Category: General Sports (Page 77 of 112)

DVD Review: “ESPN Inside Access: Derek Jeter”

May 9, 2008 / Anthony Stalter

Overview
“ESPN Inside Access: Derek Jeter” is stocked with 134 minutes of interviews, highlights, an ESPN SportsCentury feature and much more. The disc also includes a feature titled “On the Field” which is a collection of Jeter’s most famous plays (including discussions on “the dive” and “the flip”) and rare minor league highlights, as well as an exclusive interview with him on the set of “Saturday Night Live” and on “Up Close” with Chris Meyers.

What’s interesting?
At the start of the DVD is Jeter’s interview on Up Close with Chris Meyers, done right after the shortstop won the Rookie of the Year Award and the Yankees won the World Series in 1996. As you proceed through the DVD, there’s another section of Jeter being interviewed by various people from 1998 to 2007. Watching Jeter’s maturation over the years was pretty cool, but the most impressive thing to note is that his demeanor never changes. In every interview he remains humble, grounded and appreciative of the opportunity he’s gotten to play shortstop for the Yankees. He’s unique in that he never shares too much information in any interview, yet always manages to give more than the standard, cookie-cutter responses that you get from most athletes.

Best feature
By far the best feature on the disc is the SportsCentury piece. Once you get past a review of Jeter’s upbringing for the umpteenth time, the feature shares a couple of inside stories that are rather interesting. (Such as the time Jeter privately blasted teammate Bernie Williams for being late to the clubhouse before a World Series game, as well as how former Yankee Chad Curtis essentially vanished from baseball after trying to publicly embarrass Jeter following a brawl with the Mariners in 1999.) The feature also discussed the incident in 2003 when Yankee owner George Steinbrenner suggested his shortstop was spending too much time in New York clubs and perhaps had “lost his focus”.

Could do without
There was only one small feature the DVD could have left off and that was, “World’s Sexiest Athlete.” Other than a funny comment or two from fans, do we really need to know how good looking people think he is? The guy used to date Miss Universe Lara Dutta and actresses Jessica Alba and Jordana Brewster – we know the guy does well in the female department.

Overall
On a whole, the DVD is rather enjoyable. The SportsCentury piece is worth a watch on its own, but it’s also interesting to see how well Jeter handles himself in interviews and how generally well liked he is by not only fans, but former manager Joe Torre and teammates Jorge Posada, Bernie Williams, Tino Martinez and a slew of others. You also get the impression that even though he appears to be a great guy, he’s rather private and even not to be crossed with in certain situations (just ask Chad Curtis). The “Make a Wish” feature was touching and the snippet of Jeter dressed in drag for a SNL skit was also funny. All in all, even if you hate the Yankees, it’s hard not to root for a guy that works hard to stay out of trouble, has never gotten a big head and outright loves playing the game.

General Sports, MLB, Television

Top 10 Most Embarrassing Athlete Arrests

May 9, 2008 / Anthony Stalter

In light of Bears’ running back Cedric Benson getting pepper sprayed by police following an incident on his boat last weekend, The Love of Sports ranked the top 10 most embarrassing athlete arrests of all time.

1. Najeh Davenport
In July of 2002, the Pittsburgh Steeler rookie fullback was arrested for burglary and criminal mischief; charges stemming from an incident that took place in April of that year. Late one night, Davenport, a former standout at the University of Miami (rated the No. 2 fullback in the draft) snuck into a dorm room at nearby Barry University. A woman sleeping in the room awoke around 6:00am to find Davenport leaving an extra load in her laundry hamper. “Dookie” was sentenced to roughly 100 hours of community service for defecating in the woman’s closet, but continued to maintain his innocence, arguing “Where’s the evidence? Where’s the manure?” After the trial, his lawyer said, with a straight face, “Najeh wants to put this behind him.”
8. Joe Cullen
Yet another case of a coach under fire for a “uniform violation.” On August 24, 2006, the Detroit Lions defensive line coach was arrested for obscene and indecent conduct after he took a little late-night drive in the buff. Wearing not a stitch of clothing, Cullen rolled up to a Wendy’s drive-thru window and calmly ordered a burger, fries and a drink. (No word on whether the cashier asked him if he wanted to “supersize it.”) Cullen was asked to pull over and wait for his meal, at which point the manager on duty called the police. Less than a week later, the nudie foodie was arrested again. This time he was clothed, but driving under the influence. A year later, Lions QB Jon Kitna caused a stir when he showed up at a teammate’s Halloween party dressed as Cullen, with his wife dressed as the red-braided “Wendy.”

