Archive for April, 2010

NBA Commissioner David Stern to players and coaches “Make my day”

By | April 30, 2010 | Basketball | Comments Off

UJA-Federation Dinner At The Waldorf Astoria HotelFed up with the critical comments from players and coaches, NBA Commissioner David Stern has chosen to rock his inner Dirty Harry. The commissioner hasn’t threatened to shoot anyone but he will fine your sorry ass if you are a player and call out game officials on your blog or if you are a coach who gripes about calls during a playoff game you’re going to be losing some of your coin too.
It appears the commissioner  did not take kindly to  Orlando Magic’s Dwight Howard’s  bitching on his blog about how he perceived himself as having been treated unfairly by officials during the playoff series in Charlotte:

“I’m not looking to say anything to get myself in trouble with the league, but I just don’t see other star players getting called for fouls the way I get them,” Howard posted on his blog. “No star player in the league is outta games the way I am.”

While Howard may have not been looking for trouble, as the saying goes, trouble found him.  To the tune of a $35,000.00 fine.  And fans reacted on his blog. There are 149 comments on Howard’s blog some comments advise him he is representing G0d on the court, so he should behave accordingly and others demand for Stern to step down. Still others discuss how is it possible the NBA has the authority to fine a player for comments made on their own personal blog, after all it’s their opinion and aren’t they allowed to express it?

David Stern doesn’t think so. In fact Stern has gotten so fed up with the complaining he has challenged players and coaches to “Make my day” essentially putting everyone on notice that if players and coaches continue to have outbursts on the court or on their blogs during the remainder of the playoffs, he’s going to impose more fines.

The NBA clearly states what is expected by players and coaches regarding what they wear and how they behave, and also includes a rule about unsportsmanlike conduct.  But what is the social media policy for NBA players and coaches that covers blogging?   Last fall the NBA released one type of social media policy governing when- before, during or after a game -players are permitted to access Facebook and Twitter, but I couldn’t find anything addressing blog posts or comments.  I contacted the NBA and they graciously agreed to send me their social media policy.  And I read it.  It is the same one released last fall and mentions nothing about blogging which means, at least to me, whatever is written on a blog is covered by the rule regarding how players and coaches are expected to speak to the media.

So coaches and players, before you post anything negative on a blog, you’ve got to ask yourself a question, “Do I feel lucky?”

[phot0: Getty Image]

But What Does That Have to Do With the Diamondbacks?

By | April 30, 2010 | Baseball, Sports Psych | Comments Off

I think we can all agree that Arizona’s new immigration law is fascist at best, but how can boycotting the
Diamondbacks protest at Wrigley Diamondbacks make it any better?

I understand that opponents think that not going to an Arizona Diamondbacks will hurt Arizona tourism, but um, Arizona doesn’t own the Diamondbacks. There are many owners of whom the majority shares belong to Ken Kendrick, Mike Chipman and Jeff Royer. Now, I don’t know how these three gentleman feel about the new immigrations laws or racial profiling in general, but I’m fairly certain that they had no more to do with this law than the people over at Arizona Iced Tea, whom morons were also boycotting.

Yes, Kendrick is a big Republican supporter, but that doesn’t automatically make someone a fascist.

I guess what I am saying is that while I wholehearted agree that this law should be protested, maybe protesting the Diamondbacks / Cubs game at Wrigley Field may be putting your best efforts into the wrong place.

Maybe they should call the Arizona legislators, or the ACLU or some other civil rights organization instead.

[photo: Jason Muelver]

Capitals Lose, Habs Win Stanley Cup Quarterfinal. That’s All I Got.

By | April 29, 2010 | Hockey, Uncategorized | 3 Comments

The Washington Capitals lost to the Montreal Canadiens last night in a seventh game in the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs, which was totally unexpected when this series began and I’ll admit, as a Caps fan, is entirely upsetting. It’s happened three times now in three years, so in addition to upsetting it’s also getting a little old, sure.

However, this is hockey. This was my home team gone — I believe — entirely, stupidly wrong and a goalie on an opposing team who in the past week appeared to have been touched by the golden hand of the universe and gifted with the power to block all flying objects with the sheer force of his mind and fingers.

Seriously, did you watch Jaroslav Halak in net at all? Because all I could think of when I watched Halak was nothing, because I actually really couldn’t think. I was reduced to a distant buzzing in my brain, because what I was seeing was extraordinary. I had honestly paid next to no attention to him prior to last week, but holy hell. The man can stop lightning with his fingertips. He’s a goal-thwarting machine.

