Here are some of the essays that have been aired on Artificial Turf. Feel free to visit the other Classic Essays pages. When you think "Classic" you probably don't think of the Artificial Turf essays. But I didn't know what else to call them. Outdated Essays? Untimely Essays? No Longer Pertinent Essays? Classic sounds better so classic it is. Feel free to comment on any of the essays by reaching us at artificialturf2003@yahoo.com. Thanks for reading.
FOR CARMELO, BECAUSE I CARE…By Bill Rogan (7-9-08)
So Carmelo Anthony has hired a New York PR firm to clean up his image and grow his celebrity.
How touching.
Too bad Carmelo didn’t hire me to be his PR man. I’m less expensive than those bloodsuckers in New York and I’d do a better job too.
Since I’m in a benevolent mood, although that could change at any moment, I’ll advise Melo right now, free of charge. So Carmelo, I hope you get this because unlike you in the playoffs, I’ll shoot straight.
First of all, stop worrying about your celebrity image. Nobody wants to see you on TV shows or movies or in commercials. Not yet anyway.
You are a basketball player. Period. Nothing wrong with that. A lot of people, myself included, would be happy to just be an NBA player.
Win a championship and an MVP award or two and all the celebrity stuff you want will find you. It would also help if you refrain from drunken driving episodes and the various other transgressions that have made you seek out a spin-doctoring company in New York. Remember, win basketball games and stay out of trouble. It really is that simple.
Dedicate yourself to the game. Take care of your family. Keep a low profile. Stay out of night clubs. That formula will take you to new heights and sooner than you might expect. It would also help if you took some speech lessons to eliminate your mumbling. After you win a championship and earn back the trust of the fans, you will get endorsements. If you learn to speak well that will only help you with the new opportunities that will come your way.
Now go Carmelo, my work with you is done. Good luck and be well. Now if you will excuse me, I’d like to move on to my next project…Brandon Marshall.
THE BIG BALLYARD IN THE BRONX...By Bill Rogan (7-6-08)
My favorite place as a kid in the entire world was Yankee Stadium. As an adult it still is my favorite place in the world. If you like baseball, appreciate the game’s history and love the Yankees where else would you want to be?
This past week I was in New York and paid my final visit to Yankee Stadium, barring an unforeseen last second trip back to the Bronx.
I hadn’t been to Yankee Stadium for several years the main problem being that I live in Denver and I hate to fly.
When I walked into the Stadium I felt at home again. Yankee Stadium is still beautiful. It is the perfect ballpark. It would take hours upon hours to share all the memories I have of the place.
I feel sad knowing that this is the final season for Yankee Stadium as the new billion dollar park is nearing completion across the street. The new stadium looks impressive from the outside but it is totally unnecessary. If the Steinbrenner’s wanted more luxury boxes they could have built them in the current stadium. But if the Mets are getting a new ballpark then the Yankees wanted one too and visa versa.
If you’ve never been to a game at Yankee Stadium, it is an experience. The fans are into the game from the first pitch on. People yell, scream, plead, heckle, dance, cheer and carry on all game long. It’s a fun time. Laid back is not how you would describe the crowd at Yankee Stadium.
I went to the game with my nephew. At one point, thinking he was being funny, he yelled, “Let’s go Texas.” Two rugged looking guys sitting in front of us turned around and glared at the now nervous 12-year old. At that point he was on his own and if he got a beat down, well, he would have deserved it. I’d have probably gotten in a few shots myself.
My nephew will end up going to many games at the new Yankee Stadium. I’m glad he got a chance to see some games at the current park. But I’m guessing he won’t miss the place like I will.
MEET THE MESS...By Bill Rogan (6-19-08)
The New York Mets are a disgrace to baseball. I don’t say this because I’ve always hated the Mets. I say this as a neutral observer who was appalled by the Mets treatment of now former Manager Willie Randolph.
Willie Randolph is no bum. He’s earned 6 World Series rings as a player and coach. He’s been around the block and deserves to be treated with respect.
Was he a good fit as manager of the Mets? Probably not. His team suffered through a colossal collapse last September, blowing a 7-game lead to the Phillies with 17-games to play. The team, with a hefty payroll has underachieved this season and some of the blame has to be placed at Randolph’s feet. Willie also played the race card earlier this year, wondering if he was being vilified because he’s a black manager. That didn’t help his cause. If you don’t win as a manager in New York you will get vilified no matter what your race or ethnicity may be.