I couldn’t imagine what that drive thru attendant thought when he/she saw Cullen drive up in his birthday suit. I picture Cullen being calm – like nothing was wrong. If that’s not a Will Ferrell Saturday Night Live skit, I don’t know what is.

General Sports

You know the sports world is in trouble when…

May 8, 2008 / Anthony Stalter

Here’s something to file under the “shocking” category: the sports world is a mess.

From performance enhancing drugs to Spygate to players getting arrested on seemingly a daily basis, I sometimes have to laugh to keep from crying.

That said, I’ve decided to channel my inner Jeff Foxworthy and do a segment called “You know the sports world is in trouble when…” Basically I’ll just take a few shots at some of the latest goings on in the world of sports.

I collected newsworthy stories from over the past week and essentially poked fun at the misery of others. Hey, it’s better than trying to make sense of it all or complaining about how the sports world needs to clean itself up. (Is it better? Maybe not. But it’s more fun, that’s for sure.)

After reading this, I’m sure you’ll share the same sentiment I do in that it can be really hard to be a sports fan these days.

You know the sports world is in trouble when…Roger Clemens apologizes for “past mistakes” but not for those past mistakes.
When I read the headline, “Roger Clemens apologizes for past mistakes” I thought to myself, “finally – the guy is going to be honest and admit to his wrongdoings!” Little did I know that what the Rocket was apologizing for was…well, I have no freaking idea. He’s not apologizing for allegedly taking HGH, lying to congress or having an affair with a minor (country music singer Mindy McCready). No, he claims he’s still innocent about all that stuff. He’s just apologizing for past mistakes. What past mistakes? Sneaking out of the house when he was a teenager? Cheating on a test? Fighting with siblings? What are you apologizing for, Roger? You can’t just make a blanket apology and expect everyone to go, “Well hey, he did apologize, so he’s good in our book now.” What’s Suzyn Waldman’s take on all of this?

You know the sports world is in trouble when…you can actually make a wager on what NFL team will have the next player thrown in the clink.
Courtesy of BetUs.com, you can make a wager on which NFL team you think will produce the next convict. Not surprisingly, the Cincinnati Bengals are going off at 5-1 odds and the Atlanta Falcons offer a good value bet at 8-1 after Michael Boley was picked up for battery charges. The Miami Dolphins are 10-1 odds, while the Dallas Cowboys, Philadelphia Eagles and Indianapolis Colts are all 15-1. Here’s my question: Why, pray tell, are the Dallas Cowboys only 15-1 after trading for Pacman Jones? At 15-1 odds, I’m taking out a sizeable loan and just sitting back and waiting for the next time Pacman decides to paint the town red. I might be able to retire early the next time he wants to go to a strip club.

You know the sports world is in trouble when…a freaking horse is being accused of taking performance-enhancing drugs.
The Kentucky Derby – one of the most historic events in all of sports – suffered a tragic outcome this year when thoroughbred Eight Belles had to be euthanized on the track after breaking both ankles following a second place finish. What’s even sadder is that the damn horse is being accused of being on the juice. Trainer Larry Jones can’t even mourn the death of his horse because he’s too busy ordering steroid tests to be done along with Eight Belles’ necropsy. It’s ridiculous that we can’t even watch a horse race without wondering aloud if “Colt McBronco Pony” is on the ‘roids. Seriously, if it comes back that Eight Belles was juicing, I want a nation-wide drug testing policy put in place for all professional sports. Athletes, horses, dogs, farm animals – I want them all tested, because clearly nobody (or animal) can be trusted anymore.

