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      Tennis players screw up too

      May 13, 2009 /

      rich

      I just wanted to post this to prove that tennis players are not infallible. We’re constantly hearing about how baseball players juice, basketball players smoke the pot, football players shoot themselves, etc. So, it sort of pleases me in a weird way that French tennis player Richard Gasquet was suspended Monday following a positive cocaine test and will miss the French Open.

      The International Tennis Federation expects to have a panel in place within 60 days for a hearing. Gasquet could face a two-year ban if found guilty.

      The 22-year-old player is gathering evidence to prove his innocence despite two samples testing positive. He said a separate test of his hair samples May 7 showed no trace of cocaine. Cocaine traces were found in Gasquet’s urine sample at the Sony Ericsson Open, in Key Biscayne, Fla., in March.

      “He’s suspended until the end of the hearing,” ITF spokesman Neil Robinson said. “We’re now assembling an anti-doping tribunal. The ideal time frame is within 60 days, but people have to fly in from all over the world for it.”

      The French Open, the year’s second major, begins May 24 and the French Tennis Federation withdrew Gasquet’s name after the provisional suspension.

      Gilbert Ysern, director general of the French federation, said the test was considered an in-competition control, meaning Gasquet could face a two-year ban if found guilty. A player who tests positive for cocaine out of competition would face a reduced penalty.

      Jeez. The ATP Tour doesn’t screw around now does it? Gasquet faces suspension for two years for using a substance that wasn’t even a performance-enhancing drug. Two years for a drug a quarter of the NFL probably uses nightly. Gasquet’s a talented player so it’s unfortunate a decision he made which has nothing to do with tennis can ultimately affect his career. Alex Rodriguez and Miguel Tejada straight-up admitted to using steroids and Bud Selig lets them play whenever they want. Something’s not right.

      Here’s hoping his suspension is lenient.

      Tennis

      Zimmerman’s streak ends at 30 games

      May 13, 2009 /

      zim

      Ryan Zimmerman, the best thing to ever happen to the Washington Nationals, has ended his hitting streak at 30 games. He tried to continue it earlier today against Barry Zito and the San Francisco Giants, but it just wasn’t in the cards. Zito, who’s surprisingly been pitching like a major-leaguer, still gave up 8 hits. None, however, were to Zimmerman.

      I know it’s quite an accomplishment, but as Zimmerman’s streak ends at 30, it really puts it in perspective how amazing Joe DiMaggio’s streak of 56 games really was. Zimmerman accomplished this feat in the same fashion he has always performed, quietly, quite possibly because he’s in Washington and playing for the worst team in baseball. The guy is awesome and sees pitches much in the same way Rollins was when his hit streak went to 38 games (even if it spanned over 2 seasons). Oh, well — cheers, Zimmy. At least you’re a shoe-in for the All-Star team.

      MLB

      The great series that nobody is watching

      May 13, 2009 /

      nhl

      Alex Ovechkin of the Washington Capitals and Sidney Crosby of the Pittsburgh Penguins are currently playing to the best of their abilities in a matchup hockey buffs have dreamed about. Problem is, not many people are aware of it and if they are, they’ll have trouble finding the games as they are on the Versus network.

      It’s a once-in-a-decade duel — the kind of rare treat that somehow exceeds the hype. So tonight, tune into channel 603, and catch the last game of an instant classic.

      That’s right: channel 603, square in television’s Yukon Territory. Since the hockey playoffs are on Versus, formerly known as the Outdoor Life Network, viewers in many markets will have to search the hinterland of channel listings in order to watch the games. Versus is channel 603 on DirectTV, and its placement isn’t pretty on cable, either. On Time Warner Cable’s Los Angeles system, it’s channel 267; in New York, Cablevision puts Versus on channel 146; and in Dallas, Versus gets prime position on channel 254. Of the nation’s 115 million television households, some 40 million do not even get Versus.

      The series is drawing a smaller audience than last year’s College Baseball World Series, on ESPN, when it averaged 1.4 million viewers. On May 8, only 647,000 viewers tuned into Game 4 of Penguins-Capitals, making it the 81st highest-rated program on cable that night. The Crosby-Ovechkin dream duel clocked in behind both a Batman episode on the Cartoon Network (1.5 million viewers), and a “Reba” rerun on Lifetime (930,000). The Los Angeles Lakers-Houston Rockets NBA playoff game on ESPN, with nearly 6 million viewers, came in first. The May 9 NASCAR Sprint Cup race, a regular season affair, drew 7.5 times more viewers than Game 5 — an overtime thriller — shown the same night on Versus.

