Let's look at the ball park the SF Giants call home - I'm not sure how to refer to it. In 1996, the Giants sold the naming rights to Pacific Telephone & Telegraph for $50 Million. That lasted until 2004, when it became SBC Park. Then it changed to AT & T Park in 2005. In 2019, it will be known as Oracle Park. There you are; in 22 years it has had 4 names and none of it really matters because that's not what the locals will call it. Even now, some still refer to it as PAC Bell, the Phone Booth or Telephone Park. Confusing? One suggestion that makes sense is to simply call it Some Big Corporation Park. Save a lot of time and you'd never have to change the signs.
The Silly Season drags on. It seems like no free agents are being signed but that's not really true, Some are just no long term or bank-breaking deals happening. Of course, every one's waiting to what happens to the Big Three - Harper, Machado and Keuchel. You could even throw in Kimbrel if you want. Harper & Machado are looking for 10 years. Kimbrel, I heard wants 8 years and Keuchel is holding out for 5 years. It doesn't seem to be the money that's holding things up, it's the mileage. These contracts would all come with a ball and chain. Where's the next One Dumb Owner going to come from? The candidates are the White Sox, the Phillies and, of course, the Yankees. Actually, the Yanks seem to be the only one trying to be responsible. I never thought I'd be writing that sentence.
We should hear something in the next couple of weeks. Spring training starts in about 5 weeks and teams will need time to make hats big enough to fit these guys head.
I call it the Silly Season because you never know what could happen. About a month ago, one baseball analyst predicted where 30 prominent free agent would most likely sign. So far, he's gotten 4 right and 15 wrong. Take heart, he's still got a chance to blow 11 more signings.
Annie-O and I watch Syracuse University basketball all the time and we always wonder which Syracuse team will show up: The team that can throw them up from Salina street downtown and bury them or the one that has trouble making dunks, because we've seen both this year. Notre Dame and Clemson both saw the shooting team in the last 10 days but the Orange will face three ranked opponents in the next couple of weeks. They said last night that the Duke game in Syracuse is already sold out and to expect in excess of 34,000 fans that night. That's big-time college athletic$, people.
I came across this little tidbit in Phil Mushnick's column in the NY Post.The Fiesta Bowl on Jan. 1st was played between LSU and Central Florida. The LSU team had two players on the roster who were allegedly in involved in a robbery gone bad that included the death of an 18 year-old, yet neither player was suspended. The football game was just as bad. It saw three ejections, a pile of dirty-play penalties and an unnecessary-roughness call that allowed UCF a last-drive shot to tie the game. ESPN's announcer Brian Griese stated, "Both teams can walk out of here with their heads held high." REALLY? Even professional wrestlers would have been embarrassed by that performance.
***THEY SAID IT***
"Clemson DT Dexter Lawrence, who was suspended indefinitely over PEDs and missed Tigers’ postseason games, has announced he will leave early for 2019 NFL draft. Makes sense, because in NFL a positive drug test only costs you 4 games." -- Janice Hough
"A sure sign my wife has overheard too many injury reports. Yesterday she upgraded my future status as her husband from doubtful to questionable." -- RJ Currie
"A Brazilian soccer player was lying prone on the field already injured when the injury cart ran over his foot which prompts this response - You had one job!" -- Brad Dickson
"European captain Thomas Bjorn got a butt tattoo to commemorate his team’s Ryder Cup victory.
Fittingly, he had a little trouble getting up and down for a few days." -- Dwight Perry
"NY Post reader Bruce Christoffersen thinks just-acquired Troy Tulowitzki will easily pass the Yanks’ physical. I mean, it’s not as if you have to run to first base." -- From Phil Mushnick's column
"According to the website Medical Daily, U.S. scientists consider marijuana beer potentially life-threatening. Snowboarders consider it a time-saver." -- RJ Currie
"The Blue Jays owe $38 million to recently released shortstop Troy Tulowitski. Only Judge Judy gets paid more to sit on the bench." -- Argus Hamilton
"Eight NFL head coaches fired, six white men – so far hired. How’s that “Rooney Rule” working out?" -- Janice Hough
"The Cotton Bowl resulted in Clemson defeating Notre Dame 30-3. So will The Irish change the name of their mural of “Touchdown Jesus” to “Field Goal Jesus”? -- Tony Chong
"All the people in the world who feel sorry for Nick Saban after the college football championship game will be meeting in the back booth of a Denny's." -- Brad Dickson
"I’m not saying Houston Rockets star James Harden travels a lot. He just plays basketball like it’s a good walk spoiled." -- RJ Currie
"A 14-pound, 13-ounce boy named Ali became the heaviest baby ever born at Texas Health Arlington Memorial Hospital. Not sure if he has a baby carriage yet, but he does have a full ride to Texas A&M." -- Dwight Perry
CP-
