San Diego Chargers’ offensive lineman Kris Dielman, who happens to have two little kids, was quoted saying he would put going for a win ahead of his own health. Later in the article he says that he would get cleared by doctors but since the Chargers didn’t make the playoffs it’s a moot point.

This is in stark contrast to Ryan Clark, free safety of the Pittsburgh Steelers’, who will sit out today’s playoff game against the Broncos due to sickle cell trait and the issues associated with playing at altitude. Clark had problems in 2007, when playing in Denver ended up costing him his spleen, gallbladder, and about 30 pounds. He hasn’t played a game in Denver since.

Clark is quoted as saying he would play today but head coach Mike Tomlin, father of three, said no.

 Here is Clark, talking about Tomlin’s decision to bench him:

“When a man tells you his reasoning for not letting you play is because if that was his son, he wouldn’t want him out there, it shows you he cares about you more than just as a football player, that you’re not just an asset to a football team,” Clark told reporters. “He understands you have a family and people that depend on you.”

As a mom, I hope my kids’ athletic coaches always put their health ahead of a win. As a fan, I assume coaches like that don’t exist at the professional level. I was glad to discover that assumption was wrong, especially for my hometown team.

ClumberKim lives in Pittsburgh. 

Ramirez retired from Major League Baseball just five games in to his last season as a Ray after a positive drug test. This followed a 50 game suspension while with the Los Angeles Dodgers during the 2009 season. Ramirez is perhaps best known for helping the Boston Red Sox win two World Series titles in 2004 and 2007

The phrase “Manny being Manny” isn’t going to hold any sway in a court of law, I’m afraid.

Image: courtesy Broward County Sheriff’s Office

More to come on this, no doubt.

This is a perfect example of “now that we know better, we do better.” Concussion awareness programs are everywhere today, from the NFL to elementary school (to The Onion). And now Dick’s Sporting Goods has created PACE, Protecting Athletes through Concussion Education.

Through PACE, Dick’s Sporting Goods will supply up to one million young athletes across more than 3,300 middle and high schools nationwide with ImPACT software, a scientifically-validated computerized concussion evaluation system. It is a computerized, neurocognitive assessment tool that is used by medical doctors, psychologists, athletic trainers, and other licensed healthcare professionals to assist them in determining an athlete’s ability to return to play after suffering a concussion. Compared to my experience, WHAT A CONCEPT!!!

Here’s an article about Schaumburg, Illinois schools’ experience with ImPACT.

Schools need to apply in order to get the software. To apply for your school, visit http://www.mydickssportinggoods.com/pace/ and click “Submit Your School” on the left-hand side.

Former Pittsburgh Steelers running back Jerome Bettis tries out the ImPACT baseline concussion software at the PACE event at Dick's Sporting Goods in White Plains, NY.

Jim Joyce. Don Denkinger. How many umpires or referees can you name? I’ll bet you only know their names because of a famous bad call. Add Jerry Meals to that list.

In case you were not up at 2:30 am Wednesday watching the Pirates and Braves, here’s what happened. The game was in the bottom of the 19th, (yes, you read that right, the NINETEENTH inning) six and a half hours after the game began, with the score tied 3-3. Julio Lugo was on third. Braves’ pitcher Scott Proctor hit a ground ball that was fielded by Pedro Alvarez, who threw to Michael “The Fort” McKenry. The throw arrived in McKenry’s glove well ahead of Lugo and well in front of the plate. Umpire Jerry Meals was in a great position to make the easy call.

Except he called Lugo safe.

Needless to say, all hell broke loose at Turner Field. See for yourself.

And that’s what the Atlanta TV guys had to say.

My twitter stream exploded, though I’m betting that was nothing compared to what was being said the Pirates’ locker room. And in the morning, the hashtag #jerrymealssaysitssafe was trending.

It continued on all day and shows little sign of going away any time soon, at least not in Pittsburgh.

As for the Pirates, Manager Clint Hurdle encouraged his players to express their frustration, but public comment has been limited. Frank Coonelly’s statement says it all on behalf of the team.

Later in the day, Jerry Meals made the following statement:

Pertaining to the play that ended the game as last night, as [Scott] Proctor hit the groundball to [third baseman Pedro] Alvarez…as he fielded the ball and threw home, I got into position to make the call. [Catcher Michael] McKenry caught the ball, made a swipe tag attempt at Lugo sliding. I did not see any tag After that, I ruled him safe.