Unknown Caps player, Stanley Cup quarterfinals

Unknown Caps player, Stanley Cup quarterfinals

I hope that he and the Habs win the Cup. I don’t think they will, but I now, perversely, hope that they do, not for any love for the team but because if you play that well at first in spite of being seeded much lower, and you beat my team in the process, I want you to up the ante.

I hated every minutes of this series, pretty much. I coughed up too much money to go to Game One, which they lost at home because they were disorganized and Montreal scrapped it out like they did every game. It was ugly and the Caps played erratically and boringly, which has quite honestly been the case since they came back from the Olympics break. Mike Green went to some weird, bad place. Ovi and Semin slumped. Mike Knuble cannot always be called upon to pull off a goal in the clutch, especially when there’s Halak voodoo involved.

When they came back in March, I was watching some random game they were losing and I said, “This is not Stanley Cup hockey.”

I don’t always like it when I’m right.

But the deal is, this is my team. And as people started sending in condolences and some trash talk in Tweets last night I actually started smiling. Because who I just am is a fan of the Washington Capitals in their best and worst configurations, so in the end, while this year I honestly did allow myself to entertain the possibility of going really far in the playoffs and maybe even pulling off a championship, it makes no nevermind. I’ve been going to Caps games since I was a little girl. For most of those years, they have been a losing team. They have never won a Stanley Cup. Three  years ago now a guy named Bruce Boudreau came in to coach and a supposed superstar named Alex Ovechkin joined the roster. (And I’m not mad at Ovi, fairweather and/or bandwagon fans take note. He did a lot of what he was supposed to do over the past two weeks, but you can’t be much of an enforcer with a bullseye on your chest, either. I’ve done the math.)

CapitalsHomeGame

So yeah, they got into rocking the red and unleashing the fury, and things got more exciting. And I will tell you that a home Capitals game is without question one of the best times you can have in this city with your clothes on. It is that much fun.

And rest assured, the year they win a Stanley Cup? I will lose my ever-loving mind. I will not be able to effectively work. I will hopefully be at more games during the playoffs than I am not. I will know it in my bones.

This time, I knew it wasn’t happening. The heart wasn’t there. Something was missing. While other teams like the Detroit Red Wings and the San Jose Sharks played cohesively, finding each other and organizing themselves in front of the net so someone was actually there when they needed someone to pass to or to block some other guy (and in cases like the Wings came back from game and series deficits to kick ass) the Caps played in a manner that suggested that they do not hang out. They might, but it doesn’t look like it.

Today is what it means – stupidly, crazily and utterly involuntarily – to be a fan. This is what I am and as much as I hate every time they lose, as much as I hate today, not for one minute am I sorry. They had a great season, won the President’s Trophy, which is no small thing, and someday they will take it all the way, I just know it.

To paraphrase a cliche from another sport that is nonetheless completely true: there is absolutely no crying in hockey.

[Top photo made available under Creative Commons from Clydeorama: http://www.flickr.com/photos/clydeorama/ / CC BY-NC 2.0]

Please To Enjoy Young Pitchers or How Starting Rotations Are Getting Their Groove Back

By | April 28, 2010 | Baseball, Fantasy Sports | 3 Comments

With ‘roids out of the league, pitchers are the new superstars, and nothing’s more fun than watching a young pitcher break out over the course of the season. It’s still early, but a few young pitchers are already starting to turn heads around the league. Here are five young pitchers looking to shake things up.

(Cue Joan Holloway voice) Hello, boys. Care to show us more of the same?

  • Ubaldo Jimenez (Colorado)– How many fantasy owners are shaking their fists skyward, rueing the draft day they passed on Jimenez? Colorado could be home to a Cy Young award-winner if Jimenez (0.95 ERA) keeps up what he’s been tossing, adding up to a 4-0 record, including a complete game no-hitter against the Braves followed by a shutout win against the Nationals.
  • Jaime Garcia (St Louis)–He’s 1-1, with the loss coming against a Tim Lincecum-led Giants. With the run support offered by the division-leading Cardinals, lefty Garcia’s 1.42 ERA speaks volumes about his improvement after missing last season rehabbing from Tommy John surgery. Garcia looks to be a solid asset to the Cardinals inevitable playoff run. (Come on, I’m from St Louis. I know with certainty that the Cardinals will win the World Series this year.)401px-DSC03065_Jaime_Garcia
  • Brian Matusz (Baltimore)–Matusz (2-0) would certainly have a better record if the Orioles (3-16) weren’t so terrible; he’s had two no-decisions in four starts. He’s averaging almost seven strikeouts a game, and will hopefully get better if and when the Orioles improve.
  • Clay Buchholz (Boston)–He might be 2-2, but Buchholz’s second loss came with ten strikeouts and only one walk, and he maintains a respectable 2.19 ERA after win last night over Toronto.  Boston management recently decision to keep Buchholz in the rotation when Daisuke comes of the DL next week, moving 16-year veteran Tim Wakefield to the bullpen.
  • Ricky Romero (Toronto)–Romero also has a 1-1 record, but he struck out twelve in a win against the White Sox and held his own in a no-decision against the Rays. He had a promising no-hitter going into the 8th in an eventual 3-1 loss to the Angels, giving up five hits in the ninth.

