So Chad Ochocinco (nee Johnson) has gone from the Cincinnati Bengals to join the Brady Bunch in Foxborough.
If a guy wants to change his name to his uniform number, more power to him, but why not just change it to Chad Eightyfive? What's Spanish got to do with it? He was born and raised in Miami. Hmmm. On second thought, nevermind.
Consider -- if Chad goes blazing down the field and Tom Brady throws him a 50 yard pass -- would be call it the "spanish fly" pattern?
At that, I wonder about a couple things. What would have happened if he got to New England and the #85 was already taken by another guy, that wouldn't give it up? Say they assigned him #1. Would he change his name to NumeroUno? That might not sit well with...
The man in the hoody, head coach Bill Bellichick, who is known not to tolerate a whole lot of ego crap out of his players. He runs a tight ship. If the new guy starts flapping his gums and pulling the same antics he did in Cincinnati, between Bellichick and the veterans in the Patriots locker room, they'd likely put him out to dry blowing in the wind like freshly laundered sheets..
Which begs the question..... would he then be a -- gasp -- hanging Chad?
That was in Florida too, wasn't it?
Funny how things go proceso completo (full circle) sometimes.
Wednesday, August 10, 2011
Tuesday, August 9, 2011
Setting the record straight with Tiger
I've zapped Tiger Woods a few times but it isn't personal. I dare anybody to review my older posts regarding him and point out where I told a lie. While 99% of the people are busy idolizing him, I have this little problem called being objective, that I can't seem to shake. Tough job -- but somebody's gotta do it.
I find it somewhere between comical and sad that other writers and/or talking heads will refer to someone such as myself as a "Tiger hater". I don't hate the dude. Never met him. If I ever did, I'd look him in the eyes, shake his hand and say, "pleased to meet you", just like I would anybody else. Thing is, I wouldn't bow down and kiss his ass, like so many others are wont to do.
Was he the best golfer for many years? No doubt about it. Is he world famous? Absolutely. Does the fact that he's a black man in a predominantly white man's sport enter in to it? Right or wrong -- of course it does. It's like Danica Patrick. An average driver on what little is left of the Indy car circuit, mediocre at best in the NASCAR Nationwide Series, the minor leagues of stock car racing, and now is creating a media buzz over her possible jump to racing with the big boys. Do you think for one minute that doesn't have anything to do with her being a woman, with a pretty face, no less?
But Tiger's just a man with faults and weaknesses like every other man. Or woman. 100 years from now, if the nitwit politicians haven't blown up the planet by then, people will look at his plaque in the golfing Hall of Fame and say the same things we say about Ty Cobb right now. "Oh yeah. I heard of him. He's was pretty good, way back then". And then they'll move on and forget about it.
So call me a Tiger hater if you want, because I refuse to jump on the bandwagon of the poeple that worship him. Folks like that remind me of something ex-Prez George W. Bush once said. "If ya ain't fer us -- yer agin us". That was quickly followed up by the insinuation that if you disagreed, you were somehow unpatriotic and anti-American. It had something to do with one of the countries he decided to invade. I forget which, but I disagreed at the time. Given only those two choices, I thought, well George, I guess I'm agin ya. You only gave me two choices and I picked one. For that matter, I don't know what patriotism means any more, except waving flags, giving more money to already rich, corrupt politicians, or getting killed or maimed in an undeclared war that was unnecessary in the first place. I'm an American, though. I was born in this country. For some reason, that pesky little thing about being objective keeps getting in the way. The First Amendment's pretty cool. Ain't freedom of speech a hoot? But I digress.
Do I root against Tiger? I suppose, in the same way I root against the LA Lakers, the NY Yankess, Peyton Manning, and all things Lebron in Miami. It's not personal -- I'm just sick of hearing about it over and over and over again.
I like a good juicy porterhouse steak too, but if I had to eat it for breakfast, lunch and diinner every day, it wouldn't be very long before tuna fish or macaroni and cheese started looking pretty good. Enough of a good thing can be too much after a while.
