- 08:50 AM
- 12/26/24
OK . hockey game over. Because we don't like him- and thats OK now because.....we don't like him. OK so you don't like what Cowherd said. Good for you. And yeah, I can imagine Sterling going to be having some pretty good legal rep. And etrigan, I call V. Stiviano a girlfriend, and you call her- an employee. right. Who is getting sued for 1.8 ++ by Sterlings wife. some employee. But I bet you believe that she really is just an employee. sure she is.
Yes, you are right about one thing. I think the NBA sucks. Its a complete unprofessional soap opera. Because of people like Donald Sterling. And all the folks who would pretend he was not a problem, until he grew into a huge problem. Who really kind of self-destructed, but then became everybodys instant whipping boy.
I'll take March Madness over this so-called sports league any day.
I got a plane to catch. later.....
posted by Leominster at 10:07 PM on April 30, 2014
cade- that reference to due process and demands had more to the sentence. All Sterling gets from the media and the NBA is his audio tape being played. Because we don't like him- and thats OK now because.....we don't like him.
we can play the slice and dice game all day and night, but how about some complete sentences?
posted by Leominster at 07:43 PM on April 30, 2014
from the Christian Science Monitor: The Los Angeles Chapter of Al Sharpton's National Action Network led chants: "No justice, no peace." http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Society/2014/0430/Voices-from-the-Clippers-crowd-Love-basketball-not-racism Jesse Jackson was there- a quick google image serach has numerous photos of him posing with Chris Paul, and he's quoted as saying "people like Sterling is why we need affirmative action"....gawd, please....no, we need a league, a commissioner, owners and a press corps with some balls.
So yerfat- sorry, I'll quote both those guys, they're both current, have a following, opinions, and detractors for sure. And the only thing I'm really taking about is the complete foolishness of everyone involved patting each other on the back, saying how good a job we did here on this fiasco. If you feel Cowherd is racist, good for you- using catchwords like that really gets you noticed lately in America. But more importantly, you keep echoing the "we can't do anything about it" party line- he's a billionaire and we cant' touch him until we can play gotcha with an audiotape. Great way to run a pro sports league.
posted by Leominster at 07:37 PM on April 30, 2014
well, etrigan...thanks for asking. I guess I'd ask folks to look at a story like this, one that becomes a national one, scandalous, newsworthy, outrageous, all of that, and really start some self-examination. By everyone. The NBA, the owners, the press, everyone.
Go ahead, in the glare of the public eye, a few years back, and say to the world that Donald Sterling is an owner in the NBA, and despite his well-documented past, there is absolutely NOTHING that anyone can do- not the owners, not the league, not players, not the press- we're powerless, its all OK, these are not basketball related, no one wants to start anything- that all of that is pure bullshit that doesn't pass the smell test in the larger court of general public opinion and newsworthiness that this story is now in.
Even a link to a fine story right in this thread- the Dave Zirin article- states, quoted "....Yes, we still need to know why it is the NBA's former commissioner David Stern and the owners coddled Donald Sterling and his racism for so many years.............." oh, ok....well gollygarshdangit, thats the same thing I'm saying here, that everyone has been asleep at the switch, or unwilling to do anything about this egotistical, arrogant, misogynistic, and racist dude for 33 years or so.
I wonder if Jerry Buss ever had any second thought about urging his buddy, Donald Sterling, to go ahead and buy the Clippers.
Ya know, Colin Cowherd today took a chance, as he often does, and said that this IS a slippery slope about how the NBA came to this tape-recorded conversation. And that people feel, generally, that "if we don't like you, then its OK to get stuff like this by any means.." but "if you are well-liked, then it would have been an invasion of privacy..." So we have the NBA, a huge, world-class sports league, about to strip an owner of his assets because of what he said to a girlfriend, exposing his racists feelings, on an audio tape that they got somehow. And according to Article 13 of the leagues constitution, we (might)(but we're not sure) be able to do just that. Well, well, Sterlings prolly gonna lawyer up on that one, and then its see ya all in court time- where all the good stuff comes out.
My comment and concern here merely is.......is this the best way to run the NBA? We couldn't do anything until now? and actually face the public with a straight face saying that? Thats what I was addressing when I said the sports media has gotten scooped by HuffPo, the Nation, probably CNN and FoxNews.
