6:00 PM CBS Chicago reports that Michael P. Ditka, the 49-year-old son of former Bears coach Mike Ditka, may get out of his drunk driving charges after a judge ruled that some of the evidence gathered by police cannot be used in his trial.
(Merkin Tweeted quotes before MLB.com deleted them from piece)
As part of the story, Chicago White Sox Pitcher Buerhle said of notorious past dog abuser Michael Vick:
“He had a great year and a great comeback, but there were times where we watched the game and I know it’s bad to say, but there were times where we hope he gets hurt. Everything you’ve done to these dogs, something bad needs to happen to these guys.”
Buerhle’s raw, unfiltered feelings about Vick no doubt offended many who read it.
Check that.
Buerhle’s raw, unfiltered feelings about Vick no doubt offended many who read it before MLB.com editors deleted the entire quote from the story.
After the censorship, MLB.com added the following line to the bottom of the story: “This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.”
I’m a dog lover myself, but would like to think that the majority of the population would agree that wishing harm on someone in that circumstance is wholly inappropriate. Read more…
“My first dealing with Tony, and I don’t even know if he’ll remember that . . . he was (the White Sox’s) Double-A or Triple-A manager and I was in Class A (in spring training) and the catcher got hurt so I was in my catcher’s gear . . . my team had already left; they were at home . . . and it was Double-A vs. Triple-A. So Tony’s at third base (coaching) and the catcher gets hurt, I fill in for him, man at first and third.
“And he goes, ‘We’re not going to steal on you.’ The first thing he said. So I’m thinking, ‘I know what he’s going to do.’Read more…
As part of the study, SBD and SBJ quizzed White Sox VP of Communications Scott Reifert on the MLB club’s Twitter policy for employees:
Q: Scott, walk us through what happened with [manager] Ozzie [Guillen, who created some friction within the club earlier this year over his Twitter account].
Reifert: Ozzie’s obviously media savvy. In spring training, he learned through his kids about Twitter, so he started sitting around at night in Glendale [Ariz.] tweeting, unbeknownst to really any of us, including our GM, Ken Williams.
So when Kenny got there the next morning, he had a conversation with Ozzie about, “Hey. What’s going on? Help me out here.” And he can tweet all he wants about away-from-the-field, away-from-the-White-Sox kind of stuff. He does it in English. He does it in Spanish. He does it in sort of a mix of both languages, about restaurants he likes or haircuts he got.
He immediately had tens of thousands of followers given the personality that he has, and he continues to tweet frequently.
So, if Guillen isn’t allowed to Tweet about his own team, who exactly is allowed to officially represent the White Sox on Twitter when it comes to on-field matters? Read more…
On August 8, 1976, against my Kansas City Royals, the Chicago White Sox became the first and only MLB team to wear shorts during a regular season contest. Sadly, the experiment lasted just three games.
(Yes, that’s Hall of Famer Goose Gossage. Priceless.)
This week some fun home video of one of those games, August 22 of the same year against the Orioles, was posted on Youtube. Read more…
The Chicago media is buzzing about White Sox GM Kenny Williams being upset that Ozzie Guillen refuses to give up his Twitter account. Guillen recently tweeted about that reaction:
The Minnesota Twins are leaving the Metrodome and relocating to the brand-new state-of-the-art Target Field. To remind fans of this fact, the Twins have put together a TV commercial showing movers at the new digs delivering the goods - such as boxes, championship trophies, and Joe Mauer encased in bubble wrap.
If there’s one thing that sports blogs have done very well over the past 5 years or so, it’s that they’ve shed some light on the deeds and misdeeds of athletes, coaches, and front office types. Beat writers and columnists have a harder time sweeping things under the rug to protect their chummy relationships and access, now that fans have a way to express their outrage and hold people accountable when they say or do dishonest things.
But perhaps not enough attention is given to the people who do keep their words and act in good faith. Being a man of your word doesn’t often make for compelling reading or righteous indignation. That’s why people freaked the heck out out when the White Sox traded lovable lout Jim Thome to the Dodgers. But they were wrong.
After hearing about Mike Singletary’s latest motivational move at San Francisco 49ers training camp, we can all be glad of this: he kept his pants on this time. In fact, he did what many 49ers fans wish someone would have done years ago: he sent former No. 1 draft pick and genial bust Alex Smith packing.
Unfortunately for those fans, Smith came back, as he wasn’t traded or cut. No, Singletary had Smith watch the last 30 minutes of training camp from the top of a hill overlooking the practice facility after Smith threw a deflected pass into coverage that was intercepted during a scrimmage. Personally, it sounds like a better punishment would have been to give Smith a couple of passes to nearby Great America and tell him to have fun and enjoy the roller coasters.
Smith tried to force a pass to noted slacker-slash-slugger Vernon Davis, but it was tipped and eventually picked off. Unfortunately for Smith, this came right after Singletary announced to the team that “the next guy responsible for a turnover would have to sit on the hill for the rest of practice,” leading to Smith getting his perch high on a hill.
