The College Football Pre-Season Hype Begins

Let’s Kick College Football Off!

College Football season begins this weekend for me. Sunday the ACC Football Kickoff begins and the College Football pre-season hype goes full speed. I am heading over to Reynolds Plantation in Georgia, which is hosting the ACC media event to get my share of coach speak and over used clichés. I’m sure they all going to play as a team and take it one game at a time, blah, blah, blah. Same ole’ well, you know what I mean.

This is an interesting year for the ACC because 5 years after expanding the league really hasn’t made an impression on the national scene. The ACC finds itself 5th or 6th when the BCS leagues are ranked. I don’t think I have all the answers but here are a few issues the ACC has.

Weak Group of Field Generals

One is that the ACC doesn’t have a headliner in football’s glamour position, quarterback this year since Matt Ryan has moved on to the Atlanta Falcons. Name one returning starter at quarterback that gets you going……. Yeah, took me a while to. Riley Skinner of Wake Forest comes to mind. Skinner won an ACC Championship two years ago plus he is a great leader and proven winner but Skinner doesn’t have the NFL scouts salivating. Virginia Tech’s Sean Glennon was up and down last year. Yes Glennon was the MVP in the ACC Championship Game leading the Hokies to the title, then went in the tank in the Orange Bowl vs Kansas.

Sunshine State Slump

Second is the Florida schools have not lived up to the billing. Since the ACC became a dozen teams, Florida State and Miami have become at best mediocre. The Seminoles and Hurricanes were supposed to carry on with their elite status and carry the flag for the ACC in the BCS Bowl games including the title game. What’s happened is a sunshine state slump. FSU has been trying to figure out a succession plan when Bobby Bowden retires, and they finally have that figured out. Miami has just become a mess toward the end of the Larry Coker era and now appeared to have righted the ship with the Sheriff, Randy Shannon, in control.

Where’s The Carolina Teams

3rd, the Carolina schools need to step up. Clemson looks to do that this year so now North Carolina and NC State need to follow suit. The Tar Heels and the Wolfpack are the cornerstone schools of the ACC and for the league to move up the BCS food chain, they need to win consistently. They have the coaching. You won’t find head coaches with better track records than Butch Davis and Tom O’Brien. They also have booster money, great facilities and renovated stadiums. There doesn’t seem to be any excuses anymore for the Heels and the Pack to not start winning games.

Check out onlinesportsguys.blogspot.com as we begin our college football coverage. I will post reports throughout the week from the ACC Football Kickoff.

That’s it, I’m spent.

College Football: Tigers & Sooners Picked To Win The 12

I love it, time to start ramping up the college football talk. The Big 12 Conference released it's media poll and the results are predictable. Missouri is picked to win the Big 12 North, Oklahoma is picked to win the Big 12 South.
I have followed Mizzou all my life and I stand shoulder to shoulder with Tiger fans. During the 1980's I witnessed a few Tiger beat downs at Farout Field so I'm enjoying the rise of Mizzou football. Gary Pinkel has a special team in Columbia.
No shocker that Oklahoma is the top choice in the South though that division will be very tough. Texas is well.... Texas and Texas Tech will have it's best team perhaps ever.
Here's the breakdown of the Big 12 Media Poll:

Big 12 media poll
(first place votes) total points

NORTH
1. Missouri, (51) 306
2. Kansas, 234
3. Nebraska, 183
4. Colorado, 181
5. Kansas State, 108
6. Iowa State, 59

SOUTH
1.Oklahoma, (49) 304
2. Texas, (2) 230
3. Texas Tech, 227
4. Oklahoma State, 140
5. Texas A&M, 118
6. Baylor, 52

Tamper Tamper??? Or "Can You Hear Me Now?"

This really should come as no surprise to anyone to follows life inside "The Shield" or the Brett Favre saga over the last few days. But it seems that the Green Bay Packers are mad as hell and they're not going to take it anymore...

Our friends at foxsports.com report that the Packers are bent at the Minnesota Vikings ((big shock there)) because of conversations Favre has had with Vikes Offensive Coordinator Darrell Bevell. Apparently, Favre and Bevell talked to one another in the off-season.

The hook- Bevell was Favre's QB Coach from 2003-2005, and the offense currently run in Minnesota is the closest thing to the "West Coast" Offense that Brett is comfortable running from behind center.

Hmmmmm....

Mike Sherman retools his offense to fit Aaron Rodgers.