My beef with the Mets is specifically aimed at pinhead owner Fred Wilpon, his lapdog son Jeff and General Manager Omar Minaya.
They let Randolph twist in the wind for a month, allowing him to show up at the ballpark each day wondering if he would still have a job after the game that night. The media pressure was intense and the Mets brain trust, there’s an oxymoron, was silent. Willie couldn’t get any answers regarding his job security. That’s wrong. After Sunday’s doubleheader split with the Rangers at Shea Stadium, the Mets allowed Randolph to fly with the club to Anaheim where they fired him at 3 a.m. Tuesday morning following a win over the Angels. They didn’t know they would fire him weeks ago? They weren’t sure if they would let Randolph go before he boarded a plane to California? Did they fire him at that particular time hoping for as little media coverage as possible? What, the Mets brass can’t take the heat?
You let a guy’s job hang in the balance on a daily basis, you let speculation run rampant, and you let him fly cross-country only to fire him the next day in the early morning hours? That’s wrong. That’s shabby treatment by any standards. Just business as usual for a joke of an organization.
MR. V …By Bill Rogan (6-18-08)
I took a recent trip to New York to attend to family business. Feeling a bit nostalgic, I decided to drive over to the park near my mom’s house to take a look. You know, for old time’s sake.
Not much had changed since my last visit a decade ago. The basketball court where I dominated in my younger days (note sarcasm) was still there. The same for the baseball field, tennis courts and handball courts. The small lake looked the same.
The park was quiet except for a couple of mothers with baby strollers enjoying the late morning sun. There was a dopey kid on a skateboard nearby and an older gentleman throwing a ball against the handball wall. Just a quiet Monday at the park.
After taking in the scene, I began to stroll with flashbacks and memories stirring in my head. As I got closer to the handball courts, I recognized the man throwing the ball. He wasn’t just lobbing it either. He was firing the ball against that huge cement wall.
I looked closely at the man and I couldn’t believe it. It was John Verwoert, one of my former baseball coaches and a man whom I met 27-years earlier. I hadn’t seen him in at least 10-years.
“Mr. V,” I yelled.
He walked over to the fence. It took a couple of seconds before he replied in his New York accent, “Billy Rogan. What are you doin’ here? You’re supposed to be in Denvah.”
I entered the handball courts and we shook hands.
Mr. V told me he just celebrated his 78th birthday. I was astounded. 78? I didn’t know he was that old. He looked just like he did 20-years earlier.
He handed me his glove and had me throw the ball against the wall as we talked about the old days and what we were up to today. I noticed the glove was relatively new and broken in well. I thought to myself, “What guy in his 70’s buys a new baseball glove…for himself!” Mr. V, that’s who.
“Mr. V, people must think you’re crazy to be out here throwing a baseball around,” I said.
“Probably,” Mr. V said with a smile. “But I don’t care.”
During our conversation, Mr. V reminded me of his baseball philosophies, the same theories I had heard many years prior. Philosophies like “the neck pitch,” “stepping on eggs,” and my personal favorite, “baseball is a martial art.” It would take hours to explain Mr. V’s original baseball teaching philosophies and analogies so don’t ask.
While he was coaching at John Jay College in Manhattan, Mr. V explained that he improved the hitting of a couple of players from the Dominican Republic by teaching them that hitting a baseball was like chopping sugar cane.
“What are ya doin’ tonight?” Mr. V asked.
“Nothing.”
“Good, we got a game tonight.”
Holy flashback Batman.
I played for Mr. V’s team in a mostly college age league for three years beginning in 1981. Then in 1984, I started my own team in the same league called the Pearl River Salty Dogs. A year or two later we asked Mr. V to be our coach and he’s been the coach of the Salty Dogs ever since.
“We’re playing Saddle Brook,” Mr. V told me. “Skelly still plays.”
Ah, Skelly. Mike Skelly is a medical doctor now. He was an original Salty Dog and one of the best amateur hitters I’ve ever seen. Example: We played a game at Doubleday Field in Cooperstown in the early 90’s and Skelly hit a ball completely over the white, two-story house in right-centerfield. It was a jaw-dropping bomb.
Mr. V asked, “So, you playin’ ball in Denvah?”
My last year playing was 1993 and I haven’t given much thought to seriously playing again.
