|
Mike’s Rants
This is stuff that really makes me pazzo (crazy)! I want to use this page to comment on those things that come up that I have just got to address but there’s not enough for a whole article. Please, if you have any comments on these subjects, just let me know by using the feedback button. I’ll see that your comments get included here.
10/2/08 Tell Me What to Think I just was thinking last night. We’ve heard for a long time people using as their reason for hating the Yankees is that the Yankees “buy their championships.” They always made that argument because the Yankees consistently bought established stars. So now the Yankees change direction and add young talent and develop it in its minor league system. So this year, they have a season like most Major League teams and these Yankees-haters say that the Yankees really are terrible now. This is because they did not make the play-offs. Aren’t they talking out of both sides of their mouths? In which direction are we supposed to go? Should the Yankees use THEIR money to acquire star players or build a team with young talent? The only reason these people criticize the Yankees for whatever they do is absolute jealousy. Their teams can’t achieve the Yankees’ success regardless of what they try. So, all you smart people, pick one reason for hating the Yankees. You can’t have it both ways! But, we do love it when you whine.
09/23/08 More Excuses I watched Sports Center this morning. One of those posers said, “ground ball does in the Red Sox.” Do you believe she actually said that? I ain’t kidding, she did! A fair ball struck the umpire, who, as far as I know is in play, and the Red Sox runner was tagged out. So that beat the Red Sox, right? Come on, was the third base coach asleep? Why did he send the runner? After that happened, the Red Sox twice had runners in scoring position and failed to score them. Once Lowry struck out with the bases loaded and he again struck out with runners at second and third. Hey, you just lost. Man up and take it. But if you and your lovers over at ESPN need an excuse as always, I guess you can just go with that umpire thing. But, wait, there’s more!————-Vantage Point———-Same Sports Center as that Red Sox thing. Two stories about the Yankees being on the verge of elimination. I guess we need to explain how things work to them. See, there are 14 teams in the American League. Only four make it to the playoffs. Every team cannot make it every year. But instead of praising the Yankees for the fantastic 13 playoff years in a row, which is better than any other team in the American League, they constantly talk about their failure to make it this year. I don’t remember them reporting over and over how the Red Sox did not make it in all those years that they did not. During that run of 13 consecutive seasons, the Yankees won four of six World Series! Where were all the other teams? Over in the National League the Braves were in the playoffs for 14 years straight, and they were awesome. When they failed to make it after that, nothing was said. Hey, remember last year when the Patriots were undefeated going into the Super Bowl and lost? Why don’t we ever hear about that any more? I’ll bet that the only baseball story ESPN reports during football season will be how the Yankees did not make the playoffs in 2008.
09/17/08 Props to WGN I’m watching the White Sox-Yankees game on WGN tonight. The White Sox broadcaster said that the Yankees were 10 games over .500 at 81-71. Then said that, considering the troubles they’ve had with their pitching, that ain’t so bad. That really makes those posers over at you know which network look stupid. Those guys there are supposed to be impartial, but you’ll never hear them say something that makes the Yankees look pretty good considering their troubles. The guys at WGN aren’t supposed to be impartial. They’re supposed to be all for their team. Tip of the hat to the guys at WGN tonight for showing some professionalism. That crew at ESPN could “go to school” on how WGN does its TV sports coverage. Hope they’re watching!
09/29/08Who Are You? I’ve been on vacation for several weeks now and I’ve not been able to publish new stuff for a while. Some stuff did happen during my trip that really made me pazzo. This will surprise you, but I’ve just got to stand up for the Red Sox this time. The spat between the Red Sox and Manny really heated up. Manny began loafing around even more than usual, then had the nerve to say that the Red Sox don’t deserve him! Who does he think he is? You don’t treat an organization like the Red Sox that way, regardless of who you are. Besides, Manny not worth standing for that kind of insult. Manny just isn’t that good anyway. Every time he steps onto the field he insults the game. The Red Sox have too much class to take Manny’s business. Give him time, he’ll surely end up insulting the great Dodgers organization as well.