An aside. My friend Deb and her girls tell me the real reason Eldrick fired his caddie Steve Williams is because Steve is messing around with Tiger's ex, Elin.
Two quick thoughts on that.
1) Somebody please say it ain't so.
2) If true, I do not, repeat, DO NOT, want to see the video.
I find it somewhere between comical and sad that other writers and/or talking heads will refer to someone such as myself as a "Tiger hater". I don't hate the dude. Never met him. If I ever did, I'd look him in the eyes, shake his hand and say, "pleased to meet you", just like I would anybody else. Thing is, I wouldn't bow down and kiss his ass, like so many others are wont to do.
Was he the best golfer for many years? No doubt about it. Is he world famous? Absolutely. Does the fact that he's a black man in a predominantly white man's sport enter in to it? Right or wrong -- of course it does. It's like Danica Patrick. An average driver on what little is left of the Indy car circuit, mediocre at best in the NASCAR Nationwide Series, the minor leagues of stock car racing, and now is creating a media buzz over her possible jump to racing with the big boys. Do you think for one minute that doesn't have anything to do with her being a woman, with a pretty face, no less?
But Tiger's just a man with faults and weaknesses like every other man. Or woman. 100 years from now, if the nitwit politicians haven't blown up the planet by then, people will look at his plaque in the golfing Hall of Fame and say the same things we say about Ty Cobb right now. "Oh yeah. I heard of him. He's was pretty good, way back then". And then they'll move on and forget about it.
So call me a Tiger hater if you want, because I refuse to jump on the bandwagon of the poeple that worship him. Folks like that remind me of something ex-Prez George W. Bush once said. "If ya ain't fer us -- yer agin us". That was quickly followed up by the insinuation that if you disagreed, you were somehow unpatriotic and anti-American. It had something to do with one of the countries he decided to invade. I forget which, but I disagreed at the time. Given only those two choices, I thought, well George, I guess I'm agin ya. You only gave me two choices and I picked one. For that matter, I don't know what patriotism means any more, except waving flags, giving more money to already rich, corrupt politicians, or getting killed or maimed in an undeclared war that was unnecessary in the first place. I'm an American, though. I was born in this country. For some reason, that pesky little thing about being objective keeps getting in the way. The First Amendment's pretty cool. Ain't freedom of speech a hoot? But I digress.
Do I root against Tiger? I suppose, in the same way I root against the LA Lakers, the NY Yankess, Peyton Manning, and all things Lebron in Miami. It's not personal -- I'm just sick of hearing about it over and over and over again.
I like a good juicy porterhouse steak too, but if I had to eat it for breakfast, lunch and diinner every day, it wouldn't be very long before tuna fish or macaroni and cheese started looking pretty good. Enough of a good thing can be too much after a while.
An aside. My friend Deb and her girls tell me the real reason Eldrick fired his caddie Steve Williams is because Steve is messing around with Tiger's ex, Elin.
Two quick thoughts on that.
1) Somebody please say it ain't so.
2) If true, I do not, repeat, DO NOT, want to see the video.
Saturday, August 6, 2011
I need a break. Stat!
There's WAY too many worthless statistics in sports these days. Most everyone, from the owner on down to the players, would agree that pro sports is a business. What are other businesses doing in these lean economic times? Streamlining. So why not do the same in sports when it comes to stats?
Let's take baseball as an example. Starting pitchers? Wins and losses, earned run average, and maybe strike outs only. Get rid of all that junk about facing left or right handed batters, home or on the road, day games vs. night games, cold weather or warm weather, etc. etc. Who needs it?
Relievers? That's become a mass of confusion. There's long relievers, middle relievers, and short relievers. Is this a ball game or a clothing store? There's "set-up" men. They gets "holds", another stat that I don't understand. I thought that had to do with wrestling, or offensive linemen. Then there's closers. They only appear when they have a chance for a "save". Few people understand what constitutes a "save" either. And just why is it a closer only seems capable of throwing 20 pitches or so before they're gassed? They probably threw more than that in the bullpen warming up. If shortstops only had enough stamina to last one inning, I'm thinking they wouldn't be around too long, regardless of how good they were Guess I don't get it.