“Mr. V, I’m 46.”
“So,” responded Mr. V. “Jerry Quigley’s still pitchin’. He’s 51. Threw five shutout innings last week and got the win. You should find a team in Denvah to play on.”
I went to the game that night. Mr. V put me to use as the first base coach. Felt strange but nice.
I can’t remember the name of the player who batted ninth in the Salty Dogs lineup but I recalled a conversation I had with Mr. V years back when he penciled me into the nine spot in the batting order. Mr. V had sat next to me on the bench and put his arm around me. He said, “Billy, do you know why I’m batting you ninth tonight?”
“For speed at the bottom of the order?”
“No. The reason you’re batting ninth…is because there’s no number ten!” He’s managed a million games and I bet he’s said that to every guy who has batted ninth for him.
The game between the now tradition laden Pearl River Salty Dogs and the Saddle Brook Whatevers was called due to rain and lighting after three scoreless innings.
Mr. V, Skelly and me then drove to a restaurant in Pearl River to talk about baseball and everything else. Mike paid the tab. He should, he’s a doctor.
I had lost contact with these guys through the years and that’s sad. It was nice to reconnect. And it all occurred because I happened to cross paths again with a 78-year old guy who still loves baseball, coaching and the simple act of throwing a baseball against a wall.
SHUT YOUR STINKIN’ FACE…By Bill Rogan (6-8-08)
“You had to be a big shot didn’t ya, you had to open up your mouth”…Billy Joel
“It’s a foregone conclusion,” said Trainer Rick Dutrow Junior, speaking of Big Brown’s chances to win the Belmont Stakes and the elusive triple crown.
One problem. Big Brown finished last and now Dutrow has massive egg on his pudgy face. He’s no Joe Namath.
When you open your trap and denigrate the rest of the field you better win. And a horse trainer, of all people, should know that there is no such thing as a sure thing, especially in horse racing.
Who knows what happened to Big Brown in the Belmont. Perhaps his foot injury was bothering him. The sweltering heat may have been the culprit. Maybe, just maybe, Big Brown just didn’t feel like racing yesterday. We’ve all gone to work at one time or another and our minds and bodies were elsewhere. If Big Brown could talk maybe he would have said, “Well fellas, just wasn’t into it today.”
Hopefully Dutrow learned some humility this weekend. The braggart who wouldn’t and couldn’t pipe down was not so eager to face the media following Big Brown’s terrible showing. Funny, he was front and center before every microphone and camera when Big Brown won the Kentucky Derby and The Preakness.
So congrats to the Belmont winner Da’Tara. And thanks to Big Brown for being the one to finally shut up the irritating and arrogant Rick Dutrow Junior.
The pauper champ…By Bill Rogan (6-6-08)
Former NBA great Patrick Ewing once said, “We might make a lot of money, but we spend a lot of money.” I’m sure that earned the players sympathy from the fans during the lockout of 1998.
I think of that comment every time some big time athlete ends up broke.
The latest to hit skid row is former heavyweight champeen Evander Holyfield. The pugilist, who made 34-million dollars in one night when he fought Mike Tyson in 1997, is in serious financial straights.
His 109-room, 54-thousand square foot mansion complete with 17 bathrooms and a bowling alley is in foreclosure. He’s being sued for over a half a million dollars by a landscaping company that did work on his 235-acre Georgia estate. To top it off he could be facing jail time for falling behind on his child payments. When you have at least nine kids with several different women it tends to take a chunk out of your bankroll.
Holyfield, who talks the religious talk but apparently walks the Travis Henry walk is 45-years old, still fighting and wants to win the heavyweight title for the fifth time. We now know why he continues to box; he needs the money.
But I have another question. While everyone is accountable for their own actions, who in the world was advising Holyfield when he was making over $200 million in the ring while getting his brain scrambled? His managers should be ashamed of themselves for allowing the once filthy rich Holyfield to become the latest financial casualty of boxing.
ESPN SAYS IT'S OK TO DISPARAGE JESUS...By Bill Rogan (5-28-08)
Mark Madden, a highly rated sports talk show host for ESPN’s affiliate in Pittsburgh has been fired. Not by his bosses in the Steel City but by the ESPN brass in Connecticut. Madden was terminated for his comment regarding Senator Ted Kennedy who was recently diagnosed with brain cancer. Madden said, quote, “I'm very disappointed to hear that Senator Ted Kennedy of Massachusetts is near death because of a brain tumor. I always hoped Senator Kennedy would live long enough to be assassinated.”
