Thanksgiving weekend always brings family, friends, football and food together with random precision. Some years that weekend also hosts the USC-UCLA rivalry game. It used to be every Thanksgiving when the Yard was but a mere sports sapling. It was a treacherous weekend in those days. USC was winning national championships and UCLA was earning their gutty little moniker with an occasional upset of their cross town rivals. Yard allegiance to the Blue and Gold was embedded by mom. She attended UCLA for a year or so before dad promised her the world if she dropped out of school while he cleaned things up in Korea working for the US Army. We have to always respect that decision so UCLA came with the deal.
As the Yard evolved, it became apparent that mom had few allies in this UCLA loyalty even within the family. Apparently, granddad attended USC School of Pharmacy and with the right mix of a USC pounding of UCLA and Tennessee sour mash he could be one mean SOB. Mom had his sister and her husband as UCLA defendants. They were teetotalers with too much southern genteel for school yard taunts. Grandpa usually had the better fuel on the field and in his tank. Cousin Mike was the most vocal Trojan booster and the king of vodka inspired vitriol. It was unclear if he ever attended the two night classes at USC that he claimed. This fact never mitigated his passion for the Cardinal and gold. In any event, there was a lot to be thankful for but UCLA never brought much to the dinner in those days. In the years since, we never looked back on the original commitment with mom but damn it is never easy.
The NBA is moving rapidly into the abyss of irrelevance on the sports landscape. We sort of understand that the NBA player feels that they are the show that people pay to see play. That same show goes on every day on the play grounds of Los Angeles and New York in front of less fortunate and the only money changing hands are side bets. Without a stadium, parking, television rights, merchandising there is no revenue to share. The NBA under David Stern built those revenue streams and underwrote all of the associated risk. The NBA players are taking the stance that the business built by ownership with ownership money is 57% theirs.
Foolishly management had given them 57% of their business in the last labor negotiation.
Understandably, the players wanted to maintain that inequity. The players failed to consider a few things in this disastrous work stoppage. It is lost on them that the economy has been a bit sketchy of late. A whole bunch of people are not working at all. Those that are working are figuring out what to spend their discretionary income on and the NBA is moving off most household wish lists. No one is asking their ownership for a 50/50 split or they are striking! The NBA has a flash of relevance on Christmas Day when the Lakers play someone who has won a recent NBA title or have a grudge with Kobe. Then it disappears to TBS until after the NFL and March Madness ends. If the Christmas games get scrubbed, that will be the unofficial end of this NBA season. 70% of the American public already reported to USA Today that they do not care if the NBA cancels this season. Tick, tock…
Revenue sharing has been an issue in professional sports for the past decade. It is not just the revenue between the players and ownership but small market teams and large market teams. The Lakers spend more money on players than the Indiana Pacers or Milwaukee Bucks. The Yankees spend more than three teams in their division...COMBINED! It is a more complex issue than this Blog is chartered to debate.
Forget about these over entitled professional athletes and owners, what about the inequities in college athletics? The SEC will probably win the BCS title this year again. It will make it six in a row for one conference of sixteen teams. It is not one dominant team. Four different SEC teams have won national championships since 2006, Florida, LSU, Alabama and Auburn. At this moment, the top three teams in the BCS standings are from the SEC. We are quite certain that the math and chemistry departments at these fine institutions have not seen a whole lot of this BCS largess. Donors are quite clear to these schools that the money needs to go to the football program.
Other schools have taken notice. Oregon’s emergence is financially inspired by Nike founder Phil Knight. Oklahoma State is in the mix in no small part to the $200 million T. Boone Pickens gave the school with explicit instructions that the money was not to be frittered away on academics. Pickens wanted every penny spent on improving the football and basketball teams. UCLA Alum and super-agent Michael Ovitz spearheaded a campaign to raise $200 million for UCLA. Would the money upgrade the moribund athletic facilities? Would there be an on-campus football stadium? No, UCLA built this Ronald Regan Medical Center. It is supposedly world class and people are getting cured and stuff but man…priorities!
This is a good place to end this diatribe to wish all of you a Happy Thanksgiving from the Yard!
"I celebrated Thanksgiving in an old-fashioned way. I invited everyone in my neighborhood to my house, we had an enormous feast, and then I killed them and took their land." Jon Stewart
Thursday, November 24, 2011
Thursday, November 10, 2011
Say it ain't so, Joe!
The Yard usually tries to find the humor or irony in the world and delivers it in a sports themed wrapper. This week there is no humor or irony and unfortunately the wrapper is still tied to sports.
The reign of terror that Jerry Sandusky was allowed to perpetrate at Penn State University is not humorous or ironic. Joe Paterno was collateral damage yesterday when his unprecedented reign at Penn State was terminated by the board of trustees. The trustees took swift actions in an attempt to reconcile events from over a decade ago. Swift action a decade ago would have ended this story before it ended this way.
Tuesday, Joe Pa tried to orchestrate his departure as has been able to do for so many things for the past half century at Happy Valley. He encouraged the trustees not to waste one second of their time thinking about his status as coach. He would gladly retire at the end of the season. Joe figured he could get past this. He lamented that he should have done more as the egregious actions of his former defensive coordinator, Sandusky came to light this past week. The Yard is not sure if Paterno could have done more when these events were brought to his attention. We are most certain that it would have been impossible for him to have done any less.
The rioting on campus by PSU students demanding that Paterno not be fired is ignorant and misguided. Joe had to go, not coach another game and not collect another paycheck from PSU. If anyone’s doubts Paterno’s culpability in these horrific events go the Yard blog site for a link to the grand jury transcripts. It is a rugged read and tears will flow as witness testimony recounts the activities of a sexual predator that Paterno and the PSU administration let roam free.
In 2002, then graduate assistant coach Mike McQueary ventured into the Penn State locker room looking for his tennis shoes. The lights were on when they should not have been and he went to investigate. What he came upon is not for the faint of heart. He found Sandusky raping a ten year old boy in the shower. He ran from the scene and it took him a night of soul searching to report this not to the police but to Paterno which he did the following morning. Joe Pa reported it to the athletic director. His superiors reported it to no one and Sandusky remained a PSU coach for another 18 months.
The story got distilled by the university in this manner. McCreary witnessed a rape and reported it to Joe. Joe reported that something might have happened that was of a sexual nature. The administration testified that it was merely horse play and possibly the boy’s genitals were touched. The University looked out for the University not the victim. Quietly, Sandusky was allowed to retire in 2003 while being promoted to the position of professor emeritus. He was awarded a full pension and full access to the University’s facilities. He was instructed not to bring any children on the campus anymore. Penn State really stood their ground on that note. They knew what he was doing and they firmly told him not to do it on campus. They still did not tell authorities.
Sandusky molested, raped and abused another 7-8 young boys in the years that followed. He was in a position of trust and influence as the head of his foundation. He was not helping disadvantaged youth, he was trolling for them. The PSU administration knew what type of demon he was. Monsters that rape young boys did not make an error in judgment or a mistake. They have violated the core of our very existence. They are demons that need to be locked away from society. The fact that Paterno allowed Sandusky to continue to coach and work in the foundation with immunity is a crime of monstrous proportions. Joe, wished he had done more? Joe, would you let one of your 27 grandchildren spend the night at the Sandusky house? You wished you had done more? You did virtually nothing hoping it would all go away and your legacy would live on untarnished.
This story is not over. There will be more victims. There will be Catholic Church size lawsuits and payouts. Penn State will never be the same place. Joe Paterno will never coach another game and his career will forever be tarnished. The victims will never recover and their lives will never be the same. PSU student body, protest the actions of the administrators who are now indicted for covering this up. Protest the lack of institutional control that your university has displayed. Do not spend another second in front of Joe Pa’s house praising his saintly leadership and legendary career. He allowed a demon to operate in your midst for over a decade. What if the victims were your nephew or your cousin?
Interestingly enough, the NCAA has not said anything yet. If Sandusky had given an athlete an extra tee shirt or dinner, PSU would be on probation and lose scholarships and bowl games. Rape a ten year old in the shower and it is outside their jurisdiction. USC was cited for lack of institutional control when Reggie Bush’ parents took money from agents. PSU allowed a known sexual predator to roam free on their campus for over ten years.
Humor and irony will return to the Yard soon. Today we pray for the victims. We all need to protect our youth and keep an eye out for the monsters that walk among us. May Jerry Sandusky find out what rape is all about daily for the rest of his miserable life behind bars.