Now I know there are plenty of folks on this blog that are in the sports/media business. And that if they write exactly what they feel, or want, or don't keep it 100% sports-related, they will lose access to the game they cover. But then, when this shite hits the fan, the national media swoops in, gets it all up in a lather, gets half of it wrong, and then drops it when the next scandal hits in about a week.
In my first post, I said that DS was an evil person, and there is no excuses, no defense, and that it was about time. But I took to task everyone connected with this, because it was no secret that he was all of that- and has the court appearances and settlements to prove it.
But by saying that and taking others to task as well as DS, well, some people just can't handle that. Lets keep spouting the old party line, we knew he was bad, but there was nothing to be done until now. Lets get on twitter and yell finally that the evil witch is dead, and hope sportscenter and FS1 puts my tweet on TV.
And the players, along with Sharpton and Jackson (who showed up to protest anyways) can make demands, have them met, and then make MORE demands- and thats OK, without question? really. We now demand a quick resolution. We demand the team be sold in three hours. blah blah blah. And no one calls them to task for such ridiculous, undoable demands. Thats because no one likes Don Sterling anymore, so its all OK. He gets no one sticking up for his due process, he gets no day in court- he gets his audio played all over the airwaves because no one likes him.
Rather than patting each other on the back for a jolly job well done, can't we look at the totality of this whole mess, and say that ..in the future, perhaps we can do better than have guys like Donald Sterling ever associated with professional sports franchises?
And thanks for asking.
posted by Leominster at 06:57 PM on April 30, 2014
and it only took 32 years to get rid of him. very classy
posted by Leominster at 04:35 PM on April 30, 2014
grum@work.........so they get a pass...of course. everybody-owners, press, players, league
Ok, if you say so. nothing to see here, folks, move along....
oh..and wait....and the dude she's photographed with is probably one of the lead groups looking to buy his franchise now..
posted by Leominster at 04:09 PM on April 30, 2014
None of his past actions were so widely received as offensive that they became the biggest sports story in the world for a few days.
Sterling buys skid row property in 2006, states he's going to help homeless, and gets a huge tax advantage saying so. Nothing has ever been built.
Sterling then get sued and agrees to pay a fine of over 2.5 M for housing discrimination against minorities in 2009. He also agrees to pay all litigation costs for both sides, estimated at over 4M.
Sterling receives a "Lifetime Achievement Award" from the NAACP for ....who knows what, a few thousand tickets ......in 2009, and is slated to receive another award again in 2014.
Sterling is caught on tape arguing with his black/latino girlfriend about racial issues, using derogatory comments to the g/f, who by the way is in a gold-digger lawsuit for 1.8M
FINALLY....we have something we can get him on.....(whew).....wow, that was really hard work. Kudos to the sports world and the sports media for over the years doing all the digging, hard work, and investigating NOT. Big kudos to the NBA, the big show press conference that featured the new commish looking like a Romulan dictiating his terms to the USS Enterprise, and big kudos to the players assn for finally coming down hard on this guy for "saying hurtful things on a tape that his g/f slipped over to deadspin and TMZ."
Nothing ever gets better when you do nothing- especially when you don't even try. And so now, everybody thinks this is a good outcome- when the league and media have been sitting on their collective hands for years. You are all getting scooped by Huffington Post and The Nation fergawdsakes...
posted by Leominster at 03:42 PM on April 30, 2014
cade- and Sterlings been offensive for years. Now that he's the soup du jour, everybody's piling on. And now that demands are met, we'll have more demands.
posted by Leominster at 12:26 PM on April 30, 2014
Yeah, yeah, you guys are all correct. Now that they've actually done something, all is forgiven.
Now, like KJ and Mason have said, we demand he sell the team. do it now, on our timeline. we demand quickness. Because that kid is almost done shinin' up my Bentley, and I gotta get outta here.
posted by Leominster at 11:48 AM on April 30, 2014
yer......that IS the point. The NBA has a habit and history of NOT dealing with nasty issues.
posted by Leominster at 10:42 AM on April 30, 2014
So . . . he's grandfathered in racism-wise? What should have been the outcome?
The outcome should have been dealt with years ago, perhaps during/after one of the two Federal lawsuits about racial and housing discrimination, etc. But the media was all abuzz with what color Donald Sterns ties were going to be on a particular day.
