Friday, April 11, 2014

CAN'T HAVE YANKS VS RED SOX WITHOUT CONTROVERSY

It seems we have a 2nd pine tar incident in the Bronx - almost. Pitcher Michael Pineda had a substance on his pitching hand that resembled pine tar, but no one knows for sure. Red Sox manager, John Farrell said he didn't see it. Yanks manager Joe Girardi said he didn't see it. David Ortiz said it was a "non-issue." The umpire said no one complained, but the cameras picked up something. Pineda said it was dirt. Right. Special, wet, amber-colored dirt. He said it was because his hand gets sweaty and he wanted to keep it dry. I thought that was what rosin was for.
Maybe no one complains because everyone does something. So Pineda has his dirt, Buchholz had his sunscreen, Jon Lester had his green goo, and Gaylord Perry had his Vaseline ball. Two former players talked about it on ESPN BBT last night. Were they outraged? Did they think Pineda should be suspended? Were they critical of the umpires? No. they thought it was okay, just be more subtle about using it. Well, I guess my faith in following the rules has changed slightly.  It's okay to cheat, just hide it better. I hope all you PED users are paying attention.

Speaking of cheating, I find that the acceptance of PED use varies depending on whether or not the perpetrator plays for your team or not. Janice Hough, Leftcoastsportsbabe.com, openly roots for the SF Giants. When Convicted user Ryan Braun recently hit three homers in one game against the Phillies, Janice made a joke about checking Phillie Cheese steaks for steroids. However, the Giants have been hitting extremely well of late, and she credits the addition of Barry Bonds as hitting coach. No mention of his drug use, even though many other sportswriters (and yours truly)  joked about Bonds simply showing hitters how to "juice up."  I guess your sense of humor depends on your particular hero.

WHATEVER HAPPENED TO:
Kevin Youkilis - He's currently playing in Japan.
Jesus Montero - He's playing in the minors for Palm Beach, AAA affiliate of the Mariners.
Curt Schilling - Just completed his first round of chemo treatments for cancer
Bernie Williams - Still playing guitar with his band, the All Stars. He still hasn't officially retired.

Congrats to another UCONN basketball team, the women this time, on winning the Women's NCAA Div. I Championship. They finished the season at 40-0, an NCAA record.

***THEY SAID IT***
"A study has found that 20 percent of NASCAR fans think BluRays are sea animals. The other 80 per cent think they play in the AL East."  -- RJ Currie
"The very first Major League replay challenge was made by the Cubs and lost. With that, the Cubs have been mathematically eliminated from this year’s playoffs."  -- TC Chong
"Tiger Woods will miss most of this year due to recovering from back surgery. His goal of surpassing Jack’s record of 18 majors does not look good. However, he should be able to pass his father’s record of 17 mistresses."  -- TC Chong
"NY Giants QB Eli Manning will have arthroscopic surgery on his left ankle today. But the team hopes he will be recovered and ready to throw interceptions in minicamp."  -- Janice Hough
"Longtime Blue Devils assistant Steve Wojciechowski landed the top basketball job at Marquette: “That leaves Duke with only one coach whose name you can’t spell."  -- Eric Kolenich
"M’s pitcher Hector Noesi threw just two pitches in the 12th inning in Anaheim, gave up a game-winning homer and was designated for assignment less than 16 hours later. For those of you scoring at home, that’s one run, one hit and no Noesi."  -- Dwight Perry
" John Calipari denied rumors that he will coach the LA Lakers. Meaning probably that LA didn’t offer him enough money, and/or he is pretty sure Kentucky isn’t going on probation next season."  -- Janice Hough
"Here's a ready-made suggestion if Lexington wants to name a street after the 2014 Kentucky basketball team: “Second Place.”  -- Tim Hunter
"The Houston market drew a 0.0 Nielsen rating for Monday’s Astros-Angels game. Among the competition in that time slot: the rain-delayed Duck Commander 500 stock-car race, which drew a 1.7."  -- Dwight Perry
"Kentucky is young. One player said making the Final Four was the second-biggest highlight of his year right after getting his learner's permit."  -- Brad Dickson

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