Hitters? Average, home runs, and RBIs only. Maybe throw in stolen bases for the speedy guys. That's all we need. Get rid of slugging percentage and OPS, whatever that means, and all the rest of the useless numbers that nobody understands. These days, the talking heads will inform you that some guy was the 1st left-handed batter in the last 327 days to hit a double off a right-handed pitcher that weighs more than 200 pounds, in a ballpark that's less than 20 years old, and also has a grandmother living in Peoria, with a chihuahua named Spike.
I don't need this.
The same goes for all the other sports. TMI.
Yeah, the information superhighway is here to stay. I get that.
But even supercomputers are finite. Keep loading them up with all this worthless information and one day -- BAM -- that highway will start looking like Michigan's roads.
On that note, this is.........
Sealed with a KISS (Keep It Simple Stupid).
JL
Let's take baseball as an example. Starting pitchers? Wins and losses, earned run average, and maybe strike outs only. Get rid of all that junk about facing left or right handed batters, home or on the road, day games vs. night games, cold weather or warm weather, etc. etc. Who needs it?
Relievers? That's become a mass of confusion. There's long relievers, middle relievers, and short relievers. Is this a ball game or a clothing store? There's "set-up" men. They gets "holds", another stat that I don't understand. I thought that had to do with wrestling, or offensive linemen. Then there's closers. They only appear when they have a chance for a "save". Few people understand what constitutes a "save" either. And just why is it a closer only seems capable of throwing 20 pitches or so before they're gassed? They probably threw more than that in the bullpen warming up. If shortstops only had enough stamina to last one inning, I'm thinking they wouldn't be around too long, regardless of how good they were Guess I don't get it.
Hitters? Average, home runs, and RBIs only. Maybe throw in stolen bases for the speedy guys. That's all we need. Get rid of slugging percentage and OPS, whatever that means, and all the rest of the useless numbers that nobody understands. These days, the talking heads will inform you that some guy was the 1st left-handed batter in the last 327 days to hit a double off a right-handed pitcher that weighs more than 200 pounds, in a ballpark that's less than 20 years old, and also has a grandmother living in Peoria, with a chihuahua named Spike.
I don't need this.
The same goes for all the other sports. TMI.
Yeah, the information superhighway is here to stay. I get that.
But even supercomputers are finite. Keep loading them up with all this worthless information and one day -- BAM -- that highway will start looking like Michigan's roads.
On that note, this is.........
Sealed with a KISS (Keep It Simple Stupid).
JL
Thursday, August 4, 2011
Much A-Rod ado about nothing
Here's a headline I saw on the net.
"The slugger allegedly took part in illegal, underground gambling -- and one high stakes game nearly ended in a brawl".
Conider that statement for a second or two.
First, I don't really care what Mr. Rodriguez does in his spare time. Where he goes, what he eats, the brand of car he drives, who he sleeps with, and any other details, hobbies or activities are none of my business. Or yours.
Illegal, underground gambling. Sounds ominous, doesn't it? It's just more overhyped fluff about nothing.
Why should anybody care if this dude wants to play in poker games? Oh, that's right. The law says it's illegal. Our legislators, in their infinite wisdom and benevolence, decided that allowing such activities to take place might lead to people gambling away everything they have and, hence, to a life of crime out of desperation.
Yet it's legal for someone to get addicted to playing the lottery, lotto, keno, scratch-off tickets, and what ever other games the state can come up with. Evidently, if a person loses everything they have to state-sponsored gambling, they will remain model citizens -- but if they lose it to a bookie or in a poker game amongst friends, they'll turn into John Dillinger. The hypocrisy has been screaming but nobody's listening.