After coming into the locker room, I reviewed the incident through our videos that we have in here and after seeing a few of them, on one particular replay, I was able to see that Lugo’s pant leg moved ever so slightly when the swipe tag was attempted by McKenry. That’s telling me that I was incorrect in my decision and that he should have been ruled out and not safe.

It takes guts to admit you’re wrong. He’s never gonna be my favorite ump but he’s human. He made a mistake. He admitted it. Moving on. That’s exactly what I expect Clint Hurdle is encouraging his players to do.

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After 18 consecutive losing seasons, the formerly hapless Pittsburgh Pirates headed into the All-Star break four games over .500 and exactly ONE game out of the division lead. The local TV guys were speculating last Sunday afternoon about a possible run for the division during the second half of the season, or at least the wildcard. Just getting to .500 used to be the elusive dream and (ZOMG) now we’re talking playoffs!

The statistics are staggering for this 2011 edition of the Buccos.

Last year, win #45 came on September 3. This year? July 6. They matched last year’s road win total (17) on June 1.

The last time they sent three players to the All-Star game? 1990.

Closer Joel Hanrahan gives a whole new meaning to HammerTime. He’s 26 for 26 in save opportunities this season. Only one reliever in the majors, Craig Kimbrel, has more saves and he’s only got one more than Hanrahan.

All this from an opening day payroll of $46 million. That makes the Pirates 27th out of 30 MLB teams in payroll. For comparison, the Yankees were over $201 million on opening day.

Despite a high number of injuries, resulting in a roster heavy with minor league call-ups, the team is playing better than it has in YEARS. Both starting catchers went down the same week, and the top minor-league prospect was also injured. The team went shopping and snagged the Red Sox AAA catcher, Mike McKenry, who happened to be grocery shopping in Pawtucket when he got the call. He’s a wall behind the plate, A WALL, and finally got the bat going last Friday night with his first major league home run to win the game. Someone really needs to get on making a Fort McKenry shirt. I’ll be first in line to buy one.

Speaking of shirts, I’m not afraid to buy a shirt with a player’s name and number on it anymore. The Pirates were sure to sell or trade their best players in August, usually the guy whose name was on the shirt I just bought. Eleanor is still sporting a Freddie Sanchez. This year, the Pirates look to be buyers, not sellers, as the trade deadline approaches.

Most of all, and if you’ve ever seen Bull Durham or Major League you know what I’m talking about, the players and coaches are having an absolute blast. Anyone who saw the Pirates’ dugout under John Russell’s leadership saw a team having absolutely.no.fun.at.all.thank.you.very.much. Clint Hurdle is in a whole other much happier universe. He actually remembers baseball is a GAME. For Clint, winning two in a three game series isn’t a problem, it’s a “Meatloaf series” because two out of three ain’t bad.

I’m gushing, I know, but these Pirates are totally gush-worthy. I’m wishing I could be at the ballpark every night. (It’s always been a really beautiful park, even when the team sucked.) The city is responding and sell-outs are regular happenings, rather than noteworthy events.

The national media is taking notice, too. Andrew McCutchen was interviewed during coverage of the home run derby. The big guns are mentioning Pittsburgh and saying really nice things, not making jokes. I just wish they would stop sounding so surprised all the time.

Raise the jolly roger, dammit. LET’S GO BUCS!

ClumberKim has lived in Pittsburgh over 13 years. An earlier version of this appeared on clumberkim.com. She cranked up the gush in this version.

We extend our condolences to his family and teammates.

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I wonder how many of these poor sops fans are now getting lots of weird phone calls and spam?

Photo by Laurie White

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Not five minutes after the last game in the Timberwolves miserable season ended, Kyrie Irving started having very public second thoughts. He has since deleted the tweet you see above, retweeted by CanisHoopus, and preserved forever by a member of the Timberwolves mailing list who happened to be out of the country and not updating his twitter feed regularly.

Now I don’t think I would want to go play in Minnesota either. The weather is cold, the team hasn’t had a respectable season in forever, and did I mention the weather is cold? But he’s going to have to show up in Target Center eventually.

Apparently Kyrie has failed to learn the lesson I have taught many an undergraduate in the 20+ years I have spent employed in higher education:  Beware the toes you step on today, as they may be attached to the ass you need to kiss tomorrow. The fans in Minneapolis (all dozen or so of them) will remember, whether he is there in a Timberwolves uniform or not.

ClumberKim has been the ListMOM for the Minnesota Timberwolves mailing list for fifteen years. It’s all Christian Laettner’s fault.

Image by artolog, licensed under Creative Commons.

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