Brett Favre goes to an old boss to talk shop...allegedly...The Vikings deny this, of course...

Hmmmmm....

((Insert black helicopter noise here))

If it's proven that conversations took place, the Vikes could lose a draft pick or draft picks-plural... and, maybe, some caish for good measure...

And, apparently, "Bus" Cook, Favre's agent is telling folks that Brett is laying low on the whole idea of filing for reinstatement.

The Green Bay Press-Gazette article by Pete Dougherty is hyah

Jay Glazer's scoop, if you missed it the first time, is hyah

UPDATE: 17 July

According to Mike Florio at Profootballtalk.com, the Packers may have this whole phone conversation-thing traced to one place.

Ahem... quote

"...it has been reported that the Packers believe that phone records will reveal that Favre has had multiple conversations with Vikings offensive coordinator Darrell Bevell. But we’re hearing that the Packers might already have the phone records. Since the Packers wouldn’t have had access to the phone records of Bevell or any other Vikings employee, the logical conclusion is that Favre was using a cell phone that has been bought and paid for by the Packers — and that the Packers have full access to the documents reflecting all calls made and received."

Another name on the phone records, according to PFT, could be that of a phone allegedly linked to Vikings Head Coach Brad Childress.

If that's the case... well, then... um... Oops!

Preds Boots Was Made For Moving

An investigation by the Tennessean newspaper, and authored by Brad Schrade , unearths some information that a lot of us here at OSG HQ had suspected for a long time. Had William "Boots" Del Biaggio ((pictured- thanks tennessean.com)) had his way he would have moved the Nashville Predators NHL franchise to the Sprint Center in Kansas City to be their primary tenant.

Del Biaggio had tried to become majority shareholder in the franchise, but could only swing a one-third interest in the current ownership structure because of financing difficulties. Those difficulties have led to him being under investigation by the Securities and Exchange Commission to the tune of... oh, hell... a lot of millions of dollars.

The Tennessean obtained a confidential document where Del Biaggio explained the Preds had, what he called, "portability value." Any investor that wished to join Del Biaggio and his Forecheck Holdings group could, in his view, be on the front lines for a part in moving the franchise to any other locale. If after the 2009-10 season, the franchise did not average 14,000 in attendance or had lost $20-million, Forecheck's view was that the other partners would cede control.

In the confidential document obtained by the Tennessean, the market of Kansas City had "already made a very compelling offer" for the Predators.

The team's lead owner, David Freeman, has already told the Mayor of Nashville, Karl Dean, that he was aware of the plan and had a certain "distrust of his (Del Biaggio's) motives." Freeman also asserts that the Preds are not in danger as a franchise in Nashville.

If that's the case, we ask, then who has taken care of the outstanding one-third of the shares that are needed for a full ownership group and investment capital for same. There will be a match race for the lowest payroll in the National Hockey League this season between the Preds and the Atlanta Thrashers. But, at least, NHL Commssioner Gary Bettman gave a basement figure of $40-million for that so they couldn't under-spend each other.

Enjoy... apparently Del Biaggio does... or did...

David Climer's editorial from The Tennessean on the situation is hyah

--Jon Nelson

Gators Sign New TV Deal/Raycom-SEC Relationship On Life Support

Reading between the lines in an article published Tuesday in the Orlando Business Journal, it looks like the new television contract with the Southeastern Conference will have some new dance partners.

Ahem... quote...

"The SEC is set to announce its new television contracts in August, industry sources say. By all accounts, CBS will retain the broadcast portion and ESPN will retain the cable portion, with ESPNU and ESPN360 also getting rights that were previously reserved for syndication partners."

Translation- looks like the 20-year relationship with Raycom may be a thing of the past. This also sounds a lot like the deal the National Hockey League signed with SportsChannel America way back when. The network waved a lot of money at the league at the dinner table and signed their viewership away. ESPNU is currently listed as having a reach of 20 million households. Their parent network, on the other hand, clocks in at 96-million households.

This comes on the heels of the University of Florida signing a new 10-year, $100-million deal with Sun Sports.

According to OSG sources close to the situation these two acts, probably, put any talk of a proposed SEC TV Network to bed. But, if the SEC still wishes to proceed with their master plan of controlling all content, the deal between Sun and the University of Florida will be put in the garbage can.

