Thursday, December 24, 2020

HAPPY HOLIDAYS

**Some people got an early Christmas present, Tony LaRussa for one. In a plea deal, he got his DUI charges reduced to Reckless Driving.  La Russa was sentenced to one day of home detention and fined nearly $1,400, and he is required to complete 20 hours of community service. Let me get this straight. He goes from DUI to DWI - Driving When Incompetent, and as a punishment, they sent him to his room for a day. I sure hope he's learned his lesson.

 **The Toronto Blue Jays have an interesting problem while trying to sign free agents. No, it's not the money that's creating the problem. Free agents want to know if the Blue Jays will be playing in Toronto. It seems Canadian officials haven't given the Blue Jays permission to play regular season games in Toronto yet. Toronto did play a number of regular season games in Buffalo at the end of last season. I don't think Toronto will go along with that again. especially if MLB decides to allow fans to attend the games.

 **Still no signings of the big money free agents. One of the problems facing both the players and the clubs is how long the season will be. If they only play 100 games for example, clubs will be reluctant to sign big contracts because they could go broke. Players don't want to sign reduced contracts, especially long term. Some of the major big money players are considering signing one year deals and wait till the 2022 season when things may open up a bit. Historically, however, no big signings take place during the holiday season, so nothing will be resolved until January.

**MLB has decided to alter the Negro Leagues status to Major league status and incorporate the statistics into the historical record. The Negro Leagues had some phenomenal players, no doubt, but the record keeping is somewhat spotty. Scheduling was so irregular, it was difficult to determine which games were official and which ones were exhibitions. There were many leagues and players often played for different clubs in different leagues in the same season. There is no way to determine level of quality since statistics and even players names were lost. I don't think this will ever be resolved and that is a shame since players like Josh Gibson and Satchel Paige definitely belong in the same conversation as baseball's best white players. I still maintain that people should make every effort to visit the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum in Kansas City, Missouri. Only then will you understand the heritage of the Negro Leagues and their players. 

**The Yankees have non-tendered two relievers who have been very effective in the past. Jonathan Holder has signed with the Cubs and Tommy Kahnle with the Dodgers. Most analysts believe that with the Yanks starting pitching so iffy, they'll need a strong bullpen. This isn't how you go about it. 

**This is very nice. People say bad things about the Yanks and complain because they have (and spend) so much money. This past season, they lost money, just like all the other clubs. Instead of whining about it, this is what they did:

The Yanks announced their economic support of local businesses.  Gave out 10 $5000 awards to local businesses, to be paired with a Community-Based Org. to provide food and services to the community. They donated 68,000 lbs of food for children in need. Also donated $200,000 worth of food vouchers for families preparing holiday meals. All for the area surrounding the Stadium. The Yanks also donated toys to children directly in the area, since their annual Winter Wonderland extravaganza where free food and toys were distributed to local families had to be cancelled due to the COVID. 

That's impressive.

***THEY SAID IT***

" The Consumer Price Index claims the 12 Days of Christmas today would cost $170,298. That's about $62,000 less than the Angels pay Mike Trout — per game."  -- RJ Currie

"The Washington Football Team QB Dwayne Haskins has apologized for a picture posted to social media, taken of him Sunday night, in a strip club, without a mask. You can take the stupid embarrassing name off the team, but apparently you can’t take the stupid embarrassing behavior off the team."  -- Janice Hough

"Buffalo clobbered Denver 48-19 in Mile High City. The Broncos all-orange Color Rush uniforms got trampled into Orange Crushed."  -- RJ Currie

"After the N.O. Saints 31-3 win over the hometown Denver Broncos, "I really felt bad for the cardboard fans.""  -- Saints Coach Sean Peyton 

"Big Ten officials just announced that Northwestern players must play the second half with one arm tied behind their backs. Anything to help Ohio State."  -- Brad Dickson

"What's it like watching your team lose 43-6 to the Falcons? When you go to the dentist and have to have your teeth pulled out. Pretty much like that." -- Raiders coach Jon Gruden

"After the Yankees signed Gerrit Cole for $324 million, they also announced that beer at the stadium will now cost $734."  -- Blogger Eric Stangel

"Nothing is certain but death, taxes, and the Falcons blowing big leads against Tom Brady."  -- Janice Hough

"Marco Wilson, the Florida DB who picked up an LSU player’s shoe and hurled it downfield to keep the Tigers’ winning drive alive. Who would’ve guessed that blaming a defeat on somebody throwing a shoe would involve a football game and not a horse race?"  -- Dwight Perry

"I want to be watching college basketball on a night when the fan cutouts storm the court."  -- Bob Molinaro