The reign of terror that Jerry Sandusky was allowed to perpetrate at Penn State University is not humorous or ironic. Joe Paterno was collateral damage yesterday when his unprecedented reign at Penn State was terminated by the board of trustees. The trustees took swift actions in an attempt to reconcile events from over a decade ago. Swift action a decade ago would have ended this story before it ended this way.
Tuesday, Joe Pa tried to orchestrate his departure as has been able to do for so many things for the past half century at Happy Valley. He encouraged the trustees not to waste one second of their time thinking about his status as coach. He would gladly retire at the end of the season. Joe figured he could get past this. He lamented that he should have done more as the egregious actions of his former defensive coordinator, Sandusky came to light this past week. The Yard is not sure if Paterno could have done more when these events were brought to his attention. We are most certain that it would have been impossible for him to have done any less.
The rioting on campus by PSU students demanding that Paterno not be fired is ignorant and misguided. Joe had to go, not coach another game and not collect another paycheck from PSU. If anyone’s doubts Paterno’s culpability in these horrific events go the Yard blog site for a link to the grand jury transcripts. It is a rugged read and tears will flow as witness testimony recounts the activities of a sexual predator that Paterno and the PSU administration let roam free.
In 2002, then graduate assistant coach Mike McQueary ventured into the Penn State locker room looking for his tennis shoes. The lights were on when they should not have been and he went to investigate. What he came upon is not for the faint of heart. He found Sandusky raping a ten year old boy in the shower. He ran from the scene and it took him a night of soul searching to report this not to the police but to Paterno which he did the following morning. Joe Pa reported it to the athletic director. His superiors reported it to no one and Sandusky remained a PSU coach for another 18 months.
The story got distilled by the university in this manner. McCreary witnessed a rape and reported it to Joe. Joe reported that something might have happened that was of a sexual nature. The administration testified that it was merely horse play and possibly the boy’s genitals were touched. The University looked out for the University not the victim. Quietly, Sandusky was allowed to retire in 2003 while being promoted to the position of professor emeritus. He was awarded a full pension and full access to the University’s facilities. He was instructed not to bring any children on the campus anymore. Penn State really stood their ground on that note. They knew what he was doing and they firmly told him not to do it on campus. They still did not tell authorities.
Sandusky molested, raped and abused another 7-8 young boys in the years that followed. He was in a position of trust and influence as the head of his foundation. He was not helping disadvantaged youth, he was trolling for them. The PSU administration knew what type of demon he was. Monsters that rape young boys did not make an error in judgment or a mistake. They have violated the core of our very existence. They are demons that need to be locked away from society. The fact that Paterno allowed Sandusky to continue to coach and work in the foundation with immunity is a crime of monstrous proportions. Joe, wished he had done more? Joe, would you let one of your 27 grandchildren spend the night at the Sandusky house? You wished you had done more? You did virtually nothing hoping it would all go away and your legacy would live on untarnished.
This story is not over. There will be more victims. There will be Catholic Church size lawsuits and payouts. Penn State will never be the same place. Joe Paterno will never coach another game and his career will forever be tarnished. The victims will never recover and their lives will never be the same. PSU student body, protest the actions of the administrators who are now indicted for covering this up. Protest the lack of institutional control that your university has displayed. Do not spend another second in front of Joe Pa’s house praising his saintly leadership and legendary career. He allowed a demon to operate in your midst for over a decade. What if the victims were your nephew or your cousin?
Interestingly enough, the NCAA has not said anything yet. If Sandusky had given an athlete an extra tee shirt or dinner, PSU would be on probation and lose scholarships and bowl games. Rape a ten year old in the shower and it is outside their jurisdiction. USC was cited for lack of institutional control when Reggie Bush’ parents took money from agents. PSU allowed a known sexual predator to roam free on their campus for over ten years.
Humor and irony will return to the Yard soon. Today we pray for the victims. We all need to protect our youth and keep an eye out for the monsters that walk among us. May Jerry Sandusky find out what rape is all about daily for the rest of his miserable life behind bars.
Keep the rally alive!
The Occupy somewhere ralliers are springing up everywhere. The Yard was taken by their dilettante efforts and strident spirit in saying, “We are mad as hell and we are not going to take it anymore!” The Yard decided to join the cause to support their cause. This past Saturday, we occupied our sofa for most of the day. Pictures of the occupation will eventually be displayed at the blog spot. It was a particularly fortuitous weekend to occupy our sofa with USC playing Stanford in a thriller. We were fervent in our desire to support those occupiers everywhere with our La-Z-boy recliner, refrigerator stocked with beverages and a remote control to take us around the nation with limited motion. There was nothing that could stop our fervor. Not on this Saturday, no way. Monday was a business trip but we have committed to be full tilt sofa every Saturday until stuff gets better.
With each passing year the demise of Major League Baseball is predicted and it is derided for its pace and relevance in today’s sports universe. The nation’s oldest pastime has been challenged to shorten the games and become more in touch with a generation of fans who might not appreciate the nuances of the historic game while texting.
In Los Angeles, most fans were unaware that the games were so long because they listen to the last two innings of any game they attend on the drive home. The games can sometimes be four hours or two and a half because there is not a game clock. The team with the lead does not have the option to run out the clock. The team that is behind only has to keep the rally alive. It is what makes baseball special in sports history and in Yard patronage.
The 2011 baseball season came down to the last hour of the final day of the season before the Saint Louis Cardinals knew that they were in the post season. The Cardinals were 10 ½ games out in of a wild card spot in late August. Albert Pujols was leaving. ManagerTony LaRussa was probably gone and soon so would be the 2011 Cardinal Season.
So it should not have been a surprise Thursday night in Saint Louis, the Cardinals were down to their last strike twice in an elimination game. If the batter strikes out, the Cardinals not only lose the game, they would have lost the 2011 World Series. If they lost, that is all that would be remembered. In the bottom of the 9th with two out and with two strikes, an unlikely hero in David Freese banged a two run triple off the right field wall to tie the game. It was historic but it only tied the game. Josh Hamilton looking like the Natural gave the Ranger another two run lead with a majestic stroke that silenced the crowd. In the bottom of the 10th, and most of the mojo juice spent in the Cardinals down one with two out and gray bird Lance Berkman strokes a two strike single to tie the game. That spent all of the Mojo juice Ranger coach Ron Washington could brew in the visitor’s dugout David Freese puts the ball where only the fans can catch it in the 11th and the rest is the history of baseball. Baseball is much like life, there is always enough time if there are enough out. You can never lose if you just keep rallying.
Bryant Gumbel shook up the sports universe this past week by making very strong comments about NBA Commissioner David Stern. Gumbel stated in an editorial during his HBO show that “Stern’s version of what’s been going on behind closed doors has, of course, been disputed. But his efforts were typical of a commissioner who has always seemed eager to be viewed as some kind of modern plantation overseer, treating NBA men as if they were his boys.”
The Yard is not sure who should be more outraged by Gumbel’s comments Stern or the NBA players he apparently was supporting with that comment. It is also an outrage to the history of racial atrocities to compare an NBA player to a slave. The horrors that happened to a slave on a plantation are not akin to the lifestyle of any NBA benchwarmer anywhere.
David Stern is arguably the best commissioner in any professional sport. He is accessible to the press, hard-nosed and creative. Gumbel and the NBA players should hearken back to the days before Stern was commissioner in 1983. There were 23 teams. There were no Nike shoe deals. There was no Dream Team. There was an awful TV contract and the NBA playoffs were on tape delay after the late news in most markets. There were rampant drug problems throughout the league which were well documented in the eight hour news cycle of the day. In 1982, three NBA players were making $1 million a year or more, Kareem Jabbar, Moses Malone and Magic Johnson. The average salary for an NBA player was $65,000 per year. A player could hardly spawn a second family on those paltry dollars.
Since Stern became commissioner that NBA has added seven new teams. Each team employs fifteen players, multiple coaches, back office personnel and staff. Stern’s NBA has built nine new basketball arenas employing hundreds of people playing before thousands of fans. The NBA now enjoys the most lucrative contract in league history. NBA games are televised live on TBS, TNT, ESPN, ABC and multiple regional sports networks almost nightly. The NBA expanded into Canada and internationally. NBA player jersey sales rank among the highest of all sports. The average player salary is $6.5 million and over 20 players make more than $15 million annually. The NBA is in a much better place since David Stern took the helm of this flagging sport. The plantation was never a better place for the slaves.
