I’m not overly excited about it. I could never fathom why anybody would want to know what I’m doing throughout my day. I imagine that my friends (or “followers”) would finish reading my “tweet,” and have the mental thought of, “God, what a loser. Why would he post this?” Maybe not. However, after reading various friends’ and professional athletes’ Twitter posts, I’m always let down. What was I expecting? These people are just as boring or normal as I am. Instead of sitting here reading what other people are doing, I could be doing something more constructive. So, no, I don’t have a Twitter account. I don’t have a MySpace page or a Facebook account, either. If friends want to know what I’m doing, they can hit me up on my pager. Just kidding. Nevertheless, I do see the upside of certain sports figures posting frequent updates about the state of their teams or careers. It’s just when it borders on the excruciatingly mundane or stupid that I yearn for the days of the telegram.

      Upside

      On April 24th, those who checked Lance Armstrong’s Twitter learned that French anti-doping authorities had thankfully dropped charges against the cyclist that could have banned him from the Tour de France. Really think about that for a second. This information, which is important to so many people, was available before any media outlet could report it. Yes, blogs have shown the ability to run news and rumors more quickly than traditional media, but Twitter reveals “stories” first-hand, because it comes straight from the horse’s mouth. I think that’s incredible. Of course, there are two sides to every coin, and what one athlete “tweets” can obviously contradict a more truthful report – the kind television and newspaper journalists spend hours putting together. In a society of whirlwind information, we need those institutions now more than ever. Anybody who’s seen Season 5 of “The Wire” can attest to this statement. Although, blogs and now Twitter provide instantaneous content, those who operate them understand their audience and the “quick fix” it expects. What I appreciate about newspapers is the fact that they compile information from a myriad of sources before presenting this data in a single story. Still, it’s only a matter of time before ESPN starts a show called “The Chirp” (or something equally insipid) that does a run down of the best of athletes’ Twitter accounts. If not, they’ll at least include it in their rolling crawl at the bottom of the screen.

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      General Sports, MLB, NFL, NFL Draft

      Cars crash at Talladega! Oh, and Brad Keselowski wins

      April 26, 2009 /

      http://www.theage.com.au/ffximage/2008/04/27/svCRASH_wideweb__470x309,0.jpg

      With Talladega finished and Brad Keselowski the winner, people have started learning about the big crash, or the key term: “The Big One.” Take notes on that, there’ll be a quiz later. Of greater interest than the winner is of course the fact that a multi-car crash occurred. Jay Hart of Yahoo! Sports writes:

      Seven people were injured Sunday at Talladega Superspeedway, victims of the spectacular last-lap crash that saw Edwards’ 3,200-pound race car spiraling through the air, then slamming into the catch fence that separated him from fans only a few feet away.

      That, not Brad Keselowski winning his first Sprint Cup Series race, is what will be remembered about the Aaron’s 499. Most who were there left the track ecstatic, even if Dale Earnhardt Jr. did wind up second, because they got to see the best race of the season.

      But at what cost?

      The injuries to the seven fans were said to be only minor, reportedly a broken jaw being the heftiest price paid. But as Edwards said, it’s only a matter of time before the price of admission goes up.

      Since the instituting of restrictor plates at Talladega, each year has been one long wait for someone to make a mistake and send tons of shrapnel and drivers flying into the Alabama sun. The idea behind these restrictor plates is, obviously, to restrict the maximum speed available to those on the track. Since no one can maintain a clear mechanical advantage, it’s a race of pure skill, and luck.

      I can see the obvious benefits of this: it’s exciting, the media attention is always greater following a big crash, and it makes for great photos. NASCAR has been in some sore need of that attention lately. As gasoline prices have continued to rise and attendance has dropped, things have been getting tighter off the track too.

      But what’s the answer here? If the plates were taken off, though crashes might not be quite so large, they could be much more violent for the few involved. The idea behind of the specific speed calibration is to keep cars from sky-rocketing if turned sideways at 220MPH. I would not like to have a 3,200lb car land on me, potentially crushing my beer, pelvis, face, and corn dog.

      I suppose I’m not smart enough to revolutionize the sport today. It’s important that these kind of issues remain in the public eye though, because someone in NASCAR needs to start considering a third option not previously discussed here. Someone who’s not busy watching something else.

      Bullz-Eye Sports Channel, General Sports, News, Rumors & Gossip

      Citifield and the new Yankee Stadium are expensive. Plus, a ballpark is a place for baseball

      April 19, 2009 /

      http://newyork.yankees.mlb.com/images/2009/04/16/FapduTOb.jpg

      Sports Illustrated’s Norman Chad has a new column up about New York’s new ballparks:

      New York, the most sophisticated sports town in Sports Nation, brings us two spectacularly expensive new stadiums this month — rent-free and property tax-free for the Mets and the Yankees — largely subsidized by public money on city-owned land.

      The Mets’ new Citi Field, a.k.a. Belly-Up Ballpark, cost $850 million.

      The new Yankee Stadium — boy, that old Yankee Stadium was a real stinker, eh? — cost $1.5 billion.

      Amazingly, in a city faced with myriad budget problems, the Mets and the Yankees not only successfully solicited public financing, both clubs came back with their hand out a second time — and got more money.

      Schools? No money.

      Subway? No money.

      Stadiums? How much do you need? Thank you sir, may I have another.

      Sports fans have been faced with a lot of stadium changes in recent years. I for one never got a chance to see a game in Tigers Stadium, but rather enjoyed the spacious Comerica Park (I even rode the carousel once!). It’s great to be able to go into some of the nation’s new sports arenas and let yourself be distracted by all the glitzy new opportunities to forget that the reason you came there was to watch sports.