Lucky fantasy owners may still be able to steal one of these guys; if not, take note as the season progresses for potential trades or future seasons.

[Photo: Wikimedia Commons]

Tito Ortiz Arrested For Throwing Jenna Jameson

By | April 27, 2010 | Celebrity Athletes, LVP, UFC, Unsportmanlike Conduct | 2 Comments

At this point, no one is sure what is going on here except Jenna Jameson says she will be pressing charges against MMA fighter, Tito Ortiz, for allegedly throwing her into a bathtub and tearing two ligaments in her shoulder.

tito-ortiz

Jameson claims that Ortiz accused her of being addicted to Oxycontin after finding several pills in her pocket.  The two would argue, she would recall saying something “very hurtful to his ego” and claims that Tito grabbed her arm and threw her into the bathtub.

In a shocking turn of events, Tito’s attorney denies that Ortiz touched her, claiming that Jameson was having an “emotional meltdown” and Ortiz is completely innocent of any wrongdoing.

In addition to denying any addiction to drugs, Jenna was quoted as saying that this was the final “nail in the coffin” for their relationship.  The UN and EU have been notified and flags all over the world will fly at half-mast today.

When I wrote my inaugural UFC post, this wasn’t the subject matter for which I was hoping, but since everyone knows the name of the golden-haired phenom that wowed us when bursting on to the national scene (Jenna Jameson), I thought we could all really relate, you know?  Combined with my love for men choking each other and my own addiction to drugs, it seemed like a slam dunk for me.

jenna-jameson

Regarding Ortiz, few MMA fighters have broken into the mainstream like he has done.  Tito was one of the pioneers of the sport, at one time being managed by UFC President Dana White before White acquired the ailing UFC for a measly one million dollars, an investment that has already paid off a thousand times over. That’s pretty amazing.

White would revitalize the sport by getting it sanctioned by the Nevada State Athletic Commission, adding weight classes, five-minute rounds (instead of fight until you die) and some other rule adjustments that would legitimize the sport and help restore its legal status in several states.

The sport would breakout through Spike TV, where a reality progam called “The Ultimate Fighter” would air, featuring several fighters who would compete in a tournament, the ultimate prize being a one year contract in the UFC.  UFC veterans (such as Chuck Liddell and Randy Couture for the first season) would be brought in to coach teams that would compete against one another, the pay-off also being that the coaches would fight after the show’s finale,  a part of the show’s formula that continues to this day. (I love this show!!)

As it happens, Tito Ortiz is one of the coaches on the current season (back for a second time) opposite the heavy-handed Chuck Liddell (also back for a second time). The two are scheduled to fight some time after the show’s live finale.  One wonders if this turn of events will have an effect on whether or not that fight will take place (again).

Liddell connects with a crushing left. I could watch him do that all day.

Liddell connects with a crushing left. I could watch him do that all day.

The rocky history between Ortiz and Dana White is well-documented, at times the men publicly spewing venom in the other’s direction. And at one point, they were even scheduled to fight in secret.  Seriously.  An actual fight. I wrote a story about it here, and it is why Dana White is my hero.

Jameson and Ortiz aren’t married but have twin boys together.  It’s difficult to say what happens at this point, but with Tito’s accusations that Jenna is addicted to drugs and her claims that he physically assaulted her, I believe this is about to get very messy.

Ortiz held a press conference today, his attorney claiming that Jenna has been battling with an addiction to painkillers for over a year, including stints in rehab, 911 calls and suicide attempts.  Tito, visibly emotional, would add that he hopes she’s okay.

When asked how she would respond to his claims, she would simply say, “he’s trying to save his career,” before collecting her things and heading off to Vegas with friends.

[Photo]

[Photo]

[Photo]

[Source]

[Source]

Blog Widget by LinkWithin
← Older Entries