It was not the first time Madden has made insensitive remarks. He’s made a living out of such comments. He was warned that should such an approach continue he would lose his job. So, he lost his job. ESPN made it clear that they will not tolerate such insulting comments.
Then why does Dana Jacobson have a job? The ESPN anchor and show host of something called “First Take” still has her job despite her despicable behavior in January of this year at a roast for morning radio hosts Mike Greenberg and Mike Golic.
Jacobson chugged alcohol straight from the bottle at the event. When it was her turn to speak, with Golic, a former Notre Dame football player listening, Jacobson said, and I’m cleaning this up here, “F Notre Dame,” “F Touchdown Jesus,” and “F Jesus.”
Why wasn’t she fired for remarks that most people would agree are much more disgraceful and repugnant than what Madden said? With Madden you could either change the station or simply pass it off as bluster, bluster that his sizable audience apparently wanted to hear. Madden is a loudmouth and always has been. I went to school with the guy and he hasn’t matured very much at all.
With Jacobson, how can you defend her remarks about Jesus? ESPN did a good job of sweeping that episode under the rug.
Maybe Mark Madden should have consulted with Dana Jacobson on how she kept her job despite publicly embarrassing herself, her employer and making indefensible remarks about Jesus.
FLORIDA STATE CAN GO TO HELL...By Bill Rogan (5-22-08)
How in the world can Preston Parker be a student at FSU after he was caught with a loaded 45 caliber gun? For good measure he was also cited for marijuana possession. How come he hasn’t been kicked out of school and thrown in jail?
Preston Parker is the leading receiver on the Seminoles football team, that’s how.
Parker was arrested for felony possession of the loaded gun but then had the charge reduced to misdemeanor possession. How can that be?
Preston Parker is the leading receiver on the Seminoles football team, that’s how.
Parker, will get punished however. Senile Head Coach Bobby Bowden has suspended Parker for the first two games of the season. Those games are against powerhouse squads Western Carolina and Tennessee-Chattanooga. The third game of the year, a league game against Wake Forest, Parker will be eligible to play. How convenient. He’ll also have to do some community service. Hopefully not in my community.
If I was the parent of a Florida State student, I would be in an uproar over this thug still being allowed to roam the campus. With all the shootings that have occurred recently on college campuses, I would demand to know what is being done to insure the safety of my child. Keeping Parker enrolled in school and on the football team after being convicted of possessing a loaded gun is dangerous, stupid and highly insensitive. Explain to me, how Florida State can justify this?
Oh yeah. Preston Parker is the leading receiver on the Seminoles football team, that's how.
FORK IN THE ROAD...By Bill Rogan (5-15-08)
To be the starting quarterback for the defending National Champion Louisiana State Tigers would be a pretty good deal.
Ryan Perrilloux was in that position and he blew it. The MVP of last season’s SEC Championship game was supposed to enter his junior year as the QB of the Bayou Bengals. Not now.
Perrilloux, 21, will be suiting up for the Gamecocks instead. No, not South Carolina but the Jacksonville State Gamecocks from Jacksonville, Alabama, out of the Ohio Valley Conference. Since Jacksonville State is a 1-AA school, check that, in the Football Championship Subdivision, Perrilloux won’t have to sit out a season and can play right away.
The reason Perrilloux won’t be with LSU this season is because Tigers Head Coach Les Miles finally got tired of his antics. He was suspended and disciplined numerous times during his time in Baton Rouge for transgressions such as trying to enter a casino with a fake I.D., getting into fisticuffs at a nightclub, for allegedly failing a drug test, missing classes and team workouts. Apparently LSU finally enacted their nine strikes and you’re out policy.
Perrilloux is immensely talented. NFL type talent. But it is fairly obvious that he is also a screw up. He’s certainly not the only one. Maybe the only one though with such an incredible opportunity. He’s had more chances than you or I would get and I’m guessing he’ll be on a short lease at Jacksonville State .
While Jacksonville State isn’t as glamorous as LSU, maybe being out of the glare of the SEC spotlight will benefit Perrilloux.
Perrilloux has two options. He can continue to get in trouble and we can look back in a few years and shake our heads at a guy who completely wasted his talent.
