- I've been in and out of Yankee Stadium a lot over the past three years. I know they have a ton of marketing partners and advertisers, but I didn't know that they had something going on with T-Mobile. After the owner's declaration today in the papers, your boy Georgie sounds more like this guy. This happens to be my favorite commercial on televison today.
- Rivalries are few and far between in sports at the moment, but pure, genuine hatred is alive in Los Angeles. No, it's not Kobe Bryant and Lakers management or USC against UCLA. It's not even the Galaxy and Chivas USA! It's Ricardo Mayorga and Fernando Vargas at a press conference before their September 8 bout at the Staples Center. Mixed martial arts may have the business model down pat, but in boxing, there is nothing that draws attention like a tasteless, disrespectful and provocative jab at an opponent's wife. And it was interpreted for the media, nonetheless!
- Some of you who live in the Boston area are lamenting the permanent move of the NBA Summer League to Las Vegas. Most of you probably didn't know that professional basketball players actually have training camps and preseasons. While I never had the fortune of attending one of these games when I had the chance, I happen to enjoy watching the games. "Who cares? It's the summer league!" It's a redundant phrase in regards to the NFL preseason as fans, media and some veteran players desire a shorter exhibition so that we can get to the meaningful phase. If I was a veteran player or coach in either league, I may be a little more sympathetic to the cause. However, training camp and the preseason aren't about the stars and superstars. They are about young players like Mike Conley, Jr (right) making the transition from the college game to the tougher and more intense professional game where you have to build up in order to keep a roster spot, let alone soak up the playbook. For fans in Boston, I could imagine that it was also about the possibility of telling our kids in the future "I remember seeing him right out of college before he became The Man when he couldn't beat a guy off the street." It's also about seeing NBA or NFL-caliber players for cheap during a slow sports season when regular-season tickets are hard to come by. Just not a fan of the permanent relocation to Sin City because it would have been great to check out a game or two.
- Speaking of summer league, I didn't know Ron Artest had a younger brother that was playing ball. Now, Ron-Ron isn't a small guy, but add fifty pounds to his frame and you have a problem if you try to throw a cup at him. Then again, Ron's like that off-off-off Broadway play from a while back, I Can Do Bad All By Myself. Daniel never played high school basketball and didn't participate in organized ball until a short time ago with a few colleges and a small-scale German team. He works out with big bro all the time and managed to get a try out with Ron's current employer, the Sacramento Kings. When he took the court against the Knicks' summer squad, I thought it was Ron with his fiftieth different jersey number. Then, I wondered why wasn't he signed to the San Francisco 49ers for offensive line help.
- Speaking of complaining about something ridiculous, can someone tell the president of the University of Oklahoma to worry about the school's relationship with boosters than 'vacated' games? Oh, wait... that's how he gets paid, too. Oops. Yesterday, I said that the music business acts worse than the NCAA. At least record companies still leave flops at the record store. The NCAA actually thinks that if 'vacating wins' is as damning and profound as the real punishment of taking away scholarships. That has as much of an impact as a comedy on ABC.... oops, again.
- Finally, a few days late, but Roger Federer is the truth.
Perception is reality, the saying goes. Modern players can never transcend time, athletes only care about the money and the fan is never wrong. Yet, all you need to do is dig a little deeper to find the truth. As a freelance sportswriter, my job is to give the audience a story around what just happened. As a consumer, I expect that sports will always provide more than I bargained for. As a fan, my hopes are to be enlightened by more than points. Welcome to the mind of a sports scribe.
Thursday, July 12, 2007
More...
Having a 9-to-5, interviews and freelancing make this an unfortunate afterthought at times. Until I have a conscious stream of thought, here are a few more thoughts along with a poll to your right.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment