Rocket is Grounded

Forgetting for a moment that George Mitchell, former lapdog of the Clinton Administration, was perhaps the least original thinker ever to serve under the constitution (I'd still like to know what happened to Louis Sullivan's health care proposal in 1991), and left a series of disparities in his report (which, in full disclosure, I have not read), the allegations against Roger Clemens are nonetheless pretty serious.

Dan Shaughnessy writes about it here.

As I've noted previously in this space (not that any of you read it), true Red Sox fans were somewhat disgruntled that Clemens "mailed in" his last four seasons in Boston, then burned up the league in 1997-1998 while with Toronto. I had previously attributed his success there to a combination of Dan Duquette's misjudgement and Clemens' personal motivation to prove he wasn't done yet. His success later in Houston could easily be attributed to pitching in a pitcher-friendly park against National League lineups that run 5- or 6-deep. On top of that, Clemens' teammates through the years have always attested to his intense work ethic and drive to keep himself in shape.

But his Yankee years are somewhat intriging. I hadn't forgotten that Clemens was a little better than ordinary during his first year in New York (1999), before having strong years in 2000 and 2001.

Now, with steroids et al in the mix, one can't help but see a pattern there. Maybe Dan Duquette was right after all. Stay tuned...

"No Dolphins were harmed in the harvesting of this Tuna"

Bill Parcells has taken a job with the hapless Miami Dolphins. This is his last football job. Really. He means it this time. Seriously. As soon as he wins another playoff game...

Aiming at the Jets

The Boston Globe has two articles / columns on Sunday's upcoming clash between the Patriots and the Jets that capture the backlash of "Spygate" as well as the rapid rise and equally rapid immolation of Jets coach Eric Mangini:

Christopher Gasper's Article

Eric Wilbur's Blog (I found this one absolutely hysterical)

Predictions are something I avoid in the NFL ("any given Sunday" and all that), and I don't even believe that the 0-and-whatever Dolphins are a sure thing next week. It's hard to believe that Belichick's boys will struggle against a team they already destroyed once this season on the road, and that was before the added motivation alluded to above. I suspect BB will pull out all the stops on this one, just to make a point. We'll see...

WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!

The Baltimore Browns, er, Ravens are a very bad team who played a pretty good game Monday night against the undefeated New England Patriots. That being said:

(1) Complaining about the penalties? PUH-LEEZE! The Browns are the second-most penalized team in the NFL. If there were 13 penalties against them, there could have been 40. They are a dirty team that make up for their lack of talent and discipline by breaking the rules. The plays that were flagged weren't even debatable, and that's not counting the ones that were missed.

(2) The Gaffney TD that put the Pats ahead might be open to discussion, but the replays weren't conclusive. However, let's say it was overturned. Then you have double unsportsman-like conduct penalties against the Ravens (Bart Scott, check your voicemail) that would have given the Patriots 1st-and-goal at the 2-yard-line. I somehow think the Brady Bunch would have found a way to score from there.

(3) What exactly possesses Brian Billick to blow kisses at Rodney Harrison? I don't care if Harrison insulted his mother (or his quarterback) -- coaches should be above that kind of stuff, even those that are overpaid and underperforming. That a head coach would act that way with national TV cameras rolling leads one to wonder what other nefarious deeds are taking place on and off the field.

(4) And then there was the Baltimore timeout called on the 4th-and-1 play at the end of the game that saved the Patriots' season.

(5) Finally, I personally thought it was rather tasteless for ESPN to have Don Shula in their broadcast booth for nearly the entire second half. Yeah, I know all about his connection to the original Colts, and of couse that other team in the early 70's that is on the verge of having its record tied, so go ahead and ask him a few questions. But he was in the booth for close to an hour, for crying out loud. Fortunately, I didn't have to listen to him, so I have no idea what he said (and I doubt he said anything too controversial, or we'd be hearing about it today), but the length of the appearance seemed to overstep the lines of objective journalism.

Penalties notwithstanding, I wasn't surprised that the Ravens defense gave the Patriots fits through most of the game. After all, there is some talent there. It was more surprising -- and troubling -- that the Ravens offense was able to move the ball with some consistency, marking the second week in a row that the New England defense has been exposed by a mediocre offense. Perhaps the loss of Roosevelt Colvin is being felt? In any case, it should make for another fun week of practice in Foxboro with the Steelers coming to town on Sunday.