Or, Perrilloux can go to Jacksonville State with a good attitude, stay out of trouble, excel on the field and in the classroom and we can talk about an NFL quarterback who got his life in order and made something of himself.
I hope, for his sake, that he takes the latter path.
a holiday for holliday…By Bill Rogan (5-13-08)
Rockies left fielder Matt Holliday is one of the premier players in baseball. He’s a physical specimen who can rocket line drives all over the yard and belt fastballs to distant reaches of the bleachers.
So why was Holliday, this past Sunday, sitting on the bench against the Padres?
The Rockies are struggling and need all hands on deck to turn the season around as soon as possible.
Was it really necessary for a 15-22 team to rest the 28-year old Holliday who happened to be hitting .315? It’s not as if he’s in a slump. He doesn’t play a demanding position like catcher or shortstop.
If I owned the Rockies I would want some answers from Manager Clint Hurdle.
If I’m paying 9.5 million dollars this season to Holliday, he better have a broken leg to not be in the lineup. Holliday himself should have marched into Hurdle’s office and demanded to play.
This team is playing wretched baseball and their best hitter is taking the day off in sunny San Diego? In May? He’s played 37-games and he needs a break? What? It’s not as if the Rockies were leading the division by 7-games in August and Holliday was dragging.
I don’t know if Cal Ripken is laughing hysterically at the notion of resting the strapping Holliday or if he is simply shaking his head.
All I know is the Rockies need Holliday in the lineup, not working on his suntan. The way things are going he’ll have plenty of time to rest…in October since the Rockies won’t be there.
RACE HORSES ARE ATHLETES...By Bill Rogan (5-6-08)
The question is simple. Is a race horse an athlete? The answer is simple. Of course it is. How can it not be?
An athlete runs and competes. A race horse runs and competes. A race horse is clearly an athlete.
An athlete competes in a sport. Horse racing is a sport. How can you have a sport without athletes?
The reason I bring this up is because there are people who claim a race horse is not an athlete. Their weak rationale being that since a horse is not a human it can’t be an athlete. To me that just doesn’t make sense. If that is that is the best argument they can present it’s a good thing these people aren’t lawyers.
One person I know has even gone so far as to say that horse racing isn’t a sport, it’s a gambling event. If that is the case then what would you call the NFL? Do you think football would be as popular as it is without gambling?
If you still feel horses aren’t athletes, go to the track sometime and stand trackside. Witness firsthand how fast and agile these equine athletes are as they work in unison with a jockey. If you then feel that race horses aren’t finely conditioned athletes then you simply don’t get it or are too stubborn to understand.
ESPN did a feature a few years ago on the 100 greatest athletes of the 20th century. Secretariat was 35th. Man o’ War and Citation were also on the list.
There you have it. Race horses are indeed athletes. End of story.
THE ROCKET CRASHES...By Bill Rogan (5-2-08)
Would you like to be Roger Clemens? One time, maybe. Who wouldn’t want to be able to zip a 95-mile an hour fastball past overmatched hitters?
At one time I hated Clemens. When he pitched for the Red Sox I couldn’t stand the guy and was joyous every time he lost. It wouldn’t have bothered me had he blown out his elbow or shoulder and never pitched again. Yes, I can be a horrible human at times.
When he joined the Blue Jays and won a couple of Cy Young Awards, my hatred for him thawed. After all, he was making Boston look bad for not signing him and saying he was in the twilight of his career.
When he joined the Yankees, suddenly I loved the guy. He wore the pinstripes and helped the Yanks to a pair of World Series titles while winning another Cy Young Award.
He retired with the Yankees after the 2003 World Series. Then he unretired to play for the Astros. An effective pitcher into his 40’s, we admired his incredible work ethic.
Now it appears that Roger was a cheater, in more ways than one. He was named in the Mitchell Report as a steroid cheat. His appearance on Capitol Hill to refute his former trainer’s testimony was weak. As much as I wanted to believe Clemens, it was hard to do so.
This week the New York Daily News reported that the married Clemens had a 10-year affair with then 15-year old singer Mindy McCready whose life reads like a bad country song. Now other women have been named as someone Clemens was involved with and it keeps getting worse for self-professed family man Roger.
His lawyer Rusty Hardin continues to look like a complete buffoon but has taught me a valuable lesson. Never hire a lawyer named Rusty.
