Category: Sports

Commentary and news about sports and sports teams — and media coverage of them.

Maybe Gehrig wasn’t ‘the luckiest man on the face of the Earth’

Forget that bromide that an agreement isn’t worth the paper it’s written on.

MastoNet is putting Lou Gehrig’s 1935 signed Yankees contract — that earned him $31,000 — up for auction.

Minimum bid: $42,120.

— Sideline Chatter

Of course, Gehrig didn’t say he was the luckiest man. He said he “considered himself” the luckiest man, kind of the anti-Terrell Owens.

Hall of fame and Oscar-winner day

Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee Ike Turner is 74 today.

Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee Art Garfunkel is 64.

Sam Shepard is 62. An inductee as a playwright into the Theatre Hall of Fame, Shepard was also nominated for the Best Actor Oscar for playing Chuck Yeager in The Right Stuff.

Bill Walton is 53. He’s in the Basketball Hall of Fame.

Kellen Winslow is 48. He’s a football hall-of-famer.

Tatum O’Neal is 42. Miss O’Neal won the Best Supporting Actress Oscar at age 10 for Paper Moon.

Vivien Leigh (who died at age 53) was born on this date in 1913. Miss Leigh was selected as Best Actress twice — for Scarlett O’Hara in Gone With the Wind (opposite Clark Gable) and for Blanche DuBois in A Streetcar Named Desire (opposite Marlon Brando).

And Leonard Franklin Slye was born in Cincinnati on this date in 1911. As Roy Rogers he’s an inductee into the Country Music Hall of Fame, the only person to be elected twice — as the King of the Cowboys and as a founder of the Sons of the Pioneers (“Tumbling Tumbleweeds,” “Cool Water”). Rogers died in 1998.

Tuitama update

Arizona freshman quarterback Willie Tuitama in his second game, first start: 13 completions in 22 attempts, 336 yards, 2 touchdowns, no interceptions in a 29-27 victory at Oregon State.

The Case against Roger Clemens

Keith Olbermann isn’t a fan of The Rocket.

Here is the nasty truth. After Saturday night, Roger Clemens has now made 33 post-season starts in the last two decades (an admittedly remarkable achievement). His team has lost 17 of them.

In the post-season, he is a sub-.500 starter.

To be fair, Saturday’s loss only brought his team’s record with him pitching down to .500 (4-4).

But behind the simple numbers, he has an unfortunate resume of either coughing up leads his mates have given him (eight different games so far – in one of which in 2002 he blew three separate leads), or getting out of the game prematurely or controversially, or all of the above. If the Astros live to a Game Five and Clemens is healthy, they should just say “no, thanks.”

Olbermann has the gory details.

Clearly, Torre has observed a lot by watching

From Sideline Chatter:

Who’s writing this guy’s stuff, Yogi Berra?

As beleaguered Joe Torre — invited back for an 11th season as Yankees manager despite not winning a World Series since 2000 — told HBO’s Bob Costas: “Let’s put it this way:

“If the last five years were the first five years, I wouldn’t have been here for the last five years.”

Plus this:

[Dan] Daly [of The Washington Times], on senior citizen Sylvester Stallone being slated to appear in yet another “Rocky” movie: “No truth to the rumor that the weigh-in scene will include a prostate exam.”

The future for Arizona Wildcats?

True freshman (18-year-old) Willie Tuitama played in his first game at quarterback for NewMexiKen’s alma mater last night. They’re 1-6, but according to reports Tuitama brings some excitement to the game. He was 18 for 34 with two TDs (and one interception) in his debut, a loss to Oregon 21-28. We’ll see.

John Heisman

… was born on this date in 1869. He’s the guy the trophy is named after. The following milestones in Heisman’s career are excerpted from his 1936 obituary in The New York Times and put here in chronological order.

In 1888 he was a member of the Brown football team, and in 1889 of the Pennsylvania varsity football eleven.

He began his coaching career in 1892 at Oberlin College. In 1893 he coached all sports at the University of Akron. From 1895 to 1900 he coached football and baseball at Alabama Polytechnic Institute, and from 1900 to 1904 was coach at Clemson College.

From 1904 to 1920 he coached football, baseball and basketball at the Georgia Institute of Technology, where he developed the famous “Golden Tornado” teams.

In 1908 he was director of athletics at the Atlanta Athletic Club. From 1910 to 1914 he was president of the Atlanta Baseball Association. In 1920 he coached football at the University of Pennsylvania and in 1923 filled the same position at Washington and Jefferson College. From 1924 to 1927 he was head football coach and director of athletics at Rice Institute, Houston, Texas.

In 1923 and 1924 he was president of the American Football Coaches Association.

For the last six years [before 1936] he had been physical director of the Downtown Athletic Club.