In your spare time...

A few interesting links I discovered between Turkey and leftovers last week:

Story of Snoopy's Christmas Brilliant editing creating animation to accompany an oft-overlooked Christmas Classic

24 in 1994 for you Kiefer Sutherland fans (warning -- mild language)

Eight Letters in Search of a Word Scrabble-like timewaster

Happy Thanksgiving!

Best regards to all six of you who actually read this blog, and a special shout-out to George Soule for hanging tough that first year.

The Day After the Movie Before

Taking a break a few days ago, I caught a few minutes of the broadcast of The Day After Tomorrow. Leaving aside the debatable scientific allegations for a moment, I was struck by two things:

(1) Good grief, the acting was awful. Did anybody actually want to be in this picture? Did they all work for free or something? I know Dennis Quaid isn't exactly Mr. Kinetic Energy, but a little bit of enthusiasm in his role might have been called for.

(2) I wonder if the filmmakers chose the title to intentionally follow 1983's The Day After. After all, the fear of nuclear holocaust in the 1980's has been succeeded by the perceived threat of global climate self-immolation in the 2000's. I saw The Day After in 1983, and saw it again (or at least enough of it) a few years ago to find its premises and prognostications almost laughable. One has to wonder if we'll see The Day After Tomorrow twenty years hence an crack a similarly wry smile when we realize that all this "global warming" nonsense was exactly that. I guess we'll find out one way or another...

Noises

Just some stray thoughts I had on the controversy surrounding the Indianapolis Irsays pumping additional noise into their stadium, specifically during their recent game against the 3-time Super Bowl Champion New England Patriots --

I'm not really a conspiracy theorist, and I find it hard to believe that the Irsays -- even the aforementioned Bill Polian -- would do something so idiotic and, for that matter, unnecessary. Of course, it's also alleged that they pumped up the heat in the RCA Dome during last season's AFC Championship game between the same two teams, so you never know.

I watched the game and noticed the glitch at the beginning of the fourth quarter. It was something I had never heard before on a live network broadcast. The only time I've heard anything like that at all is when a damaged or scratched CD skips in a (usually subpar) CD player.

Later, CBS explained that it was a problem the had "in the truck" -- presumably, some technician was looping through a recording, perhaps endeavoring to find a specific highlight to replay or something.

This makes sense to a point, but thinking about it a little further I still couldn't quite believe it. In order for this to happen --

1. The technician would have to be looking at something that only had crowd noise.

2. He (or she) would have to have left the life sound feed to the broadcast "open," enabling the feedback to be heard over the air.

3. The master recording (or the equipment) would have to damanged in some way in order to facilitate the skipping.

4. All this would have to occur precisely at a time during the game when the crowd noise was rising, the falling after the conclusion of a live play (by the opposing team).

Since I highly doubt CBS uses CD / DVD technology to generate replays or highlights during a live broadcast (rendering #3, above, moot), I have to admit I'm rather skeptical. Again, not to go Oliver Stone on this, but it seems like there's too many coincidences to believe that CBS was responsible -- at least totally responsible -- for this problem. Not to allege any malice on the part of the Irsays necessarily, but I just can't believe CBS's explanation.

That being said, my biggest problem with Super Bowl 41.5 wasn't the Irsays or their fans or any alleged competitive infractions behind the scenes, but the fact that the officiating was absolutely dreadful. The "offensive pass interference" call on Randy Moss was incomprehensively bad. One has to wonder why the NFL assigned a rookie crew to a game of such magnitude.

21st Century World Series Scoreboard

Boston Red Sox 2

New York Yankees 0



Somewhere in the Bronx there's a 7-year-old kid wondering if the Yankees will ever win the World Series in his lifetime...

Where have I been?

Or does anybody really care? Well, it's been a busy couple of months. The licensure requirements for my job are changing next February, so I decided to focus on getting those tests completed before the big rush next year. This included the FINRA (formerly NASD) Series 7 and, just this past week, the Series 66. Preparation for those two monsters consumed what little free time I had, but I was fortunate to pass both on the first attempt. It's also been suggested I take the Series 24, but I haven't decided if I want to take that step or not. Right now, my brain is in recovery mode.