How about bingo halls? Bring on the old ladies with their dawbers -- but it's still gambling. They put a few bucks down and wait for numbers to be drawn. The difference? That hall has paid for a permit, fees, and is being taxed.
If those same folks were playing the same game in one of their houses, they could be hauled off to the hoosegow.
Back to A-Rod. What's this guy making? 20-25 million a year? Whether or not any athlete is worth that sort of money might be a topic for another day, but let's do a little math. At 20 million, and assuming he loses a third of that to his agent and taxes, that comes out to about $35,000 a day. Cash. Take home. Every day. All year. 365.
That's another reason the "high stakes" part of the headline was so silly. Hell, he could probably afford to hire some world class poker players, the so-called "high rollers", as gardeners and pool boys.
Just a hunch, but something tells me that if A-Rod wants to be stimulated by a game of chance, it's not going to involve dawbers, Old Maid, Go Fish, matchsticks, or coins on the table. It's going to be for serious cash, or what's the point? Oops. I forgot again. The state doesn't get it's cut when money changes hands. Off to Gitmo with A-Rod.
And I highly doubt it's underground either, unless he's in one of Dick Cheney's bunkers. Where did that dude go anyway? Hmmm. Maybe he's the dealer. Sounds about right. Nevermind. I don't want to know.
Oh yeah. Almost forgot about the brawl thing. That's another non-starter. Major league baseball players have a lot of skills-- but when it comes to fighting and brawling -- they're just pitiful. I'll go all in saying those ladies in the bingo hall could take them.
"The slugger allegedly took part in illegal, underground gambling -- and one high stakes game nearly ended in a brawl".
Conider that statement for a second or two.
First, I don't really care what Mr. Rodriguez does in his spare time. Where he goes, what he eats, the brand of car he drives, who he sleeps with, and any other details, hobbies or activities are none of my business. Or yours.
Illegal, underground gambling. Sounds ominous, doesn't it? It's just more overhyped fluff about nothing.
Why should anybody care if this dude wants to play in poker games? Oh, that's right. The law says it's illegal. Our legislators, in their infinite wisdom and benevolence, decided that allowing such activities to take place might lead to people gambling away everything they have and, hence, to a life of crime out of desperation.
Yet it's legal for someone to get addicted to playing the lottery, lotto, keno, scratch-off tickets, and what ever other games the state can come up with. Evidently, if a person loses everything they have to state-sponsored gambling, they will remain model citizens -- but if they lose it to a bookie or in a poker game amongst friends, they'll turn into John Dillinger. The hypocrisy has been screaming but nobody's listening.
How about bingo halls? Bring on the old ladies with their dawbers -- but it's still gambling. They put a few bucks down and wait for numbers to be drawn. The difference? That hall has paid for a permit, fees, and is being taxed.
If those same folks were playing the same game in one of their houses, they could be hauled off to the hoosegow.
Back to A-Rod. What's this guy making? 20-25 million a year? Whether or not any athlete is worth that sort of money might be a topic for another day, but let's do a little math. At 20 million, and assuming he loses a third of that to his agent and taxes, that comes out to about $35,000 a day. Cash. Take home. Every day. All year. 365.
That's another reason the "high stakes" part of the headline was so silly. Hell, he could probably afford to hire some world class poker players, the so-called "high rollers", as gardeners and pool boys.
Just a hunch, but something tells me that if A-Rod wants to be stimulated by a game of chance, it's not going to involve dawbers, Old Maid, Go Fish, matchsticks, or coins on the table. It's going to be for serious cash, or what's the point? Oops. I forgot again. The state doesn't get it's cut when money changes hands. Off to Gitmo with A-Rod.
And I highly doubt it's underground either, unless he's in one of Dick Cheney's bunkers. Where did that dude go anyway? Hmmm. Maybe he's the dealer. Sounds about right. Nevermind. I don't want to know.
Oh yeah. Almost forgot about the brawl thing. That's another non-starter. Major league baseball players have a lot of skills-- but when it comes to fighting and brawling -- they're just pitiful. I'll go all in saying those ladies in the bingo hall could take them.