Jeremy Fowler's article from the Orlando Sentinel is hyah

John Ourand and Michael Smith's piece from the Orlando Business Journal is hyah

--Jon Nelson

Favre Speaks - Decide For Yourself...

Hamilton Rocks Yankee Stadium, Loses Derby

You have to love Josh Hamilton.

Living near Raleigh, and having friends that teach at Hamilton's old high school (Athens Drive H.S.), I am so proud of this kid.

He has battled through so much to shine on one of the world's biggest stages - Yankee Stadium. The Texas Ranger outfielder jacked a record 28 longballs (off Claybon Council - a really really really old guy) in the first round of the 2008 HR Derby. He only managed four more in the second round, but easily faced Twins' Justin Morneau in the Finals.

UPDATE: Morneau defeated Hamilton 5-3 in the Finals. Major league rip off.

--John V. Wood

A Consistent Lack of Recollection

The House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform has concluded its 16-month investigation into the events surrounding the friendly-fire death of Pat Tillman ((pictured- thanks cbssports.com)). The purpose of the investigation, looking upward in the chain of command, was to determine who knew "what" when. The Committee cites what they refer to as a "near universal lack of recall" that contributed to a great deal of internal frustration in getting to any kind of ultimate decision.

The Committee interviewed then-Communications Director Dan Bartlett, Press Secretary Scott McClellan, and chief speech writer Michael Gerson. Not a one of them could recall when he learned about the Tillman incident, or what he did in response.

The most classic quote of the whole findings comes from then-Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld:

“I don’t recall when I was told and I don’t recall who told me.”

Pleasant, don't you think...?

I am asking the next question because I, legitimately, don't know- Was this topic discussed at all in McClellan's new book?

The 51-page document, which also goes into the handling of the Jessica Lynch saga can be found hyah

The Committee, clearly frustrated by the whole process, came up with new information, but no real solutions or recommendations. This is, regrettably, the last we'll hear of this on Capitol Hill.

The report is a challenging read, but a word of warning, the more you read the more you get frustrated yourself with the government and how they lack accountability in situations like this.

This is the bottom line- and the last paragraph:

"The pervasive lack of recollection and absence of specific information makes it impossible for the Committee to assign responsibility for the misinformation in Corporal Tillman’s and Private Lynch’s cases. It is clear, however, that the Defense Department did not meet its most basic obligations in sharing accurate information with the families and with the American public."

Well, duh...

Countdown with Keith Olbermann interviewed Mary Tillman, Pat's mother, on May 9, 2008. Here's the interview, courtesy MSNBC and YouTube.

--Jon Nelson

Favre Finally Speaks!

Just like Don Henley, now we can get down to heart of the matter...

Brett Favre has broken his silence, and spoke with FOX's Greta Van Susteren in a interview that will air at 10:00pm EST tonight (9:00pm CST).

Greta Van Susteren posted the following quote on her blog, GretaWire (http://gretawire.foxnews.com) a short time ago...

I just interviewed Brett Favre in Mississippi….he is, as you know, entangled in a dispute with the Green Bay Packer General Manager. Brett understands the GM decision..and he accepts it..(And yes he loves the Packer fans)…but now - since the Packer GM made plain he does not want him - he wants to be released by the Packers so that he can see if any other team wants him. I am rushing to the airport but you will see the interview tonight…

We'll see if he answers any questions tonight...

--John V. Wood

Redskins Sign QB Brennan

Finally, the mighty Colt Brennan is officially a Redskin.

According to John Clayton, Brennan signed a four-year, $1.8M contract, and was cleared to take part in Redskins camp. After the former Hawai'i QB's hip surgery, it was much speculated that he would begin the season on the PUP list. Now, he has a good chance to challenge Todd Collins for the #2 QB behind Jason Campbell.

Brennan, the third pick in the sixth round of this year's NFL Draft, is in a perfect place to develop his gunslinging skills. New 'Skin head coach Jim Zorn is a long-time QB coach, and there is no pressure to start immediately. Granted, Brennan's Rainbow Warriors got demolished by then #5 Georgia in the Sugar Bowl 41-10, so many doubt his ability against tough teams.

I'm willing to give him a chance. Remember, this is the same franchise that sold the farm to sign Heath Shuler.

--John V. Wood

Favre, Packers at Stalemate

OK, Green Bay GM Ted Thompson and head coach Mike McCarthy have refused to grant QB Brett Favre's unconditional release, making him a free agent.

