Tuesday, May 31, 2005

Suns Stay Alive, and Other Stuff

If you are returning from vacation today, make sure you check out some of the baseball research from Saturday's blog entry. Otherwise, enjoy todays links and email:

Bickley claims that the Suns show championship backbone ….You would think it is too late…

Duncan strug-gels at the line


Riding a run of 25 consecutive makes at the free-throw line, Duncan missed three of his first four attempts in Game 4 and cratered from there. He wound up missing nine of 12 attempts from the line, including an air ball, and looked as tentative as you can look when you're still going for 15 points and 16 boards. The Suns double-teamed Duncan harder than they have until now, with Johnson doing most of the doubling instead of the smaller Nash, and Duncan struggled to answer.


Cogen puzzled that fans aren’t all sheep


While the club is ahead of last year's attendance pace, president Jeff Cogen still hasn't yet seen the full-scale "bandwagon" effect business-side folks hope follow a successful season and a strong start to the ensuing year.

"Why, I don't know," Cogen said this weekend. "I'm a little puzzled. I am probably my worst critic, but I think we could be doing better."


Well, let’s see, Jeff. Perhaps the fans are annoyed that the payroll was cut again, you guys offered almost no help to your team that finished so close last year, your owner claimed that he would only spend more if the fans earned it by showing up in droves, your owner pocketed all of the money from the stadium naming rights, and I am sure I am forgetting something. You’re right; the fans need to get with the program. Phooey.

Rangers Defense quietly solid

Peter King MMQB picks Minnesota to the Super Bowl …Guess what, so does Bob’s Blog…

More on Little E’s trials and tribulations

Sports Guy looks at the Longest Yard ….

Beckham claims he might play in the MLS before retirement …I call BS…

Nike threatens Manchester United


Nike have warned Manchester United they could pull the plug on their sponsorship deal after the club's poor showing this season. The sportswear manufacturers began a 13-year kit deal with the club in August 2002 worth up to £303m but it is reported a get-out clause will allow the company to decide next year whether to continue that agreement past the 2007-08 season. "Chelsea won the league this year, Arsenal won the FA Cup and Liverpool won the Champions League, so you could argue that Manchester United is only the fourth-best club in England," said Nike's vice-president of sports marketing Ian Todd.


Rules of the Man Hug

U.S. Military Deaths from All Wars

And now, let’s clean out some email, shall we?

Hello Bob. I have been a listener for a long time, but have never called or emailed. Due to my work schedule I can’t listen to your whole 3 hours, but I listen as much as I can, so you may have mentioned this on air.

You have mentioned several times that we need to wait the 5 years to see if letting Nash go before we can judge if it was bad. I couldn’t agree more. A good example of this would be Derian Hatcher. Same situation. A fan favorite, up in years. 2 years into a 5 year contract Derian has played 15 regular season games and 12 play-off games. And in those 27 games he has not looked good. If people wait they will realize letting both of these players go was better in the long run. In Hatchers case it is already being proven, but it will take a little longer to see it with Nash.

Thanks for your time,
Aaron Winkler


A very fair point, however, we can hardly hold the labor war against the Hatcher signing. If anything, you could even make the point that Dallas and Detroit had the insurance policy of the lockout to ease concern of signing him. Detroit took the risk, Dallas did not. Hmmm, more Hicks money saving, eh?


As a early 40 something white guy I was a huge fan of "Land of the Lost" in my formative years. (Holly was hot - Will was gay). Did you guys know that Bill Lambeer was a "Sleestak" in season 1? True greatness.

Wikipedia .


Raised in the Chicago suburb of Clarendon Hills, Illinois, Laimbeer attended the University of Notre Dame, and in 1974 he played one of the Sleestak during the first season of the television series Land of the Lost.


No way!

This is from Jim Greene, who does stats for Ralph and Razor, but now took a sports trip to Chicago for the weekend. He files this report:

Bob,

After going on an awesome sports trip to Chicago (Cubs on Friday, US/England on Saturday), I developed a few HSO's during the trip:

1. After the Cowboys are awarded the Super Bowl when the new stadium is completed, Arlington will host the event one time and then never again......