One time I hated Clemens, one time I cheered for him and at all times I admired him. Not anymore. The afterburners are off The Rocket and he’s crashed with a thud.
Hopefully he’ll go away like Mark McGwire, Barry Bonds, Rafael Palmiero and all the rest who have disgraced the game and themselves.
A SATURDAY TO FORGET…By Bill Rogan (4-27-08)
It was the worst of times and it was the worst of times. It couldn’t get much worse for sports fans of Colorado yesterday.
Saturday April 26, 2008 may go down as the worst day in Colorado sports history, other than the four Super Bowl losses suffered by the Broncos. Nothing is worse than losing a Super Bowl. That’s a bad day that’s hard to beat but yesterday came close.
The Nuggets and Avalanche got the stuffing beaten out of them in playoff games. The Rockies also got stomped on, giving up 10 first inning runs in an 11-3 beat down in Los Angeles. The soccer Rapids lost 2-1 in Chicago. Even the indoor lacrosse team in Denver, something called the Mammoth lost to something called the Stealth 11-6. As for the Broncos yesterday, they participated in the NFL draft and we won’t know how they did for another two or three years. But, if Ryan Clady and Eddie Royal turn out to be busts it will only make this day even worse for Colorado sports fans. You didn’t think that would be possible did you?
Back to the Avalanche. They were manhandled in Detroit by a ravenous Red Wings team. The effort is always there for the Avs but yesterday the results weren’t. Down 2-0 the Avs are up against it but we’ll see how they fare when the series returns to Denver.
As for the Nuggets, history may look upon yesterday as the day the house came tumbling down. The Lakers humiliated Team Tattoo on their home floor, 102-84, taking a 3-0 stranglehold on the series. The face of the franchise Carmelo Anthony said the team, including the coaches, quit. I don’t know if the coaches quit. Did George Karl play? No. Did he tell his team to play defense and take better shots? I’m guessing he did. If anyone quit it was Anthony who shot a dismal 5-22 from the floor and may have shot himself out of a Nuggets uniform. Anthony, who was quick to place blame on anyone and everyone is just 4-19 in his Denver postseason career.
So while it was a horrific day as far as Denver sports are concerned, remember this. There is always another game and another season and world will still keep revolving. And maybe Clady and Royal will turn out to be Hall of Famers. Colorado fans can only hope something good comes out of yesterday.
THE OBJECTIVE IS TO WIN...By Bill Rogan (4-25-08)
FIFA is not the name of a fancy French poodle belonging to some rich, snobby, fur coat wearing woman. No, FIFA is the world governing body of soccer and stands for…I don’t know what FIFA stands for and I don’t feel like looking it up. I just know that soccer fans in the USA are different than soccer fans in every other country.
In Europe or South America or wherever else soccer, or Futbol, is king, they don’t seem mind tie games. In our country however, ties are a perceived to be a complete and total waste of time. Legendary Alabama football coach Bear Bryant once said, “A tie is like kissing your sister.” Not good, unless your sister is Jessica Alba.
If a fan here decides to go to their first MLS game and the end result is a tie, they are likely not going back anytime soon. If it is a scoreless tie, forget it, the MLS has lost a fan for good.
In every major sport in America, there are no ties with the exception of the NFL, which on the rare occasion plays a tie game after a full quarter of overtime. There are no ties in the NHL anymore, a wise move. Baseball will play all night if necessary to find a winner. Exhibit A being the recent 22-inning affair by the Rockies and Padres.
But in soccer you have tie games. A lot of tie games. When a team plays for the tie, that makes for a long and dull contest. American’s don’t do long and dull very well.
The MLS should tell FIFA it will play an overtime period and if a winner is not determined, then a shootout of some type will settle things. If FIFA objects then the MLS Commissioner, Don Garber, should tell them the take a hike. Bet you didn’t think I knew the MLS Commissioner’s name did you? Ok, I looked it up.
If Major League Soccer insists on allowing tie games after 90-minutes with no overtime period they should just change the name of their league to Minor League Soccer.
THE HATED ONE...By Bill Rogan (4-16-08)
The NHL always seems to have a player that is the undisputed most hated guy in the league. A pest, agitator or nuisance are some of the nicer words that can be said about these players. They’ll do anything they can to win even if it means using underhanded tactics.