Top Ten Perks Of Getting Into The World Series

10. “Another two weeks of wearing a cup and showering with guys”

9. “Get to visit exotic, far-off destinations like Illinois”

8. “More time to discuss with team doctor if Cialis is right for me”

7. “With the discount, beer is only 18 bucks”

6. “It’s fine and all, but the good news is, I just saved a bunch of money on my car insurance by switching to Geico”

5. “Certificate good for one free groin pull”

4. “I get to appear on my favorite Late Night program — ‘The Tonight Show with Jay Leno'”

3. “World Series MVP gets to throw switch at Saddam’s execution”

2. “Clemens used his AARP card to get us cheap hotel rooms”

1. “If Steinbrenner wants me next year, my price is now a billion dollars”

Late Show with David Letterman

Putting for an Eagle

This could be my story — well, I’m not actually anywhere near this good.

I get a birdie every rare once in a while but I have never had an eagle. In fact, I have never even putted for an eagle. Until yesterday, that is.

Yesterday I miraculously hit the green on a 455 yard par 5 in two strokes and was putting for an eagle. The putt was not a gimme, mind you; it was a good 15 feet from the hole.

I three-putted.

— The Lazy Way to Success

The devil made me do it

Book it now: Angels closer Francisco Rodriguez will be card No. 666 in the 2006 edition of Topps Total baseball cards.

Topps officials acknowledge that the employee who assembles the company’s card checklists is a Yankees fan who assigns the undesirable number to the pitcher or player on the team that knocks the Yankees out of the playoffs.

That’s why Red Sox reliever Keith Foulke, who got the last out of the 2004 ALCS, was number 666 in 2005 Total, and why the Florida Marlins’ Josh Beckett of Spring [Texas], who beat the Yankees in the 2003 World Series finale, was 666 in the 2004 set.

And that’s why Rodriguez, who closed out the Angels’ victory Sunday in Game 5 of the Division Series, will be 666 in next year’s set. It’s the safest sure thing in the world of cardboard — unless Yankees Fan goes with Ervin Santana, who pitched 5 1/3 innings in relief of injured starter Bartolo Colon.

David Barron, Houston Chronicle

Didn’t somebody figure out that the number in the Bible is actually 616, not 666?

The rule

In case you were watching the Angels-White Sox last night and wondered, here are the rules that apply:

Rule 6.05 (b)
A batter is out when a third strike is legally caught by the catcher; “Legally caught” means in the catcher’s glove before the ball touches the ground. …

Rule 6.09 (b)
The batter becomes a runner when the third strike called by the umpire is not caught, providing (1) first base is unoccupied, or (2) first base is occupied with two out; When a batter becomes a base runner on a third strike not caught by the catcher and starts for the dugout, or his position, and then realizes his situation and attempts then to reach first base, he is not out unless he or first base is tagged before he reaches first base. …

MLB.com has the video.

Lions and tigers and bears

Veronica, official daughter-in-law of NewMexiKen, wonders what Sofie’s dad has done to their child (who turns two this week):

For many reasons, Sofie is lucky to have Ken as her daddy. He is, simply put, a perfect dad who spends every minute that he’s not at work doing something for or with Sofie. However, I can’t help thinking that somehow, somewhere he’s failed.

Here’s why: Today, Sofie and I were playing with finger puppets. The theme of our puppet show was zoo animals. I held up the lion puppet, and Sofie roared. I held up the bear puppet, and Sofie growled. I held up the elephant puppet, and Sofie made a trumpet-like sound. I held up the tiger puppet, and Sofie said “Wack it, Tiger. Ball in the hole!”

Why it’s OK to Hate the Yankees

Eric Alterman on “Why it’s OK to Hate the Yankees” —

… I’d still not feel the slightest bit guilty about hating the Yankees and rejoicing in their misery. Am I a bad person? Perhaps but here are my reasons:

1. Steinbrenner.

2. Money. According to this ($) extremely useful analysis by the Wall Street Journal’s Allen St. John, the cost per victory of a team good enough to make the playoffs is approximately $900,000 per. The White Sox made the playoffs at just $759,373 per victory while the Angels paid $1.03 million. In the National League, the Cardinals managed at $862,685 per victory while the Astros ponied up $921,068. The Yankees, on the other hand (with its $208.3 million payroll) led the majors with a ridiculous $2.2 million per victory, which is seventy percent higher than that of the closest competitor, the Red Sox, at $1.3 million. To root for the Yankees, therefore, is to root for the power of the money, pure and simple. You might as well root for Citigroup…

And then there were nine

Nine major college football teams remain unbeaten — USC, Texas, Virginia Tech, Florida State, Georgia, Alabama, Penn State, UCLA and Texas Tech. All of the nine are in BCS conferences, so this year there will be none of the yapping from the Utahs and Boise States. (Of the nine remaining unbeatens, only the two Techs have never won or shared in a national championship.)

Before the bowls, at least four of the nine will lose. Texas plays Texas Tech October 22. USC plays UCLA December 3. If they win out, Virginia Tech and Florida State will play in the first ever ACC championship game. And, if they win out, Georgia and Alabama will play in the SEC championship. Penn State has tough games remaining at Michigan and Michigan State.