Again, some one tell me how this is punishment? Instead of working his butt off at training camp and sweating in the summer heat, Smith got to relax and watch the practice from a grassy vantage point - probably under a shady tree while eating a couple of apples as bluebirds sang to him. And I guess that we are supposed to be impressed that his starting offensive line came to sit with him in a “nice show of solidarity,” although I suspect they saw a chance to get out of the last half-hour of practice and made the most of it.
I know NFL teams are careful not to push players too hard, but don’t players run laps as punishment any more? Suicide sprints? Something other than sitting down and not training at training camp? Mike Singletary’s training camp is allegedly some combination of the Junction Boys, the Bataan Death March and the training montage from “Rocky IV” from how the media is portraying it, but if that’s as tough as it gets in the NFL, maybe we’re coddling players a bit too much.
I have no idea what a UFL training camp is going to be like; I’m guessing it will be more advanced than teaching the players what the Xs and Os on the playbook mean, even if just barely. But it does seem like the players are going to go through a lot of punishment - at least on the field, thanks to their names and uniforms. That is, if the ones announced on Monday by the Las Vegas franchise are any indication.
First off there’s the name: the Las Vegas Locomotives. Because when I think of Las Vegas, I don’t think of gambling or nightlife or danger - I think of trains. Yup, you really get the high rollers coming in on the train from Barstow to Las Vegas. It’s basically a half-step up from calling the team the Las Vegas Hobos, and unless your team’s offensive coordinator is John Hodgman, that’s not going to fly.
And then there are the uniforms. Now, I’m no sartorial demigod, but…I don’t want to say that it’s hideous, but the USFL called and they are planning on suing you for $1 for ripping off their designs. The whole thing looks horrendously 80s, from the shiny neon aquamarine pants to the blocky numbering. I think I saw MC Skat Kat wearing something suspiciously similar in a video with Paula Abdul back in the day.
Basically, the whole thing is a mess, and even Las Vegas head coach Jim Fassel is confused as to the connection between Las Vegas and trains. (But this isn’t the first time he’s been confused in his life.) Plus, the team’s name is sure to be shortened by people to “Locos,” which the owners seem to think is great cross-cultural marketing but just reminds me of how crazy you’d have to be to try and go up against the NFL.
Finally, I have to wonder what Jeff Gordon’s motivation is to keep racing. After all, he could be at home having sex with his Brazilian supermodel wife, playing with his kids or simply climbing up and down one of the giant mountains of cash he presumably has laying around his house from all of his winnings and endorsement deals.
And after yesterday’s race at the Watkins Glen road course in New York, he is probably wondering the same thing himself after being involved in a bad multi-car crash that sent him careening into a guard rail - not a SAFER barrier - at nearly top speed. Gordon walked away unscathed, although he was complaining of aggravating a sore back injured after he’s been involved in several big crashes in the last few years.
After watching that replay again, let me ask Gordon something: hot Brazilian supermodel wife, or smashing the bejeezus out of your car head-on into a guard rail? Your choice.
In other sports news that happened while you thanked God you weren’t the local TV reporter who drew the short straw and had to cover the “Furries” convention:
Crocs announced late yesterday that it is pulling out of its title sponsorship of the AVP Tour at the end of this season. But how ever will beach volleyball survive without its association with ugly rubber clogs? Wait, they’ll survive thanks to hot chicks rolling around on the sand wearing next to nothing? I guess…
This is exactly what you want to hear from a tennis player playing his last season before his retirement: former world No. 1 Marat Safin admits that it’s “impossible” that he’ll win another title. I don’t think he’ll be getting the same teary send-off at the U.S. Open that Andre Agassi did.
The Chicago White Sox were able to get two-time All-Star Alex Rioson waivers from the Toronto Blue Jays for no compensation (which with the exchange rate means the White Sox made money on the deal). So, do you think the Blue Jays were thrilled to be rid of the $64 million due to Rios through 2014?
The San Francisco Giants are honoring former pitcher Dave Dravecky on the 20th anniversary of his comeback from cancer. Which is great, except it reminds me of the sound his arm made when it snapped like a twig during his comeback, and then I need to throw up.
The USL Division II soccer match between the Real Maryland Monarch and Bermuda Hogges was your standard affair. If you consider a player scoring two goals in the first half and then getting arrested at halftime, a coach being ejected from the game and having to watch from the parking lot, and a goalkeeper being forced to play striker as “standard”.
There was great line in a SPORTING NEWS post about the terrible level of umpiring seen this season, with umps continually deciding to make themselves the center of attention. It mentions Phillies announcer Larry Anderson responding to umpire Joe West telling him that MLB umps were “the best in the business” by telling the audience that he wanted to respond that “if you guys are the best in the business, you’ve got a really bad business.”
And so we learn the folly of scheduling a bobblehead night featuring one of your star players on the day after the MLB trading deadline. The Cleveland Indians have some ’splainin’ to do on Saturday during Victor Martinez Bobblehead Night. I hear that anyone who’s anyone in Cleveland will be there, except of course Victor Martinez, who was traded to the Red Sox in exchange for Justin Masterson and Nick Hagadone a few hours ago.
So does this become an instant collector’s item, or a handy object to throw onto Progressive Field in disgust? We’ll find out tomorrow. Meanwhile, the Padres are breathing a sigh of relief that they decided to cancel Saturday’s Jake Peavy Kissing Booth. Read more…