Wednesday, August 3, 2011
Tiger Woods is back
For the last couple years, golf fans have seen a lot of new faces emerge on the PGA tour. Whether it's young guns from the US, Europeans, Asians, South Africans, Australians, or anybody else -- it's been kinda cool. Who amongst you didn't like the story of Rory McIlroy, the young Irish kid, winning the US Open?
All that just came to a screeching halt. Yep, the elephant, one Eldrick Tont Woods, has lumbered back into the room.
All his personal problems aside, this guy hasn't done diddly squat as a golfer for about 2 years, yet just announcing he's going to play in a tournament brings the media out in hordes. What is it with this guy? Better yet, what is it with the media? He hasn't even teed off on the first hole yet and there's been a press conference, and wall-to-wall coverage by the talking heads.
If he happens to win the tournament, which I doubt, they'll probably rewrite the Bible to include another verse about the Second Coming. If he merely finishes, it will be called a minor miracle, and we'll hear all about his leg injuries, over and over and over and over again. If he bombs out? Get ready for an endless media buzz loop about how much he must have been suffering, came back too fast, and is heroic for even trying.
In the meantime, while he's on the course, we won't get to see as many of the other talented players anymore. It will once again turn into the Tiger Woods show. See Tiger drive. See Tiger walk. See Tiger take a divot. See Tiger eat a banana. See Tiger putt. See Tiger 10 shots behind on the leaderboard. See Tiger in another press conference while the tournament is still going on. Etc, ad nauseum.
How much is enough of this guy, anyway?
Kind of ironic he's making his highly trumpeted and ballyhooed return at a tournament called Bridgestone.
Aren't those the Japanese tires that were blowing up on cars a few years ago? Remember that? They smoothed that over, but like the tires, Eldrick coming back to the tour blows up the coverage of so many other talented people. You won't see much of them anymore and that's a shame, because these guys are really good. They're friendly too, and don't think they're some sort of royalty. Imagine that.
Just when I was starting to get back into watching golf, Tiger's going to hog the spotlight again and mess it up.
He has enough money and I wish he'd consider an alternative.
Like maybe playing on the Swedish circuit.
Now THAT would be interesting.
All that just came to a screeching halt. Yep, the elephant, one Eldrick Tont Woods, has lumbered back into the room.
All his personal problems aside, this guy hasn't done diddly squat as a golfer for about 2 years, yet just announcing he's going to play in a tournament brings the media out in hordes. What is it with this guy? Better yet, what is it with the media? He hasn't even teed off on the first hole yet and there's been a press conference, and wall-to-wall coverage by the talking heads.
If he happens to win the tournament, which I doubt, they'll probably rewrite the Bible to include another verse about the Second Coming. If he merely finishes, it will be called a minor miracle, and we'll hear all about his leg injuries, over and over and over and over again. If he bombs out? Get ready for an endless media buzz loop about how much he must have been suffering, came back too fast, and is heroic for even trying.
In the meantime, while he's on the course, we won't get to see as many of the other talented players anymore. It will once again turn into the Tiger Woods show. See Tiger drive. See Tiger walk. See Tiger take a divot. See Tiger eat a banana. See Tiger putt. See Tiger 10 shots behind on the leaderboard. See Tiger in another press conference while the tournament is still going on. Etc, ad nauseum.
How much is enough of this guy, anyway?
Kind of ironic he's making his highly trumpeted and ballyhooed return at a tournament called Bridgestone.
Aren't those the Japanese tires that were blowing up on cars a few years ago? Remember that? They smoothed that over, but like the tires, Eldrick coming back to the tour blows up the coverage of so many other talented people. You won't see much of them anymore and that's a shame, because these guys are really good. They're friendly too, and don't think they're some sort of royalty. Imagine that.
Just when I was starting to get back into watching golf, Tiger's going to hog the spotlight again and mess it up.
He has enough money and I wish he'd consider an alternative.
Like maybe playing on the Swedish circuit.
Now THAT would be interesting.
Monday, August 1, 2011
Jered Weaver got it right. Ordonez and Guillen were chumps
There's certain unwritten rules in sports.
You don't step on a person's putting "line" on a golf green.
You don't check the goalie when he's out of the crease.
You don't tackle a guy by his hair.
And in this case, you don't hot dog when you were lucky enough to hit a home run off an ace pitcher. Most professional ball players understand you put your head down, run around the bases, and go back into the dugout to be congratulated by your teammates.
But not Magglio Ordonez of the Detroit Tigers. This is a guy that, of late, has made a mountain of money, while accomplishing a mole hill of production as a major league baseball player. Clearly towards the end of his career, which was nothing spectacular even at it's highest points, he lucked up and hit a home run against Jered Weaver of the LA Angels. For some reason, Maggie struck a Ruthian pose and watched his "shot".
Weaver yelled at him to just run the damn bases -- as well he should have.
For another unexplainable reason, this didn't sit well with Carlos Guillen, Ordonez's fellow Venezuelan teammate and countryman. Over an hour, and a full 4 innings later, Guillen lucked up and hit a home run too. Carly's nothing special either. He's a guy that's lasted a long time in the major leagues, and been basically a journeyman player. The last couple years, he's been about as serviceable as Lions' QB Matthew Stafford. In other words, he's making a whole lot of money, while being hurt more than he's healthy. He got WAY out of line pointing fingers and mocking Weaver. Very unprofessional and definitely not cool.
After generating an incident like that, it likely never crossed Guillen's hot-headed little mind what was going to happen to the next hitter, which happened to be catcher Alex Avila, who was innocent, but in the wrong place at the wrong time. I'll guarantee you Tigers' manager Jim Leyland knew what was likely to happen. Avila was going to get a 95 MPH fastball in his ribs, because of what the Terrell Owens wannabe did before him. That's another one of those unwritten rules.
But Weaver didn't do that. Though Tiger fans would likely disagree, Weaver is every bit as good a pitcher as Justin Verlander. As such, he has pinpoint control of where he throws the ball, and a message needed to be sent. He could have hit Avila on his leg, his butt, his ribs, or even stuck it in his ear if he wanted to. Instead, he threw it a foot over his head, for which he was promptly ejected. The umpire was wrong.
Weaver was exactly right in what he did. He was respecting the long honored baseball code by sending a "message", but not hurting anybody.
Look at it this way, Tiger fans. Had a couple of Angels hit home runs off Justin Verlander, then mocked him, what do you think JV would have done with the next batter? Probably drilled him. For that matter, Avila likely would have been shaking in his cleats had it been the likes of Roger Clemens, Nolan Ryan, or Randy Johnson on the mound. Pro sports are getting wimpier every year, but I digress.
Kudos to Weaver for being a pro about it. Maybe Maggie and Carly will learn something from that -- but I doubt it.
You don't step on a person's putting "line" on a golf green.
You don't check the goalie when he's out of the crease.
You don't tackle a guy by his hair.
And in this case, you don't hot dog when you were lucky enough to hit a home run off an ace pitcher. Most professional ball players understand you put your head down, run around the bases, and go back into the dugout to be congratulated by your teammates.
But not Magglio Ordonez of the Detroit Tigers. This is a guy that, of late, has made a mountain of money, while accomplishing a mole hill of production as a major league baseball player. Clearly towards the end of his career, which was nothing spectacular even at it's highest points, he lucked up and hit a home run against Jered Weaver of the LA Angels. For some reason, Maggie struck a Ruthian pose and watched his "shot".
Weaver yelled at him to just run the damn bases -- as well he should have.