If you ignore something thats very bad, it never gets better.
My father-in-law is a black man, who also lives in Inglewood, CA. He, and most of his cohort, have despised this guy for years. He would never be caught dead going to a Clippers game. He and his friends, family knew Sterling was this way for years, and would never support this franchise.
Its anything but shocking to me and other Southern californians
posted by Leominster at 09:44 AM on April 30, 2014
If 23 team owners vote him out, he has to sell.
According to the legaltalking heads, Article 13 states that they must have certain "just causes". THAT will be a potential sticking point that Sterling hangs his legal case on. And, THAT was one of the areas I was referencing when I stated "who gets to decide" (before the slice and dice crowd got in there)
Of course, if he does fight in civil court, he then loses all his new-found equity and potential sale worthiness. Maybe ge doesn't care about $1Billion. (betcha his wife does) He could fight for years in court, which would reposition Sharpton and JJackson outside his courthouse instead of courtside, like last night. Because, of course, even though the world is praising Silver for his actions, and almost everybody appears 100% satisfied right now, Al and Jesse still showed up to protest.
posted by Leominster at 09:33 AM on April 30, 2014
yep, and if you are not 100% on the bandwagon....then somehow you support this 80 y.o. billionaire bigot. WRONG
He's been a bigot for years, paid off a few groups and people a few times, and been getting away with his 80 year old views for years. In other news, water is wet and valet parking is free at Caesars Palace.
And his 30 y.o. gf can release some audio of him being a bigot, in response to a golddigger lawsuit, pose with Magic, service his johnson, and piss off her bf.
Silver rides in on the wave of righteousness, commands him gone, decrees he must sell the team, and instantly increasing his bottom line net worth of this asset by $300M. It was worth 700M, he'll probably get $1B. Yeah, thats a defining moment alright. Todays NBA. He's been an owner for 34 years He's the longest current owner. But they had NO IDEA he was an old fart bigot....please stop now
Thank gawd the Stanley Cup playoffs are on.
posted by Leominster at 08:51 PM on April 29, 2014
Can someone follow Dan Snyder around ................
You said it, and that is now the slippery slope everyone is on. What is now allowable? Who gets to judge what is allowable? Sir Charles..maybe the Around the Horn crew?
Hey, there is no defending Sterling, and no one will try. But now....if you have views on lots of stuff, you are subject to public scrutiny like never before. Instead of making him the ultimate pariah, Sterling will be banned, fined, removed, and profit insanely. Magics' group will offer over $1B perhaps. And Sterling was livid that said girlfriend was hanging with Magic, posing, instgramming and the like.
How this tape got made and released is what smells now.
Lets make up some rules as we go along, shall we?
posted by Leominster at 04:54 PM on April 29, 2014
sharing is caring, everybody wins, girls can be Boy Scouts, my child is gifted....
We beat you but we feel a little sorry- another example of the chick-i-fication of the USA.
And don't bully me.
posted by Leominster at 11:31 AM on November 06, 2013
WBZ...all night. Larry Glick, Guy Maneilla, Carl DeSuze...Jordan Rich. Steve LeVeille....David Brudnoy, Dave Maynard and Don Kent. wow America's first commercially licensed radio station. great memories
posted by Leominster at 11:45 AM on November 01, 2013
I now live in Sacramento. Its been an interesting thing to watch- and nothing like what I am used to with new arenas built in Boston, Florida, and even going back to the New Madison Square Garden. But, one thing you need to learn in California- NOTHING gets done without government either doing it, or getting out of the way and allowing it. The way they are financing this monster is to monetize the downtown parking. Meters, garages, municipal parking lots- will be sold to investors, bondholders, etc., to gain the bulk of the downpayment. Other assets, including part of the 36hole golf course that hosts the State Fair golf tourney, and a former site of the US Womens Public Links, will be sold. The vote to pass this was 7-2. And they are able to approve this and go forward without voter approval/disproval because they are using existing budget resources. A city referendum three years ago failed miserably. The only thing I like about this is one of the proposed owners is Ron Berkel, who knows how to win.
posted by Leominster at 12:03 AM on March 28, 2013
kinda makes the gay-darr alert happen just a bit?
posted by Leominster at 07:43 PM on January 18, 2013
i attended Providence when David Gavitt was coaching, and really remember the birth of the Big East. It was quite something, and quite shocking that a couple of good B-ball schools like Holy Cross and UMass decided not to partake. The ECAC had become too big and unwieldy, there were a few "too big" teams in among the little fish, like Fairfield, St. Joe's, Fordham, St. Bona, Canisius, etc. The Big East was really the first total basketball conference, and when it added football and all the other sports, I think the headaches began.