Brett has two choices right now as a Packer:
#1. Stay retired.
#2. Come back to the Packers for one more season, as Aaron Rodgers' backup.

Not gonna happen. Favre is NO ONE's backup.

As a business decision, it is smart for Green Bay not to release Favre. Of course, they don't want him playing for a team in their division. From a team standpoint, standing by Rodgers is a good thing. Imagine how you'd feel if you had been named the probable starter for a team, and they go bring back the former QB and certain Hall-of-Famer to back you up. That would shatter my confidence, having to look over my shoulder all season long.

I think Green Bay should keep Favre, and trade him for something other than this soap opera. Right now, all Packers' fans are getting from Favre is heartburn.

Brett, either go to Jolly Roger and get re-instated, or shut up and stay retired.

--John V. Wood

Billy Packer's Run Is Over (Thank God...)

CBS, it's about freaking time.

Billy Packer, according to the Miami Herald, is no longer announcing the NCAA basketball championship game. His streak is now at 34 consecutive championship games in a row. Barry Jackson with the Herald also reports that Jim Nance will now be joined by longtime color analyst Clark Kellogg.

You can read Jackson's full column hyah.

I will have to admit, this makes me VERY happy. Yes, Packer's a Wake Forest alum, so I have some measure of loyalty to him. But come on! Packer is the grumpiest old fart in broadcasting, and I have never heard him like something. He's always griping about this guy, or this coach, or this "bad call."

I think the final straw was during last year's Kansas/UNC Final Four game, when Kansas was up 40-12 in the first half. Packer pulled out an old Dicky-V comment when he said, "Folks, this game is over." I bet the CBS execs all spit out their drink of choice when that was said. Game is over = Lower revenue dollars.

Anyway, this guy is beyond irritating. I washed my hands of him some years ago, and CBS is finally joining the effort. According to the Herald, Packer is "pursuing other interests in basketball."

I think sweat mopper would be his perfect job.

Enjoy forced retirement, Billy...

--John Wood



PS- Remember this...???

Sikahema Said Knock You Out!

I apologize... I couldn't let this go...
NBC10/Philadelphia sports anchor and former goal post puncher Vai Sikahema used Jose Canseco as his own personal goal post Saturday night- knocking him down twice in the first round of their scheduled fight before Canseco's handlers threw in the towel. Canseco was fighting Sikahema for money. Sikahema was fighting Canseco for a cause. Vai's $5,000 purse was going to a policeman's widow.

Below is one of the few times I actually agree with SAS on ANYTHING!
Please write down the day and time.
Above all else make sure the earth as we know it is rotating properly...




That is all...

Obama Switches From Hoops to Hubcaps

Did you hear this? Democratic Presidential candidate Barack Obama, known for his jumpshot along the campaign trail this year, is broadened his sports focus.

According to Tom Bowles at SI, Obama has cut a deal with BAM Racing owner Beth Ann Morgenthau to sponsor their #49 Sprint Cup car at Pocono on August 3. The first Presidential candidate in history to sponsor a race car. Well, he IS promising change, so I guess this is at least a start.

The drawback for this Baracecar (I came up with that one...) - Ken Schrader is behind the wheel. The #49 car has to qualify for Pocono on speed alone, because BAM is outside the Top 35 in owner points.

The deal itself has not been made public yet, but BAM is holding a presser on July 23 to "unveil" the sponsorship. Wait a minute, aren't we the ones doing the unveiling?

Win or lose, this will be good for NASCAR. People from all around the nation will have their eyes fixed on Pocono. It is yet to be determined whether this will be good for Obama or not. I mean, Kenny Schrader? You could have done like George W. Bush did in 2004, and let a REAL driver have you on his car...Kirk Shelmerdine. Only difference here is - Shelmerdine put Bush's face on for free. Obama's the first to use money out of his own pocket.

Let's hope Obama's "Get Out The Vote" campaign helps the BAM #49 "get out of pit road."

I'm not usually this deep, just deep in it. Trust me.

--John V. Wood

((Nelson Note- Yeah, J-Dub, but I heard Schrader donated to Republican causes in the state of North Carolina. And how exactly does Schrader feel about driving to the left all the time, anyway? You can't have BAM Racing without O-BAM-A...))

Favre Reportedly Asks For Release

As you read in Brother Phil's FourPlay column last week, no one thinks Brett Favre is coming back.

Now, according to ESPN's Chris Mortensen, not even Brett thinks so.