06/19/08 - Did you really say that? Last night on SportsCenter they actually said it. I’ve been saying for a long time that ESPN insults baseball by constantly implying that it is merely a filler between two football seasons. Well, last night one of the SportsCenter anchors actually said that now with basketball over and football a few months away, there’s nothing to do. Then as an aside he said except baseball. Later in the show, ESPN presented an ad saying that even though there was nothing to watch we should not worry because football would be here in a couple months. How did they decide that football was sports, period? Then they have entire shows devoted to trying to understand why kids don’t want to play baseball anymore. Here’s the answer to that. Kids want to play sports and ESPN has told them that only football is sports!
05/16/08— “Daddy, buy me a pony, pleeease!” I heard about this one this morning. The best professional athlete in sports is the horse. No athlete is stronger or more agile nor does any other athlete train as long and hard as the horse. However, when race horses no longer win, the owners consider them financial liabilities and often times, send them south of the border to the slaughter house. How many times have we heard over-the-hill ball players complain about how they are treated after they leave the game. Hey, at least they’re not on somebody’s table! Surely there are rich guys out there with little girls who want ponies. When I was a kid, I had a horse. She was far from a former race horse, but she was great for my brothers and me. So why do these race horses have to go to the slaughter houses? Hey, when did Ken Schrader last win a race? Running a race car without winning would seem to cost more money than allowing an under-performing race horse to breathe. Don’t you think it might be a good idea for somebody to start a business to act as broker between race horse owners and people who would want to buy these retiring horses? They might not save every one, but some might have a chance.
05/05/08— Coolest Thing in Sports I’ve Ever Seen This isn’t a rant, but it’s just so impressive that I have to address it here. On April 26 of this year there was a college female softball game between Western Oregon University and Central Washington University. During that game, Sara Tucholsky, a senior at Western Oregon hit her first home run. As she rounded first, she missed the bag. When she turned to go back to touch the bag, her knee buckled and she had to crawl back to the bag. There were two runners on and they scored. Sara’s coach asked the umpire for a ruling if she sent a runner in. The ump’s response was that it would be a two-run single. Then, the most amazing thing I’ve ever seen in sports happened. The Central Washington first baseman asked the umpire if they could carry her. The ump approved and two Central Washington players carried her around the bases stopping at each to let Sara touch it. The Central player who initiated this told her that she hit the ball over the fence and deserved to get the home run. Additionally, Central lost the game that day! To me and to a lot of other sports fans this is the ultimate display of sportsmanship. I doubt we’ll ever see anything like this again.
04/19/08 — Ain’t Cool, huh? Lately, we’ve heard several times that most kids just don’t think baseball is cool and blame that for the decline in the interest to play baseball. And whose fault is that? Just watch ESPN. No matter what time of year it is, all they want to talk about is football.We hear about college football teams as if the only reason colleges exist is to have football teams. We hear about NFL players and teams. We even see next year’s NFL schedule in April. They devote whole shows to the NFL draft! During football season, you’ll never hear these guys even mention baseball unless Congress is involved. By treating baseball as a filler between two football seasons these guys are convincing kids that only football is cool. Otherwise why would they talk about it all year and other sports only in season? How did they decide that football deserves all this attention while baseball only deserve mention during baseball season? I have nothing against football. I played the game in high school and college, but I remember that baseball was cool in my younger days. Heck, everybody then wanted to be Mickey Mantle! Of course, that was pre-ESPN. Nobody told us that football was the only cool sport. Probably if baseball got the same treatment as football maybe more kids would think baseball is cool.
04/18/08 —- Attaboy!! I heard Joe Morgan say something on Wednesday’s coverage of the Yankees—Red Sox game that made me say, “hey, that’s right!” What about the 95% of the players who have kept clean by not using banned drugs. Don’t they deserve at least an attaboy? After 5% of the big league players tested positive for these drugs, everybody went bonkers! To just about everybody, especially those non-fans Major League Baseball as a whole was dirty; the drug use was running rampant. Instead of looking a the 5% failure rate, let’s look at this as a 95% success rate. Considering that 95% of big league players are clean, I think I’d consider Major League Baseball as a whole is clean. Now, we find that there are NASCAR drivers using drugs. They aren’t using performance enhancing drugs either. Think about this. These are guys driving nearly 200 miles per hour in a confined space and some are impaired by drug use. If anybody should get tested, it’s these guys. Compared to them, baseball players are tame!
|