Letters to the Editor
Tylerfaith
Published Letters: 37 Editor's Choice: 4
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Schilling loves the publicity - always did
[Read the article: King Kaufman's Sports Daily]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I'm really surprised that King is joining the national media chorus who thinks the sainted Red Sox shall never be minimally insulted by anyone - maybe Schilling and Francona can talk to Vivian Stringer about how to set up a sob story press conference
- way too much has been made of the whole thing, but as a lifelong Phillies fan I don't put anything past Schilling, who has never seen a camera, microphone or blog that he didn't like to hog - the guy has always spent as much time honing his image as he has on his fastball
exactly 10 years ago Schill conspired with a Philly sports radio host to play an elaborate hoax - the host announced that Schill had just been traded to the Indians for Jaret Wright and Bartolo Colon (which was actually a pretty pervasive rumor during spring training - so it was believable) - and then Schill calls in to the show and gives a farewell speech just short of Lou Gehrig saying he's the luckiest man on earth.
so if Schill can go to those lengths, why is it so hard to believe that he used a little visual aid to amplify his heroics - he knows as well as anybody the media's obsession with the Red Sox - if Cris Carpenter or Johan Santana pitched a playoff gem on a bloody ankle it would be a two day story and not a part of baseball folklore - I largely blame Ken Burns for all this Red Sox media madness - and I'm also tired of the Yankees mythology too
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Curt - is that you?
[Read the article: King Kaufman's Sports Daily]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Anonymous is really taking this whole thing personally - he even goes so far as to assert that Schilling critics are claiming that even the initial injury was fake? I've never heard a single person question the extent of Schill's injury - they only wonder if he milked some of the visuals for dramatic effect, an accusation that's hard to escape given Schill's history of camera mugging (nobody else in the Phillies dugout felt the need to conspicuously put a towel over his head during the 1993 Series)-
in fact, it's well known that Schill likes to spend quite a bit of time in baseball-related message boards and chat rooms - come on Curt - don't call yourself "Anonymous" - you can acknowledge that you read the King just like the rest of us
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why is the media downplaying this?
[Read the article: King Kaufman's Sports Daily]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]has a player still in his physical prime the magnitude of Randy Moss ever been traded for practically nothing (one 4th round pick)?
I know the guy's a headache but isn't he worth at least a 2nd or a couple of 3rds?
what if Moss pulls a Chris Webber* and suddenly decides to care again with a new team? New England gets a bargain and Oakland gets someone who might contribute down the road?
(for those outside Philadelphia, while with the Sixers Webber did nothing but whine, complain and milk some time on the disabled list - the minute he was traded to Detroit all those nagging injuries miraculously disappeared and Chris suddenly remembered that even in mid 30's he still one of the best passing big men ever to step on the court)
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Sorry King about the 'roids story
[Read the article: King Kaufman's Sports Daily]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]The King seems genuinely disappointed that mainstream media and the fans aren't aghast about the Mets batboy story. Like several other posters have already noted, if and when this guy blows the whistle on some big names, then people will care. Looking at the steroid related events of the last few years, I can't help but conclude that there are really only two groups of people who give a rat's tail about steroids:
1. Journalists like those Game of Shadows guys and their backslapping media peers, all hoping to be known as the Woodward & Bernstein of sportswriters.
2. Grandstanding blowhards in Congress who love to find easy targets that divert from their cluelessness regarding the real hard work of Iraq and the impending insolvency of our Social Security System. These "legislators" are just like Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson ranting about Imus instead of trying to tackle poverty, illiteracy, poor health care and all the other real problems facing blacks.
If I'm wrong then why do the turnstiles continue to click and TV/radio ratings are solid? Fans likely don't care, especially when the central figure is Bonds, who was highly unlikeable long before the roid allegations. Do the Bonds apologists forget that this selfish jerk was known as "Stat-Man" in the early 1990's?
as someone above me also noted, it's a shame that Griffey has spent the last 6 years on the DL, otherwise Bonds would be nothing more than a historical footnote
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the really important sports news
[Read the article: King Kaufman's Sports Daily]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]why so much ink spilled over a triviality like the NBA playoffs when the real story is being ignored: who knew that NFL Network (formerly of ESPN) wiseguy Rich Eisen was a stone cold playa?
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the real NBA story
[Read the article: King Kaufman's Sports Daily]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]David Stern has more important things to worry about than some intellectual navel-gazing by a couple of professors with obviously way too much time on their hands (shouldn't these guys be doing statistical analyses of who gets cancer, who suffers Alzheimers, where our tax dollars are going or something else remotely important)
Stern should be more concerned that in the post- Jordan era, his league's popularity seems to have plateaued - Stern based his widely successful marketing strategy on individual stars (unlike the NFL) and that was fine when he simultaneously had Jordan, Magic Bird, Barkley, Ewing, Hakeem, Isiah, all in their prime
but with the early demise of the Miami Heat, Stern's most recognizable player (to the casual fan) has taken an early vacation - while purists would love to watch Tim Duncan shoot bank shots over Chris Webber and Bruce Bowen chase Rip Hamilton around screens - ratings are likely to be abysmal