Oh, yeah, and there's been a few sporting events that have provided some diversion (some would say distraction. I'd write more about them but right now I'm distracted by the additional noise Bill Polian is pumping into my house. Stay tuned...

Memorable Quotes

In the 7 minutes it takes me to get from home to office, with the radio tuned to Mike & Mike in the Morning, I heard two memorable quotes:

"The only thing that will make Roger Clemens retire is his age." -- Mike Golic. At this point, what else could it be?

"They won't settle for mediocracy." -- Mike Ditka, referring to Chicago Cubs fans. Kinda like a meritocracy, but governed by those of only average intelligence.

Die Hard

My latest book on tape was the autobiography of Walter Payton, Never Die Easy. It was different than any other recorded book I've read because of the use of a variety of narrators. The format of the book was finalized shortly before Payton died in 1999, and was structured to intersperse Payton's own memories with those of his friends, family and teamates, held together with an overall narration.

While Payton's story is certainly both triumphant and tragic, and while the biography of one of football's all-time greats needs to be told, this project was a disappointment. It is relatively short -- only 7 cassettes, and the first 90 minutes or so is devoted to his final days. Again, a story worth hearing, but not exactly an inspirational way to start. Funnily enough, when I inserted the first cassette I found it was 2/3 of the way through the first side; I wonder if the previous reader gave up.

Undaunted, I slogged through and made my way into his youth and playing career, which covered the next two cassettes, and which was the main point of interest for me getting the book in the first place. The next three cassettes were almost unbearable, as we had to endure endless self-pitying accounts of the trials and travails of his retirement years, most notably his inability to latch onto an NFL expansion team in an ownership / management role. Yeah, Walter, life is hard, and sometimes things don't work out. Too many times I found myself rolling my eyes at the incessant whining of him and others about the 3 or so years he invested in that endeavor, wanting to yell "get over it!" at the tape deck. Only the story's untimate tragic ending kept me from doing so.

The final cassette held some redeeming value, capturing Payton's emphasis on the importance of organ donation, and the comments from his friends and family directly from his private memorial service in 1999. Nonetheless, I was disappointed. By all appearances, this project was rushed to publication too quickly -- some sharp editing would have eliminated the repetition of comments and several factual errors. Beyond that, the overall effect was depressing, not inspiring or uplifting. For a player from a small town in Mississippi that went to a (now) Division I-AA school and went on to set all kinds of records, win a SuperBowl, turn a franchise around and be considered perhaps the most complete player of his generation and perhaps others, I feel that "Sweetness" deserved better than this.

Midsummer Classic

These All-Star Games make me feel old. I not only remember when the National League won the game, but when they would win it every year with regularity.

Like most national broadcasts, it started too late, ran too long, and ran the commercial breaks right up to the windup. Otherwise, a fairly enjoyable game that not only saw Josh Beckett get the win, but Alex Rodriguez make a fool of himself.

Prior to the game, there was a tribute to the great Willie Mays. Richly deserved, to be sure, but I couldn't help but compare it to the thunderous ovation Ted Williams received at the 1999 All-Star Game in Boston. AT&T Park, by contrast, sounded like a cavern, at least from my vantage point in front of the television. Perhaps it was the total lack of buildup by way of introduction given by Fox's Joe Buck -- a brief sentence, nothing more. Compare that to the intro given to the Spinter in 1999, which I almost know by memory --

"Ladies and gentlmen -- he wore the uniform of the Boston Red Sox for 22 seasons. He wore the uniform of the United States Marine Corps for 4-1/2 more. He owned left field at this very ballpark. He hit 521 home runs, including one in his last at-bat. He was the last man to hit .400, and he did so 58 years ago. Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome -- the greatest hitter who ever lived -- number 9 -- Hall of Famer -- Baseball Legend -- TED --- WILLIAMS!"

At this point the house on Yawkey Way was literally coming down, as the Kid himself was brought in on a golf cart. That's how you're supposed to introduce a legend, San Francisco.

Rod Beck (1968-2007)

The relief pitcher whose picture appeared in the dictionary next to the definition of mullet has died tragically at age 38 at his home in Arizona.