Bryant Gumbel took issue with Stern being an egocentric and self-centered. This is very interesting commentary from one of the real prima donna loads in television history. The celebrity as diva bar is set rather high and Bryant has cleared it into the finals at most career stops. Gumbel’s ego, back stabbing and tirades have been well documented from his days as the host on the Today to his current position at HBO. He is Wilbon like in his positioning of his question as more important than the answer from his guest. His comments were to shock us into thinking that Gumbel is part of our social relevance. I forgot what were we talking about again?
“Since baseball time is measured only in outs, all you have to do is succeed utterly; keep hitting, keep the rally alive and you have defeated time, you remain forever young.” Roger Angell
With each passing year the demise of Major League Baseball is predicted and it is derided for its pace and relevance in today’s sports universe. The nation’s oldest pastime has been challenged to shorten the games and become more in touch with a generation of fans who might not appreciate the nuances of the historic game while texting.
In Los Angeles, most fans were unaware that the games were so long because they listen to the last two innings of any game they attend on the drive home. The games can sometimes be four hours or two and a half because there is not a game clock. The team with the lead does not have the option to run out the clock. The team that is behind only has to keep the rally alive. It is what makes baseball special in sports history and in Yard patronage.
The 2011 baseball season came down to the last hour of the final day of the season before the Saint Louis Cardinals knew that they were in the post season. The Cardinals were 10 ½ games out in of a wild card spot in late August. Albert Pujols was leaving. ManagerTony LaRussa was probably gone and soon so would be the 2011 Cardinal Season.
So it should not have been a surprise Thursday night in Saint Louis, the Cardinals were down to their last strike twice in an elimination game. If the batter strikes out, the Cardinals not only lose the game, they would have lost the 2011 World Series. If they lost, that is all that would be remembered. In the bottom of the 9th with two out and with two strikes, an unlikely hero in David Freese banged a two run triple off the right field wall to tie the game. It was historic but it only tied the game. Josh Hamilton looking like the Natural gave the Ranger another two run lead with a majestic stroke that silenced the crowd. In the bottom of the 10th, and most of the mojo juice spent in the Cardinals down one with two out and gray bird Lance Berkman strokes a two strike single to tie the game. That spent all of the Mojo juice Ranger coach Ron Washington could brew in the visitor’s dugout David Freese puts the ball where only the fans can catch it in the 11th and the rest is the history of baseball. Baseball is much like life, there is always enough time if there are enough out. You can never lose if you just keep rallying.
Bryant Gumbel shook up the sports universe this past week by making very strong comments about NBA Commissioner David Stern. Gumbel stated in an editorial during his HBO show that “Stern’s version of what’s been going on behind closed doors has, of course, been disputed. But his efforts were typical of a commissioner who has always seemed eager to be viewed as some kind of modern plantation overseer, treating NBA men as if they were his boys.”
The Yard is not sure who should be more outraged by Gumbel’s comments Stern or the NBA players he apparently was supporting with that comment. It is also an outrage to the history of racial atrocities to compare an NBA player to a slave. The horrors that happened to a slave on a plantation are not akin to the lifestyle of any NBA benchwarmer anywhere.
David Stern is arguably the best commissioner in any professional sport. He is accessible to the press, hard-nosed and creative. Gumbel and the NBA players should hearken back to the days before Stern was commissioner in 1983. There were 23 teams. There were no Nike shoe deals. There was no Dream Team. There was an awful TV contract and the NBA playoffs were on tape delay after the late news in most markets. There were rampant drug problems throughout the league which were well documented in the eight hour news cycle of the day. In 1982, three NBA players were making $1 million a year or more, Kareem Jabbar, Moses Malone and Magic Johnson. The average salary for an NBA player was $65,000 per year. A player could hardly spawn a second family on those paltry dollars.
Since Stern became commissioner that NBA has added seven new teams. Each team employs fifteen players, multiple coaches, back office personnel and staff. Stern’s NBA has built nine new basketball arenas employing hundreds of people playing before thousands of fans. The NBA now enjoys the most lucrative contract in league history. NBA games are televised live on TBS, TNT, ESPN, ABC and multiple regional sports networks almost nightly. The NBA expanded into Canada and internationally. NBA player jersey sales rank among the highest of all sports. The average player salary is $6.5 million and over 20 players make more than $15 million annually. The NBA is in a much better place since David Stern took the helm of this flagging sport. The plantation was never a better place for the slaves.
Bryant Gumbel took issue with Stern being an egocentric and self-centered. This is very interesting commentary from one of the real prima donna loads in television history. The celebrity as diva bar is set rather high and Bryant has cleared it into the finals at most career stops. Gumbel’s ego, back stabbing and tirades have been well documented from his days as the host on the Today to his current position at HBO. He is Wilbon like in his positioning of his question as more important than the answer from his guest. His comments were to shock us into thinking that Gumbel is part of our social relevance. I forgot what were we talking about again?
“Since baseball time is measured only in outs, all you have to do is succeed utterly; keep hitting, keep the rally alive and you have defeated time, you remain forever young.” Roger Angell
Wednesday, October 12, 2011
The Departed.
Friday afternoon flights into Las Vegas’ McCarron airport are illuminated with all the enthusiasm and hope that exists before that first $200 is pissed away in Vegas. The bachelorette parties with matching shirts and cocktails are ready. The dancers are all coming in for the weekend to take off their shirts for cocktailers. There is laughter and excitement in the air as the city awaits the revelers and their ATM cards. Las Vegas is a city which is built on a business model of people making bad decisions while drinking alcohol. The crowd leaving on Mondays in Uggs, sweats and massive sunglasses is a testimony to the city’s pervasive ability to ensure the successful extraction of people from their wages.
Al Davis died this past weekend. Yard staffers were completely shocked by these tragic events. We actually thought Al had already died. The Lane Kiffin “firing” press conference from several years back with Mrs. Taglin’s 8th grade overhead projector will live forever but apparently Al did not. Al was always wearing those Weekend at Bernie’s shimmer suits and glasses. We thought he was already gone and his Stepford staff kept the Alster “alive” in our lives to enjoy his best team in a decade. It is unfortunate for his family but not the franchise. The Raiders upset the Titans as part of the wake festivities. It was refreshing to hear Jon Gruden and Roger Goodell praise Al’s legendary leadership while they both personally loathed the man.
The NFL potential lock out this past summer was watched almost as closely as the Cuban missile by the American public. It was headline news daily and congress attempted to get involved. The sports books in Las Vegas were reeling if regular season games were lost. Eventually a deal was reached and for the good of the Obama administration, America’s most important distraction was saved before we started really wondering how bad things are. Sport is a solvent for the residue that accumulates in the psyche of America. The anxiety of the week can easily melt into the confines of 56 inches of liquid crystal display and a few frosties before Monday beckons.
The NBA does not share this same national interest. There are NFL cities not NBA cities. College football and basketball are more important than the NBA. If you are in Des Moines or Duluth, you have an NFL telecast every weekend. There is a local college team that is followed in Lubbock and Little Rock as well as the NFL. People in Oklahoma hate the University of Texas but love the Cowboys. The NBA is only followed with reverence in a few towns. Los Angeles, Boston, Miami and Dallas of late have strong NBA traditions and following. All of the other 2nd and 3rd tier markets that do not have a local team would rather watch Celebrity bowling or poker over the NBA. In the 1970’s before Magic and Larry supercharged interest, the NBA Playoffs were only on TV on a tape delay after the local news.
The NBA is off everyone’s radar until football ends in February. Pundits figure it will get done in time. But the public apathy that exists will mature into disdain if the NBA is not careful. NBA players are the most notorious spenders and sperm donors of all professional athletes. With an extended family and sometimes a few others, missing paychecks is not part of that economics for the average NBA power forward. The megastars have their largess but the second tier guys slogging along for $7.2 million a year are going to suffer. Their pay is doled out $87,804 per game to get their millions. If the season is shortened to 76 games, $7.2 million is $6.67 million and so on. The players will cave because if they do not their siblings will be on their butts for their monthly stipend. Be careful what you wish for in today’s world.
4Th and long: The State of UCLA football is irrelevant even on the campus in Westwood. There is no buzz or excitement at the games. The team has swirled in a soup of mediocrity for nearly a decade. Every day someone inquires at the Yard if Neuheisel’s job is in jeopardy. The simple answer is these days all of our jobs are in jeopardy. The real answer is that UCLA has never gone all in with football. The 1990’s were nice but UCLA coasted when they should have had their foot on the gas pedal. The team was exciting and USC was wandering in the desert with Ted Tollner and Paul Hackett carrying the commandments. UCLA left the load of Bob Toledo feeding at the bountiful trough of Terry Donahue’s mission too long before firing his lazy ass. USC hired Saint Pete in the interim and the rest is well documented in this ugly down spiral into the depths of the Pacific 12 conference. While UCLA basketball gets a new arena, football has never had a home to call their own. UCLA Football facilities are arguably the worst in the conference with no improvement planned. Super-agent Michael Ovitz rose over $200 million for the Ronald Regan hospital. Can he find $50-75 million for football? We need an Oklahoma State’s booster like T. Boone Pickens. He gave the school $100 million and warned them not to spend a nickel of it on academics.
