It's only the first round, but if this one's any indication, it could be a great Wimbledon.
John Isner of the U.S. and France's Nicholas Mahut are tied at 59 games all in the fifth set of their first-round match. It was suspended Tuesday night and again today because of darkness. At Wimbledon, the fifth set is played until someone wins by two games.
Needless to say, it's the longest match in Wimbledon history.
Wednesday, June 23, 2010
Kersplat
Has anyone seen a complete and utter collapse the size of France's in the World Cup?
They don't like the coach – he may not last very long, according to some. And they played like it yesterday against South Africa.
That's why the inmates don't run the asylum.
And that's why France went home early.
They don't like the coach – he may not last very long, according to some. And they played like it yesterday against South Africa.
That's why the inmates don't run the asylum.
And that's why France went home early.
Tuesday, June 22, 2010
Jimenez gets short shrift
Did you ever think we'd see the day when a Rockies pitcher would be 13-1 and throw a no-hitter in the same season?
Wonder what the rest of the baseball world thinks of Ubaldo Jiminez?
Wonder if anyone who watches network baseball has any idea who he is?
I stopped wondering a long time ago.
Why? He'll never make national TV coverage. There's no interest in any team west of St. Louis.
Too bad. The rest of the world is missing out on the start of what could be a wonderful season.
Wonder what the rest of the baseball world thinks of Ubaldo Jiminez?
Wonder if anyone who watches network baseball has any idea who he is?
I stopped wondering a long time ago.
Why? He'll never make national TV coverage. There's no interest in any team west of St. Louis.
Too bad. The rest of the world is missing out on the start of what could be a wonderful season.
Monday, June 21, 2010
Two sports, different interest levels
On the one hand, we have the National Football League which is practically drooling all over itself to put a team in Los Angeles.
This is in spite of the fact that Angelinos have said repeatedly they don't want pro football and in spite of the fact there doesn't seem to be much of a place to put a new stadium or much interest in renovating existing facilities.
On the other hand, we have Major League Baseball and its broadcast network partners, which can't stand the thought of showing a game from Los Angeles or a game with a Los
Angeles team on the field. Wonder of wonders – the Dodgers were on the national game last night and will be on again this weekend.
Why?
Because Boston and the New York Yankees are providing the opposition.
In this corner, the cry of "setting up a schedule with the most interest to the most people" rings a little hollow these days.
This is in spite of the fact that Angelinos have said repeatedly they don't want pro football and in spite of the fact there doesn't seem to be much of a place to put a new stadium or much interest in renovating existing facilities.
On the other hand, we have Major League Baseball and its broadcast network partners, which can't stand the thought of showing a game from Los Angeles or a game with a Los
Angeles team on the field. Wonder of wonders – the Dodgers were on the national game last night and will be on again this weekend.
Why?
Because Boston and the New York Yankees are providing the opposition.
In this corner, the cry of "setting up a schedule with the most interest to the most people" rings a little hollow these days.
Friday, June 18, 2010
Never ceases to amaze
A team (of choice) wins a professional championship.
That note is always followed by some sort of violence that's related to the post-championship party.
Haven't been able to figure that one out.
Happened again last night in L.A. after the Lakers won the ugliest Game 7 you will ever see. Apparently there's some sort of inherent right to destroy property, throw things and get arrested after your local team does well.
Not sure that form of party is worth even the slightest blemish on a criminal record. But no one asked.
That note is always followed by some sort of violence that's related to the post-championship party.
Haven't been able to figure that one out.
Happened again last night in L.A. after the Lakers won the ugliest Game 7 you will ever see. Apparently there's some sort of inherent right to destroy property, throw things and get arrested after your local team does well.
Not sure that form of party is worth even the slightest blemish on a criminal record. But no one asked.
Wednesday, June 9, 2010
Conference carousel
Expiring TV contracts started the nation's collegiate athletic conferences talking about the process of deciding who will play where.
Most of the attention is on the Big 12 (CU's home), the Pac-10 (a new home, perhaps, for the Buffaloes) and the Mountain West.
I'm not the biggest fan of CU in the world. But if they are trying to bolster their football and basketball teams (the two main revenue sports that draw the attention of the TV deal writers), the Pac-10 isn't the place to do it.