For another unexplainable reason, this didn't sit well with Carlos Guillen, Ordonez's fellow Venezuelan teammate and countryman. Over an hour, and a full 4 innings later, Guillen lucked up and hit a home run too. Carly's nothing special either. He's a guy that's lasted a long time in the major leagues, and been basically a journeyman player. The last couple years, he's been about as serviceable as Lions' QB Matthew Stafford. In other words, he's making a whole lot of money, while being hurt more than he's healthy. He got WAY out of line pointing fingers and mocking Weaver. Very unprofessional and definitely not cool.
After generating an incident like that, it likely never crossed Guillen's hot-headed little mind what was going to happen to the next hitter, which happened to be catcher Alex Avila, who was innocent, but in the wrong place at the wrong time. I'll guarantee you Tigers' manager Jim Leyland knew what was likely to happen. Avila was going to get a 95 MPH fastball in his ribs, because of what the Terrell Owens wannabe did before him. That's another one of those unwritten rules.
But Weaver didn't do that. Though Tiger fans would likely disagree, Weaver is every bit as good a pitcher as Justin Verlander. As such, he has pinpoint control of where he throws the ball, and a message needed to be sent. He could have hit Avila on his leg, his butt, his ribs, or even stuck it in his ear if he wanted to. Instead, he threw it a foot over his head, for which he was promptly ejected. The umpire was wrong.
Weaver was exactly right in what he did. He was respecting the long honored baseball code by sending a "message", but not hurting anybody.
Look at it this way, Tiger fans. Had a couple of Angels hit home runs off Justin Verlander, then mocked him, what do you think JV would have done with the next batter? Probably drilled him. For that matter, Avila likely would have been shaking in his cleats had it been the likes of Roger Clemens, Nolan Ryan, or Randy Johnson on the mound. Pro sports are getting wimpier every year, but I digress.
Kudos to Weaver for being a pro about it. Maybe Maggie and Carly will learn something from that -- but I doubt it.
Fans on the field? Bring on the show
Watched any baseball games on TV lately, and seen a fan run on the field? I doubt it.
That's because somewhere along the line, the TV folks, in their infinite wisdom, decided showing such things would encourage more fans to do the same. Evidently, they reason some folks will do just about anything to get on TV, and if they don't beam it to the masses sitting home in front of their boob tubes, people will eventually realize the futility of it, stay in their seats at the stadium like good little robots, and truth, justice, and the American way will prevail once again.
They're wrong. It's stilll going to happen here and there.
A scenario: Joe Fan has been struggling trying to make ends meet in a lousy economy. He finally saved up enough bucks to go to a game with his significant other. After parking, tickets, programs, pretzels, hot dogs, ice cream, and a couple beers, he's pretty well tapped out. Thoughts of ramen noodles and turning off the AC at home for the next month are dancing through his head.
He's been slowly gettting cooked by the sun in 95 degree weather, his team is hopelessly out of contention for any playoffs, and they're getting pummeled once again at home. His date is telling him what a klutz he is for this stupid idea in the first place, and now, ramen noodles be damned, he wants one more beer. After trudging all the way back to the concession stand, he discovers they cut off beer sales at the end of the last inning. Back to his seats he goes, where his beloved informs him that any idiot knows you can't buy beer after the 8th inning.
At that point in time, a capillary pops in his brain, and he charges onto the field. Being on TV is the last thing on whatever's left of this poor guy's mind. Then again, maybe he's thinking that whatever interrogation room he winds up in will be air-conditioned. Anything to get out of the heat, and it DID get him away from that unappreciative shrew. Let her cook for another couple hours and find her own way home. Who knows what lurks in such hearts and minds?
The point is, while all this is going on, what do we see at home? The cameras will zero in on the players, who often seem amused at whatever this guy is doing, while a pack of typically overweight security guards chase him around. (The Mike Curtis attitude -- the linebacker that absolutely blasted a fan that dared run onto the field -- is a relic of the past. These days people want entertainment wherever they can find and afford it). The TV folks will pan the crowd, and we can watch them pointing, smiling, and laughing at the unexpected show. They're loving it.
But we don't get to see it on the tube. That's just wrong.
These guys pose no threat to anybody.