If UCLA is not going to step up does it matter if there is someone out there better than Neuheisel out there? Urban Meyer is not coming. One of the top programs in the country works out in brand new multi-million dollar facilities with historical and recent greatness ten miles away. Oregon has Nike. Stanford has their rich alumni including the Google boys. UCLA has Rick and Dan and their tin can. The one guy out there who could help UCLA is Mike Leach, the former Texas Tech coach. He coached exciting teams that beat the Mack Brown coached Texas Longhorns in a legendary shootout. His teams were exciting and they were built on all of the castoffs that Texas and Oklahoma did not want. His career got derailed by ESPN and Craig James. Craig James son Adam was on Leach’s last team and apparently Leach was accused of unnecessary punishment of James’ son. James Sr. was loud as was ESPN in commenting on the situation and portraying Adam as a victim. ESPN let one of their anchors become the story.
Leach got run out of Lubbock under a sea of allegations and lawsuits with ESPN in hot pursuit. Leach has sued Texas Tech, ESPN and Craig James. We are not sure if his suit has merit but the University’s claim of sovereign immunity was thrown out which does not bode well for Tech. Apparently, Leach was due an $800,000 performance bonus two days after his firing. He had demoted Adam James to third string wide receiver just prior to the uproar. When Adam was told the news, he promptly cursed at the coach and assistant coach and did $1100 in damage to his office door. Apparently, the news was not well received by Craig James either. He was noted in court documents for his frequent and belligerent calls to the Texas Tech coaching staff to discuss his son’s demotion and remand their stupidity. His son was the progeny of a champion! Apparently, Leach’s staff did not see it that way. That did not stop James with ESPN’s support in their efforts to destroy Leach’s career at Tech.
The Yard did find it interesting that the morally outraged Father Craig James was also a prominent member of the most notorious football program in college football history at SMU. In the history of college football, no team was ever as arrogant and egregious as the SMU Mustangs and their tag team backfield of Eric Dickerson and Craig James. The Yard has no idea if James was taking improper benefits from boosters. His name or Dickerson’s never came out in the inquiry. Apparently, the second string linebacker who got caught with the envelope of money was the only culprit. Leach might be the kind of fighter and contrarian UCLA needs to come out of their pigskin dark ages.
While responding to a comment that a player was listed as day to day Vin Scully replied, “Aren’t we all?”
Al Davis died this past weekend. Yard staffers were completely shocked by these tragic events. We actually thought Al had already died. The Lane Kiffin “firing” press conference from several years back with Mrs. Taglin’s 8th grade overhead projector will live forever but apparently Al did not. Al was always wearing those Weekend at Bernie’s shimmer suits and glasses. We thought he was already gone and his Stepford staff kept the Alster “alive” in our lives to enjoy his best team in a decade. It is unfortunate for his family but not the franchise. The Raiders upset the Titans as part of the wake festivities. It was refreshing to hear Jon Gruden and Roger Goodell praise Al’s legendary leadership while they both personally loathed the man.
The NFL potential lock out this past summer was watched almost as closely as the Cuban missile by the American public. It was headline news daily and congress attempted to get involved. The sports books in Las Vegas were reeling if regular season games were lost. Eventually a deal was reached and for the good of the Obama administration, America’s most important distraction was saved before we started really wondering how bad things are. Sport is a solvent for the residue that accumulates in the psyche of America. The anxiety of the week can easily melt into the confines of 56 inches of liquid crystal display and a few frosties before Monday beckons.
The NBA does not share this same national interest. There are NFL cities not NBA cities. College football and basketball are more important than the NBA. If you are in Des Moines or Duluth, you have an NFL telecast every weekend. There is a local college team that is followed in Lubbock and Little Rock as well as the NFL. People in Oklahoma hate the University of Texas but love the Cowboys. The NBA is only followed with reverence in a few towns. Los Angeles, Boston, Miami and Dallas of late have strong NBA traditions and following. All of the other 2nd and 3rd tier markets that do not have a local team would rather watch Celebrity bowling or poker over the NBA. In the 1970’s before Magic and Larry supercharged interest, the NBA Playoffs were only on TV on a tape delay after the local news.
The NBA is off everyone’s radar until football ends in February. Pundits figure it will get done in time. But the public apathy that exists will mature into disdain if the NBA is not careful. NBA players are the most notorious spenders and sperm donors of all professional athletes. With an extended family and sometimes a few others, missing paychecks is not part of that economics for the average NBA power forward. The megastars have their largess but the second tier guys slogging along for $7.2 million a year are going to suffer. Their pay is doled out $87,804 per game to get their millions. If the season is shortened to 76 games, $7.2 million is $6.67 million and so on. The players will cave because if they do not their siblings will be on their butts for their monthly stipend. Be careful what you wish for in today’s world.
4Th and long: The State of UCLA football is irrelevant even on the campus in Westwood. There is no buzz or excitement at the games. The team has swirled in a soup of mediocrity for nearly a decade. Every day someone inquires at the Yard if Neuheisel’s job is in jeopardy. The simple answer is these days all of our jobs are in jeopardy. The real answer is that UCLA has never gone all in with football. The 1990’s were nice but UCLA coasted when they should have had their foot on the gas pedal. The team was exciting and USC was wandering in the desert with Ted Tollner and Paul Hackett carrying the commandments. UCLA left the load of Bob Toledo feeding at the bountiful trough of Terry Donahue’s mission too long before firing his lazy ass. USC hired Saint Pete in the interim and the rest is well documented in this ugly down spiral into the depths of the Pacific 12 conference. While UCLA basketball gets a new arena, football has never had a home to call their own. UCLA Football facilities are arguably the worst in the conference with no improvement planned. Super-agent Michael Ovitz rose over $200 million for the Ronald Regan hospital. Can he find $50-75 million for football? We need an Oklahoma State’s booster like T. Boone Pickens. He gave the school $100 million and warned them not to spend a nickel of it on academics.
If UCLA is not going to step up does it matter if there is someone out there better than Neuheisel out there? Urban Meyer is not coming. One of the top programs in the country works out in brand new multi-million dollar facilities with historical and recent greatness ten miles away. Oregon has Nike. Stanford has their rich alumni including the Google boys. UCLA has Rick and Dan and their tin can. The one guy out there who could help UCLA is Mike Leach, the former Texas Tech coach. He coached exciting teams that beat the Mack Brown coached Texas Longhorns in a legendary shootout. His teams were exciting and they were built on all of the castoffs that Texas and Oklahoma did not want. His career got derailed by ESPN and Craig James. Craig James son Adam was on Leach’s last team and apparently Leach was accused of unnecessary punishment of James’ son. James Sr. was loud as was ESPN in commenting on the situation and portraying Adam as a victim. ESPN let one of their anchors become the story.
Leach got run out of Lubbock under a sea of allegations and lawsuits with ESPN in hot pursuit. Leach has sued Texas Tech, ESPN and Craig James. We are not sure if his suit has merit but the University’s claim of sovereign immunity was thrown out which does not bode well for Tech. Apparently, Leach was due an $800,000 performance bonus two days after his firing. He had demoted Adam James to third string wide receiver just prior to the uproar. When Adam was told the news, he promptly cursed at the coach and assistant coach and did $1100 in damage to his office door. Apparently, the news was not well received by Craig James either. He was noted in court documents for his frequent and belligerent calls to the Texas Tech coaching staff to discuss his son’s demotion and remand their stupidity. His son was the progeny of a champion! Apparently, Leach’s staff did not see it that way. That did not stop James with ESPN’s support in their efforts to destroy Leach’s career at Tech.
The Yard did find it interesting that the morally outraged Father Craig James was also a prominent member of the most notorious football program in college football history at SMU. In the history of college football, no team was ever as arrogant and egregious as the SMU Mustangs and their tag team backfield of Eric Dickerson and Craig James. The Yard has no idea if James was taking improper benefits from boosters. His name or Dickerson’s never came out in the inquiry. Apparently, the second string linebacker who got caught with the envelope of money was the only culprit. Leach might be the kind of fighter and contrarian UCLA needs to come out of their pigskin dark ages.
While responding to a comment that a player was listed as day to day Vin Scully replied, “Aren’t we all?”