      The onus of blame too, is not even on the owners of teams like the Yankees, Mets, and anybody else looking to cash in on public money. They’re greedy. Surprise, surprise. Why wouldn’t they be? They’re running a business. The politicians with the power to stop or confound their attempts to exploit the public are the people that it is necessary to get angry at.

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      General Sports, MLB, News

      Writer wants little leaguers to hit with baguettes

      April 19, 2009 /

      stick

      Bob Klapisch from NorthJersey.com feels that aluminum bats should be banned from little league baseball in the state of New Jersey.

      So when does common sense finally kick in? That’s the question we should be asking as Little League and youth baseball starts up this month – with thousands of kids armed with aluminum bats. This practice isn’t just dangerous; it’s our failing as adults.

      There’s a bill sitting in the State Legislature calling for the abolition of metal bats in all youth-oriented games. As of now, it’s motion-less – no buzz, no hearings, no vote scheduled. The powerful aluminum-bat cartel appears to have won the war in New Jersey, which is an outrage to the family of Steven Domalewski, the Wayne youth who was permanently disabled after taking a line drive in the chest three years ago.

      It’s time our representatives take a lesson from James Oddo, the Minority Leader in the New York City Council. Oddo single-handedly banned aluminum in New York’s high schools in 2007. He took on the industry and, incredibly, beat them. How? By calling out the greed that puts our kids at risk.

      So far, the cartel has beaten back challenges in every state except North Dakota. They’ll tell you aluminum saves money (and who isn’t vulnerable to that sales pitch these days?). They’ll tell you aluminum gives every kid a chance to be a slugger, thereby increasing interest in the sport. And most disingenuous of all, they’ll say aluminum is about choice, and what’s more American than freedom of choosing your sporting weapon?

      Come on, dude.

      Klapisch uses the case of Steven Domalewski who was permanently disabled after taking a line drive to the chest that was hit off an aluminum bat. I’m sure there are many cases of injury caused by balls hit of aluminum bats: Ricky should’ve worn his cup at shortstop and Jake shouldn’t have been picking dirt in left field during that pop fly. Not two weeks ago, Giants pitcher Joe Martinez took a brutal line drive off his head from a wood bat. Freak accidents can happen at any level in baseball because the object of the game is to hit a hard ball thrown by a pitcher at people. The reason why little leaguers don’t use wood bats is because they’re incredibly heavy. Kids don’t have the same upper body strength as a guy like Manny Ramirez, an obvious trait that Klapisch fails to believe.

      Look, even if it went into law that kids will now use custom-sized wood bats, unfortunate accidents would continue to happen because that is the nature of the game. You can’t convince me that the ratio of of injury is higher in little league baseball than it is in football, soccer, basketball, and hockey because of aluminum bats. Sports are physical, and there is always the risk of experiencing enormous physical pain no matter what equipment one uses.

      Also, I love how he refers to Louisville and Easton as the aluminum bat cartel.

      General Sports

      Top 10 worst athletes to ask for financial advice

      April 14, 2009 /

      With tax day quickly approaching, Real Clear Sports.com complied a list of the top 10 worst athletes to ask for financial advice.

      Here is the top 3:

      3. Michael Vick
      So, how did Vick go from one of the highest paid athletes to owing millions? To start, there’s the entourage. Vick was spending about $300,000 a month to support friends and family. But the biggest factor was who was in control of his money. Vick entrusted his money to a woman who is banned from working with any firm that trades on the NYSE because she bilked two old women out of $150K and a man who’s been accused of defrauding church members. His finances were such a mess that the bankruptcy judge appointed a trustee to help him out.

      Vick owes over a million dollars in back taxes and it was recently discovered that he took funds from the pension plans of some of his employees. But if you are beginning to feel sorry for Vick, (“Then you’re not a dog lover”!) don’t. To pay off some of the debt, Vick will be selling three of his SIX homes. That’s less than one home per season. Do you really expect Vick to summer in Virginia? Do you?

      2. Latrell Sprewell
      In August of 2007, a federal marshal seized his $1.5 million yacht after Sprewell had failed to pay his mortgage on the boat. The yacht, with the classy name, Milwaukee’s Best, was auctioned in early 2008.

      Oh well, at least Sprewell would still have his home in River Hills, Wisconsin. That is, until it was foreclosed on in May of last year. So, let’s see, he lost his yacht and his house. It can’t get much worse. Oh, and now Wisconsin has filed a lawsuit for unpaid taxes. Hopefull Sprewell isn’t expecting a big refund this year.

      1. Mike Tyson
      In 2003, he filed for bankruptcy. His debt reached over $27 million, about half of which was to the IRS. Maybe he shouldn’t have bought the two Bengal tigers for $140,000, for which he also had to pay a trainer $125,000 a year. Although, that’s just a small drop in the bucket. He could’ve cut back on his motor vehicles, on which he spent about $4.5 million. But perhaps the most inane purchase? How about a bathtub for his first wife, Robin Givens, that cost $2 million dollars.

      Tyson could’ve gotten his finances in order had he won the $100 million lawsuit against Don King (he was suing his former boxing promoter for cheating him out of millions in promotions), but the parties reached a settlement of $14 million, of which Tyson saw none. All of the money went to paying down his debt.

      When you figure that most of these athletes never seek out sound legal and financial advice, it’s easy to see how they blow through wads of money in a very short period of time. They just think that money will always come in and they don’t have to worry about anything long-term. How Vick blew through all his money is still beyond me.

      Boxing, General Sports, Golf, MLB, NBA, NFL

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