In the past, those who have been among the most hated players include Matthew Barnaby, Esa Tikkanen, Kenny “The Rat” Linseman and Bobby Clarke. Avs fans are familiar with the irritating Theo Fleury, Ian Laperriere and maybe the best pest and most hated player of all time Claude Lemieux.
The current most hated player in the NHL, in a landslide, is the Rangers Sean Avery. His antics the other night against the Devils may have been bush league to some. Gamesmanship to others, like Rangers fans. He waved his stick in front of New Jersey net minder Martin Brodeur in an effort to screen and distract. Avery did it because there was no rule against such shenanigans. Until now. The NHL acted swiftly and now such actions will result in a penalty. I’m sure Avery doesn’t mind. He’ll find some other way to be a pain in the derriere to opposing teams.
Avery is the guy you hate if he is the opponent. I’m sure some players on his own team don’t necessarily like Avery but the fact is the Rangers play better with Avery in the lineup then when he is out.
If Avery can draw a penalty, get under the other team’s skin and create mayhem on the ice that eventually leads to a Rangers win, then he’s done his job. Lost in all of this is that Avery is actually a pretty good two way player who scored a goal in the same game in which he invented a new way to antagonize Brodeur.
Rangers fans love Avery. Everybody else hates him. Avery doesn’t give a rat’s behind so long the Rangers win.
Penguins veteran forward Gary Roberts, with more than 20 years in the NHL, said simply about Avery, “He’s an idiot.”
Maybe Avery is an idiot. He might even agree with Roberts’ assessment. But he’s an idiot a lot of teams would like to have.
THE INNOCENTS…By Bill Rogan (4-10-08)
I feel terribly for Monique Hennagan, La Tasha Colander-Richardson and Jearl Miles-Clark.
Who are these ladies? They won Olympic gold medals in the 1600 meter relay event at Sydney in 2000. But they just lost the race this week.
The International Olympic Committee disqualified the runners and stripped them of their medals.
While you may not be totally familiar with Hennagan, Colander-Richardson and Miles-Clark, I’m sure you are aware of their relay teammate, Marion Jones.
Jones, who admitted using performance enhancing drugs at the Sydney Games, was stripped of her 5 Olympic medals in December. She cheated and needs to pay the price but unfortunately dragged others through this mess.
Her Olympic teammates did nothing wrong and are innocent victims. They were clean and are fighting to keep the medals that they worked a lifetime for that the IOC wants to reclaim.
The IOC says that since the doped up Jones was part of the relay team that won the gold, they have to disqualify the entire team.
I happen to agree with the IOC. You win as a team and you lose as a team. You can’t disqualify Jones and take her gold medal away but claim the other three runners are still champions. It doesn’t work that way.
Yes it stinks. It is simply awful and I don’t know of a solution that would placate Hennagan, Colander-Richardson and Miles-Clark, who are planning to fight the ruling in court. But it would be unfair to the Jamaican team that finished second not to punish the USA’s tainted 1600 meter relay team.
I wonder what Jones is thinking about this situation as she sits in a Texas prison, serving a 6-month sentence for perjury.
ZERO TOLERANCE...By Bill Rogan (4-9-08)
In 2006, Braves minor league outfielder Jordan Schafer batted .240 in low A ball. Last season Schafer hit .312 and led the minors in hits with 176 in high class A ball. Nice improvement by a guy that Baseball America rated the 25th best prospect in minor league baseball. I wonder how he did it.
This year, Schaefer’s AA season has been derailed. He’s been suspended for using HGH. The Braves plan to “support and counsel” the 21-year old. I wonder how firmly entrenched in his corner Atlanta would be if Schafer was just roster filler instead of a prospect?
The more I learn of athletes using illegal performance enhancing drugs the more I want to vomit. I’m sick of it, absolutely sick and tired of it.
There are people playing on the level who are working hard to make it in the sport of their choice. The cheaters are not only cheating the game and the public, they are doing an enormous disservice to the clean athletes. It also places the clean athletes under the umbrella of suspicion and that is wrong.
There is no choice. Suspensions, which are merely slaps on the wrist, don’t work. It has not eliminated cheating. Curtailed it to some degree maybe but the cheating goes on. There needs to be a zero tolerance policy. If you test positive for performance enhancing drugs then you are done. No second chances. You get a hearing and if proven guilty its good bye and good riddance.