      I remember when I was completely out of the hockey loop last year. I knew that the playoffs were on and but I didn’t have much interest in watching. Then one day I literally got lost in the hundreds of channels that we received and somehow landed on this station called Versus. Turns out, the Sharks vs. Stars series was on and I stuck around. I had never heard of the network. Even in all the sports reading I did and in watching other sports, I never saw an advertisement for Versus.

      I know what channel the network is on now, of course. It’s just a shame really since these playoffs have actually been fairly exciting. I’m not sure how much of a financial success the NHL was this year but I’m sure it didn’t do horrible. Regardless, here’s hoping Versus puts more money into their public relations department as Crosby and Ovechkin are reasons enough to watch.

      NHL

      Could the Tigers release Magglio Ordonez?

      May 13, 2009 /

      Michael Rosenberg of the Detroit Free Press speculates that if Magglio Ordonez doesn’t start hitting soon, the Tigers could eventually release him this season.

      It may be too early to bench or release Ordoñez , but it’s not too early to wonder about him. Here are some of Ordoñez’s numbers entering the Tigers’ game in Minnesota Tuesday night: .241 batting average, 108 at-bats, three extra-base hits, sixth in the batting order, 35 years old. I mean, the numbers could be worse. His cholesterol level could be 500. But those numbers are disturbing.

      It’s not too early to ask questions. And with Ordoñez in 2009, the biggest question is this: Will he stay in the lineup?

      It is a $30-million question.

      At the end of this season, the Tigers will either pick up an $18-million option on Ordoñez or pay him a $3-million buyout. The Free Press Math Department tells me that’s a $15-million difference. Then there is another $15-million option for 2011.

      I doubt the Tigers want to pay Ordoñez $30 million when he is 36 and 37 years old. Manager Jim Leyland has already dropped him in the lineup and started to remove him for defensive purposes. You don’t do that if a guy is worth $15 million a year.

      But getting out of this contract is like getting out of the little island of Manhattan at rush hour: It seems like it should be easy, but it isn’t. Ordoñez’s agent, Scott “I know you hate me, but give me an hour and I’ll get you to pay me to hate me” Boras, negotiated trigger clauses into this deal. If Ordoñez has 135 starts or 540 plate appearances this season, his 2010 option becomes guaranteed. And if he has 270 starts or 1,080 plate appearances between this season and next, his 2011 option becomes guaranteed.

      If Ordonez was hitting well, then it would be foolish for the Tigers to release him just to save money. But he’s currently one of the worst hitters on the team and as the article points out, why continue to play him so he reaches the appropriate amount of plate appearances and therefore assure that his contract is guaranteed? If he continues to struggle, why not release him and save that money so GM Dave Dombrowski can dump it into more productive players next year?

      The only issue is whether or not the Tigers would be on the hook for Maggs’ salary if he reaches 135 starts or 540 plate appearances with another team. I would assume they would only be responsible for a certain amount, but I don’t know the details of his contract so I can’t answer that question.

      MLB

      Bill Simmons actually thinks he should get a shot as an NBA general manager

      May 13, 2009 /

      Last year, when the Bucks had a GM opening, Bill Simmons started a campaign to fill the position. Fortunately, the Bucks hired John Hammond.

      Fast forward a year, and Simmons is campaigning for the open Minnesota GM job, punctuated by this beauty in his so-called “epic” conversation with author Malcom Gladwell (the guy who thinks all underdogs should utilize the full-court press).

      NBA teams rarely, if ever, think outside the box, and that’s one of at least 50 reasons why I could succeed as a GM.

      This started out as a semi-joke, but I think over the course of the last year, Simmons’ ego, along with a few thousand emails of support from his readers, have convinced himself that he’s actually qualified to run an NBA franchise.

      Look around the league and you’ll find that NBA general managers are usually former players, had front-office experience prior to getting the keys to a franchise, have advanced degrees in business and have an deep understanding of the salary cap and of how the fiscal side of the NBA works. Bill’s greatest strength is his ability to compare an athlete to a character to some random movie from the ’80s. What’s he going to do — sit Kevin Love down and tell him that his game reminds him of Chubby from “Teen Wolf”? How does this get the T-Wolves to the playoffs?

      To me, the big question is whether or not Simmons keeps this up. Is he going to campaign for every open general manager position until he gets one (or more likely, dies of old age)? Or is there a certain point when all this I-can-run-an-NBA-team talk becomes so sad that he eventually just gives it up?

      There’s no doubt about it — Simmons is an entertaining sportswriter, maybe the best in the stream-of-consciousness/pop-culture business. But he needs a reality check, and there’s no way to give it to him.

      Humor, NBA, Rumors & Gossip

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