Bonkers is correct in that this breaks up some great soccer- heck, there are a lot of sports that will be affected. We may be seeing the rebirth of some B-ball only conferences again; just like hockey.
posted by Leominster at 08:16 PM on December 14, 2012
Who knew? A lot of the Nation is saying and asking HOW are we going to replace AGon....well, you are not going to. Someone will step up...or they will not. This is the history of the Sox. Sometimes there are voids, and sometimes someone comes right along to take care of business. I can only go back as far as 1963, but its that way with this franchise, as well as most. No one really thought Yaz would come close to filling Teddy Ballgames shoes, but he proved more than able. AL batting champ just two years after Ted retired. The Nation felt empty after losing Fisk, Boggs (maybe), Lynn, Dewey and many others. Lets not forget who steps up- forgetable guys like Dave Henderson, Marty Barrett and John Mirabelli. Professional athlete will perform to the best of their ability almost all the time- if just given the chance. And they always are trying to improve. Thats the hope fans cling to. Did anyone ever think that Ellsbury would turn into the MVP-type player he is after his first season? I thought he was a Mendoza-line guy. Sure, he could run, and field, but he was an easy out. No more. Someone will step up. Lastly, let hope the Sox avoid any veteran pitching in the Free Agent/offseason trade market. No more acquisitions like Sam McDowell, Rick Wise, Fergie Jenkins- great pitchers in the later stages of their careers who do not deserve to pitch half their starts in the Fenway Phone Booth. Wise was so vulnerable that he rarely started at Fenway during the stretch run in 1975. Remarkably, Wise is the winning pitcher of WS Game 6-1975, in relief. Perhaps one of the few veteran starters to be acquired that worked well was Curtis Schilling.
posted by Leominster at 02:01 PM on August 26, 2012
What the NBA and ESPN have wrought, they must now defend and live with. And, present as their best possible product for this time block. Pathetic. As if, viewers are "too stupid" too understand complexities; when actually, IMO, it is the media who cannot put the correct "explainers" in the right place. No one ever complained when John Madden drew up a diagram to show MNF viewers WTF he was talking about. He made it simpler. In this piece, so does Cuban.
posted by Leominster at 11:32 AM on June 23, 2012
"This is a man who thinks in one platoon, but with a million different variations."
Brilliant. Tough for the pundits to predict much of any long-term plans with Belichick. As a fan of the franchise since the 1960 Boston Patriots, the only thing I rue now is Belichick's retirement.
posted by Leominster at 11:49 AM on January 17, 2012
Reporting from Sacramento- Local fan base is about 50/50 as to if its even a big deal if the Kings leave, according to our local crack journalists on TV. They seem to be a late-night comedy show in recent years, and provide plenty of comic material...Coach Mussleman DUI stuff, Coach Theus' flameout and midseason x-out. They lost a lot of the pink-shoelace crowd anyways with the disbanding of the Monarchs and their lame-o excuse of needing to concentrate on the Kings and Palms casino operations instead. Their season tix base is .....gone. They ginned up prices starting in 2002 after their playoff run, and convinced seatholders to pay way up for next seasons and beyond, convincing them that Kings tickets were going to be a resellable commodity- ala Red sox, Yankees, Lakers tix- but no, that plan backfired with the ongoing losses, and trading off of any player that had any ability. The players they've traded away could be back-benchers on an AllStar team. How they haven't traded Tyreke Evans away yet is kinda amazin'. The Kings sell more tickets now at the window than for season-tix-holders. A recent ballot measure to have a new arena w/public financing went down by about 70-30 %...no one wins elections by that much. The Maloofs may need to move it just to stop the money bleed anyways. They've sold the New Mexico beer distributor (wow)- a completely recession-proof business, Their wells Fargo Stock is off 50%, the Palms Casino is bleeding, reportedly valued by one equity holder as having a value of 106 million, and who knows what the Kings are actually worth, given that the City of Sac is owed ...how much, that number is hard to find. And now, they get a decent offer to relocate to the Honda in Orange Co......time to line up the U-hauls. I smell a marketing deal already with disney and the Anaheim Lion Kings.
