Letters to the Editor
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Good job by the guys in the booth
It didn’t hurt that the game was being broadcast by the consummate (IMHO) baseball broadcast pairing, Jon Miller and Joe Morgan. They were not intrusive at any time to the flow of the game and the repartee with the guests was excellent. I think they could have handled it just as well if the game had been a nail-biter.
Can anyone imagine how this would have come off with Joe Buck and Tim (earmuffs & cyanide capsules, please) McCarver in the booth?
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Marlon Wayans???
Marlon freakin' Wayans was the best they could do? Hell, they already had Aaron and Robinson on the field, why not have them give the opening speech? Or, say, Mike Cameron (who, I seem to recall from his Mets days, is a smart, articulate guy) from the Padres and, say, Juan Pierre from the Dodgers?
But Marlon Wayans? Really? Yeesh.
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Jonathan: I called out King for being MIA
For the record I never called King a racist nor did I engaged in your other allegations. Please feel free to read all of my comments on this subject matter.
I did incorporate in a post my recommendations for King to address white jewish pundits, sports writers and others to stop having contempt for people of color and creating wedge issues between WASPS and Blacks. I also pointed out that I will continue to reject/object to those who lodge constructive and critical opinions and alternatives views that they not be silenced with the label of being anti-semetic or anti-jewish.
Finally I hope the dialouge and discussion wiil not stop because the Imus saga is over.....Now that would be surreal..
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Bukk
Lemme splain somethin to dju.
First off you have to play real little league. And that means being joined at the hip with the league in terms of sponship. Then you have to be able to bring in 1500-2500 per season just to keep a slot in the league. Then travel and operating costs. And if anyone in league happens to operate one of those youth performance training facilities, you better sign up.
Then when you get to High School it's AAU ball just get them to watch you at tryouts which in case you don't know, are 95% decided before tryouts anyhow. And it helps to go to the same church as the coach and hang out with him, wash his car, etc...
And that will get you a second string seat - you might see playing time, maybe not.
But let's not put too much pressure on the kids anyway because unless your kid is at least 6ft 2, 195lbs then you will not get a college scout to even notice him. Not including pitchers who are generally 2 inches taller and about 10-15lbs heavier than that. That's the minimum size of a college player 99% of the time now. And there are no known tests for HGH, let's just get that out there. Now if you are lucky enough to get scouted by the pros then they will make you hit and play the outfield in A or AA no matter what your kid is capable of doing. I don't care if he has a 94mph slider.
I hope this was helpful.
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JetBlue???
Boy you guys really are running this site on doggy treats and duct tape...Can poor Joanie get a flight on a real airline please?
Yes, I agree that baseball does a much poorer job of showcasing its past than say the NBA, which has not nearly as much history to lean on. It doesn't help MLB that it's most prominent current black player, who should be the MJ or Tiger of his sport, has become a pariah through his own intrasigence and preceived cheating in pursuit of a hallowed record.
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The 10,000lb Gorilla
in last nites broadcast was Barry Bonds. I don't even remember his name mentioned, this the guy who is about to break Aaron's HR record and who's production from 2000-2004 was unparaleled in the history of Major League baseball. Yes, including Ruth--look it up.
Bonds was doing roids?? Prove it or shut up. He's passed every test he was ever given--the same test all the other players take.
Bonds is an a-hole?? Yeah, so was Cobb & 100's of other players now in the Hall-of-Fame.
PLAY BALL!!
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Telling stories
One of the great joys of being a baseball fan is listening to the stories. You just don't get that in football, basketball or hockey. Basketball and hockey move too fast - there's no time between plays, and when they have timeouts, we go straight to commercial. Football has nice, story-sized gaps between plays, but it's filled with the replays necessary for you to know what happened, and there aren't nearly as many gaps as there are in a baseball game.
The stories provide a kind of continuity for fans that other sports don't have. Long-time fans all know the same stories, told lovingly again and again, and there are new ones every year, added to the existing trove. One of the great things about last night was that I learned a couple of new stories (particularly the one about Robinson's first managerial contract, and Don Newcombe's story about throwing at the other team's top hitter to get a bench jockey to shut up). Sometimes I think I'd be content just to listen to the stories, even without a game going on behind them.
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What about Park District programs as an alternative to Little League?
My home town has a taxpayer-supported park district that sponsors many low- or no-cost youth sports including baseball, for kids who for whatever reason can't do Little League. Is this still a popular way to go in cities around the country, or are these programs folding due to lack of funds, volunteer coaches/supervisors, etc.?
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Ahh, that's right, it was Thrasher...
Yes, let's look at exactly what you said, shall we?
I need you to elevate your game King take your angst and go after the your white peers and your white jewish sportswriters and professionals who play the at the expense of Black people across the spectrum. I need you King to write some commentary about jewish sports agents, jewish college professors and magazine writers the whole lot who create phony wedges between the parents of Black student athletes and HBCU (Black Colleges) and Black folks at large.. I need you to ask the tough questions about white jewish racism leveled against so many Blacks in the arena that your write in..
Emphasis mine.
So that's not racist, huh? What if I said to you, Thrasher:
It's time for you to elevate your game and go after your black peers and black Salon readers who play the black race card at the expense of white people across the spectrum. I need you, Thrasher, to write some commentary about welfare recipients, welfare queens, and Negro College Fund recipients who create a phony issues to proliferate more affirmative action programs on the back of the white man.
See how I take an issue of the African Community and put it all on your back? Don't you find that a bit hyperbolic and alot racist? Do you pretend to speak for all African Americans? Do you think that all King has to do is pick up the "Jew Phone" and let them all know what's what? And what, specifically, are you referring to with your "phony wedge issues" and "white jewish racism leveled against.. Blacks"? Do you an actual case you can link or cite? Or is this just your "sense" of it all?
Whatever. Throughout the entire thread on Friday you baited and switched and gave absolutely no indication of taking anyone else's viewpoint to heart. It's all about you, isn't it Thrasher. Which is why I didn't comment on Friday and most regular posters stayed away. I wish you'd stay away.
I won't be responding to anything you have to say, ever again, unless I see a change in your attitude. Like you care. You'll just find someone else to bait. Your kind always does. And by "your kind" I mean "racist assholes".
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Yes, Jonathan, we have our meadow again
18 posts. ahhh...feel the fresh air
Feels sorta as if we had a giant house party here last night, a bunch of people crashed it, and now we gotta clean up the beer cans and puke in the corner.
For the record, I AM one of the regular posters to this board (not Wes), but have changed my handle in order to build my cred as a shock-blogger. :) I did post to post in the madness that was ImusMeltdownFriday, but was buried under a hail of self-righteousness and verbosity coming from all sides.
C'mon King, gives us sabermetrics and cricket or give us death!
On topic, I remember long rain delays when watching Mets games on WOR when they would go into an extended Kiner's Korner, where he and Duke Snider would relive the NY Giants and Brooklyn Dodgers glory days, including of course Mays, Robinson, Campanella, Newcombe. Maybe even rerun a Joe Franklin episode.
Could a Cardinals fan or St. Louis resident (hint hint) tell us what Lou Brock and Bob Gibson are up to? There is no doubt that Gibson's dominating performance and menace on the mound would be interpreted today as anti-social and his impossible 1.12 ERA would be used as evidence of cheating and hatred of his fellow players and fans. One of my best summers ever was in STL in 1974 when I was 9 and Brock was shattering Maury Wills SB record with the season on the line. There are few things more exhilirating in sports than when 50,000 people and everyone on the field KNOWS what is going to happen, the other team is doing everything they can to stop it, and it happens anyway.