According to Mort, Favre sent a letter to the Green Bay Packers asking "emphatically" for his release. The letter was sent by Favre's agent, James "Bus" Cook, via overnight mail on Thursday and arrived at the Packers facility Friday morning, according to ESPN.

This probably stems for a reported conference call on Tuesday between Favre, Cook, General Manager Ted Thompson and head coach Mike McCarthy, in which Favre said he wanted to play again and the team was not receptive (Thanks, Tom Pelissero, Green Bay Press-Gazette!).

OSG will have more information for you as this situation develops.

Like when WFRV TV reports on everything...

Or when the Packers themselves put out an official release telling Favre the politically-correct equivalent of

"Perch and Rotate..."

More from the Saturday's Green Bay Press Gazette and Milwaukee Journal Sentinal

Also from Farve's Mississippi home paper the Biloxi Sun Herald

Also, Jay Glazer of Foxsports.com is reporting that the Green Bay Packers have no intention of granting Brett Farve his release. According to his sources, the Packers would be prepared to welcome Farve back as a backup to Aaron Rodgers. Read Jay Glazer's full story HERE

--John V. Wood

Create a Caption #1

Hey guys...

I'm going to try and post a funny picture, and you have to come up with a caption! The winner after each contest will get a nice OSG prize pack, and will be listed on our OSG Caption Hall of Shame!

Give it your best shot!

Brother J-Dub

Dupay-ing the Price...

Remember Teddy Dupay? The University of Florida basketball player who was dismissed after a gambling scandal in Gainesville some years ago?

Well, he's back in the news...

Dupay, 29, once a popular figure during the Gators' run to the 2000 NCAA men's basketball championship game, has been charged in Utah with rape, kidnapping and sexual assault — all first-degree felonies, according to the Orlando Sentinel.

The Summit County Sheriff's Department released this mugshot. Attractive, eh?

Oopsie!

According to court documents, the victim - who admitted to a two-year relationship with Dupay - suffered two broken ribs and bruises on her back, right thigh, upper arm and shoulder after she estimated Dupay hit or kicked her 150 times. Yikes.

When questioned by authorities, Dupay said the two had "gotten a little rough," but denied the rape. His position? "How can you rape someone you love?" said Dupay.

I don't know, Teddy. You tell me.

Read more about this story at the following locations:
Orlando Sentinel: Ex-Florida Gator basketball star Teddy Dupay charged with rape
Fort Myers News-Press: Former Mariner, UF basketball star Dupay charged with rape
Bodog Beat: Ex-Florida Gators Standout Teddy Dupay Charged With Rape
ESPN: Ex-Gator Dupay Charged With Felony Rape, Kidnapping in Utah

--John Wood

The Friday Rundown

((Just a few things to keep a raised eyebrow on as we head in to the weekend))

1) How will Tony Stewart and Stewart/Haas-CNC Racing co-exist in their first weekend together in Chicago...?

Your recap of the events in Joliet are hyah ((Thanks tonystewart.com))

Dave Moody's take is hyah

2) So... who to believe in the Elton Brand to the 76ers saga...?

Bill Plaschke's video blog pleas were left unanswered. Your evidence is hyah

Looks like Clipper fans may keep their eyes on Emeka Okafor and Josh Smith

3) College football fans will do anything these days to get an advantage on the competition- including making something up

Just don't make it look like THE DAILY OKLAHOMAN!!! But you did, didn't you??? ((thanks newsok.com))

4) A-Rod has stripper friends in Detroit now, too... Just ask Mojo in the Morning...

5) And could 25 be heading to the Diamondbacks??? Let's consult with Jack Magruder from the East Valley Tribune

Carry on... visit early and often... That is all...

--Jon Nelson

That's 21st Century Baseball...

I was fortunate enough to meet Ernie Harwell on his first farewell tour of major league baseball parks. Interleague play had created one of those harmonic convergences in the schedule where the Tigers got to come to Atlanta and play the Braves.

Of course, being in local television at the time I absolutely, positively, without remorse or hesitation had to have him for a feature interview. So how do you pull that off…? Simple, you call the Tigers. The Tigers tell me, however, that he has his own set of individuals that you go through. Their suggestion is to write a letter to the powers-that-are that are with him in Phoenix ((since they’re playing the Diamondbacks)), and see if it’ll happen that way.

