Let the picture tell the story

Quite a contrast in play-by-play styles Monday night.
On the one hand, there was the Rockies TV team that could not keep its mouths shut. Every second of available quiet time was filled with something verbal – and not necessarily important to the flow of the game.
On the other hand, a Dodgers' pitcher was throwing a no-hitter, which meant a chance to listen to Vin Scully, thanks to ESPN's practice of showing the late stages of no-hitters. At one point, Scully commented that the picture told the story of the drama before us and that (translating), aside from some limited play by play, it was time for him to be quiet just like we were.
Note to the Rockies announcers. Try it sometime. It's less harmful on ear drums, and it lets your audience play along with the subtleties of the game.

Ramirez and Guillen in Chicago

The mere thought of Manny Ramirez and Ozzie Guillen trying to co-exist in Chicago for 30-something games boggles the mind.
I'm not sure why the White Sox jumped all over the chance to get the moody slugger from the Dodgers. It won't cost them a lot -- about $4 million or so for the rest of the season.
Anyone with thoughts?

Lots of "I" in Anthony

Carmelo Anthony is a good basketball player.
But his ego could very well get in the way of a pretty decent career.
He's demanding a trade from the Nuggets, and he has a list of teams in mind.
Good.
Denver doesn't need that sort of headache.

18-game schedule in the NFL?

Could happen as soon as 2012.
The NFL would like to expand the schedule to increase revenues. The players would like to wait and see how much more money they can get out of a new collective bargaining arrangement and see how much more risk of injury there is from two more games.
Eighteen games seems like a lot. What do you think?

Trash talking -- in sign language?

The world of sign language is a wonderful thing to experience.
With just a little bit of attention, it's easy to figure out a basic subject of the discussion among the deaf community – perhaps even the exact words if you are a step above the rest.
The other day, I watched five people who were hard of hearing trade barbs about catching footballs and the like. It was quite a treat -- even though I don't know sign language at all.
There was some of this too -- hands going up, hands waving back and forth and the fingers wiggling.
It means applause. But even if that's not real apparent, the smiles on everyone's faces were easy to translate in any language.

The best news didn't come from Arizona

Not a chance. There's no excuse for Colorado to lose two of three to one of the worst teams in baseball.
So we'll go a little farther west and gladly report that L.A. Dodgers announcer Vin Scully will be back for a 62nd season calling Dodgers' games next year.
Treat yourself to one of his games, either through a cable TV package or something on the internet. He works alone. He doesn't rely on shtick to get him through the games. Because he works alone, he visits with you as a listener. And, as many a columnist points out, he doesn't analyze every little nuance of the game. Because he's been around so long, he assumes the audience has a modicum of intelligence about the game.
The rest of the news from the Dodgers won't be as good. They are old. They will lose a lot of their players, and their owners are going through a very nasty, public divorce.
Yet through all that, there is one constant. Scully's voice.
That may be the best part of next season for the Dodgers.

Just one more thing ...

We'll do the sane world a favor and paraphrase comments from that "can't ever retire gracefully" quarterback in Minnesota.
He said he did it for the team. Translation? His wife and family can't fit in the same house with that monster ego parading around all year.
He says this is his last season. Interpretation? All those who've heard that comment, move to the right.
Check back again next year. I'm sure the quarterback in question will pop up somewhere. And I'm just as sure we will be treated to another mind-numbing saga of "As the Favre Turns."

Future story

I'd be interested in some thoughts from folks about the new athletic fees in the 27J School District .. $100 per sport and no cap.
Fire away ---

The world is still spinning properly

Next to the $33 million, third-string quarterback in Denver, the only other quarterback getting so much attention for doing so little at this time of the preseason is that guy in Minnesota -- you know, the "can't make up my mind if I want to retire" guy?
Guess that means more breathless coverage of people flying to somewhere in Mississippi, watching said quarterback show up in camp, attending his first meeting, tying his shoes, tying someone else's shoes.
There's an axiom in journalism that says, rather simply, the fact you have access to something doesn't mean you should use it.
This charade is pretty intentional, and it's getting real old.

Weird tourney finish

Not sure which was weirder yesterday -- the overall finish to the PGA championship in Wisconsin or the fact that, locally, it was moved to a cable-access channel because of impending preseason football coverage.
The potential PGA champion grounds his club for a two-shot penalty on the 18th hole and misses out on a playoff. The golfer admitted grounding the club and admitted not reading the rules ahead of time ...
Jump in and give your take.

New low in Broncos coverage

Channel 4's instant access to the Denver Broncos produced one of the most worthless stories in 35 years of some pretty bad Broncos coverage.
It was a spoof on quarterback Tim Elbow's haircut -- the one that made him look like a monk. The lead sports person cut someone's hair (don't you need a license for that?), then paraded the kid in front of the $33 million third-string man who has yet to do anything other than get a hair cut.
It belonged on the station's weekly recap of all things Broncos. It had no place in the 10 p.m. newscast.

Time out from sports, time in for friends

GOLDEN -- It was a trip for research into an upcoming story.
It turned out – in part – to see a friend I hadn't seen in years. His name is Tom Young. He was paralyzed 20 years ago during a rescue on Lookout Mountain. His story is on the link ...

http://www.pinnacol.com/acom_docs/annual_report_2009/PinnacolVideos/video1.html

This doesn't seem right

Pittsburgh, one of the worst teams in the majors, splits a four-game series with the Rockies, picked by some to win the N.L. Western Division but a team that apparently can't play on the road and obviously defines Jekyll and Hyde to a "T."
So what do the Pirates do? They fired their bench coach and hitting coach today.
Say what?

Just imagine

I'm trying to think of the day when that former Florida quarterback -- someone Elbow? – actually does something on the football field.
It will be a day of breaking news. Someone will start KLBO Radio – all-Elbow, all the time. There will be posters, fliers. Theater audiences will stand as one and sing the praises.
All for a completed pass.
Until then, we will be treated to breathless updates about him tying his shoes, flopping in mudholes and scruffy beards.
And bulletins as they break.

He's at it again

Great line on the radio this morning, courtesy of Jim Ribble of CNN Radio.
"Brett Favre has decided to retire – for the umpteenth time.
"Guess we have six more weeks of summer."

Little League oversteps replay

The Little League World Series will expand its replay rules to include including force outs, tags on base paths, missed bases and hit batters this year.
It smacks of overkill.
It takes away the judgment part of the umpires' efforts. In this day and age where we blame everyone for everything, who doesn't mind a poorly founded discussion for a week about an umpire's wrong call?
The other thing that's particularly galling has to do with the umpires themselves. They are volunteers. To subject men and women who do this for the love of the game to this sort of scrutiny is hard to comprehend.
At least ESPN can put its 5,000 replay angles to some use.