Wednesday, June 29, 2011
Stiffing Vin
The Yard has taken a witness program approach to the blogosphere in recent months. With the apocalypse predicted and then rescheduled, the Bristol Palin Memoir hitting the presses and the Michele Bachmann Sarah Palin beauty pageant heating up for the Republican nomination, we figured it might be best to stay in hiding. The Los Angeles sports scene has smoldered into an acidic bloat of irrelevance during our sabbatical. The Dodgers demise had been predicted by Yard pundits since the first vestiges of the McCourt era. The Lakers championship run was expected to end at some just not this past May. The Bruins were supposed to find their way at some point but that point has long passed. In June of 2011, the axis of Yard myopia had crashed with the Yard hopes, dreams and three solid postings. The ruination came with such surprise, arrogance and anticipation that our staff was as bewildered as much as we were pissed off. The very malaise that has become LA sports and infected the creative juices of our fervor has resurrected our collective rage and keyboards. We had no choice but to get back to the Dell’s.
As the Dodgers swirled in the porcelain flushing our collective baseball history down with the rest of the feces, the bile spewing out of the McCourt’s divorce has grown exponentially in the City of apparently forgotten angels. Being a Dodger fan these days feels like being a plaintiff at a judicial hearing for custody of Dodgers. These unsettling events culminated in Frank McCourt dragging the Dodgers into bankruptcy this week to stave off Bud Selig’s quest to take control of the team. The bankruptcy filing was not a complete surprise as Frank tried to hang onto the one thing he never should have owned in the first place. Most of the creditors who were announced were as big a load as Spank McCourt. Steroid laden Manny Ramirez is owed $21 million. Tub of Goo Andruw Jones is owed $11 million. Marquis Grissom is owed $2 million and he has not been on the team since 2002. A last footnote in the filing was that Vin Scully is owed $153,000.
The biggest victim of this outrage is the most important living icon in all of LA sports history-Vin Scully. It is not the money, it is Vin Scully. He is a local treasure who is nationally revered. Vinnie was there when Jackie Robinson broke into baseball in 1947. He was there when the Boys of Summer won the Dodgers only title in Brooklyn in 1955. He was in the booth calling the games for every championship the Dodgers have ever won. Scully was in the booth for Don Larsen’s perfect game in 1956. He was calling Gibson’s two run shot in the 1988 World Series. He called the catch by Dwight Clark in the 1982 NFL playoffs. He called Jack Nicklaus dramatic victory over a stunned Johnny Miller and Tom Weiskopf in the 1975 Masters. He could have called any sport he wanted from 1975-1989 and he did. But he always was loyal to the Dodgers. He never wavered in his passion to bring the Dodger game into our homes, our cars and our lives.
So the McCourt owned Dodgers file BK and now owe Vin Scully $153,000. Are you kidding me? How low can the Frank stoop to save his unpaid for legacy that he now owes our selfless hero a buck and a half large? This is not some steroid laden overpaid leftfielder. This is not a fat centerfielder who hit ten home runs for his $20 million. This is Vin Scully, national hero, cultural icon and humble voice of the Dodgers. Scully is victim of these proceeding not just financially but because he agreed to return for another year unconditionally. He did not stick around another year for this shit at age 83. None of us did and none of us have as much invested as the godfather of Dodger baseball Vin Scully. Damn you to hell, Frank and that Jamie, and those overpaid kids you spawned and that psychic you paid to find the way and the light. FU, Pay Vin Scully!
Extra Innings: It is tragic that the Dodgers are wasting this time with the McCourt’s while all of their young heralded talent is starting to perform as advertised. Andre Ethier is in the top ten in hitting. Kershaw is leading the majors in strikeouts. Chad Billingsley is performing as the #2 starter should. And Matt Kemp is the MVP of the National League as the All Star break approaches. Kemp is having the kind of monster season that was long predicted after this his season two years ago. Last season he was focused on Rihanna’s whohaa and his performance at the plate suffered. This year while Rihanna is shopping her stuff around to other interested celebrities, Kemp is getting back to the skills that will earn him a contract that can get him any whohaa he wants.
“Good is not good when better is expected”. Vincent Edward Scully
As the Dodgers swirled in the porcelain flushing our collective baseball history down with the rest of the feces, the bile spewing out of the McCourt’s divorce has grown exponentially in the City of apparently forgotten angels. Being a Dodger fan these days feels like being a plaintiff at a judicial hearing for custody of Dodgers. These unsettling events culminated in Frank McCourt dragging the Dodgers into bankruptcy this week to stave off Bud Selig’s quest to take control of the team. The bankruptcy filing was not a complete surprise as Frank tried to hang onto the one thing he never should have owned in the first place. Most of the creditors who were announced were as big a load as Spank McCourt. Steroid laden Manny Ramirez is owed $21 million. Tub of Goo Andruw Jones is owed $11 million. Marquis Grissom is owed $2 million and he has not been on the team since 2002. A last footnote in the filing was that Vin Scully is owed $153,000.
The biggest victim of this outrage is the most important living icon in all of LA sports history-Vin Scully. It is not the money, it is Vin Scully. He is a local treasure who is nationally revered. Vinnie was there when Jackie Robinson broke into baseball in 1947. He was there when the Boys of Summer won the Dodgers only title in Brooklyn in 1955. He was in the booth calling the games for every championship the Dodgers have ever won. Scully was in the booth for Don Larsen’s perfect game in 1956. He was calling Gibson’s two run shot in the 1988 World Series. He called the catch by Dwight Clark in the 1982 NFL playoffs. He called Jack Nicklaus dramatic victory over a stunned Johnny Miller and Tom Weiskopf in the 1975 Masters. He could have called any sport he wanted from 1975-1989 and he did. But he always was loyal to the Dodgers. He never wavered in his passion to bring the Dodger game into our homes, our cars and our lives.
So the McCourt owned Dodgers file BK and now owe Vin Scully $153,000. Are you kidding me? How low can the Frank stoop to save his unpaid for legacy that he now owes our selfless hero a buck and a half large? This is not some steroid laden overpaid leftfielder. This is not a fat centerfielder who hit ten home runs for his $20 million. This is Vin Scully, national hero, cultural icon and humble voice of the Dodgers. Scully is victim of these proceeding not just financially but because he agreed to return for another year unconditionally. He did not stick around another year for this shit at age 83. None of us did and none of us have as much invested as the godfather of Dodger baseball Vin Scully. Damn you to hell, Frank and that Jamie, and those overpaid kids you spawned and that psychic you paid to find the way and the light. FU, Pay Vin Scully!
Extra Innings: It is tragic that the Dodgers are wasting this time with the McCourt’s while all of their young heralded talent is starting to perform as advertised. Andre Ethier is in the top ten in hitting. Kershaw is leading the majors in strikeouts. Chad Billingsley is performing as the #2 starter should. And Matt Kemp is the MVP of the National League as the All Star break approaches. Kemp is having the kind of monster season that was long predicted after this his season two years ago. Last season he was focused on Rihanna’s whohaa and his performance at the plate suffered. This year while Rihanna is shopping her stuff around to other interested celebrities, Kemp is getting back to the skills that will earn him a contract that can get him any whohaa he wants.
“Good is not good when better is expected”. Vincent Edward Scully
Saturday, April 2, 2011
Escaping in March
With earthquakes, nuclear and economic meltdowns and all of the other good tidings channeled to us through our television, thank goodness for college basketball. We could ponder why the Japanese engineers built a nuclear power plant to withstand a 9.0 quake while engineering the backup power to keep the plant from melting down not to withstand the ensuing tsunami. We could wonder what Plutonium-239 having a half life of 24,000 years means to us. The story of Wall Street moguls pocketing unindicted millions while 9 % of working minions are unemployed is compelling. This weekend, we would rather focus on Butler versus Virginia Commonwealth.
Escapism is a Yard tenet. Work and mortgage payments rarely permit such travel but one can dream. Since the first vestiges of March, college hoops has provided a 24/7 happy place from the wrath. The devastation in Japan is biblical. New Zealand has not recovered and that is suddenly old news. Good news is that 216,000 citizens found work while 13 million cannot. The Butler Bulldogs and the Virginia Commonwealth Rams are playing in the national semifinal on Saturday afternoon. CNN? We don’t need no stinking CNN.
The NCAA national basketball tournament goes deep beyond the arteries of the major sports cities into the capillaries of America. Saturday afternoon, Richmond Virginia and Indianapolis, Indiana will shut out the world and root for their respective local teams. The Yard will be right there with them for every shining moment. March media provided little solace from the events of the day. Tragedy was everywhere and our hearts wept for the unfortunate. College basketball was our escape during March.