The reason: Mass Transit

Consider This, By the time the New Cowboys Stadium is completed, Arlington will have two major sports stadium, a major theme park, and no mass transit system.

Chicago has Wrigley, US Cellular, Soldier Field, United Center, and the AllState Arena....... and both the CTA rail system and train system....

I understand the concept of mass transit seems foreign to the masses in the Metroplex, but I experienced this going from O'Hare, Going to the Cubs Game, and leaving Soldier Field to come back to O'Hare.....

If Arlington doesn't establish a public transportation system before hosting the Super Bowl, the media and the fans will complain about this.....

And those complaints should force anyone thinking about giving about giving Arlington another big game some second thoughts and reconsider their host cities for hosting huge events........

Also, until the Metroplex figures out that you need reliable and effective mass transit, the major events that are up for bids will not come home unless some serious bribes are given out.....

2. I saw Mark Prior take one on the elbow. It was a gruesome scene that quieted the crowd and left everyone shocked at what just happened.....The injury overshadowed a webjem from Aramis Ramirez which ESPN picked up on.

It also made me consider this:

Why don't pitchers take more hits on the mound? It would make sense to me that if you hit the ball flush on the bat, it should go back to the pitcher and the point where the ball was thrown. When these hits come back to the pitcher, they become targets and have little time and chance
to avoid the ball......

Considering what happened to Prior, I'd say the Cubs are in serious trouble...... I wouldn't expect him back to command their pitching staff until Spring Training.....

3. Wrigley Field needs to be become a national monument......

Once the Cubs leave Wrigley, I would like the State of Illinois and the US Park Service to claim ownership of the friendly confines....

This would accomplish a couple things:

1. It would preserve the "Friendly Confines" for future generations so that they could see the game's heritage and traditions....
2. It would give Baseball Fans another Field of Dreams that would continue to bring fans to the old ballpark well after the last out was recorded....
3. You could have exhibition games, high school, and college games at any time, which would give people more reasons to come out....

I would hate to see Wrigley destroyed..... If Wrigley turns into a parking lot, a part of our nation's history, traditions, and culture will fade into memory......

And that would be a sad day for every baseball fan around the world......

That's it for now,
Jim Greene

And finally, this from Tony, who needs some help:


hello ticket brothers. just wanted to see if you guys could help spread the word around of my friends charity golf tournament. it is for a friend of hers who recently had a brain tumor removed, but they didn't get all of the cancer out and it doesn't look good. his wife is pregnant, so neither can work, and they need all the help they can get. w/insurance, their first bill was over $100,000. i attatched her email which has a link to the website giving the details. if you guys could donate or just spread the word, we would be ever so grateful. thanks for your time and help.

SINCERELY,
P1 TONY

Hi everyone,

I am emailing you to ask for your help. This is something that is very important to me and I want to try and help them as much as I can.

The tournament is for a friend of mine, Jay Hilliard that I grew up with. He is 25 just got married last year, to Jacqueline and they have a baby on the way in early June. Life was looking good for them, until April 9 he suffered a grand mal seizure.

After a 10 hour emergency surgery, doctors told Jay they had removed a Grade II malignant oligodendroglioma tumor, from his right frontal lobe. Jay now faces a difficult and lengthy recovery period, including radiation and chemotherapy treatments.

He has been to several specialists and the outlook is not looking good. They did not get all of the cancer.

Unfortunately as we all know insurance that many companies offer is not great. Jay got his first hospital bill $111,999.87!! That is on a 90 / 10 split! That does not include doctors or anything!

This young couple is facing many hard times ahead. Neither are working right now. Jay is recovering from surgery, going to many specialists and Jacqueline is about to have a baby girl, that they are going to name Jailynn.

If am hoping you or someone you know might be interested in playing in this tournament, donating money, sponsoring a hole, or your company may be interested in donating etc. If you can not do any of the above, I ask for your prayers for them.