Would a zero tolerance policy clean up sports? Yes, but not completely. There will always be athletes who try to beat the system. If that’s a game they want to play, fine but when they are caught its game over.
ULTIMATE NONSENSE…By Bill Rogan (4-3-08)
Ultimate fighting came to town this past week, Broomfield to be exact. Some people love it, some people don’t and others deplore it so much that they want it banned. Several states have already banned ultimate fighting which John McCain once termed “human cock fighting.”
Personally, ultimate fighting is not my thing and I think it reflects poorly on us as a society. But if two guys want to punch, kick and gouge each other into a bloody mess, then fine, go at it. Maybe some people just enjoy having their faces mangled, their bodies bruised and their bones broken.
Even though I like boxing, hockey and football, violent sports all, I detest the violent nature and savagery of ultimate fighting. It just seems stupid to me, like a more refined version of a barroom brawl or back alley street fight. The thing I dislike the most about this so-called sport though is the kicking. I was told and taught as a youngster that when you get into a scrap you duke it out. You don’t kick the person you are fighting. Kicking was for sissies. I’m not going to call an ultimate fighter a sissy but that is why boxing to me is far superior and more artistic than ultimate fighting.
I’m guessing the novelty of ultimate fighting will wear off eventually. I don’t think it will go away completely because it will always appeal to the bloodthirsty portion of society.
I also believe that one day boxing will return to a more prominent role on the sports landscape. Maybe not like in the past but certainly more than the irrelevant role it holds now. Boxing desperately needs that one electrifying heavyweight to get people excited about the sport again. That would be the worst thing that could happen to ultimate fighting.
HOPELESS…by Bill Rogan (3-28-08)
As we embark on another baseball season, I wonder what the odds are for a Kansas City-Pittsburgh World Series?
The Royals simply aren’t interested in winning. Owner David Glass just wants to pocket luxury tax money. Plus, the Royals are clearly inept when it comes to building a team through their farm system or shrewd deals. So long Glass can have his family on the board of directors and get good seats to the games; I suppose he’s content to watch a once proud franchise flounder.
Speaking of once proud franchises, the state of the Pirates is equally disheartening. A team that once had Hall of Famers such as Roberto Clemente and Willie Stargell, now has a team of nobodies that nobody seems to be interested in watching. They have had 15 consecutive losing seasons with no end in sight for a winning campaign.
The organization squawked that they needed a new ballpark to contend. Well, the state of Pennsylvania coughed up the bucks for beautiful PNC Park. Guess what? The most games the Pirates have won since moving into their new taxpayer funded yard seven years ago is 75 in 2003. Like the Royals, the Pirates are dumber than a box of rocks when it comes building a team.
So if you are a fan of the Royals and Pirates, enjoy April while you are still in the race. When May hits, focus your attention on other activities until football season starts. However, if you are the ultimate optimist, perhaps you can go to Vegas, put some sheckles down on a prop bet that has the Royals and Bucs squaring off in the World Series. Wait, no one would be that braindead to make that bet. Unless it is someone in the Royals or Pirates front office.
SOMETHING'S ROTTEN IN DENVER...By Bill Rogan (3-23-08)
The Broncos this past week laid-off, fired, de-employed, axed, relieved or sent packing eight front office employees. The reason apparently wasn't work related but fiscally motivated.
Perhaps all the millions thrown at free-agent busts over the years have finally caught up to the Broncos. Maybe better due diligence and savvy could have prevented wasting money on free-agent busts and saved a few front office people their jobs.
If Pat Bowlen's pockets have taken a hit due to lousy money management by his football staff, namely Head Coach Mike Shanahan, then maybe Bowlen fired the wrong people.
It is sad when eight loyal employees making a fraction of what the players make get canned because of the absurd amount of money gleefully handed out to free-agents. If one free-agent doesn't pan out, no problem, just get another one and another one.
The Broncos are a mess. Their drafts have been awful, their free-agent success has been sporadic at best and the guy running the show is living off two long ago Super Bowl wins. It's almost hard to believe that this once model franchise even won seven games last year.
It is time Bowlen started holding the football decision makers responsible for failed seasons and failed bottom lines. General Manager Ted Sundquist was let go but Shanahan is still calling the shots.
Most NFL teams print money. I thought only Art Modell was the only NFL owner who had no clue how money works or how to make money in the most profitable sports league in America. Apparently I was wrong.