Butler and VCU are our compelling stories. VCU beat USC in the play in game last summer or something just to get in. They have won one more game than anyone left in the dance VCU was soundly lambasted by ESPN’s Dick Vitale and Jay Bilas for having the audacity of accepting the 67th tournament bid. If Bilas had his druthers, the Commonwealth would have demurred on the tourney and given their bid to a much more deserving Colorado or Alabama team. There are never “one and dones” at VCU or Butler. Players go to those schools to pursue careers other than the NBA. Hoops are for these moments not the next level. The one and dones are in the UCONN-Kentucky game that follows.
Kentucky coach John Calipari is widely recognized as the best coach for players who will play one year and then go to the NBA. The University of Kentucky must be so proud of their coach’s prowess with incoming freshmen. He also holds the NCAA for vacating the most Final Fours because of recruiting violations as well. Actually, he has vacated the only two Final Fours that he has coached. Jim Calhoun will be suspended for five Big East conference games next year for recruiting violations. The Yard is pulling for Butler to do what they should have done last year and win it all. We were pulling for them last year because we hate Duke. They are a better story with this year’s run.
When college basketball was between rounds, it was also nice to see the Lakers “flip the switch” before the second round of the playoffs on their way to a championship. The Lakers stumbled into the playoffs last year with three straight losses. This year they tumbled into the All-Star weekend with three straight losses culminating in a Greek tragedy at the Quicken Loans arena starring the Cleveland Cavaliers. Mitch Kupchak pondered breaking up the team. Ron Artest and Andrew Bynum were the only people he was talking to but he got everyone’s attention. Artest was behaving and saying all of the right things. He was shooting 37% and lost on the floor. Andrew is seven feet of lost in the City of the Angels. He has a lot of potential and he should not risk finding it in Cleveland as Baron Davis has been exiled to do with a bum hip and bad beard. Both are leading the charge since Mitch’s comments.
It is one thing to take their usual bitch slap tour of Texas and beat San Antonio and Dallas by double digits. It is quite something special to come of the pasting of Dallas, fly to Salt Lake fall behind by 17 and rally to win by 11. The Lakers are never good on the second night of a back to back and most notably when flying to the city where fun goes to die. Falling behind by double digits in games like this has been a Laker tradition since the days of Magic and James. Rallying to win by double digits is an exception for this two time defending champion. Get the bus ready, there will be a parade in June on Figueroa.
Final Thoughts: Jay Bilas and Dick Vitale speak about a mid-Majors resume like they are applying for a job. They seem to be saying that there is a career path to becoming a major-Major and get CBS’s respect. Jay, you are starting to morph into Billy Packer. Be careful, he got sent packing. Dickie V, try to talk without your hands just for one shining moment or at least block out a bit more of your mug with those mitts. You also made a great prediction about Louisville making a long run in the tournament. We know Pitino is your big buddy but his Cardinals did not make it to lunch time on the first day of the dance.
Escapism is a Yard tenet. Work and mortgage payments rarely permit such travel but one can dream. Since the first vestiges of March, college hoops has provided a 24/7 happy place from the wrath. The devastation in Japan is biblical. New Zealand has not recovered and that is suddenly old news. Good news is that 216,000 citizens found work while 13 million cannot. The Butler Bulldogs and the Virginia Commonwealth Rams are playing in the national semifinal on Saturday afternoon. CNN? We don’t need no stinking CNN.
The NCAA national basketball tournament goes deep beyond the arteries of the major sports cities into the capillaries of America. Saturday afternoon, Richmond Virginia and Indianapolis, Indiana will shut out the world and root for their respective local teams. The Yard will be right there with them for every shining moment. March media provided little solace from the events of the day. Tragedy was everywhere and our hearts wept for the unfortunate. College basketball was our escape during March.
Butler and VCU are our compelling stories. VCU beat USC in the play in game last summer or something just to get in. They have won one more game than anyone left in the dance VCU was soundly lambasted by ESPN’s Dick Vitale and Jay Bilas for having the audacity of accepting the 67th tournament bid. If Bilas had his druthers, the Commonwealth would have demurred on the tourney and given their bid to a much more deserving Colorado or Alabama team. There are never “one and dones” at VCU or Butler. Players go to those schools to pursue careers other than the NBA. Hoops are for these moments not the next level. The one and dones are in the UCONN-Kentucky game that follows.
Kentucky coach John Calipari is widely recognized as the best coach for players who will play one year and then go to the NBA. The University of Kentucky must be so proud of their coach’s prowess with incoming freshmen. He also holds the NCAA for vacating the most Final Fours because of recruiting violations as well. Actually, he has vacated the only two Final Fours that he has coached. Jim Calhoun will be suspended for five Big East conference games next year for recruiting violations. The Yard is pulling for Butler to do what they should have done last year and win it all. We were pulling for them last year because we hate Duke. They are a better story with this year’s run.
When college basketball was between rounds, it was also nice to see the Lakers “flip the switch” before the second round of the playoffs on their way to a championship. The Lakers stumbled into the playoffs last year with three straight losses. This year they tumbled into the All-Star weekend with three straight losses culminating in a Greek tragedy at the Quicken Loans arena starring the Cleveland Cavaliers. Mitch Kupchak pondered breaking up the team. Ron Artest and Andrew Bynum were the only people he was talking to but he got everyone’s attention. Artest was behaving and saying all of the right things. He was shooting 37% and lost on the floor. Andrew is seven feet of lost in the City of the Angels. He has a lot of potential and he should not risk finding it in Cleveland as Baron Davis has been exiled to do with a bum hip and bad beard. Both are leading the charge since Mitch’s comments.
It is one thing to take their usual bitch slap tour of Texas and beat San Antonio and Dallas by double digits. It is quite something special to come of the pasting of Dallas, fly to Salt Lake fall behind by 17 and rally to win by 11. The Lakers are never good on the second night of a back to back and most notably when flying to the city where fun goes to die. Falling behind by double digits in games like this has been a Laker tradition since the days of Magic and James. Rallying to win by double digits is an exception for this two time defending champion. Get the bus ready, there will be a parade in June on Figueroa.
Final Thoughts: Jay Bilas and Dick Vitale speak about a mid-Majors resume like they are applying for a job. They seem to be saying that there is a career path to becoming a major-Major and get CBS’s respect. Jay, you are starting to morph into Billy Packer. Be careful, he got sent packing. Dickie V, try to talk without your hands just for one shining moment or at least block out a bit more of your mug with those mitts. You also made a great prediction about Louisville making a long run in the tournament. We know Pitino is your big buddy but his Cardinals did not make it to lunch time on the first day of the dance.
Friday, March 11, 2011
The kids are alright!
It never felt like we were all in on Las Vegas until we peeled off the rubber band and unfolded the Las Vegas Review-Journal to the lead story of that morning, “Brothels fire back on Reid”. Libya is bombing their citizens. The economy is teetering with little insulation. Nevada has different concerns. Brothels are well brothels and Reid is our US Senator Harry Reid. The whores are upset that Senator Reid wants to close them down. With unemployment at 14%, the housing debacle and construction in the dumpster, it does not appear that prostitution is where Senator Reid needed to focus his attention and our tax dollars at this time. US Senators should be careful when they start calling out the working girls. The US Senate and prostitution are not always that different.
March Madness is at fever pitch in Sin City. The spate of basketball tournaments has attenuated the signal in the days leading up to the brackets being announced on Sunday. The Yard has opened the annual basketball pool. Credit card limits have been analyzed in the unlikely event that this Bruin team makes a run for Indy. The 2006 Trek to Hoosierville was a MasterCard moment that is still being paid for and will be passed on in our codicils. Indianapolis is one of the best cities to go to for the Final Four. Indy gets the Final Four every four years because the NCAA said it is so. During the finals, downtown is packed with college basketball being preached on every street corner. There is no event that is more than two beers away from the last one.
Basketball in Indiana is not a game. It is more. Indiana was set to observe Daylight savings for the first time in state history in 2006. The farmer’s clocks were set to spring ahead at 2:00 AM for the first time since the invention of clocks. The UCLA-LSU National Semifinal would end near midnight that night. The governor had to take executive action and push the deadline to 4:00 AM to ensure the bars stayed open. When UCLA pasted Big Baby and LSU that night we toasted a politician who had that kind of foresight. We had no idea then it was going to be the only game that UCLA would win in three straight visits to the Final Four. Fortunately, we partied like it was.