posted by Leominster at 12:57 PM on February 22, 2011
Heck, what memories...being FROM Leominster, remembering both those players. Lockbaum got great press in the Worcester Telegram- which was the BIG paper and daily read for all of Central Massachusetts. I do think that local players get good press in their local papers...if anyone reads them. I still get the Sacramento Bee a few days a week, and gobble the local stories that will never hit KCRA or Sportscenter. Stories like Dudek and Lockbaum...Steve Bedrosian, Rich Gedman...some make it, others make it in other walks of life.
posted by Leominster at 01:20 PM on December 11, 2010
Nice to see "gorgeous" George Lucas getting some due here. He did a lot of New England courses, whence I hail from, and I miss using his books when I still occasionally loop out there on the Canadian and Nationwide. He had some "very" interesting abbreviations...the world famous J.I.C.Y.F.U. ..and then J.I.C.Y.R.R.F.U., adding two "reallys' to the admonishon of "Just in case you F....ed Up". These were off the map notations of yardages from from area not usually in play, but needed in case you or the pro had to wedge out from a creek or tall grass, etc, leaving an awkward yardage that he couldn't include in his map. Once you get used to front edge of the green yardage, either as a caddy or player, you sense that the middle of the green sprinkler head markers are useless. Beaman, Nicklaus and George are to thank for that.
posted by Leominster at 06:28 PM on June 02, 2010
I can't help thinking.....how many teams would have beat Cleveland in this series?.....Answer- only the teams that remain in the playoffs. Rivers' admonision to his team about not "playing hero basketball- we can't do that" and letting Cleveland sink/swim with that methodology I believe is the key to his and Celtics success. It was Rivers two years ago that said since this was a playoff-bound team, he was not going to run them into the ground during the regular season. He realized that when they beat LA and had no gas left in the tank. Thankfully, that was for the Championship. And his methodology, along with the remaining teams, are what can beat LeBron centered hero basketball.
posted by Leominster at 12:23 PM on May 14, 2010
this move also follows recent Patriot deals, jettisoning venerable veterans who have a year left, nearing age 30 (or over). Think McGinest, Vinateiri, Law, Samuels, Vrabel, and many other who had good years then were traded before the career-ending contract needed to be signed. In general, these deals have worked oput for the Pats, and the other teams do get a good year, two, sometimes more from the player. Its a business, pro football, and we all know it. This just shows who the good businessmen are. (Did I really just say THAT about Al Davis???)
posted by Leominster at 07:04 PM on September 07, 2009
Okay, I admit Woods is spectacular ... but let's not go overboard well....it appears a lot of people are doing just that, if this defines overboard. Many sportswriters today, I am sure, are likening him to Gretsky, MJ, even Ali. Lets face it, who would be the number one most recognizable athlete in the world today if it isn't Tiger? Going into 2006, or forward to 2007, who has the most money locked up in endoresment contracts prior to performance. I daresay Tiger; and who am I to question Nike, AmExpress, Buick, Rolex. They know what they are getting up front for their money; the most recognizable player in any sport, and probably the best in show in the world arena of athletics. All the discussion merely fuels Tigers ability to command more endorsement cash. Tigers performances continue to be historic, and there are those who are always unconfortable when history is being re-written. He has dominated golf like no other, at every level he has competed on. Some question his collegiate achievements, but he may not have had those targets prioritized versus the National Amateur scene. What remains now is for Tiger to rectify his Ryder Cup record- a tall order given that match play is so intimate and instantly reactive.
