The St. Louis Cardinals lost a member of the family early this morning. Relief pitcher Josh Hancock was killed when his SUV ran into a tow truck on Highway 40 not too far from downtown St. Louis.
The loss of any life in an accident is tragic, but the loss of a young person is even more tragic. Hancock was amongst a very select fraternity of professional athletes who had made it to the top of their profession. Hancock didn't know when he came off the mound yesterday afternoon at the end of the eighth inning it would be one of the last things he would ever get to do.
My condolences to the Hancock family and all of his friends.
April 29, 2007
April 15, 2007
Enough Already
Today was Jackie Robinson day in Major League Baseball. Robinson showed a lot of guts to be the first player in baseball to take on the white establishment. But, a lot of other blacks in the era had at least as difficult a time in their fields as Robinson in baseball when he was harassed every where he played. Sammie Davis Junior was treated like crap but he put up with it and went on to make a great name for himself. Robinson had a fine career and is now in the baseball Hall of Fame. (Granted his numbers are not as good as today's players and he receive some sympathy votes to get him there, but he had a fine career).
I guess my point to all of this is enough already. Robinson was the trailblazer for blacks. But when are we going to have a Roberto Clemente day for Hispanics? Or when are we going to have a Masanori Murakami day for Asian players?
Robinson played through a living hell, but it also took a lot of guts from the GM of the Brooklyn Dodgers Branch Rickey to take a chance on him. And if it had not been Robinson, then Larry Doby who came along a few months later with the Cleveland Indians would have gotten the credit. So, Bill Veeck should also get as much credit for the advancement of race relations in this country as Robinson and Rickey.
Finally, I watched the Sunday night game of the week this evening, and someone needs to tell ESPN to chill out. Peter Gammons needs to do some research before he gets all emotional on air and Joe Morgan made some good points, but he also did not let the facts stand in his way as he told stories of losing black managers deserving another chance.
Hopefully this hyperbole won't be repeated soon.
I guess my point to all of this is enough already. Robinson was the trailblazer for blacks. But when are we going to have a Roberto Clemente day for Hispanics? Or when are we going to have a Masanori Murakami day for Asian players?
Robinson played through a living hell, but it also took a lot of guts from the GM of the Brooklyn Dodgers Branch Rickey to take a chance on him. And if it had not been Robinson, then Larry Doby who came along a few months later with the Cleveland Indians would have gotten the credit. So, Bill Veeck should also get as much credit for the advancement of race relations in this country as Robinson and Rickey.
Finally, I watched the Sunday night game of the week this evening, and someone needs to tell ESPN to chill out. Peter Gammons needs to do some research before he gets all emotional on air and Joe Morgan made some good points, but he also did not let the facts stand in his way as he told stories of losing black managers deserving another chance.
Hopefully this hyperbole won't be repeated soon.
April 14, 2007
I Gave In To The System
I have had Dish Network for the past seven years. And with only a few problems it has been a good fit. But, because Major League Baseball (MLB) is run by a bunch of idiots I was forced to change to a new program provider this week.
MLB signed an "exclusive" contract with DirectTV this spring for it's out of market package of up to 60 games per week. But, then when U.S. Senator John Kerry intervened MLB also let cable buy into the package. This left Dish Network out in the dark, when Dish complained it could not afford the cost of the package and pass it along to all of it's customers.
So, this week I told Dish Network goodbye and had a DirecTV satellite dish put on my roof and two new receivers put in my home. The cost is roughly the same as Dish, but oh the hassle I had to go through. Why is this? Well, because Bud (the used car salesman) Selig and his henchmen had the arrogance to blow off fans like me who in the past had spent $160 per year for the package. Apparently the estimated 250,000 of us who had the out of market package on Dish, weren't important to the MLB powers that be.
Hey Bud Selig pucker up and kiss my ass.
MLB signed an "exclusive" contract with DirectTV this spring for it's out of market package of up to 60 games per week. But, then when U.S. Senator John Kerry intervened MLB also let cable buy into the package. This left Dish Network out in the dark, when Dish complained it could not afford the cost of the package and pass it along to all of it's customers.
So, this week I told Dish Network goodbye and had a DirecTV satellite dish put on my roof and two new receivers put in my home. The cost is roughly the same as Dish, but oh the hassle I had to go through. Why is this? Well, because Bud (the used car salesman) Selig and his henchmen had the arrogance to blow off fans like me who in the past had spent $160 per year for the package. Apparently the estimated 250,000 of us who had the out of market package on Dish, weren't important to the MLB powers that be.
Hey Bud Selig pucker up and kiss my ass.
A Story That Needs to Die
Are you as sick and tired of the whole Don Imus/Rutgers woman's basketball team story as I am? This is a non story played out by the liberal media. Imus is a comedian and has made fun of people, groups and races his whole life. So, he makes a comment about nappy haired hos and he gets ripped on by people with absolutely no freaking sense of humor.
Hey people it's radio! If you don't like what they're saying change the station already. Did Imus do anything wrong? I don't know. I thought it was a funny line when I heard it. As I said before anyone who has listened to Don Imus knows he says a lot of outrageous funny things just to get a rise out of his listeners. Well my guess is most of the minorities that are bitching up a storm had never heard his show or heard of him. But, by God let him say something that they perceive as racist, even though they didn't hear it directly, and they go crazy.
Imus has been picking on stupid white people for years. When are white people going to stand up for their rights? And somebody please smack Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson. These two buffoons have become caricatures of themselves.
Hey people it's radio! If you don't like what they're saying change the station already. Did Imus do anything wrong? I don't know. I thought it was a funny line when I heard it. As I said before anyone who has listened to Don Imus knows he says a lot of outrageous funny things just to get a rise out of his listeners. Well my guess is most of the minorities that are bitching up a storm had never heard his show or heard of him. But, by God let him say something that they perceive as racist, even though they didn't hear it directly, and they go crazy.
Imus has been picking on stupid white people for years. When are white people going to stand up for their rights? And somebody please smack Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson. These two buffoons have become caricatures of themselves.
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