The Boston Globe reports that the cause of death is under investigation, so more details to follow.

Rod Beck pitched for the Red Sox from 1999-2001 and is most remembered (albeit unfairly) during that time for the home run he gave up to Bernie Williams in Game 1 of the 1999 ALCS. Ah, the Jimy Williams era in Boston. What a nightmare...

Beck had his best years with the SF Giants and one good season with the Cubs, helping them to the wild card in 1998.

Man knows not his time.

Surly Bonds of Baseball

The SF Giants came to Fenway Park for the first time since they were the NY Giants in 1912.

Dan Shaugnessy has some strong words on Barry Bonds here.

Bob Hohler has a longer article -- less vitriolic -- here. One of the people he interviews makes the interesting point that Bonds was a pretty good player (ie 3-time MVP) before he (allegedly) went on his steroid binge in the late 1990's.

In the view of this reporter, it's a shame that a supremely talented player has besmirched his image both by a lifelong surliness and then by the steroids. The former offense could be forgiven (after all, not everyone can be expected to be Cal Ripken). The latter, however, not only violates the integrity of the game, but -- as found in Hohler's article -- really was unnecessary. It's conceivable, at least, that Bonds could have approached Hank Aaron's HR record without the juice.

Meanwhile, the ever-creative Fenway Faithful greeted Bonds with signs distributed by WEEI saying "756*" (note the asterisk), and also displayed a bedsheet with an asterisk in the outfield.

Over and Out

About two years ago, there was a part of me that wanted to see Roger Clemens join the Red Sox for (what I thought would be) his final season(s). It was largely sentimental -- Clemens was, of course, the pivotal player on that magical 1986 team, and it would have completed a circle of sorts to see him finish out his career twenty years later in the same uniform. The "generational" aspect of having him pitch alongside Curt Schilling (who had admired Clemens as a youngster in the Red Sox farm system) and Josh Beckett (who had, in turn, admired Schilling), was also intriging.

Instead, Clemens spent 2005 with the pennant-winning Astros, then part of 2006 with a vastly depleted Astros team. Free again, media talk heated up again this winter that as to whether or not he'd retire, and, failing that, which team would sign him -- either his hometown Astros, the Red Sox, or the Yankees, where he had won a World Series ring.

But to sign the Rocket, you'd have to play by his rules -- he won't consent to being required to travel with the team unless he's scheduled to pitch; he wants to travel back home between starts; and he wants to pretty much do his own thing. Some who have played with Clemens have called him a great teammate. That may be -- but this attitude sounds more like a prima donna.

So, to learn today that Clemens has signed with the Yankees for the duration of the season, my only reaction is ***yawn***. If he wants to spend the twilight of his career with a last-place team, and if Big George wants to invest untold millions in a 45-year-old pitcher who plays by his own set of rules, I really don't care. The novelty of Clemens finishing his career in Boston ended for me a while ago. I have plenty of memories of 1986-1991 that will comfort me at night, and I haven't quite forgotten how he mailed in his last few seasons in the Hub. This reporter is tired of his act and, at this point, really wishes he would just go away.

Astronaut Actifed

Wally Schirra has died. NASA also has an obituary. He was, of course, one of the original "Mercury 7" astronauts and the only astronaut to fly in the Mercury, Gemini and Apollo programs.

His passing comes just a few days after his fellow Mercury astronaut, L. Gordon Cooper, was in the news.

Of "We Seven," now only John Glenn and Scott Carpenter remain. Ironically, John Glenn was the oldest of the Mercury astronauts.

So much for gathering no Moss...

The Patriots acquired Randy Moss on draft day. Obviously, a change in direction from an organization that has tried to build a franchise around character. We'll see how this works -- it did, after all, for Corey Dillon. My initial take is that they didn't really give up too much (a few low draft picks that would have been gambles anyway), and figured it was worth a shot. We'll see...

Several articles here.

"Brian Cashman holding on line 1..."

Don't laugh. They've called up everybody else. If your kid's in little league, keep your phone on.

There's no reason to believe the yankees will bounce back from their horrible April -- other than the fact that they always do. The season isn't over, and of course they've won the last 800 or so division titles. That being said, it was interesting listening to excerpts from Joe Torre's post-game interview today, during which he used every cliche known to man (recreated to the best of my memory).