posted by Leominster at 10:49 AM on August 21, 2006
You may not have noticed, but she's been "competitive" for a while now Grum...er, OK. she HAS been competitive, in Womens and LPGA events. You make that point, and make my point as well. She has won the USGA Womens AmPublinx at age 13. I am confident she will win soon, maybe real soon, in a National womens LPGA event. My point is... she has NOT been competitive, in US PGA events. Players that fail to make cuts, make no money and don't stay on tour, on the PGA tour. I think you took the second part of my comment, and dissected it, rather than along with the first part. The public now remembers her for getting sick and w/d in an event where she was going to miss the cut again. Top that off with some players on tour getting irked by her slow play, having the threesome placed on the clock by officals ( no fun, I've been put on the clock in tournaments because of another), and now having that sentiment getting into the press. Watch for the fickle press to start picking up the feelings of other players as that starts to become a more popular position with the public...and yeah, she and the public may need a break. I am sure that William Morris Co Agency wants a better memory picture than having Michelle in a near-barf state as the last take she gets on television. Michelle Wie will probably continue to be invited to lower tier PGA events; I for one am starting to view this as exploitation of the cruelest kind. She has little shot of making the cut, no shot at winning, it keeps another player out of the field, and the sponsors use her merely for the gate and press appeal. And..I don't think I'm alone in this sentiment. Her handlers have work to do.
posted by Leominster at 04:39 PM on July 15, 2006
All the above comments have value and merit, if you realize the real reason she is out there in the spotlight. Its to SELL stuff, just like anyone else either on tour or who aspires to be on tour. The message she is now sending, rather than selling, is unfortunately that she should GO AWAY for a while...as many above have stated. She is gearing up to be a skit on Saturday Night Live.."my god, a double bogey..quick, my oxygen mask.." ad nauseum. I am sure there are some sharp witted comic writers who have a whole schtick already written about Michelles' weekend of fun and barfing. The GolfChannel lead for the last two days has been Michelle, her "unending quest to make the cut on the PGA tour", but they are bleeding in a few more naysayers...like her playing partner Jeff Gove >As she waited for Gove to putt, Wie knelt at the edge of the green with her head bowed, pulling the bill of her baseball cap over her eyes. "I saw she was hurting, but she never said anything," Gove said. "And she was walking real slow, which I thought was inconsiderate again because we're trying to keep up. If we get on the clock again, that's painful." (AP wire reports) Notice the word "inconsiderate"...thats a biggie in the world of professional golf. So, the implication is she is now affecting, negatively, the performance of other professionals , who are out there trying to SELL stuff...get attention, notice the name on their hats, bags and shirts. Michelle and the public need a break from each other, and maybe she needs to enter an event she can be competitive in, and not the butt of certain future jokes.
posted by Leominster at 11:46 AM on July 15, 2006
wie this young girl has not even earned the right to compete ...um, dlwebb, ANYONE can enter the US OPEN, there is no earning a right to compete in the National Championship. Just be a professional golfer who can come within ten shots of the course rating, or an amateur golfer with a 2.4 hdcp index or less. The US Open regularly attracts over 6000 entries per year, and most of those entries never get ANY press. Mine never did, and yes, I entered several times, as an amateur. The great thing about an OPEN golf tournament is, it IS open to most anyone, most are gender non-specific. Joanne Carner attempted to qualify several years ago (if I remember), but she was much less of a promotional horse than Michelles' handlers are. Lets remember that this is most about press and money, at least in my opinion. Wie got millions to trun pro and get endorsements from SONY, etc. She also commanded $750,00 to tee it up in the Korean event a few weeks ago. Her handlers are doing a great job of keeping her name in the press.
posted by Leominster at 06:39 PM on June 03, 2006
Are you just trying to wind me up? JJ...I was hoping that no one would dignify the ignorance of stating that golf lacks athleticism. I guess those fitness trailers on tour are going to be used for the homeless folks now.
posted by Leominster at 06:16 PM on May 05, 2006
...a great story for The Golf Channels latest reality show "The Daly Planet" starring, of course, John Daly.
posted by Leominster at 05:34 PM on March 10, 2006
....more mutterings.....this "distance technology" is just ruining golf...