There are colleges and mascots who will be placed into brackets this Sunday that we will have never hear of now or again. The Long Island Blackbirds are in and representing the Northeastern Conference. The Wofford Terriers are in the dance as well. The basketball Blue Bloods will dominate but never intimidate. North Carolina and Kentucky change out their superstars every spring. George Mason and Butler athletes play together through their senior season. They are the kids who might play pro in another profession but they can still play. They have played together for years, will graduate on time and upset a Blue Blood. Which one is the devil in your pool?
For the chosen who embrace the March brilliance, we share collective moments that will always be clear even as the mind fogs. The late Jim Valvano doing laps around the basketball court looking for someone to hug when NC State upset Clyde and The Dream in 1983. In 1992, Christian Laettner corralling a 75 foot pass from Grant Hill to sink a 17 foot jump in overtime to beat Kentucky 104-103 after the Wildcats had taken a one point lead with two seconds left. Bruin Tyus Edney’s 4.8 second dash down the length of the court dash to beat Missouri in 1995. Valparaiso guard Bryce Drew draining a 23 foot jumper with no time on the clock to beat Ole Miss in 1998. Jayhawks Mario Chalmers game tying shot 3-pointer that pushed the 2008 Championship game into a runaway victory for underdog Kansas. Every moment has alternative perspective based in geography or in your place in your pool.
Gas prices are hovering at $4 per gallon. Charlie Sheen and Moammar Gadfhi are in a spiraling death match of insane irrelevance. Wisconsin is in revolt. Tune in a college basketball game and cheer for your team or an underdog or neither. Their colloquial passion will refresh your spirit. Their enthusiasm will rekindle your soul. And deep in your heart of hearts, ask yourself why it is that college education is so underwater and CBS is paying billions to telecast college basketball?
March Madness is at fever pitch in Sin City. The spate of basketball tournaments has attenuated the signal in the days leading up to the brackets being announced on Sunday. The Yard has opened the annual basketball pool. Credit card limits have been analyzed in the unlikely event that this Bruin team makes a run for Indy. The 2006 Trek to Hoosierville was a MasterCard moment that is still being paid for and will be passed on in our codicils. Indianapolis is one of the best cities to go to for the Final Four. Indy gets the Final Four every four years because the NCAA said it is so. During the finals, downtown is packed with college basketball being preached on every street corner. There is no event that is more than two beers away from the last one.
Basketball in Indiana is not a game. It is more. Indiana was set to observe Daylight savings for the first time in state history in 2006. The farmer’s clocks were set to spring ahead at 2:00 AM for the first time since the invention of clocks. The UCLA-LSU National Semifinal would end near midnight that night. The governor had to take executive action and push the deadline to 4:00 AM to ensure the bars stayed open. When UCLA pasted Big Baby and LSU that night we toasted a politician who had that kind of foresight. We had no idea then it was going to be the only game that UCLA would win in three straight visits to the Final Four. Fortunately, we partied like it was.
There are colleges and mascots who will be placed into brackets this Sunday that we will have never hear of now or again. The Long Island Blackbirds are in and representing the Northeastern Conference. The Wofford Terriers are in the dance as well. The basketball Blue Bloods will dominate but never intimidate. North Carolina and Kentucky change out their superstars every spring. George Mason and Butler athletes play together through their senior season. They are the kids who might play pro in another profession but they can still play. They have played together for years, will graduate on time and upset a Blue Blood. Which one is the devil in your pool?
For the chosen who embrace the March brilliance, we share collective moments that will always be clear even as the mind fogs. The late Jim Valvano doing laps around the basketball court looking for someone to hug when NC State upset Clyde and The Dream in 1983. In 1992, Christian Laettner corralling a 75 foot pass from Grant Hill to sink a 17 foot jump in overtime to beat Kentucky 104-103 after the Wildcats had taken a one point lead with two seconds left. Bruin Tyus Edney’s 4.8 second dash down the length of the court dash to beat Missouri in 1995. Valparaiso guard Bryce Drew draining a 23 foot jumper with no time on the clock to beat Ole Miss in 1998. Jayhawks Mario Chalmers game tying shot 3-pointer that pushed the 2008 Championship game into a runaway victory for underdog Kansas. Every moment has alternative perspective based in geography or in your place in your pool.
Gas prices are hovering at $4 per gallon. Charlie Sheen and Moammar Gadfhi are in a spiraling death match of insane irrelevance. Wisconsin is in revolt. Tune in a college basketball game and cheer for your team or an underdog or neither. Their colloquial passion will refresh your spirit. Their enthusiasm will rekindle your soul. And deep in your heart of hearts, ask yourself why it is that college education is so underwater and CBS is paying billions to telecast college basketball?
Wednesday, February 16, 2011
Karna never sleeps
The Yard covered our first sporting event Las Vegas this past weekend. We have a lot of catching up to do and we started at the Thomas and Mack Center. The San Diego State Aztecs were in town to face our Running Reb’s in a Mountain West showdown. It was a compelling matchup and 18,000 Las Vegans showed up to root on our team. It was a raucous crowd and we admit that one simple question changed our entire perspective when we were at the concession stand, “Do you want Grey Goose or Kettle One?” We have never been asked that question in over 35 years of attending games at Pauley Pavilion. It caught us off guard but we went with the Goose.
Yard bylaws require the staff to follow most major sports except hockey, soccer and NASCAR. The Yard is a homer and there are not enough American stars in hockey. Most of the stars in the NHL have just too many vowels in their names to garner interest or accurate reporting. Soccer is only compelling every four years and only if the US makes World Cup pool play. The NASCAR stars seem like fun guys who like to drink beer, drive fast and brawl with each other in random precision. We just cannot commit an afternoon to watching cars drive really fast in circles. We did not plan to follow lacrosse either and did not even know there was a professional indoor lacrosse league.
We read that the Boston Blazers had a racy halftime show featuring scantily clad women giving lap dances to the team’s mascot. Apparently, the team apologized for the halftime promotion that “wasn’t executed as spelled out to us.” It sounded like a hell of a promotion that was executed to perfection. We are checking to see if the Blazers have any Las Vegas dates. Las Vegas is jonesing for a professional team in any sport and lacrosse could be a fit.
Karma has been an ethereal wrapper of sports consequence since early man. Good karma has rarely been congealed down to its core elements. Good guys finish last and all of that. Bad karma is noted, tallied and tweeted about for all of mankind or at least to those with connectivity to social media. Lebron tweeted, re-tweeted, and then tried to un-tweet his gloat about the bad karma his former team suffered when the Cavs were lapped by the Lakers on 1/12/11. The Karmaliers went on to lose another 15 games in route to 26 in a row. On the verge of setting the record for most losses by any professional franchise, they got a Friday night game against the poster child of NBA futility-The LA Clippers. Donald Sterling is the ruddy poster boy of that franchise’s bad karma. It is well deserved and fully vested. The Cavs won and now enjoy as much chance of making the playoffs as our Donald’s Clippers. The Washington Wizards having lost 25 straight road games played the Cavs two nights later and ended that streak in Cleveland. Karma is fleeting. Lebron, you still have a karma deficit that will be recovered on national television in Boston in late May.
Ben Roethlisberger, you just threw two interceptions and failed to rally the Steelers to their third Super Bowl Title in six years, what are you going to do now? He is definitely not going to Disneyland with Aaron Rogers. The Magic Kingdom wanted no part of the not too gentle Ben even if he had rallied the victory. The Yard hopes Ben is not headed to another college bar restroom to grope a coed but it is a long off season and there could be a lockout. He did not get convicted for that incident but Commissioner Goodell suspended him anyway. Righteous Roger did not suspend him for banging the casino hostess in Tahoe who cried foul in an attempt for a civil payday. Apparently, Big B can foul a casino hostess as long as he can beat the civil suit but no more drunken coeds for Ben. Ben, karma can be expensive.
March Madness is within our headlights. UCLA might actually make the tournament in a down year for the Pac-10. The UCLA women have a better shot in their tournament. The University of Connecticut Women’s basketball team is to be commended for their amazing persistence during their 90 game winning streak. It is the longest streak in women’s basketball history and most likely will never be broken. During the hoopla and the quest to win 89 in a row, Uconn coach Geno Auriemma demanded respect and recognition for his women that they did deserve. But Geno, your women Huskies did not break the men’s basketball record of 88 games in a row. That record will never be broken either. It is a compelling story and a great thing for Uconn and women’s basketball but can anyone please reply with one epic matchup during the Uconn streak? Did anyone race home to catch a game on TV?