"It's a 162-game season..."

"It's still early -- it's a marathon, not a spring..."

"I don't question the effort of my players..."

"It's all about momentum..."

"Everyone has to deal with injuries..."

etc. etc. etc.

The Future That Never Was

Here's an interesting blog brought to my attention by Jonah Goldberg:

paleo-future.blogspot.com

Of particular interest to those of us who grew up in the 1970's when talk of "The Year 2000" was rampant.

Thorne in the Flesh

You really have to be kidding me on this one.

Gary Thorne's biography is here -- I always thought he had a good voice and was a pretty good broadcaster. Although he's never worked for the Red Sox, he is a native of Maine and graduated from the University of Maine with a law degree. Although he'd been in broadcasting for several years, I first heard of him in 1990 when he was part of the broadcast team during ESPN's inaugural season of Major League Baseball. He called ESPN's final game of that season -- which happened to be the game in which the Red Sox clinched the AL East title on a miraculous catch by Tom Brunansky. I always felt that Thorne botched this call -- and ESPN botched the coverage -- but that's another story.

Thorne also called Game 7 of the Stanley Cup finals on 6/14/94 when the NY Rangers won their first Cup in 54 years.

All this to say that I can't believe he would say something this stupid and uninformed. Curt Schilling has his take here. I guess he doesn't like the media anymore...

The Best and the Brightest

That may be overstatement, but David Halberstam was clearly one of the best historical writers I've ever come across. I read and enjoyed The Education of a Coach (scroll down) just before football season last year and, reviewing his bibliography, read about 5 or 6 of his books in total.

Bob Ryan has a tribute here. As does the NY Times. RIP.

Imus B. Goewin

For several years Don Imus was on a local station and, if I timed it right, I was able to catch his 7:30 am interview with a notable person (politician, journalist, etc.) on my way to work in the morning.

The rest of the show occasionally had some humorous bits, which were often re-played. I was never overly impressed with Imus' ability as a host (sensing he was propped up by his broadcast partners and production team), but he certainly never took himself too seriously, and he was certainly an "equal opportunity offender." He once described his show as "Hate Radio" -- because everyone on the show hated everyone else.

As for the photograph -- I captured this at Kings Dominion last week outside the Scooby Doo & the Haunted Mansion ride. It was amongst several phony tombstones with fake names, but I couldn't resist taking a picture, particularly given the timing.

The Other Wizard

In another ironic twist, Johnny Hart's partner Brant Parker died on April 15, 2007. Parker and Hart co-created The Wizard of Id in 1964. Brant's son Jeff Parker took over the Wizard in 1997. A full obituary is here.

Off the top of my head, I believe this leaves Mort Walker as the senior American cartoonist, but I haven't researched this. His official website is here.

Salad Days friend JB sent this link of one cartoonist's tribute to Johnny Hart.

Not too long ago, I read one commentator's observation (no source available) that cartoonists like Hart, Parker and The Greatest Of All Time were worthy of the title of "genius" not because of the complexity of their work, but because of its simplicity -- noting that the simple, unadorned strip required much more creativity than the over-elaborate cartoons that populate the funny papers today. An interest point. And of course, in all three cases, you have the simple matter of longevity. As The Greatest Of All Time said at the end of his career, "We have beaten every one of them."

BC and the Wizard

The great Johnny Hart has died. I was never a huge BC fan, but I thought the Wizard of Id was pretty clever. However, I always admired him for having no fear about running an Easter-oriented strip around that time of year. Ironically, not unlike The Greatest of All Time, Johnny died the day before (what would be) his final such strip appeared.

Coach Rob

Eddie Robinson died last week -- legendary coach at Grambling State University. He was portrayed by Harry Belafonte in the otherwise forgettable Grambling's White Tiger. My favorite memory of Coach Rob, however, was his appearance for the coin toss at Super Bowl XXXII (the John Elway game), shortly after he retired, for which he wore a PEANUTS football tie showing Lucy pulling the football away from Charlie Brown.

The attached picture shows him wearing the same tie, while coaching one of his final games (if not the last) at Grambling in November 1997.