posted by Leominster at 10:22 AM on March 10, 2006
Great side stories here....its supposed to be PHIL'S tournament, being the Ford guy on tour (remember, Tiger is the Buick guy)...but, like 'what will Phil do next?", maybe hit it in the water?...again-duoh. Tiger gets Phils goat again. Villegas played college golf in Florida, is from Columbia and drew the neatest galleries. Sorry, zippinglou, he didn't come from nowhere. He won eight titles at Univ.of.Florida and played Nationwide last year, earning a promo to the tour this year off last years Nationwide money. With this third place, and last weeks second place in Arizona, he has iced a card for the rest of this year and next. Watch out for him now in earnest, with no worries about keeping his playing card. This course was never this easy when it has all the palm trees. Not only has the monster lost 400-500 trees, the added air flow throughout the course has firmed up all the fairways and grounds in general. Guys like Crenshaw (1988) used to win here with -10 to -14. (short and stright, but great putting) Given a choice of 280 in the fairway with 170 yard approach shots, or 330 drives anywhere with 120 yard wedges to the greens, go with distance. I'd hope the course plants a lot of trees before next years World Golf tournament.
posted by Leominster at 12:12 AM on March 06, 2006
This was a frequent sight on all the Boston TV stations over the years- I believe the changeover for Boston Garden was featured for a few commercials for various products. The "Bull Gang" prided themselves in quick changes; I think the all time fastest change was a bit UNDER an hour, from hockey to baskets. Years ago, before advanced plastics technology, a coating of sawdust was needed to keep the ice from really melting. Having a snap-together parquet floor was also a speedy item. A google about this produced a lot of sites. Neat stuff.
posted by Leominster at 05:25 PM on March 05, 2006
Both guys have legitimacy on their side- but Augusta has the legacy of Bobby Jones, who had the ability to plan for the future and then acknowledge it when it arrived. "It" is now the game of the PGA tour today, with 330 yd tee shots, seven irons from 180 and players who'd rather be in bunkers than face a ten yard chip shot. Jones himself stated that Nicklaus possessed a game that "I am not familiar with" when asked about Jacks ability to hit it long and straight. Imagine Jones laying out ANGC in 1932, and still having that venue used today. "wow" comes to mind when I think of all the great courses the tour/US Open used to play at, that are now obsolete. The complaint will be heard that only certain players will be able to win at Augusta. Thats ALWAYS been the case- Jacks got five, Arnie has four, and a bunch of others have multiples. Its the best TV coverage, and fans like it because its the only major that is site-static. I can hardly wait for it to start.
posted by Leominster at 09:32 PM on March 02, 2006
The old SONY Mens rankings needed a lot of tweaking before they got it right- and it appears the Rolex Womens does as well. Back then, Jumbo Ozaki gained points in weak fields when HE showed up, because his presence made the field more competitive. He would show up, beat a weak field, and gain in the ranks. Anomalies like that make it difficult to compare players that don't compete against each other. Currently, Morgan Pressel is unranked because she does not have enough appearances. How much is the US Amateur weighed in this scale. THAT will be interesting to see, when she comes eligible for ranking. Based on the Wie rank, Pressel should be a lock for #2 in the world.....or does Rolex want Wie higher? Sadly, the current US Open Champion, Birdie Kim, checks in at #51. I smell sex appeal, marketing and endorsement potential as ranking criteria.
posted by Leominster at 10:04 AM on February 22, 2006
Does anybody know why her coach was not there? According to wire reports, the coach (Rafael Arutunian) is in transit. The draw isn't even until 2-17-06, so his arrival shortly is within acceptable limits.
posted by Leominster at 07:52 PM on February 11, 2006
pop quiz answer...because I heard on last weeks TV coverage...Mayfair at LA, the year that tournament was at a different venuwe than Riveira
posted by Leominster at 10:11 AM on February 06, 2006
Crisp is in the mold of a lot of players who come to Boston and then really blossom. Damon essential did just that in his stay here. So has Manny, Varitek and numerous others. Besides, its not the biggest centerfield in BB, so concerns about his arm may be overcooked. Damon was very fast off the batted ball, maybe the best in the majors, which made his price OK for CF at Yankee stadium. Hey- Frank Malzone hung in for a few years strictly because he could hit the wall. Its a special place, Fenway. One never knows who will be a good player in this stadium.
posted by Leominster at 06:02 PM on January 28, 2006
posted by Leominster at 09:43 PM on January 07, 2006
Trump's Fed Pick Would've Been Banned from SportsFilter
Well- he is an economist, and he makes an economic argument. Pretty badly, because he uses women athletes to talk about an impact to an entire economy. Which is why politicians should stay wide of sports commentary. Its inevitable that you will piss someone off. And why athletes, no matter how sincere, will always piss someone else off if they delve into politics.