"So, last season Browns DE Myles Garrett, already fined for dirty play, ripped off the helmet of Steelers QB Mason Rudolph then clubbed him with it. This season Garrett is the Browns’ nominee for the Walter Payton Award for superior character, on and off the field. Wonder who finished second."  -- Phil Mushnick

MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL MY FRIENDS

Chad Picasner







 

Friday, December 18, 2020

IN THE HEART OF THE SILLY SEASON

 **Let's start with something really silly, the annual Army-Navy game. Not the two services or the pageantry of the game, but the way this particular game was played. Army won the game 15-0 and it was a hard-fought game. Oh, not on the field, on the sidelines. There were 10 penalties, a lot of pushing and shoving, a sideline brawl and, if the reports are true, more trash talking than a Raiders game. Both teams played to not lose instead of winning. Because the game was played at West Point, Army lived up to it's training as ground forces, running the ball 53 times and passing only once. One pass...for 28 yards. Navy ran the ball 35 times with only 7 passes. Navy was severely handicapped because there was no water on the field, and their battleship wouldn't fit through the gate.  Hey, if you wanted passing, you should go watch an Air Force Academy game.. This was like watching two armies going into battle armed with pop guns. And we used to laugh at Woody Hayes' game plan of "three yards and a cloud of dust."

At least the uniforms were impressive. 

**No big free agent signings yet but plenty of posturing. The Yanks and LeMahieu are playing a game of high stakes brinkmanship. The two sides are supposedly $25 million apart. That sounds like a lot but lets wait until Hal Steinbrenner gets back from lunch with his credit card.

The Mets say they are open to a blockbuster trade but no names have been mentioned. The Dodgers name is listed as a possibility for every big name free agent. Sports writers are proposing trades and signings that make no sense, but then, that's their job. 

**MLB has decided to alter the state of the Negro Leagues and incorporate their statistics into an historical record. This is a big story, but that's for another posting. As  side note, Anne and I spent a few hours visiting the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum (NLBM) in Kansas City, MO. Very impressive and well run with some terrific exhibits. Well worth the time and the $10 admission fee. 

**The NY Giants and the Washington Football Team keep trading spots at the top of the NFC East.  I think they're both embarrassed to be there so they keep switching. This is kind of a reverse musical chairs. A lot of joy currently in my household since most of the family are Bills fans and the Bills look like a major player in the AFC. 

**From Phil Mushnicks column: "Still, the best idea never adopted was when former Reds infielder Chris Sabo ran a new minor league club in Florence, SC. Interviewing Sabo, Dan Patrick suggested they be called the Florence Hendersons."

***THEY SAID IT***

"Cardboard cutouts of six “Sopranos” characters — Tony Soprano, wife Carmella, henchman Paulie Walnuts, daughter Meadow, nephew Christopher and consigliere Silvio — were sitting courtside at Rutgers’ basketball game against Syracuse on Tuesday night.But no, Tim Donaghy wasn’t reffing the game."  -- Dwight Perry

"The death of legendary test pilot  Chuck Yeager — the first to break the sound barrier —  at age  97: “But if ANYONE could be in heaven before the Devil knew he was dead …”  -- Janice Hough

"Fox, with startling, screaming and a repeated bright red graphic: “BREAKING NEWS: Chiefs have clinched the AFC West.” Idiots."  -- Phil Mushnick

"Well at least losing 40-3 against the Seahawks meant no last second heartbreak this week for Jets fans."  -- Janice Hough

"A recent survey found men know far more about cars than sex. I can't claim to know much about either, but none of my cars has failed to start due to a headache."  -- RJ Currie

 "The LSU Tigers — they of the 3-5 record — have self-imposed a one-year bowl ban over improper booster payments to players.The 0-12 New York Jets, not to be outdone, immediately vowed to turn down any and all NFL playoff invitations."  -- Dwight Perry

Chad Picasner

 

 

 

 

Friday, December 11, 2020

AND WE'RE OFF AGAIN

 **Try this in the USA

The Fujian provincial Department of Education have rules for Women's Soccer that would never fly here. One of their rules state, "Athletes are not allowed to dye their hair, grow long hair (for boys), wear weird hairstyles, or wear any accessories." Tattoos are also not allowed. The rules are strictly adhered to. Their hair must be black. And not just black, it has to be the right shade of black. Several women on the Fuzhou and Jimei Universities did not have black enough hair, so they dyed it to meet the requirements. Oh no you don't. At the game, the players were deemed to have violated the rule that prevents them from dying their hair, were declared ineligible and the team had to forfeit because they could not field a full team. I hope NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell doesn't learn this little trick.