84

Darryl Stingley has died. He was the Patriots receiver paralyzed in a 1978 preseason game on a hit by Jack "They Call Me Assassin" Tatum of the Raiders.

About 15 years ago I read his autobiography, Happy to be Alive, which is hard to find but definitely worth picking up.

Bob Ryan has a nice obituary in the Boston Globe. Bob Kraft's comments (video link on the same page) are worth hearing.

He played before I was watching NFL games with any interest, but for whatever reason, my high school had a copy of a 1978 NFL Preseason Guide, which picked the Pats -- led by "Stevie Wonder" Grogan and Darryl "The Peril" Stingley to go to the SuperBowl against the Dallas Cowboys. I wish I'd smuggled that out under my graduation robe.

Oddly enough, he's not in the Patriots Hall of Fame, but I do recall them honoring him at the old Sullivan / Foxboro Stadium before a Monday Night Football Game. "Ladies and Gentlemen, please rise for a very special player introduction . . . . number 84 . . . . Darryl Stingley!"

A class act who never displayed a shred of hatred for a promising career so unfairly cut short. Rest in peace, number 84.

Triple Jeopardy

I just missed this. We had Jeopardy! on last night but I had to leave the room before Final and got distracted and missed the ending. All three contestants ended up tied. I saw this happen once before, and I've seen several two-person ties, including one in a tournament. Tune in Monday...

Hitch a Ride cont'd

We have now learned that Mr. Delp's death was at his own hand. Somewhat contradictory to his outward personality, but a tragedy for his family nonetheless.

Hitch a Ride

Brad Delp has died. He was the lead singer for Boston on four of their five studio albums and had one of the best rock music voices I've ever heard. Only Greg X. Volz (formerly of Petra) had similar range to my untrained ear.

I saw him in concert with Boston twice -- in 1995 and 1997. By then he'd turned over the tougher parts to younger singers including Fran Cosmo, but on both occasions I was floored when he performed flawlessly on Mort Than a Feeling, including -- specifically -- the final note, which was no mean feat for any vocalist, in his prime or otherwise.

I was also impressed -- from a distance -- by his humility. Although Tom Scholz was the lead musician and creative force being Boston, Brad was clearly the glue that held them together, at least on the stage. At the first concert (1995), I wasn't sure who the players were, other than Tom who was easy to recognize. Since Brad hadn't appeared on their most recent album (Walk On), I was somewhat surprised when I figured out (by process of elimination) that he was touring with them. They didn't introduce themselves until the end of the show, and Brad refused to introduce himself. Tom eventually did it, and Brad got a standing O.

While Brad had multiple opportunities -- with and without Boston -- to showcase his talent, it's a shame that Tom Scholz wasn't a little more prolific at producing albums. Although Brad returned to Boston for their last (ie most recent and also, in all likelihood, final) album, Corporate America, the same energy wasn't there as it was for their earlier work together. Five albums in 26 years strikes me as a disappointment, but that's what comes of being a perfectionist.

In any case, a tragedy for his friends, family, and the music world, but he leaves some great material behind. Tributes & news articles include:

Official Boston site
Un-Official Boston site
Barry Goudreau
Boston Globe also here

Number 38 (1913-2006)

One of my earliest posts (scroll down the August 06 Archive) was on the subject of President Gerald Ford. There's been plenty of other tributes to the Great Healer the past week or so. RIP #38.

These events remind of a joke I heard during the Carter administration:

A small plane carrying President Carter, President Ford, Heny Kissinger, a priest and a hippie develops engine trouble, and the pilot and co-pilot immediately bail out, leaving only four parachutes for the five passengers.

President Carter says, "well, I'm president of the United States -- I'm certainly entitled to one." He grabs a parachute and jumps out.

President Ford says, "I've got an important golf game that I can't miss." He grabs a parachute and jumps out.

Kissinger says, "I have to be at a state department reunion tonight." He grabs a parachute and jumps out.

That leaves the priest and the hippie. The priest says, "well, I've lived a good, long life, young man. You can have the last parachute."

The hippie replies, "no way, man -- we can both make it."

"What do you mean?" asks the priest.

"The smartest man in the world just jumped out of the plane with my knapsack."

Somehow I don't think Henry would find that all that funny.