It holds up the game? Puh-leeze. When you get the pitchers to stop shaking off 4 signs when they only know how to throw 2 pitches, and the batters to stop stepping out of the batter's box after every pitch, to unfasten and refasten velcro, scratch, stretch, take a couple practice swings, say a little prayer, and re-check the signs from the 3rd base coach -- then maybe that argument will hold water.They go through more worthless details than a Tom Clancy book. What's next? Tweets?
If a fan wants to run on the field and have a little fun, then why not? A lot of times it's a lot more entertaining than the game itself.
And people at home that sat through an entire boring ball game should be able to see it -- dammit.
Maybe I'll run on the field someday.. It's not about getting on TV. I couldn't care less about that. Tolerating a woman giving me a hard time? Take a number. Even ramen noodles and/or mac and cheese aren't so bad when times are tough. You get used to it. There's just one thing holding me back.
I WOULD like to keep the AC on for another month or so.
That's because somewhere along the line, the TV folks, in their infinite wisdom, decided showing such things would encourage more fans to do the same. Evidently, they reason some folks will do just about anything to get on TV, and if they don't beam it to the masses sitting home in front of their boob tubes, people will eventually realize the futility of it, stay in their seats at the stadium like good little robots, and truth, justice, and the American way will prevail once again.
They're wrong. It's stilll going to happen here and there.
A scenario: Joe Fan has been struggling trying to make ends meet in a lousy economy. He finally saved up enough bucks to go to a game with his significant other. After parking, tickets, programs, pretzels, hot dogs, ice cream, and a couple beers, he's pretty well tapped out. Thoughts of ramen noodles and turning off the AC at home for the next month are dancing through his head.
He's been slowly gettting cooked by the sun in 95 degree weather, his team is hopelessly out of contention for any playoffs, and they're getting pummeled once again at home. His date is telling him what a klutz he is for this stupid idea in the first place, and now, ramen noodles be damned, he wants one more beer. After trudging all the way back to the concession stand, he discovers they cut off beer sales at the end of the last inning. Back to his seats he goes, where his beloved informs him that any idiot knows you can't buy beer after the 8th inning.
At that point in time, a capillary pops in his brain, and he charges onto the field. Being on TV is the last thing on whatever's left of this poor guy's mind. Then again, maybe he's thinking that whatever interrogation room he winds up in will be air-conditioned. Anything to get out of the heat, and it DID get him away from that unappreciative shrew. Let her cook for another couple hours and find her own way home. Who knows what lurks in such hearts and minds?
The point is, while all this is going on, what do we see at home? The cameras will zero in on the players, who often seem amused at whatever this guy is doing, while a pack of typically overweight security guards chase him around. (The Mike Curtis attitude -- the linebacker that absolutely blasted a fan that dared run onto the field -- is a relic of the past. These days people want entertainment wherever they can find and afford it). The TV folks will pan the crowd, and we can watch them pointing, smiling, and laughing at the unexpected show. They're loving it.
But we don't get to see it on the tube. That's just wrong.
These guys pose no threat to anybody.
It holds up the game? Puh-leeze. When you get the pitchers to stop shaking off 4 signs when they only know how to throw 2 pitches, and the batters to stop stepping out of the batter's box after every pitch, to unfasten and refasten velcro, scratch, stretch, take a couple practice swings, say a little prayer, and re-check the signs from the 3rd base coach -- then maybe that argument will hold water.They go through more worthless details than a Tom Clancy book. What's next? Tweets?
If a fan wants to run on the field and have a little fun, then why not? A lot of times it's a lot more entertaining than the game itself.
And people at home that sat through an entire boring ball game should be able to see it -- dammit.
Maybe I'll run on the field someday.. It's not about getting on TV. I couldn't care less about that. Tolerating a woman giving me a hard time? Take a number. Even ramen noodles and/or mac and cheese aren't so bad when times are tough. You get used to it. There's just one thing holding me back.
I WOULD like to keep the AC on for another month or so.
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