Below is the web site. I am on the planning committee for the tournament and have already gotten my dad and several of his clients to contribute money. But we need all the help we can get. Please check out the web site and pass the information on.

jayandjacqueline.com

Thank you for your help,
Erica


Best of luck, Erica…

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

I predict that Tarrant county steps up and figures out some mass transit between sundance square and the stadiums in Arlington.

Again, it will be another "can't do" for Dallas.

Anonymous said...

To Fat Brad,
Good post man. I think the "super team" theory is very valid.
Of the 12 Nascar races so far, 10 have been won by Roush and Hendrick Racing Teams. The day of the individual teams is gone.

I think there is much pressure on DEI, RCR, and JGR to get MORE teams going to compete. Unfortunately, as far as DEI goes, I agree, there is too much controversy with what they have now, without expansion to do that.
I don't think Tony Stewart is going anywhere because of Home Depot.

I think there should be a limit on the # of teams an owner can field.

Lew

meredith said...

If Arlington doesn't establish a public transportation system before hosting the Super Bowl, the media and the fans will complain about this.....

This isn't breaking news. I used to live at Fielder and Randol Mill, not far from the Ballpark. Getting home on I-30 in rush hour traffic when a few thousand people were on their way to a Rangers game was a beating - a SuperBowl will destroy the city. If you thought the media bitched about Jacksonville, just wait until the Bowl comes to Arlington.

Luckily, Arlington is a well-run city that actually accomplishes things, unlike Dallas. Sadly, there's only so much they can do to improve the flow of traffic, especially without the help of Dallas.

Anonymous said...

So what makes Jeff Cogen qualified to be prez of the Rangers? I'm guessing an affinity for bean counting, rather then any baseball-related talents.....

Anonymous said...

As has been discussed, Danica Patrick is not a "hot". A "Hot" by definition have to have something in the chest area and even when she is wearing "push-up" clothing, Big Mac has a bigger chest than she does!!!

As far as her wreck, it was very interesting that she was not roundly criticzed. Excellent point Fat Brad.

Anonymous said...

Patrick,
You need to take it easy, if you wanted a more accurate site, create your own blog and post the most accurate sites. I dont think Bob really wants or needs the "Posting Police". Just sit back and enjoy the fact Bob used the word "Phooey". By the way, Meredith is a hot...

Andy Douthitt said...

Bob.. the Ranger question is such a fascinating topic that there should be a book written about the Rangers since the departure of the "ranger big 3".... my point is this

Will we ever be the Cubs of the south (when no matter what the record, people just blanket the ballpark most every game) absolutely not because of the obvious fact that the Cowboys and the Mavs (and even the Stars) come before our baseball team here in town. But this used to be a team that the metroplex loved for maybe the only reason that this is all they knew.. we have never been used to a "winner" in Arlington, but we did have a nucleus that was brought up by the club... the Ranger big 3 included Juan Gonzalez, Ivan Rodriguez, and Rafael Palmeiro.. Even though when they were with the club we never reached the pinnacle, people respected these 3 because when you thought of Ranger baseball through the years, you thought of them...
Then mgmt. showed them all the door within a 5 year period and we are still getting over it.

A-Rod soured on the public through his lack of leadership outside the diamond.. As Greggo has said thousands of times, he refused to be the face of the franchise and that was downright horrible.. So now we are left with a bunch of great dudes that play hard every night, but the face of the franchise was a 3 horse squad that are no longer here and until we make a memorable deep run into the postseason, and ultimately a world series title, people will never accept the new Texas Rangers.. period.

meredith said...

I understand you point, but if this area wants to host major events.......

This area needs to improve the infrastructure in a hurry.

Sure, you could build all the new stadiums that you want....

But, if you can easily transport the teams, fans, stadium employees, and the media to the event, What's The Point?


I never disagreed with that, did I? Transportation sucks in DFW - I'll be the first to say that. it is just one of many things wrong with the metroplex...

/east coast loving rant.