You know the sports world is in trouble when…the Bears draft Cedric Benson’s replacement in Matt Forte and the first thing Benson does is get pepper sprayed by Texas boating authorities.
It’s no secret that the Bears feel running back Benson might not be the best man for the job after three years of mediocre football; why else would they select Forte in the second round in this year’s draft? So it was a little surprising to hear that Benson was charged with boating under the influence and resisting arrest last Saturday, even though he knows he’s on thin ice with the team. While the arrest seems a little fishy (why did the police feel the need to search Benson’s boat?), why is he getting into any trouble? Shouldn’t this guy be doing absolutely everything he can to try and keep his ass employed? Normally when people realize they might lose their job, they turn up their performance a notch and try to be on their absolute best behavior. They don’t get pepper sprayed by police and arrested for driving a boat while under the influence of alcohol. I’m not saying Benson and other athletes don’t have the right to have a life, but the Bears are dying for a reason to cut him, so one would think he would manage to stay out of trouble in the hopes that he can keep his job.

You know the sports world is in trouble when… Ozzie Guillen has a point.
This is what Chicago White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen had to say before a game last weekend:

‘’Right now, everyone in Chicago is making lineups, ‘Call up this guy, call up that guy,”’ Guillen said. ‘’If we had 50 people allowed on the roster, we could do that. That’s what ticks me off about Chicago fans and Chicago media — they forget pretty quick. A couple of days ago, we were the [bleep]ing best [bleep] in town, now we’re [bleep].’’

‘’We won it a couple years ago, and we’re horse[bleep],’’ Guillen said. ‘’The Cubs haven’t won in 120 years, and they’re the [bleep]ing best. [Bleep] it, we’re good. [Bleep] everybody. We’re horse[bleep], and we’re going to be horse[bleep] the rest of our lives, no matter how many World Series we win. We are the bitch of Chicago. We’re the Chicago bitch. We have the worst owner — the guy’s got seven [bleep]ing rings, and he’s the [bleep]ing horse[bleep] owner.’’

Every sportswriter in every sports town wants to make up the lineup for their city’s respective manager. So I’m not giving Ozzie credit for bitching about that. But he makes a great point in the second paragraph about how the city of Chicago treats their two baseball teams. The Cubs can do no wrong, period. They could lose 162 games in a season and they’d still sell out every game because they’re everyone’s lovable losers – the “Cubbies!” On the other hand, the Sox are the black sheep of the city (or “bitch” in Guillen’s words) and are more quickly criticized when things go wrong. It doesn’t help the Sox that going to Wrigley Field is like one big tailgating party and therefore it didn’t matter to fans that the Tribune Company blatantly avoiding putting a winner on the field for decades. The Sox ownership at least feigns interest in trying to win and while it’s not easy sticking up for Guillen, he has a point in this case.

You know the sports world is in trouble when…every time the Atlanta Falcons want to build their franchise around a certain player, that player winds up behind bars.
Granted, first round pick Matt Ryan is going to be the new face of the franchise. But it couldn’t have been a good sign when linebacker Michael Boley was arrested early this week for battery. (His wife claims he pushed her.) Boley has quickly emerged as the Falcons’ best defensive player over the past two years and he’s due for a long-term contract extension after signing a one-year tender this past offseason. He’s a player the Falcons would love to build their defense around, but it’s kind of hard to do that when his mug shot is all over the front page of the sports section. Given Boley’s arrest and the fact that former franchise centerpiece Michael Vick is in jail on federal dog fighting charges, maybe the Falcons should do one last background check on Ryan. You know, just to be sure.

General Sports, MLB