I pen a page-long letter on stationery and fax it to the team hotel. Easy enough…

Fast forward a bit. I’m leaving a party at 1AM local time on a Saturday night. My cell phone rings. Since I didn’t have a holster for it I had slipped it down my golf shirt and let it rest on my belt in front of the t-shirt underneath. Somewhere in the fishing expedition, I key it. Whoever is on the other end of the line gets, about, ten seconds of rustling fabric before I get to pull it out from between.

“Mister Nelson?” the voice on the other end asks. I recognize the voice instantly.

“Mister Nelson is my father, Mister Harwell, but thank you for calling to talk to me.”

And that was how I got my interview with Ernie Harwell. After his time reminiscing with Atlanta Journal-Constitution columnist Furman Bisher- whom I still refer to as “Mister Bisher”- I barely touched the surface in an 18-minute history lesson. To this day, it is one of the defining moments in my career.

Do I still have the tape…?

You bet your ass I do. The feature story won Brother Phil and me a regional award.

That’s Baseball…

Harwell gave a homily to the sport that he has felt blessed enough to be a part of when he was inducted in to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1981- when he was a sprightly 63 years young. Harwell had initially written it in 1955. Brother Wilkie’s ode to Tiger Stadium sent me on this path to see if what Harwell’s heart had said to him at the time still holds water.

My apologies ahead of time as I shake my head over what the sport has become through my own pessimistic ((or is it realistic…?) prism for viewing.

“Baseball is the President tossing out the first ball of the season and a scrubby schoolboy playing catch with his dad on a Mississippi farm. A tall, thin old man waving a scorecard from the corner of his dugout. That's baseball. And so is the big, fat guy with a bulbous nose running home one of his 714 home runs.”

((Just so you know President Dave Kovic still has my vote for best “first pitch,” The “thin, old man” for those of you who don’t get the reference is Connie Mack… look it up. The big fat guy is Ruth, not Bonds.))

“There's a man in Mobile who remembers that Honus Wagner hit a triple in Pittsburgh forty-six years ago. That's baseball. So is the scout reporting that a sixteen year old pitcher in Cheyenne is a coming Walter Johnson. Baseball is a spirited race of man against man, reflex against reflex. A game of inches. Every skill is measured. Every heroic, every failing is seen and cheered, or booed. And then becomes a statistic. In baseball democracy shines its clearest. The only race that matters is the race to the bag. The creed is the rulebook. Color merely something to distinguish one team's uniform from another.”

((Walter Johnson was one of the best pitchers in the early 20th-century. Honus Wagner was one of the better hitters. Look them up, too.))

Democracy still shines its clearest except when the player’s union gets in the way, the owners want to collude, and the leagues want to have two sets of rules for offensive output. The only color that seems to matter these days is the color of money. Baseball is a game of wins and losses, of profit and loss, of arbitration and not-so-free free agency. Baseball is a game not of what-have-you-done-for-me, but of what-have-you-done-for-me-lately. It’s a game of bid and overbid. It’s a game of doctored birth certificates and being prematurely aged or being prematurely ageless. It’s a game of marketing, personae, and personal service contracts. It’s about endorsements and being endorsed. It’s about the good-ole-boy network and not necessarily giving new blood a chance to succeed. I take it back. Color also seems to be getting in the way of breaking the glass ceiling. But that is happening less and less.

“Baseball is a rookie. His experience no bigger than the lump in his throat as he begins fulfillment of his dream. It's a veteran too, a tired old man of thirty-five hoping that those aching muscles can pull him through another sweltering August and September. Nicknames are baseball, names like Zeke and Pie and Kiki and Home Run and Cracker and Dizzy and Dazzy.”

Baseball is a home-town hero being sent down for not learning to spray the ball the other way. That is until his agent squawks about how his player’s attitude has “soured” about playing at home. Then, those remarks are tempered through the press when he’s recalled. That veteran has now figured out how he can purchase the next-best-thing over the counter to keep him youthful until his mid-40’s so he can break every offensive or defensive record in the book- without failing a drug test. Baseball is about rights fees and usage fees. It’s about merchandising, charging for autographs and alternate jerseys.

“Baseball is the cool, clear eyes of Rogers Hornsby. The flashing spikes of Ty Cobb, an over aged pixie named Rabbit Maranville. Baseball is just a game as simple as a ball and bat. Yet, as complex as the American spirit it symbolizes. A sport, a business and sometimes almost even a religion”.

To that last sentence… Amen.

((Look all three of those three players up- Hornsby, Cobb, and Maranville. They were good.))

“Why the fairy tale of Willie Mays making a brilliant World's Series catch. And then dashing off to play stick ball in the street with his teenage pals. That's baseball. So is the husky voice of a doomed Lou Gehrig saying., "I consider myself the luckiest man on the face of this earth.”

Any player dashing off after a game to play street ball or go back to their old neighborhood for a surprise visit without a PR representative and a security detail…? An anomaly… That’s baseball.

“Baseball is cigar smoke, hot roasted peanuts, The Sporting News, ladies day, "Down in Front", Take Me Out to the Ball Game, and the Star Spangled Banner.”

Baseball is about reserved parking lots and parking passes. It’s about luxury suites and alternate sources of revenue. It’s about not being able to bring in a cooler to the ballpark. It’s about $9 domestic beer and $5 slices of pizza. Baseball is a name game tied to corporate sponsors and their pockets until they file Chapter 11 and allow the same space to open for the next guy. It’s about bond referendums to fund stadiums and hold tax payers hostage. It’s about millage rates and the wanton disregard of history. It’s about the Internet and the guy who owns 37 different fantasy teams in leagues with no financial reward.

It’s about “Bean The Ump.” That’s baseball.

dot…dot…dot…

Here’s how Harwell wrapped up his speech…

“Baseball is a tongue tied kid from Georgia growing up to be an announcer and praising the Lord for showing him the way to Cooperstown. This is a game for America. Still a game for America, this baseball! Thank you.”

Here’s how I wrap up mine…

Baseball is a twenty-year veteran of sports media who wishes his baseball was more like Harwell’s.

But, that’s baseball…

Play it safe, everyone… I’ll talk to you soon…

--Jon Nelson

The MLB All-Star Game

I’m not going political here; I’m really just talking about one of the most overrated things in the whole, wide, wonderful world of Sports. Surely, if you think about it, you’ll know exactly what I’m talking about. I’m talking about the “July” Classic or as you and I know it. The Major League Baseball All-Star Game.

But it’s Sentimental!

Yeah, and so are romantic comedies. I get the whole last game in Old Yankee Stadium, though I am more bothered by the fact that we are referring already to “Old” Yankee Stadium. You can’t have a “New” and an “Old” Yankee stadium. History is history and to quote the Highlander; “There can only be ONE!”

I also get the whole sentimentality thing, the lore of baseball history, the glamour and the nostalgia of the game. What I don’t get is the “It’s Baseball’s best players”. It isn’t. It’s baseballs most popular players. Much like audience participation reality television shows, it’s not about the “Best” it is about the most popular. Think about it. Most of you serious sports fans out there know exactly what I am talking about. Every year you hear about who was deserving, who wasn’t and who got left out. That’s because it’s about the popular vote. Ichiro isn’t one of the 3 best outfielders in the American League this season, by admission he is having his worst year, but he is starting.

What Killed it?

It was dead a long time ago, but the final nail in the All-Star coffin to me, was the decision to make the game “Allegedly” mean something. We all know the story of the “tie” game, where all of the pitchers had been used and the managers decided to just call the game a tie. Shortly thereafter, the uber-commisioner, Jon’s pal, heir Selig, decided that the game would now determine home field advantage in the World Series. Why he and/or the owners felt that was necessary, was never explained to anyone. Come on guys, it’s a freakin’ exhibition game. All of the other “Major” sports leagues play exhibition all star games, why can’t you?

Will I watch?

I doubt that I will watch this year’s game; I’m really not that interested. I like the idea of some of the best players being in the game, but I don’t know that it is enough to get me to devote 4+ hours to watch the game.

Without going into another rant, watching it is also part of what I hate about baseball. Fox has made it into a mostly self-absorbed promotional opportunity and that just annoys the hell out of me on principle. I’m happy for the two Atlanta Braves who are playing. Chipper Jones has been fun to watch and really enjoyable to talk with this season as he matures into the Hall of Famer that he is destined to become. Seeing Brian McCann grow up from kid to big-time one of the best catchers in the league has been great. Seeing the smile on his face as he talked about getting to be there…even better. Guys enjoy your time, enjoy your game. I won’t see it, but I’ll read about it and look forward to you talking about it when you get back to Atlanta.

--Phil Cantor

“The time has come, my song is over, thought I’d something more to say” --Time (Pink Floyd)