**The free-agent signing logjam

None of the premier free agents have been signed yet and the logjam isn't the usual one. In the past, everyone waited for one or two of the top notch players to sign to set the bar on the salary levels. Not this year. The teams don't want to commit to high-number, long-term deals because they don't know if there is going to be a season and if so, how long will it be and will fans be allowed in the stadiums. All reasonable questions. All the teams lost money this year because they couldn't count on the ticket revenue. It's almost impossible to get a read on how much teams get from that since no one wants the fans to know what that number is, and they especially don't want the players to know. I'm guessing about $1.70 million in tickets and another $300,000 in concessions (incl parking). So that's $2 million and that's a pretty healthy chunk of income to lose, so naturally the teams are reticent to commit to large contracts. 

**The "Old-Boy" network is in full swing

First we had the White Sox sign Tony LaRussa, fresh from a DUI charge, now the Phillies have hired Dave Dombrowski as their President of Baseball Operations. Does this seem like a good choice? He has run the Montreal Expos, record of 271-279 in 4 years, nine years as GM of the Florida Marlins, 627-764, 1082-1123 in fourteen years with the Detroit Tigers, and 4 1/2 years with the Boston red Sox, 396-277, finally a winning record. Of course, in those years,  he traded away their best players including arguably the best player in baseball, Mookie Betts. He also decimated their farm system and who knows how long it will take to replenish it. But he won. I wonder if Red Sox fans are happy with the "win-at-all-costs" method. From the King of MLB to the Clown Prince. Good luck Philadelphia.

**Speaking of Philly...

There was a rumor last week as reported by Buster Olney, that the Phillies were shopping their ace, Zack Wheeler. Owner John Middleton dispelled that rumor by phoning Olney and claiming that Wheeler was NOT going to be traded, in fact, he told Buster he wouldn't trade Wheeler for Babe Ruth. If his reason was that Babe has been dead for 72 years, then it's a smart move. So I guess Ty Cobb, Tris Speaker and Lou Gehrig are also off the list. On the other hand, who would you rather have, Babe Ruth or Dave Dombrowski?

**Please stop this

I've been a NY Giants fan for over 60 years, but I get embarrassed every time the NY sports reporters brag about how the Giants are in first place in the NFC East. This would go over a bit better if the Giants at least had a winning record instead of 5-7. They  have to finish the season at 3-1 just to end up at .500. 

**A sad note 

Former Philly Dick Allen has passed away. He had a reputation for not being an easy guy to deal with. Of course, pitchers couldn't deal with him either; he was a real professional hitter. He was the NL Rookie of the Year in 1964 and the AL MVP in 1972. He never made it into the Hall of Fame, but maybe he should have.

**I have a question.

Syracuse Univ. basketball team has five players suspended  and under quarantine because of exposure to COVID, including the coach's son, Buddy Boeheim. Since Buddy lives at home, how come coach Boeheim hasn't also been quarantined? At least the fans are wearing masks.

'Image result for Jim Boeheim masks

STAY SAFE EVERYONE!!

***THEY SAID IT***

"After watching Philadelphia's backup QB Jalen Hurts come in for Carson Wentz against Green Bay, I suggest a new motto for the Eagles. Love Hurts."  -- RJ Currie

"When people said at the beginning of the year that the Ravens would lead the AFC North, who would have imagined it would be in positive COVID-19 tests?"  -- Bob Molinaro

"Eastern Market Brewing Co. has stopped sales and production of “Same Old Lager” after Lions legend Barry Sanders — pictured on the can in team colors without his consent — threatened to sue.Apparently it was a little too Lions: It went flat the minute you opened the can."  -- Dwight Perry

"LSU says they will self-impose an NFL bowl ban this season over improper booster payments. LSU is 3-5."  -- Janice Hough

"After trying hypnotism to correct his funky, hitchy golf swing, " All I got was a good nap. I woke up with the same crappy swing."  -- Charles Barkley

"Wear a mask. It's not like we're asking you to wear a Skatchewan Roughriders hockey jersey."  -- Sign in front of a Winnepeg Church

"Scientists say video evidence has proven fetuses can yawn hundreds of times in the womb. Thousands of times if Mom is a New York Jets fan."  -- RJ Currie 

" Could anything in sports be more 2020 than holding the Maui Invitational in Asheville, North Carolina?"  -- Bob Molinaro

"After watching six consecutive quarters of Kentucky football: “Hoping if I’m ever convicted of a major crime this will count as time served."  -- Ryan Brown, Birmingham WJOX Radio

"Cavaliers guard Kevin Porter Jr. was arrested on a gun charge in Ohio after he crashed his car and investigating officers discovered a loaded firearm inside. Apparently he was on his way to the morning shoot-around."  -- Dwight Perry

Chad Picasner