John Wooden’s Bruins beat Digger Phelps four times before his Fighting Irish ended the streak. The Bruins had wins over Bob Boyd’s # 2 ranked Trojans, Bobby Knight’s Hoosiers, Lefty Driesell’s Terps and Jerry Tarkanians 49’ers. UCLA beat every Pac-8 Team six straight times. The Bruins won twelve tournament games and three NCAA Titles during those 88 games. Chick hoops is chick hoops just not NCAA men’s hoops. It is just not the same level, importance or history. We do not cover women’s basketball, either.
Luck happens when perspiration and preparation meet opportunity. John Wooden
Yard bylaws require the staff to follow most major sports except hockey, soccer and NASCAR. The Yard is a homer and there are not enough American stars in hockey. Most of the stars in the NHL have just too many vowels in their names to garner interest or accurate reporting. Soccer is only compelling every four years and only if the US makes World Cup pool play. The NASCAR stars seem like fun guys who like to drink beer, drive fast and brawl with each other in random precision. We just cannot commit an afternoon to watching cars drive really fast in circles. We did not plan to follow lacrosse either and did not even know there was a professional indoor lacrosse league.
We read that the Boston Blazers had a racy halftime show featuring scantily clad women giving lap dances to the team’s mascot. Apparently, the team apologized for the halftime promotion that “wasn’t executed as spelled out to us.” It sounded like a hell of a promotion that was executed to perfection. We are checking to see if the Blazers have any Las Vegas dates. Las Vegas is jonesing for a professional team in any sport and lacrosse could be a fit.
Karma has been an ethereal wrapper of sports consequence since early man. Good karma has rarely been congealed down to its core elements. Good guys finish last and all of that. Bad karma is noted, tallied and tweeted about for all of mankind or at least to those with connectivity to social media. Lebron tweeted, re-tweeted, and then tried to un-tweet his gloat about the bad karma his former team suffered when the Cavs were lapped by the Lakers on 1/12/11. The Karmaliers went on to lose another 15 games in route to 26 in a row. On the verge of setting the record for most losses by any professional franchise, they got a Friday night game against the poster child of NBA futility-The LA Clippers. Donald Sterling is the ruddy poster boy of that franchise’s bad karma. It is well deserved and fully vested. The Cavs won and now enjoy as much chance of making the playoffs as our Donald’s Clippers. The Washington Wizards having lost 25 straight road games played the Cavs two nights later and ended that streak in Cleveland. Karma is fleeting. Lebron, you still have a karma deficit that will be recovered on national television in Boston in late May.
Ben Roethlisberger, you just threw two interceptions and failed to rally the Steelers to their third Super Bowl Title in six years, what are you going to do now? He is definitely not going to Disneyland with Aaron Rogers. The Magic Kingdom wanted no part of the not too gentle Ben even if he had rallied the victory. The Yard hopes Ben is not headed to another college bar restroom to grope a coed but it is a long off season and there could be a lockout. He did not get convicted for that incident but Commissioner Goodell suspended him anyway. Righteous Roger did not suspend him for banging the casino hostess in Tahoe who cried foul in an attempt for a civil payday. Apparently, Big B can foul a casino hostess as long as he can beat the civil suit but no more drunken coeds for Ben. Ben, karma can be expensive.
March Madness is within our headlights. UCLA might actually make the tournament in a down year for the Pac-10. The UCLA women have a better shot in their tournament. The University of Connecticut Women’s basketball team is to be commended for their amazing persistence during their 90 game winning streak. It is the longest streak in women’s basketball history and most likely will never be broken. During the hoopla and the quest to win 89 in a row, Uconn coach Geno Auriemma demanded respect and recognition for his women that they did deserve. But Geno, your women Huskies did not break the men’s basketball record of 88 games in a row. That record will never be broken either. It is a compelling story and a great thing for Uconn and women’s basketball but can anyone please reply with one epic matchup during the Uconn streak? Did anyone race home to catch a game on TV?
John Wooden’s Bruins beat Digger Phelps four times before his Fighting Irish ended the streak. The Bruins had wins over Bob Boyd’s # 2 ranked Trojans, Bobby Knight’s Hoosiers, Lefty Driesell’s Terps and Jerry Tarkanians 49’ers. UCLA beat every Pac-8 Team six straight times. The Bruins won twelve tournament games and three NCAA Titles during those 88 games. Chick hoops is chick hoops just not NCAA men’s hoops. It is just not the same level, importance or history. We do not cover women’s basketball, either.
Luck happens when perspiration and preparation meet opportunity. John Wooden
Friday, January 21, 2011
Field of Prayers
Sports are microcosms of life where scores are kept. The winners are applauded while the losers are consoled. Sports and more importantly baseball is the historic anchor for the rambling vortex of Yard postings. On this day, I can only think back to the ball fields of Pasadena Southwest Little League. On a Friday in January, the infields are being groomed with the draft a few days away. The players will still be in holiday mode trying to find cleats, mitts and balls that had not seen the light of day since last June. Parents are in earnest mode attempting to multi-task education, sports and social commitments. During February, skills would be found or renewed. Teams and their personalities would emerge throughout the spring. This is baseball distilled down to its beginnings in the pastures of Abner Doubleday.
Baseball has similarities to real life where there is much down time between moments in the spotlight. Everyone eventually has to face the pitcher or make a play. Results are not always as hoped. Parents skillfully magnify a small victory for a ten year old so it resonates louder than a miscue for the day. The resilience and spirit of youth is too distracted to allow those moments to hang in the psyche after the glove is put to rest.
Baseball is the only sport that clears the entire lineup off the playing field each inning. Every three outs, the team gets another chance to make three more while the other watches. These are rare “in game” moments to dissect a play, review a technique or reprimand a lack of effort. But there are many more moments where kids are the storylines not the game. Their personalities morph into the collective soul of their team. Their interplay in the dugout is a Cioppino of anxiety, swagger and diffidence.
The cocky shortstop with the refined skills of his two older brothers bragging his way through the anxiety laced wrapper of expectation. There was the shy pitcher who was exposing his inner athlete a little more with each game. She was a plucky first baseman with an infectious smile and a joyous zeal trying to keep pace with her older brother. The right fielder played because that is what his father expected him to do on Saturday afternoons in the spring.
The kids outgrew little league faster than the parents. Several would play baseball at the next level. Most took their lives to the next level without the mitt. The memory of the team would fade over time but always renew when former teammates might cross paths in school or at a party. Stories were rarely shared just a knowing tell in the passage of time. Team families shared the same community of history. Lives move on with other relationships interwoven into the quilt.
We lost the plucky first baseman this week. It was unexpected and tragic. Her friendship and spirit will be remembered by many. You didn’t have to know her to know that she is the daughter of a grieving family who needs our prayers. In the community built on the field and to the collective spirit beyond that, get out your mitt, take your position and slap your fist into it a few times for her and her family. Let the big guy know we have their back.
Baseball has similarities to real life where there is much down time between moments in the spotlight. Everyone eventually has to face the pitcher or make a play. Results are not always as hoped. Parents skillfully magnify a small victory for a ten year old so it resonates louder than a miscue for the day. The resilience and spirit of youth is too distracted to allow those moments to hang in the psyche after the glove is put to rest.
Baseball is the only sport that clears the entire lineup off the playing field each inning. Every three outs, the team gets another chance to make three more while the other watches. These are rare “in game” moments to dissect a play, review a technique or reprimand a lack of effort. But there are many more moments where kids are the storylines not the game. Their personalities morph into the collective soul of their team. Their interplay in the dugout is a Cioppino of anxiety, swagger and diffidence.
The cocky shortstop with the refined skills of his two older brothers bragging his way through the anxiety laced wrapper of expectation. There was the shy pitcher who was exposing his inner athlete a little more with each game. She was a plucky first baseman with an infectious smile and a joyous zeal trying to keep pace with her older brother. The right fielder played because that is what his father expected him to do on Saturday afternoons in the spring.
The kids outgrew little league faster than the parents. Several would play baseball at the next level. Most took their lives to the next level without the mitt. The memory of the team would fade over time but always renew when former teammates might cross paths in school or at a party. Stories were rarely shared just a knowing tell in the passage of time. Team families shared the same community of history. Lives move on with other relationships interwoven into the quilt.
We lost the plucky first baseman this week. It was unexpected and tragic. Her friendship and spirit will be remembered by many. You didn’t have to know her to know that she is the daughter of a grieving family who needs our prayers. In the community built on the field and to the collective spirit beyond that, get out your mitt, take your position and slap your fist into it a few times for her and her family. Let the big guy know we have their back.
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