CU doesn't have the facilities that a lot of schools have. They don't recruit in-state particularly well. And their teams don't compete against the likes of Texas very well. I'm hard-pressed to see how they would compete against USC or UCLA.
CU may not have a choice. And CU may be stuck in permanent moribund status for quite some time when this finishes making its way through the collegiate sifter
Most of the attention is on the Big 12 (CU's home), the Pac-10 (a new home, perhaps, for the Buffaloes) and the Mountain West.
I'm not the biggest fan of CU in the world. But if they are trying to bolster their football and basketball teams (the two main revenue sports that draw the attention of the TV deal writers), the Pac-10 isn't the place to do it.
CU doesn't have the facilities that a lot of schools have. They don't recruit in-state particularly well. And their teams don't compete against the likes of Texas very well. I'm hard-pressed to see how they would compete against USC or UCLA.
CU may not have a choice. And CU may be stuck in permanent moribund status for quite some time when this finishes making its way through the collegiate sifter
Tuesday, June 8, 2010
Another coach died, too
It seemed like everyone in Fort Lupton knew former coach Dick Stalcup – or at least wanted to say something about him.
Stalcup died after a stroke Memorial Day weekend. His celebration of life service starts at 10 a.m. June 12 at Floyd Acre Gym on the high school campus. There's a story about him in Wednesday's edition of the Fort Lupton Press.
Considering the circumstances, his widow, Cindy, is one of the strongest people you'd ever want to visit with. She wanted to talk about her late husband ... and what she said may move you to bawl like a baby.
Like me.
Stalcup died after a stroke Memorial Day weekend. His celebration of life service starts at 10 a.m. June 12 at Floyd Acre Gym on the high school campus. There's a story about him in Wednesday's edition of the Fort Lupton Press.
Considering the circumstances, his widow, Cindy, is one of the strongest people you'd ever want to visit with. She wanted to talk about her late husband ... and what she said may move you to bawl like a baby.
Like me.
Monday, June 7, 2010
ESPN comes up short – again
Seems like we've been beating up on ESPN of late.
Sorry – but here's another round.
ESPN's coverage of the death of John Wooden was quite good – in large part because they left the commentary to other people and not their writers.
Most of the anchors weren't born when Wooden's teams were winning 10 of 12 NCAA championships or winning 38 games in a row in the NCAA tournament.
And I'll bet they could have cared less.
It wasn't too difficult to look underneath the stoic faces on the television Friday night and Saturday morning and see a bunch of people ready to crack wise about anything. That's what they are paid to do. It's very difficult for ESPN's wannabe broadcasters to actually impart information without a certain smirk.
If you look on the Web, there are many wonderful tributes about John Wooden, his coaching ability and his ability to mold young men (far more important than his coaching career). One of the best is from longtime L.A. Dodgers announcer Vin Scully. It lasts about a minute and, with some help from Skakespeare, Scully (as is usually the case) says more in less time than anyone else can.
The last word belongs to Kevin Denke, who runs the newsroom here at MetroWest Newspapers.
"I think trying to explain the importance of John Wooden is a lost art and unfortunately, in our day and age, a lost cause."
Sorry – but here's another round.
ESPN's coverage of the death of John Wooden was quite good – in large part because they left the commentary to other people and not their writers.
Most of the anchors weren't born when Wooden's teams were winning 10 of 12 NCAA championships or winning 38 games in a row in the NCAA tournament.
And I'll bet they could have cared less.
It wasn't too difficult to look underneath the stoic faces on the television Friday night and Saturday morning and see a bunch of people ready to crack wise about anything. That's what they are paid to do. It's very difficult for ESPN's wannabe broadcasters to actually impart information without a certain smirk.
If you look on the Web, there are many wonderful tributes about John Wooden, his coaching ability and his ability to mold young men (far more important than his coaching career). One of the best is from longtime L.A. Dodgers announcer Vin Scully. It lasts about a minute and, with some help from Skakespeare, Scully (as is usually the case) says more in less time than anyone else can.
The last word belongs to Kevin Denke, who runs the newsroom here at MetroWest Newspapers.
"I think trying to explain the importance of John Wooden is a lost art and unfortunately, in our day and age, a lost cause."
Friday, June 4, 2010
Excuse me --- but there's a game in front of you
ESPN did a simply horrible job in covering the aftermath of the near-perfect game in Detroit Wednesday night.
