 |
|
Miami: Jorge Sedano - 790 The Ticket (WAXY-AM) - 11:45am PT
Listen Live. Sedano’s Audio Page. Sedano’s blog.
Want Brooks on your show? Book an appearance here.
One of the most overlooked stories of the baseball season is coming to the fore as the Brewers bumble down the stretch:
Why is no one talking about how gigantic *vegetarian* Prince Fielder has become?
That photo looks like about a 40-pound weight gain in two years. I saw Fielder in L.A. a few weeks ago and he’s so fat now that he nearly keels over every time he has to make a defensive play. He also is having a subpar year and hasn’t hit a lick in the past month.
In early August, he attacked a teammate in the dugout and then later saying he didn’t need to apologize for his passion for the game. He’s 50 pounds overweight yet he’s passionate about his profession?
While no one is saying boo right now about Fielder’s overgrown girth (Ned? Doug? Hello?!), you can bet if the Brewers flame out again at the end of the season, and Fielder continues his downward hitting trend, the elephant in the clubhouse room will be impossible to ignore.
Tuesday Ellen DeGeneres had Olympic pixie (and hottie in my book) Shawn Johnson on her TV talk show. Yesterday, it was Olympic volleyball hotties Kerri Walsh and Misty May-Treanor bouncing around while wearing next to nothing.
(Ellen feels the need to strap on a diaper?)
SPORTS BUSINESS DAILY reports that during the show, May-Treanor talked about the “butt slaps” Walsh gives her during matches, saying, “I don’t notice it because I’m on the receiving end. … It’s like a high-five now.”
Later, show guest Pamela Anderson asked DeGeneres, “Are (Walsh and May-Treanor) coming out?” Anderson then ripped off her dress to reveal a bikini, saying, “I can’t help myself.”
Funny, I thought that was Ellen’s line.
I got to thinking about it, and I realized that I’m probably the only person breathing who has hosted both the USC and Ohio State radio broadcast pre- and postgame shows. And taken calls from fans of both teams on their home radio station.
I worked for Ohio State radio flagship WBNS in Columbus back in the ’90s, and along with my football gameday duties, co-hosted a daily sports talkshow with ESPN’s Kirk Herbstreit.
(SbB Girl Jenna at USC game with tickets from My Boy Barry)
And in the early ’00s, I hosted pre- and postgame activities for then-USC football radio flagship KMPC in Los Angeles.
I’ve had a couple people ask me this week about the intensity of the fans from the two schools. I can say, unequivocally, that Ohio State fans are the craziest I’ve ever come across.
When I cohosted Herbstreit’s daily show, we had to put a moratorium on OSU-Michigan calls to the show except for game week, ‘else that’s all people would ever call about. No matter what time of year. Meanwhile, like everything else here, USC gets a little swallowed up in the massive L.A. market. Not to mention the local UCLA fans who despise the school they call the University of Spoiled Children.
(SbB Girl Jenna at USC game with tickets from My Boy Barry)
And when I first arrived in L.A., back in 2000, the Trojans were trying to escape the depths of the Paul Hackett era. With Ohio State gamedays still fresh in my mind, I remember well how pathetic I thought USC tailgating was at that time. The atmosphere was subdued at best, and the campus nearly devoid of students on game day. It was appalling.
But since Pete Carroll’s unprecendented run of championship football, things have changed dramatically. Now the Coliseum area is a swarm of food, booze and frolic before SC games. Not at the obscene scale of Ohio Stadium pregame, but give it time. And a few Donatos franchises.
Darren Rovell today has a video interview with American gymnast Nastia Liukin, who unwittingly provides the definitive metaphor of what the modern Olympics have become.
(Another Olympic venue that also features hotties who loves ATMs)
As part of the report Rovell said, “Liukin told us that seeing her image on advertising before the games actually gave her confidence.”
(Nastia was inconsolable after learning of those pesky ATM transaction fees)
So her Visa ads boosted her up before her Olympics appearances? Sounds a little far-fetched, until you hear the same thing come out Liukin’s mouth: “I walked into the Olympic athlete village, seeing the Visa ATM machine with my picture on it and the Chinese character saying “destiny” … for some reason it just boosted my confidence.”
Liukin’s Olympic dream is inspired by an ATM machine? Perfect.
And this isn’t a case of me taking an obscure comment out of context (2,922 mentions of it at Google News!). That same ATM machine storyline has been covered by just about every media outlet, thanks to Liukin continuing to bring it up.
The whole thing is almost as ridiculous as if Nastia had her picture on a NASCAR entry whizzing around Talladega.
Oh, wait, she does.
Also, Liukin’s plans after her gymnastics career is over will shock you. She wants to get into “modeling and acting.”
(Nastia is ready to pounce on the myriad adult modeling opportunities sure to roll in!)
I know, I had my money on E! entertainment reporter, too.
Jorge Sedano of 790 The Ticket in Miami with yet another cool find:
Apparently a YouTube user recently claimed to have found a glitch in Tiger Woods’ EA Sports video game, which had Woods being able to hit the ball while standing on water. So in response, EA shot this cute reply with Woods walking on water.
Haven’t confirmed if EA concocted the whole idea out of thin air (and created a fake account to set up the spot), but it really doesn’t matter. Great idea.
Fun clip from an old SNL Olympics bit:
Much funnier: Dennis Miller looks like Gene Simmons after a hydroxycut bender.
On NBC’s “Today” show this morning, NBC’s Meredith Vieira read this promo: “We’ve seen them run and jump and swim and tumble, but what do the Olympic athletes do behind closed doors?”
It wasn’t made immediately clear what the segment was about. Perhaps Al Roker with an investigative report on the Albanians’ flossing habits. Now when I heard the read, this is immediately what popped. Into my head, that is:
Russian track & field athlete Yelena Isinbayeva.
Jorge Sedano of Miami’s 790 The Ticket has your catch o’ the day:
Chargers wideout Chris Chambers making some sick grabs that may or may not have been digitally enhanced. I actually think not.
Went to the Maddenpalooza thing last night at the Rose Bowl. As I sit here today, I’m still wondering why the event was staged by now-faltering EA Sports. Was the evening designed to be a media event? Was it to move product? Was it to create a lively, fun environment for attendees?
From what I observed, that would be no, no and no.
(Need to lose some lbs., so I don’t cover up that one guy - see armpit)
I went early evening, and there was less than a thousand people milling around Slick Rick’s spacious abode at that time. Musicial artists Busta Rhymes and Good Charlotte played to about 200 people on one side of the stadium turf, while a tent full of Madden-loaded plasmas sat empty beyond the opposite endzone.
(How to create a fun, fan-friendly environment!)
But of course, as someone who occasionally attends UCLA football games which don’t include a certain Cardinal & Gold opponent, that hollow, placid environment is nothing new for the Rose Bowl. So I felt right at home.
(Busta Rhymes is in there …. somewhere)
Here on the westside of Los Angeles, I pass by EA Sports’ gleaming, half-empty HQs all the time. You wonder if last night’s flaccid activities are symptomatic of larger problems inside the company. Based on the sagging pre-sale of the company’s flagship product, perhaps they are.
(Guerrilla Marketing at Maddenpalooza?)
More coverage of the event from Mike Tunison at DEADSPIN, who actually had the audacity to *shudder* take a photo of Warren Sapp.