An umpire's missed call at first base cost a Detroit pitcher a perfect game.
Instead of paying attention to the game that was unfolding, they took great pains to yelp and scream and bellow about the injustice of a bad call (and it was not very good – the umpire admitted it afterward) for the last six innings of the game – without adding anything new to the discussion.
I don't buy into the idea that there are people tuning in and out and didn't see it or hear about it. ESPN runs a crawling ticker across the bottom of the screen. You didn't see it? Read it -- many times in the span of an hour.
Their "guests" (two of the network's paid analysts) said the same thing – it was a bad call. Everyone agrees. Find something new to talk about or drop the subject.
When the between inning highlight piece of plastic hair wearing the nice suit said, "He was out by a mile," I wanted to make sure I was watching the right highlight. The distance was closer to a half a step.
When Dave O'Brien, who normally does a good job, started in his wrap-up by saying, "On a night when Major League Baseball may start talking about changing its replay system," I wanted to upchuck.
One of the major complaints about ESPN and all of its forums is the tendency to turn all of the announcers and analysts into stars. Give it to 'em. It's one less place I will have to find them.
An umpire's missed call at first base cost a Detroit pitcher a perfect game.
Instead of paying attention to the game that was unfolding, they took great pains to yelp and scream and bellow about the injustice of a bad call (and it was not very good – the umpire admitted it afterward) for the last six innings of the game – without adding anything new to the discussion.
I don't buy into the idea that there are people tuning in and out and didn't see it or hear about it. ESPN runs a crawling ticker across the bottom of the screen. You didn't see it? Read it -- many times in the span of an hour.
Their "guests" (two of the network's paid analysts) said the same thing – it was a bad call. Everyone agrees. Find something new to talk about or drop the subject.
When the between inning highlight piece of plastic hair wearing the nice suit said, "He was out by a mile," I wanted to make sure I was watching the right highlight. The distance was closer to a half a step.
When Dave O'Brien, who normally does a good job, started in his wrap-up by saying, "On a night when Major League Baseball may start talking about changing its replay system," I wanted to upchuck.
One of the major complaints about ESPN and all of its forums is the tendency to turn all of the announcers and analysts into stars. Give it to 'em. It's one less place I will have to find them.
Thursday, June 3, 2010
This one's obvious
After last night's missed umpire call in Detroit (a call that cost a perfect game), the question is should baseball expand its replay capabilities?
My thought? No. Baseball simply cannot stop games every time there's an argument on the field. I don't like Joe West's attitude, but he's right to this extent. The games take too long as it is now.
The only intelligent comment I heard about expanding replay last night was to give each manager a challenge flag, similar to what the college and pro football folks do. That's acceptable. Challenging every potential missed call – not on your life.
My thought? No. Baseball simply cannot stop games every time there's an argument on the field. I don't like Joe West's attitude, but he's right to this extent. The games take too long as it is now.
The only intelligent comment I heard about expanding replay last night was to give each manager a challenge flag, similar to what the college and pro football folks do. That's acceptable. Challenging every potential missed call – not on your life.
Tuesday, June 1, 2010
From English to jibberish
The end of the Western Conference finals a few nights ago meant the end of Doug Collins' latest round of analyzing NBA games for TNT. He's the new coach for the Philadelphia 76ers.
It also means (more than likely) the ascent of Reggie Miller into the lead analyst's role alongside veteran play-by-play man Marv Albert next year.
That's a shame.
Collins understands the game inside and out without resorting to playground speak. He can explain the game to an audience that represents all walks of life and society, not just the gym rats and those with an advanced degree in "newspeak," which isn't intelligible to a lot of people.
Owners aren't known for a lot of patience. So Collins may very well be back in the analyst's chair in short order. But short-term, it's a loss for TNT. No question.
It also means (more than likely) the ascent of Reggie Miller into the lead analyst's role alongside veteran play-by-play man Marv Albert next year.
That's a shame.
Collins understands the game inside and out without resorting to playground speak. He can explain the game to an audience that represents all walks of life and society, not just the gym rats and those with an advanced degree in "newspeak," which isn't intelligible to a lot of people.
Owners aren't known for a lot of patience. So Collins may very well be back in the analyst's chair in short order. But short-term, it's a loss for TNT. No question.
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